After dinner, the group discussed the night watch schedule and began to rest in shifts.

Keeping watch alone made it easy to get distracted, so they did it in pairs.

Sierra Sullivan and Jayce were the first to stand watch, for a two-hour shift.

It was actually a bit cold at night.

An iron barrel sat in front of them, with firewood burning inside.

The firelight wasn’t particularly bright, but it cast a ruddy glow on their faces.

The two of them sat side by side, neither speaking a word.

The others had already closed their eyes. They didn’t need sleep masks or earplugs; everyone slept with one ear open.

In the apocalypse, even inside a safe zone, nothing was ever completely safe.

You always had to sleep with one ear open to ensure you could react in time if an accident occurred.

At times like these, whether or not one slept soundly was no longer important.

As time ticked by, the room grew quieter and quieter.

Everyone had fallen asleep, and their breathing had become steady.

Aside from the CRACKLE and POP of the burning firewood, only the faint whistling of the wind from outside could be heard.

But as more time passed, Sierra Sullivan clearly sensed that something was off about the sound of the wind.

In the apocalypse, any subtle change could lead to unexpected consequences.

The moment you noticed something was wrong, you had to investigate immediately. Otherwise, you wouldn’t even know what killed you.

Sierra Sullivan glanced at Jayce. Without a single word spoken, just a shared look, they knew they were both thinking the same thing.

"I’ll go check!"

Jayce said, heading toward one of the bedrooms.

Sierra Sullivan followed close behind.

They entered the bedroom, closing the door behind them before carefully walking to the window and opening it a crack.

It was only a tiny gap, yet a fierce gust of wind swept sand and dust inside.

Luckily, they had anticipated this and were both wearing goggles; otherwise, the sandstorm would have certainly blinded them.

"Why did the wind suddenly get so strong?" Sierra Sullivan’s tone was grave.

Aside from the very beginning of the apocalypse, they hadn’t seen a sandstorm this powerful in a long time.

’Is the apocalypse getting worse again?’

It was pitch black outside. Apart from the howling wind and the sand it carried in, they couldn’t see a thing.

Jayce tried to shut the window again, but the wind resistance was too strong.

Seeing this, Sierra Sullivan hurried forward to help. Together, they finally managed to force the window closed.

But before they could even breathe a sigh of relief, they heard a sharp CRACK.

Something had hit the glass.

The glass shattered on impact.

Staring at the spiderweb of cracks on the windowpane, Sierra Sullivan and Jayce were utterly speechless.

’Couldn’t it have shattered earlier?’

’What was the point of them struggling so hard to close it?’

’Just to make a useless effort?’

The thought alone was almost enough to make them laugh in exasperation.

"I was wondering what you two were doing over here. Having a secret date?"

As the voice drifted in, Nathan Thorne pushed open the bedroom door and poked his head in.

Sierra Sullivan rolled her eyes in annoyance at the shifty-looking Nathan Thorne.

’Before dinner, he was so heartbroken he couldn’t even say a word.’

’How much time has passed? And he’s already back to his grinning, carefree self?’

’She knew one shouldn’t wallow in sadness, but wasn’t Nathan a little *too* happy?’

Deciding Nathan was having too much fun, Sierra Sullivan beckoned to him. "Come over here. I’ve got something cool to show you."

"Something cool?"

Nathan Thorne was skeptical.

"What kind of cool thing could you possibly show me?"

He clearly didn’t believe her.

But unable to resist his curiosity, he straightened up and walked step by step toward Sierra Sullivan and Jayce.

Jayce was holding a flashlight. The beam wasn’t very strong, but since the three of them were standing close together, they could still see each other clearly.

Nathan Thorne saw at a glance that besides the flashlight, they weren’t holding anything else.

"Sierra, didn’t you say you were going to show me something cool? Where is it?"

Sierra Sullivan, who had been standing in front of the window, stepped aside after Nathan Thorne’s question. "Look at the window."

"Why would I look at the win—"

Before he could even finish his sentence, Nathan Thorne’s eyes widened in shock.

"How did the glass crack? Were we attacked by an Aberrant Beast?"

’It’s the middle of the night, and he hadn’t even rested yet. Was he ever going to get a break?’

"We don’t know if it was an Aberrant Beast," Sierra Sullivan said, shaking her head. "We heard the wind picking up, so we came to check it out. We had just managed to close the window when it cracked. We don’t know if a rock hit it or something else..."

After hearing that, Nathan Thorne finally noticed that the wind outside did indeed sound different.

There had been wind during the day, but nothing like this demonic howling.

He could hear it clearly even with the window closed.

It felt as if a horde of Aberrant Beasts were roaring right in his ear.

As someone who had survived since the beginning of the apocalypse, Nathan Thorne understood what was important, even if he often seemed unreliable.

Clearly, the sandstorm had gotten worse.

"If it just suddenly got stronger," Nathan Thorne said with a serious expression, "and that’s all, then we don’t need to worry too much. We can hold out here for a few days without any problem."

"No, you’re wrong. Not just for a few days—we could stay here indefinitely," Jayce corrected him. "What I’m afraid of is that we’re not *just* trapped here..."

Their group had Superpowers, all different kinds, which covered their needs for food, drink, and other necessities.

Even if they were trapped in this house indefinitely, it wouldn’t be a big deal.

But they wanted to do more than just survive.

’Staying here forever is definitely not an option!’

Besides, things were probably not that simple.

Nathan Thorne didn’t say anything, but his expression was just as grave.

Seeing the two of them staring at each other without a word, Sierra Sullivan cleared her throat. "Alright, you two can stop the staring contest. This can’t wait. We should go wake everyone up and tell them what’s going on so they can be prepared."

Both men agreed.

The three of them quickly returned to the living room.

Just as they returned, they saw that everyone else had opened their eyes and was looking at them.

Clearly, no one had been sleeping soundly, and they had all noticed their departure. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Seeing they were all awake, Sierra Sullivan smiled. "Since you’re all awake, that’s perfect. We have something to tell you..."

As Sierra Sullivan recounted what they had just discovered, the expressions of the others grew grave as well.