Chapter 6 The Tornado

• Nadia couldn't believe her eyes. The new tenant of Unit 1801 was the same young man who had helped her at the collection point.
• He nodded at her, mildly surprised, before resuming his work. His handsome face was set in a serious expression, and his lean, muscular frame hinted at a strength that could explode into action at any moment.
• Feeling a headache coming on, Nadia greeted him and quickly retreated to her apartment. This time, things were different. Not only had the typhoon arrived earlier than expected, but there was also a new neighbor. Who in their right mind installs three stainless steel doors?
• While she hoped they could coexist peacefully, she couldn't let her guard down. Though the man had been helpful before, the apocalypse would change people. Morality was often the first casualty.
• After locking her door securely, she brushed her teeth, washed up, and ate breakfast. The sky lightened a bit but remained ominously dark.
• Standing on the balcony, she watched the typhoon howl and batter the walls, rain pelting the reinforced glass with relentless fury.
• The streets had flooded overnight, submerging cars and sweeping away anything in low-lying areas.
• Rain obscured her view, and the distant landscape was shrouded in a murky, oppressive gloom. The sky seemed to press down on the city, like an invisible hand crushing it to dust…
• Nadia stood on her balcony, binoculars in hand, surveying the flooded streets below. The storm clouds hung ominously low, and a twisting water spout connected the sky and earth, swallowing everything in its path—trees, cars, and even parts of buildings.
• A tornado!
• She watched in shock as it sliced through an overpass, lightning setting fire to trees only to be doused by the relentless rain moments later.
• Was there a tornado back then? She didn't remember one, but things felt different this time, as if fate had taken a darker turn.
• Her phone buzzed with constant notifications. Annoyed by the noise, she turned off the network and headed to the kitchen to keep herself busy. She blanched frozen chicken and duck meat to remove the blood and prepared various seasonings for marinating. Cleaning and prepping the pork and beef offals took up a lot of time.
• After inhaling too much cooking smoke, she had no appetite. For lunch, she made a simple tomato and egg pasta.
• Just as she switched off the range hood, she heard a faint sound of a child crying. Dismissing it initially, she went to take out the trash. As she stepped back into her apartment, the crying from next door grew louder.
• With only a year of medical school under her belt, Nadia wasn't even a novice, but she knew enough to sense something was wrong with the child's cries. After a moment of hesitation, she knocked on the door of Unit 1801. "Lily?"
• The three stainless steel doors were thick, and her knocks went unanswered for a while. Just as she was about to turn away, she heard the door unlock with a click.
• After a while, the door finally opened to reveal Lily, her tear-streaked face marked by fear and a bit of dried vomit at the corners of her mouth. Her cheeks were flushed, and clear snot dripped from her nose—clear signs of a high fever.
• "Why are you crying, Lily?" Nadia asked gently, touching the girl's forehead. It was alarmingly hot. "Where's your dad?"
• "Harry's gone," Lily whimpered, her voice raspy from crying. "He also doesn't want me anymore."
• Also? Looks like she's been abandoned before, thought Nadia.
• Looking at the three steel-reinforced doors, she patted Lily's head to comfort her. "He probably had to go out for something and will be back soon. Why don't you come to my place for a bit?"
• Though the sick five-year-old was clearly scared of the unfamiliar environment, she remembered Nadia and hesitantly nodded.
• Back in her apartment, Nadia took Lily's temperature—it was over 102 degrees Fahrenheit. She found some cold medicine suitable for children, which also had a fever reducer, and gave it to her.
• She then wrote a note for Lily's family and stuck it on the door of Unit 1801, explaining where Lily was and what had happened.
• As the typhoon howled outside, she couldn't help but wonder what kind of person would leave in this weather. It was practically suicidal.
• The typhoon raged outside, occasionally punctuated by flashes of lightning. The TV had lost its signal. Lily sat huddled on the sofa, looking utterly terrified.
• Nadia couldn't help but recall her own childhood. She remembered watching other kids being showered with love by their parents, while she had to curl up in bed and cry into her pillow when she was sick, feeling abandoned by the world.
• Not knowing much about caring for children, she pulled out her tablet and started a downloaded cartoon for Lily.
• The cartoon worked like a charm, and Lily seemed a bit more cheerful.
• Nadia sat beside her, scrolling through her phone. Several notifications popped up, including one from Wayne. His message read, 'Nadia, I'm sorry about my attitude yesterday. Please don't be mad. I was really looking forward to you coming to my birthday. When you didn't show up, I felt so disappointed…'
• He looked decent enough, but who knew he'd be such a weakling, unable to hold out for even one night. Of course, with so many people at his birthday party, his place must still be packed. Parties with snacks, beer, and cake don’t exactly provide survival rations. Even if there were instant noodles and cookies, they wouldn't last long with so many mouths to feed.
• Nadia glanced at the timestamp—he had sent the message an hour ago. Just as I thought, he's begging for food now.
• Several friend requests followed his messages, all from people who probably wanted to curry favor. She ignored them all.
• Two parents from her tutoring class messaged her, thanking her for the tip about stocking up on food. One even sent some money in appreciation.
• Nadia didn't bother accepting it. In these times, money was useless.
• She scrolled through the group chats. People were showing off their seafood feasts, eating hotpot and drinking wine while the typhoon raged outside, and flaunting their stocked-up freezers.
• The showing off was endless. They were playing with fire, unaware of the price they'd pay.
• With two weeks of nonstop typhoons and rain, even with government efforts, the harsh reality would bite hard. Once food scarcity hit, those flaunting their excess would become prime targets for looting.
• Amidst the show-offs were the desperate ones.
• Many were helpless, mostly young people who relied on takeout and never cooked at home. They had plenty of clothes and face masks but not a morsel to eat.
• "All the instant noodles were gone when I got to the store. Can anyone spare some?"
• "I didn't get any either. I bought two packs of flour, but I don't have a pot."
• One complaint led to another. Some even invited the girls over for hotpot, but they were in different buildings.
• Most were just there for the drama. Genuine helpers were rare. Then someone offered to trade a five-pack of face masks for a pack of instant noodles. Surprisingly, someone agreed.
• The flood of messages was overwhelming. Nadia quickly scrolled through, pausing at a video. A car was swept away in a flood, and firefighters braved the storm to rescue it, only to be engulfed by a sudden surge of water from a dam breach.
• There were many such videos—some showing successful rescues, others tragic losses.
• Feeling heavy-hearted, she was about to lock her phone when another message from Wayne popped up.