Two agonizing days crawled by, and the floodwaters had completely swallowed the ground floor. Nadia peered out from her balcony, watching a handful of desperate souls take a perilous chance and swim out of the neighborhood. The area boasted slightly higher ground, and the current wasn't ferocious here. But venturing beyond, the story was different. Those who braved the open water were placing their fates entirely in the hands of luck. They couldn't be sure if they would ever make it back. A message popped up on Nadia's phone. It was Jasmine, informing her of the decision to move over immediately. They were just down the street in Unit 3, a mere fifty yards away. Feeling uneasy, Nadia kept a watchful eye on them through her telescope. Half an hour later, a speck appeared on the water. It was a bright yellow inflatable dinghy filled with things. Levi, clad in a disposable raincoat, paddled. Down in the water, Jasmine swam, pulling the dinghy forward with all her might. Taking the trash downstairs, Nadia planned to meet them on the second floor. As she descended past the 12th floor, she bumped into Maya emerging from 1202. Dressed in a jarringly out-of-place polka-dot skirt, Maya's eyes lit up at the sight of Nadia. "Nadia," she chirped. Five days had passed, and the once-ethereal goddess was a shadow of her former self. Not only had she lost weight, but her complexion was sickly pale. Nadia ignored her, continuing down the stairs with the trash. "Nadia, are you mad at me?" Maya persisted, her voice sugary sweet. "If I did something wrong, just tell me." Nadia's expression darkened. "Stay away from me." Undeterred, Maya followed her and continued eagerly, "Nadia, honestly, there's nothing going on between Wayne and me like you think. We just get along well. I think you two…" Nadia stopped dead in her tracks, flinging the trash bag at Maya. "Do you not understand human language, or is it your brain that's malfunctioning?" Before Maya could react, the trash bag connected squarely with her. The goddess facade vanished instantly, replaced by a mask of fury. "What are you doing?" Maya shrieked. "Maya, I don't care who you leech off of, but don't set your sights on me." These words sent a wave of emotions crashing over the girl from 1202. "What do you mean 'targeting you'?" Despite her usual poise, Maya's voice cracked. "We're alumni, just catching up when we bump into each other." "If you're not targeting me, why do you keep clinging to me like a lovesick puppy? You spam me with messages every day. What do you want from me besides a handout?" Flustered, Maya's cheeks burned crimson. "Your house is overflowing with food that's going to spoil while others are starving! Why don't you share it with those in need?" Maya was leading calamity to Nadia. Nadia whipped out a kitchen knife hidden beneath her clothes and brandished it at Maya's face. "Which eye of yours saw my house overflowing with rotting food? You're like a parasite, sucking one family dry and moving on to the next! Why should I share my life-saving supplies with you? Because you have an inflated ego and a loose moral compass?" Even in the face of the biting cold, Maya had been flitting between men, using stolen domains to hoard supplies and live a life of luxury amidst the grime and desperation of the apocalypse. Whether this was her own doing or orchestrated by Wayne remained unclear. In this brutal, post-civilization world, bartering one's body for food wasn't an uncommon practice. Maya let out a scream and scrambled backward, hitting the wall with a thud. Her face had drained of all color, and she trembled uncontrollably. She didn't expect Nadia to brandish a knife at her, and she was so shocked so couldn’t say a word.The commotion attracted attention, and curious faces peeked out from doorways. Ignoring them, Nadia continued her descent, the echoes of Maya's shocked cry trailing behind her. In the meantime, Jasmine, braving the typhoon's wrath, had made her way over. Fifty yards, a distance that wouldn't even break a sweat in normal times, had become a near-impossible feat in the face of this catastrophe. Nadia hauled Levi up and through the window. Several backpacks and bags followed, then the deflated rubber dinghy, and finally, Jasmine, drenched from the relentless rain. The residents on the second floor were also scrambling to evacuate. Without water, electricity, or gas, even basic things like cooking were out of the question. They had ingredients, but no way to prepare them. So, some resorted to using white wine as fuel, others chopped up furniture for firewood, and a few, driven by gnawing hunger, were even eating raw food, but they ended up with diarrhea.As a few sturdy packages were tossed through the window, a collective gasp went through the onlookers. This hope intensified when they spotted the rubber dinghy. A middle-aged woman, her smile strained but her eyes glinting with calculation, hurried over. "Why are you moving with so much stuff? What do you have there?" Levi, his breath ragged from exertion, quickly placed the packages at his feet, wary of the woman's outstretched hand. "Young man, we've been trapped here for days with no food and water. We just want to borrow the rubber boat to go find something to eat. We can't let the children starve, can we?" The rubber dinghy was their lifeline. How could Levi even consider letting it go? But before he could voice his refusal, the woman lunged for it. Already weakened by illness, Levi stumbled under. In a moment of panic, he reached for the valve and yanked it open. The once-inflated boat deflated with a sad hiss, the air escaping in a rush."What have you done? How can you be so heartless? Don't you see we're all suffering here? Can't you help?" Witnessing her boyfriend being bullied, Jasmine, hauled up to safety by Nadia, exploded in anger. "What do you think you're doing?" she shouted, shoving the aunt with surprising force. The impact sent the woman reeling backward. She stumbled five or six steps, slamming into the wall with a thud that nearly sent her tumbling down the stairs. Her two sons rushed to their mother's defense. "If you're not willing to lend it, then that's fine! But do you need to resort to violence?" He and his brother raised their fists in a menacing display, hoping to intimidate Jasmine. Unfazed by their show of bravado, Jasmine, every bit the fighter, met their challenge head-on. With a swift punch and a kick, she sent them both tumbling down the stairs. They landed with a splash in the water that now filled the first floor.The woman, on the verge of tears, momentarily forgot her tantrum. She scrambled down to pull her sons out of the water. The commotion drew murmurs of disapproval from the onlookers. "They were just asking," one muttered. "Did they have to be so rough?" Everyone was envious and coveted the rubber dinghy. But if they lent it to them, they would never see it again. Nadia had anticipated this very situation, which was why she had a knife. Jasmine snatched the knife from her and pointed it at everyone. "Who dares touch what doesn't belong to them?" she roared, her short hair and slightly hoarse voice lending a masculine edge to her appearance. With a single, decisive move, she had taken down two grown men, leaving them cowed despite their earlier bluster. There was no further debate. Nadia hoisted the bags onto her shoulder and ushered the couple upstairs.Levi's mood was dark, mirrored by Jasmine's somber expression. The typhoon and relentless rain had not only reshaped the world around them, but had also shattered people's moral compass, leaving everyone on edge. Seeing the stainless steel door on the 18th floor, Jasmine was stunned. "Nadia, you're resourceful." "It's just thanks to the neighbors' foresight," Nadia muttered. There were dark circles under Levi's eyes. "If only we'd moved here sooner. We haven't had any sleep in the past few days." He recounted their ordeal—the late-night attempts to sneak into their apartment, the ones who wanted to use their restroom, and even a harrowing encounter with someone who tried to break in. Concern clouded Nadia's features. "Did you run out of food?" "We got lucky," Jasmine replied. "Just before the typhoon hit, someone mistakenly placed an order with the wrong address, and the supermarket ended up delivering a mountain of groceries right to our doorstep." There were two massive bags of bread, various bundles of noodles, vegetables, a portable gas stove complete with fuel blocks, a rubber dinghy, and even a solar charger. The order had been placed anonymously, but before they could piece together the puzzle, the typhoon had already descended upon them. Normally, they relied on the school cafeteria, takeout, or the occasional instant noodle for sustenance. If not for the fortuitous delivery, they might very well have starved.