Even the plainest wood had become as precious as gold. After the floods and the scorching heat, most of the trees had withered away. Then came the freeze. People burned anything they could to stay alive. Tables, chairs, even fences vanished into smoke. If firewood had become this rare, then real construction materials were worth a fortune. Factories had stopped long ago, leaving the world empty of production. Cassian's stash wasn't just any stockpile. It had rare new-age materials that were expensive even before everything fell apart. He stood in the middle of the section, eyes sharp. Natalie walked over and stopped beside him. "What's wrong?" Cassian studied the piles of crates for a while before answering. "Someone's been here. They reorganized it." Natalie blinked. "Reorganized? What do you mean by that?" He turned toward her. "It means whoever came here thought the same thing we did." Her eyes widened. "You're saying Cash plans to sell the building supplies to the government too?" She remembered what the Griffith brothers had told her before leaving Hillside Villa. The earthquake had torn through the government base. They were desperate for resources and were willing to buy at any price. That was when she and Cassian decided they could make a deal. After her storage space expanded, Natalie had started collecting everything she could find. Sand, cement, glass, windows, doors—anything she could grab went straight inside. And Cassian? He was the richest man around. He never lacked anything.They already had food and essentials, but trading with the government could earn them better supplies. Some weapons, like tanks or submarines, only the officials still controlled. If they could trade for those, they'd have a real shot at surviving whatever came next. Cassian looked at the stacked crates. "He split everything in half. I bet one pile's for himself and the other's meant to sell." No one would bother sorting out "useless" materials unless they knew their true worth. That was why they put in the work. Natalie snorted. "He sure loves giving away what isn't his." She crossed her arms and sighed. "Good thing the western base isn't in Greendale. We showed up in time. Otherwise, he'd have sold it all already." Cassian raised his brow. "It's not in Greendale?" Natalie nodded. "No. I heard someone say it's in Rastopia." The Greater Northwest stretched for miles. Greendale and Rastopia were far apart, nothing like their northern base near Northlorn. They could reach the northern base easily back there. That distance must have kept Cash from closing his deal. Natalie stepped forward and swept every neatly stacked crate into her storage space. Then she turned back to collect the rest of the supplies. Inside the storage space, the pets grew restless. Their tails thumped, and their barks echoed like impatient drumbeats. Natalie sighed and let them out. "Stay out of trouble," she warned. "Don't you dare wreck anything." They darted away, tails wagging, chasing one another between the shelves. Natalie let them play while she worked, carefully sorting the new items where they belonged.Cassian watched her for a while before saying, "You should sit for a bit. I'll push the shelves over so you can reach them easier." "Huh?" He said it like it was the simplest thing in the world. "It'll take longer, but you won't have to strain yourself." Natalie burst into laughter. It was sweet of him to care, but seriously? "I can walk and pick things up just fine. Why waste your strength dragging shelves?" Cassian kept his calm. "You've been in that car all day. Then you started fighting the moment we got here. You're tired, even if you won't admit it. Keep running like that and you'll wear yourself out." Natalie laughed so hard she almost dropped the box in her hands. "You're the one who flew a plane, Cassian. I was sitting." If Harold or Olivia had been there, they would've teased him for spoiling her again. Cassian paused, like the thought had never even occurred to him. Then he said, steady and serious, "I'm a man. It's my job to do more." Natalie shot him a sideways glare. "Wow. So now you believe in old-school gender roles?" Cassian looked at her, half amused. "That's not what I meant." She laughed and gave him a playful shove. "Go sit somewhere else. You're in my way. I'll be done soon." Cassian caught the look on her face and pressed his lips together. He didn't argue, but he didn't sit either. He stayed by her side in silence. Natalie turned back to her work, moving fast down the rows and storing one thing after another.Her body warmed from the movement. Then, all at once, she felt something cold snake across her skin, sharp and sudden like a chill warning through the dark.