Chapter 88

Suzy reached into her space and pulled out an axe.

Leonard took it from her, gripping the handle firmly. He gave a small nod. "Don’t worry."

He stepped up to the door and opened it.

With the security door still closed, he faced the man outside through the metal bars.

"What do you want?" Leonard’s voice was cool, distant.

The man seemed taken aback when he saw him. A flicker of unease crossed his face.

"Uh... is Erik here?" he asked.

"Erik?" Leonard frowned. "There’s no one by that name here."

The man glanced at the apartment number, confusion written across his face. "Ah... maybe I got the wrong place."

Under Leonard’s steady gaze, he forced an awkward smile. "Sorry about that. I’ll be going."

Leonard gave a curt nod and shut the door.

"Well?" Suzy stepped forward immediately.

"He said he was looking for someone," Leonard replied. "But something felt off."

Suzy was already staring at her phone. The surveillance feed still glowed on the screen.

She switched to the stairwell camera.

Sure enough, there was another man.

He stood idly, fiddling with his phone. At the sound of the door opening, he looked up.

The man with glasses stepped out to meet him.

"So? What happened?" the one in the stairwell asked.

"Guy answered the door," the glasses-wearing man replied. "Wasn’t it supposed to be just a woman living here?"

Their conversation came through clearly via the pinhole camera. Both Suzy and Leonard’s expressions hardened.

Leonard let out a cold laugh. "I knew it wasn’t that simple."

The only question now was—how had they gotten their information?

"Forget it. If there’s a man, move on. Let’s check somewhere else." Their voices drifted as they started upstairs.

"I heard there are two really pretty girls living on the thirteenth floor... come on, let’s go take a look."

Leonard exhaled slowly.

The new water restriction notice had barely come out, and already, trouble was surfacing.

They returned to the living room and had just sat down when the doorbell rang again.

Leonard frowned. "Now who is it again?"

"Let’s see," Suzy said calmly.

She pulled up the camera feed again.

This time, it was Julia.

Leonard’s expression darkened with annoyance. "Nothing good ever comes with her. Ignore her."

They chose not to respond. But Julia was certain they were home. She kept banging on the door, shouting, "Open up! I know you’re in there!"

Leonard’s patience snapped. He moved to deal with her, but Suzy grabbed his arm.

"Let me handle it."

He hesitated. "Be careful."

"I won’t open the security door." Suzy opened only the inner door.

Julia stood outside, drenched in sweat. Suzy didn’t speak first. She simply looked at her, waiting.

Julia stared straight back—and went straight to the point. "I know your family has plenty of supplies."

Her voice was hoarse, rough like sand scraping stone—and laced with a strange, ugly satisfaction.

Suzy couldn’t quite understand what she was so smug about. "We don’t," she replied calmly.

"Stop pretending!" Julia snapped, her voice sharp. "You have water. You have food."

If they didn’t, how could they still look so clean, so put-together? They should have been just like her by now.

Suzy’s expression turned cold. "What exactly do you want?"

Her face, even when stern, carried little intimidation.

She looked young, frail, almost delicate—her natural pallor only reinforcing that illusion.

It was exactly why Julia had targeted her in the first place.

Easy to bully.

The only one Julia was wary of was Leonard.

Tall, broad-shouldered, imposing. If not for him, she might have already brought people to force their way in.

"Don’t play dumb!" Julia raised her voice. "You’re living comfortably—I know you’ve got plenty of good stuff in there!"

"Hand it over. I don’t want much—just half your water and food. Otherwise..." Her eyes gleamed darkly. "I’ll tell everyone. And when they all know you’ve got supplies..."

She smiled thinly. "You’re smart. You know what happens then."

Suzy let out a short laugh. "You think I’ll just hand things over because you say so? Who do you think you are?"

Julia’s face twisted. "Don’t be ungrateful! I’m giving you a chance! People are already breaking into homes in this neighborhood. Think about what happens when you get targeted!"

Her tone turned lofty, almost righteous. "Either they take everything... or you give me half. Choose."

"Where do you get the confidence?" Suzy’s voice sharpened. "I already told you—we don’t have that much. Believe it or not. And if you’ve got the energy to come up here and threaten people, maybe go get your head checked instead."

With that, she slammed the door shut.

For a split second, Julia froze—then exploded.

"You bitch! You’ll regret this! I gave you a chance—you’re the one who threw it away!"

The door flew open again.

Suzy stood there, a kitchen knife in her hand. "Say that again."

Julia flinched violently. "You—you..."

She stumbled backward, then turned and ran, terrified Suzy might actually strike.

But she didn’t believe a word Suzy had said.

No supplies?

Impossible.

Suzy was lying.

And she wasn’t going to fall for it.

***

Julia slunk back home. Her husband looked up the moment she entered, empty-handed.

"Didn’t you go out to get supplies? Where are they?" he snapped. "We’ve got nothing left! Did you eat it yourself?"

"I—I couldn’t get any!" Julia gritted her teeth. "That bitch wouldn’t give me anything. Which means—they’ve definitely got plenty!"

Her eyes burned with resentment. "Let’s just take it. Go in and grab it!"

"Take it?" he scoffed. "Are you insane? How? Go on—tell me how."

Julia fell silent. After a long pause, she muttered unwillingly, "So we just let them live comfortably while we suffer? Why should they have it easy?"

Her fists clenched. "I won’t accept that. If we’re miserable, they shouldn’t get to live in peace either."

Her husband lay back on the sofa, fanning himself lazily.

"We’ll deal with it later," he said. "It’s not like we can just break in. They’re staying inside—we don’t have the tools to force our way in."

Julia said nothing.

But her hands tightened slowly.

A thought—dark and dangerous—began to take shape in her mind.

At the same time—on the thirteenth floor—Hannah’s doorbell rang.