Apart from Harrison, everyone else looked exhausted. Lily's eyes were still filled with tears, her little face pale and lifeless, clearly scared out of her wits. No one said anything as the three men moved the water tower in sync, working silently. Nadia secured the inflatable boat and then carried the firewood upstairs. Jasmine stumbled ahead of her, almost tripping and falling. Unable to free her hands, Nadia quickly nudged her with her body to steady her. They continued up the stairs, but Jasmine’s walk was odd because of an injury to her foot. Nadia's sensitive nose detected the faint smell of blood. Did they get into a fight on this trip? There were countless eyes on the unit building, and now was not the time to show weakness. If anyone discovered the 18th floor was in trouble, many would swarm like mad dogs. Gritting her teeth, Nadia finally reached the 18th floor. Jasmine placed the firewood in the hallway, wincing in pain. Nadia helped her inside. "What happened?" Jasmine had a wound on her calf, her bandage stained red with blood. It wasn't a knife wound or a gunshot, but a deep hole in her skin. She winced in pain. "A wild boar gored me." Nadia frowned. "You went into the mountains again?" "What else could we do?" Jasmine forced a bitter smile. "All the life-saving supplies are submerged underwater, and people are starving to death outside every day. When we went out today, we saw bodies thrown from the upper floors—more than one. "We can barely hold on for seven or eight months, but it's getting harder to find supplies. What do we do after that?" Tearing down the water tower was secondary; their main goal today had been heading into the mountains. They had climbed several peaks, and to everyone's surprise, Colby managed to find a wild boar nest—five boars in total, and they were all fairly large. After some quick discussion, they decided to take action. Nadia couldn't help but feel nervous. "Wild boars are nothing like farmed ones. They are very aggressive." It was dangerous, but boar meat could save lives. No matter how risky it was, they had no choice but to go for it. She pulled out gauze and iodine, rummaging through the medical supplies for surgical instruments and stitching thread. "The wound is too large and difficult to stop the bleeding. Should I take you to the hospital, or do you want me to stitch it up?" "It's not that bad. You can stitch it," Jasmine replied. She was used to injuries from her boxing days, and didn't think much of it. Besides, there were no medicine in the hospital anyway—it was better to take care of it at home. Nadia took out some anesthetic from her last stash. After disinfecting the wound, she applied the anesthetic to numb the pain and began stitching. It was her first time stitching someone, but she had practiced countless times on meat before. Once she started, her hands were steady. Beside them, Levi was so frightened that his face turned pale, and he tightly grasped his girlfriend's hand, nervously saying to Nadia, "Nadia, Jasmine's life is in your hands now." Jasmine gently pushed him. "You're squeezing my hand too hard." Caleb rolled his eyes. "Stop showing off your affection." It wasn't just Jasmine who was injured. Both Caleb and Levi had minor scratches but nothing serious. Harrison, though, had a cut on his arm and was bleeding, yet he seemed fine, comforting Lily, who was frightened and crying. The mountain forest was slippery in the rain. Jasmine had killed a wild boar with her bare hands, but she was gored by its tusks. Colby was incredibly brave and worked seamlessly with Harrison, taking down the remaining four boars. Caleb and Levi had helped as well, but they were outclassed. If it weren’t for Harrison's timely rescue, Caleb probably wouldn't have made it. That was also how Harrison got his arm injured. Lily hadn't participated. She had been tied to a tall tree by Harrison, completely frightened by the intense battle below. After stitching up Jasmine's wound, Nadia moved on to treat 1801. It was a shallow cut, not too deep. After disinfecting it, she stitched it up with ten stitches and gave him painkillers and anti-inflammatory medicine. Everyone sat down to discuss how to deal with the wild boar meat. Without a refrigerator, there was no way to store the meat at home."How about making jerky?" Levi suggested. "We brought back a few boxes of charcoal last time." Nadia shook her head. "Jerky uses up too much charcoal, and besides, how long would it take to roast five boars? By then, the whole neighborhood would smell like roasted meat." "Do you remember Sharp Morron?" Caleb said, suddenly coming up with an idea. "They not only sell things, but they also buy things. We're short on food. Why not trade the wild boar meat for some supplies?" Last time, they had traded five times in a row, and the other party had been quite trustworthy. This idea seemed good, so maybe it could be worth trying. They stuffed one wild boar head into the water tower, and had already divided the remaining meat into four large chunks. The wild boar meat, pulled from the water tower, had thick skin and was lean. There was deep red flesh with almost no fat.Nadia didn’t agree with bringing the whole boar over. "Let’s cut a few pounds to test the waters first. Don’t mention how much we have. If we can strike a deal, we can trade in batches." With two people injured, Caleb and Levi volunteered to go to the department store to find Sharp Morron. In this post-apocalyptic world, no one could rely on someone else for too long. How far one could go depended entirely on oneself. Nadia didn’t stop them but reminded them to be careful. Lily, who had been frightened, fell asleep after being comforted. Harrison carried her back to the room to sleep. Jasmine then updated Nadia on the situation at the hillside villa. They had dismantled six water towers this time and collected a lot of solid wooden furniture, along with two unused gas cylinders. These needed to be retrieved as soon as possible; otherwise, they’d soon be taken by others."The wild boars are hidden in the mountains, so they shouldn’t be found for now." An hour later, Caleb and Levi returned. "We’ve gathered some information. The leader of The Sharp Morons is named Quinn. They’re willing to trade grain for wild boar meat, but they're trying to take advantage." One pound of wild boar meat could be exchanged for two pounds of broken rice, while new rice could only be traded for one pound. They brought five pounds of meat and exchanged it for five pounds of new rice. Nadia took a look and confirmed that the rice was of good quality—silky jasmine rice. "You weren’t followed, were you?" "No, we took the inflatable boat and even made sure to circle around a few times." "They were really eager for the meat. They said the new rice was all vacuum-sealed and had the latest expiration date."She called Harrison over, and the group discussed the trade. Nadia agreed to trade the meat for rice. It seemed like a loss at first, but Jasmine and the others didn’t have the conditions to preserve the wild boar meat, and many people didn’t even have access to rice. How many would actually buy meat? Compared to meat, rice could fill people up and last longer. The five wild boars, after being cleaned, had an average net weight of 200 pounds each, which would be enough to exchange for a large amount of grain. However, they still needed to keep some of the meat, so they decided to only exchange four boars. The wild boar meat was divided into four portions: two portions for Unit 1803, one for Unit 1801, and one portion for Colby and Nadia. The wild boar meat could be great for grilling or making chili meat sauce. It could be preserved for a long time without spoiling.However, grilling and making the sauce would be time-consuming and produce a strong smell, so it was best not to do it on the 18th floor. The smell was one thing, but even with the door closed, it would still be unbearable for the people inside. Harrison suggested, "The villa area is empty now. How about we prepare everything there and bring it back?" Nadia had the same thought. The others had no objections either. So, the three men packed the wild boar meat into bags, stuffed them into large backpacks, and set off in the inflatable boat for the trade. They made sure to bring Colby along as well. At the department store, they met up and, avoiding the crowd, carried out the exchange in the quiet floodwaters.