When the fight turned bloody, the rest of the attackers held back, waiting for a shot to strike from behind. Natalie's chainsaw wasn't built to wipe out a whole crowd, but she wasn't fighting alone. The three of them stood shoulder to shoulder on the inflatable rescue boat. Natalie swung the chainsaw around, covering every angle. Anyone dumb enough to get close got torn apart, bits of flesh flying. With Natalie holding the front line, Olivia could calmly fire her nail gun, hitting target after target without worry. Knowing Natalie had her back made her steady. Olivia's aim was sharp, and she rarely missed. Harold took care of the rest. He held a homemade harpoon nearly 13 feet long. Its tip smeared with crocodile knockout drug.Standing beside Natalie, he stabbed down anyone who dared to break through. The three worked together seamlessly and quickly sent their opponents running in total defeat. Five minutes later, Olivia noticed every single enemy had ended up in the water, too beaten to keep fighting. She lowered her nail gun at last. She stared at the 20 or so people, hardly believing the three of them had managed to take out the whole crowd. Her confidence shot sky-high. On the other side, Natalie shut off the chainsaw and pulled a nail gun from her belt. She pointed it toward the water. A gust of wind brushed the loose strands of hair off her forehead. Her voice came soft but clear, carried right to Olivia. "Here's the last lesson—don't let anyone live." While talking, Natalie shot without hesitation, each bullet striking the heads of those still thrashing in the water, every shot hitting the temple. Whoever she hit went limp right away. Olivia and Harold froze for a second. Then, they snapped out of it and joined her, picking off the rest one after another. Soon, the water grew still. Not far away, they spotted an abandoned kayak stuffed with supplies. It was clear that the gang had looted plenty of people before targeting them. Natalie and the others rowed over and claimed everything—roughly 300 pounds of potatoes, bags of dry food, snacks, boxes of bottled water, and three huge gas canisters. They even kept the supply kayak itself. Once their haul was loaded, Natalie steered their inflatable boat back toward home. Nobody spoke. For Harold and Olivia, it was their first time killing. Before, they had only scared people off. They'd never gone so far as to completely wipe them out. At first, they felt anxious and guilty, but the fear faded more quickly than expected. Underneath it, there was a strange, secret thrill. For people who had lived normal lives, it was something completely new—an overwhelming, merciless force smashing the weak. And doing it themselves had left a mark, changing something inside them. The inflatable rescue boat soon reached their condo building. Olivia, who'd been zoning out, suddenly gasped. "Guys, look! Has the water level dropped?!"She was right. Ten days earlier, when she caught her first crocodile, the flood had reached an inch below the seventh-floor windows. Now, the water sat halfway between the sixth and seventh floors. If it dropped a little more, the sixth floor would be visible. Natalie thought back to her previous life. The floodwaters hadn't gone away until almost four months after the disaster. It had been over three months since the big storm, so if her old timeline was right, the water should finally be dropping. She caught Olivia's excitement and gave a nod. "Yeah, it's definitely lower." Both Olivia and Harold lit up. Olivia especially looked like her whole face was glowing. "Does this mean the apocalypse is ending?" Natalie glanced around. "Not sure, but don't lose focus. We're still in the complex, not home yet." At that moment, they noticed everyone nearby staring at their three boats like starving wolves. They had piles of stuff on board—food Olivia and Harold had traded for, the leftover crocodile meat Natalie hadn't bartered away, and a mountain of stolen supplies. Whether from windows above or boats floating nearby, every pair of eyes was fixed on their haul. Greed burned in their eyes. Feeling the pressure, Olivia and Harold stood up nervously. Natalie motioned for Harold to keep steering toward home. She pulled out her chainsaw and yanked the cord. The roar exploded across the complex. Everyone else snapped to attention at the sound. Wait, was that a chainsaw?!That chainsaw made people remember the infamous psycho in the complex. She was the chainsaw killer from Building 6, 14th floor. They said she chopped people up and was still on the run. All eyes slid off the supplies and onto the three figures in the boat. That was when they noticed the three were soaked in blood.