Chapter 2

I glared at her viciously, then slammed the door behind me and walked out.

I left her standing there, completely dumbfounded.

Pulling out my phone, I checked the date and time.

There were only two days left before the storm hit.

In forty-eight hours, the entire city would grind to a halt.

First, underground parking garages would flood. Then the storm levees would breach, submerging the streets under feet of murky water.

More than half the residential complexes in the district would be cut off.

Countless older homes would collapse entirely under the deluge.

To avoid repeating my gruesome fate, I hurried to the nearest tactical security store to find reliable weapons for self-defense.

"A stun baton?" The clerk eyed me warily after hearing my request.

"That's right," I replied with a bright smile. "Preferably heavy-duty. The kind powerful enough to drop a wild boar."

Perhaps my grin looked a little unhinged, because the clerk immediately shoved me toward the exit. "We don't carry that."

"Even if we did, I wouldn't sell it to you."

Having no choice, I toned it down at the next tactical shop.

I claimed someone had been stalking me outside my apartment recently and that I urgently needed tools for personal protection.

I legally purchased a high-voltage stun baton, high-grade pepper spray, and several other self-defense tools.

To make my home impenetrable, I went straight to a custom security door and reinforced window contractor.

"That'll run you fifteen thousand dollars," the contractor said after hearing my insane specifications.

He immediately showed me the catalog for their highest-rated, bank-grade vault doors and blast-resistant windows.

Looking at my bank balance—just barely enough to cover the quote—and remembering the agonizing pain of my bones being crushed in my past life, I didn't hesitate.

I secured my landlord's written permission, swiped my card, and signed the installation contract.

In this second life, I was going to sit back and watch every single one of those demons rot in hell.

By the time I returned home, dusk had fallen.

As soon as I walked into the courtyard of my complex, I saw a crowd gathered around the pavilion, fighting over boxes of supplies stacked in front of Faith.

In the center of the crowd, Faith was perched on a concrete table, her eyes glowing with self-congratulatory pride.

"Don't push, everyone!" she called out gracefully. "There's plenty for all of you!"

Noticing someone filming her with a phone, Faith flashed a camera-ready smile.

"Please don't film me! We're the younger generation—it's our civic duty to share and give back!"

Fury surged through me. I marched forward and bellowed at the mob, "Put my stuff down right now!"

"This is theft! Put it down or I'm calling the police this second!"

The crowd looked at me with open sneers.

"Call them, then! See if we care!"

"The sweet girl here gave it to us out of the goodness of her heart. What does that have to do with you?"

"You think the cops are gonna arrest all of us for taking free handouts?"

Seeing that I was about to expose her, Faith quickly grabbed my arm, feigning innocence.

"Zoey!"

"I'm doing this to build good karma for you!"

"If you hoard food and let it go to waste, you'll be reincarnated as a beast in your next life!"

I nearly burst out laughing from pure rage.

How generous she was with someone else's property!

In my previous life, she kept repeating that everything was for my own good. Her favorite line was: I'm your cousin, would I ever hurt you?

And in the end, she had me trampled into mincemeat.

It wasn't until my final moments that I realized true malice is rooted in the bone. It needs no rational motive.

Especially when survival is on the line.

When monsters walk the night during a flood, some humans smile wider than the demons themselves.

Before I could tear into her, Faith yanked my sleeve and shouted toward the crowd, "Run, guys! Take the boxes and go, quick!"