In barely a second, Caroline thought she saw what had just fallen. It was a big white rat—one that looked painfully familiar. "Denton!" she shouted, but it was too late. Denton fell straight into the wood mouse's mouth. Its mouth wasn't huge, but the second Denton touched it, the air around its jaws seemed to warp. He vanished instantly. Behind him came the other rats—some falling, some climbing down the rock wall. When they saw their king disappear, they squeaked helplessly, panicked and leaderless. Caroline was speechless. The wood mouse looked at her, licking its lips in a taunting, satisfied way. If she guessed right, Denton had been climbing the wall when the quake hit. He must've slipped at the worst moment.Caroline clenched her teeth, staring at the mutant wood mouse. "Fine. Whatever it takes. It's you or me today." She studied the creature's belly. It wasn't big enough to hold both Tyler and Denton. And since she'd seen the space warp when it swallowed Denton, she guessed its ability was space-related. If she was right, its stomach wasn't physical at all—it was a pocket dimension that trapped anything it swallowed. Right then, Caroline suddenly felt a vibration on her wrist. The vibration cut through the standoff. She saw the mutant wood mouse flinch. Caroline's heart leaped. She'd lost track of time in the dark, but midnight had passed. That meant her Zero System had reset. "Raven!" Caroline yelled. Raven lunged instantly, and Jet dived after him. In an instant, both tangled with the mutant wood mouse.Taking advantage of that moment, Caroline opened her ability interface to check what new powers had refreshed today. She had three chances to reroll. There was no way she wouldn't get something to kill that wood mouse. And sure enough, compared to yesterday's terrible luck, today was insanely lucky! Her lips curved. It was time to hunt. Caroline tapped the system. The moment she did, the world froze. Or more like, everything just stopped moving. Even the shaking ground went still. Raven froze mid-bite, jaws stretched wide, teeth streaked yellow and black with tartar. Caroline's mouth twitched. She'd slacked off, and Raven's tartar was back. She'd have to keep a closer eye on that. Jet was mid-dive, feathers slicked tight to his skin, almost bald-looking. His eyes stretched thin from the dive. The wood mouse curled up, its hard shell shielding it. Its massive claws reached out, ready to swipe blindly.Caroline sprinted to it in seconds. Then, she switched abilities and shouted, "I'm a Hammer!" The moment she changed, time snapped back into motion. Raven lunged with his jaws toward the wood mouse's claw. Jet dove from above, shooting a fireball. The wood mouse's eyes went wide when it realized the attacks. The moment it lifted its head, a giant iron hammer smashed down on it. Its head instantly burst. Raven clamped its outstretched paw, while a fireball hit its back. Caroline even heard a wet cracking sound—that was the ratwood mouse's skull caving in. The time-freeze ability she used had been copied from Wilbur. The second she copied it, she understood why no one ever knew his power. Because when he used it, no one could tell.Special Ability: Time Stasis. Notes: Freezes time for everyone except the user for 3–10 seconds. The original owner was ridiculously handsome. Before the apocalypse, his smile could literally stop everyone for a few seconds. Unknown if Caroline's heart skipped a beat when she saw him.