As he climbed the stairs, he kept checking his surroundings, though the sunlight made it easier to see.

"Who’s there?"

The sudden question stunned him, and turning his head up, he froze.

A middle-aged man peeked around the corner of the staircase from the upper floor, and all he could do was give a strained smile.

Shit. I grew complacent.

Knowing he couldn’t hide or run right now, since it was the only way up, he decided to see what they were up to.

"I am Lucien. My flat is on the twenty-second floor."

The man turned around and spoke to someone above, and only now did he realise that there was more than one person.

"Alright. Come up slowly."

Hearing the man’s words, Lucien nodded and climbed upstairs while the man backed up in the hallway.

The whole group finally came into his view and what he saw caught him off guard.

A family?

But before that, what were they doing so early in the morning?

Two middle-aged men stood in the front with one of them armed with a baseball bat, while the other held a pan in his hands.

A small girl, around twelve, stood behind them, tightly held by a woman who appeared to be in her mid-thirties.

Probably her mother.

And beside them stood a ferret, its leash held firmly by the woman.

Lucien’s eyes twitched at the sight of them still keeping an animal, but there were more pressing matters to talk about for now.

The man with the baseball bat broke the silence with a question, "What were you doing downstairs if you live up above?"

Lucien glanced at all of them one by one, his one hand behind his back and ready to summon the nail gun and use it if the situation called for it.

"I can’t tell you that." That was his reply.

Both of the men narrowed their eyes at his response, but looking at his perfectly fine clothes that showed no signs that he had fought or engaged with someone, they relaxed slightly.

"A few people are breaking into homes and killing to steal their resources."

That sentence made him pause.

He blinked, for even he didn’t expect things to start moving this fast.

"Don’t worry. As you can see, I am neither carrying any supplies that I could have stolen nor a weapon to attack."

He showed both of his arms, and only then did the duo lower their weapons. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

"But what’re you guys doing here?" He didn’t expect such a group would be able to survive and even if they did, shouldn’t they be hiding in their rooms for now?

The woman’s eyes dimmed at the question and removing her hands that were clutching her daughter, she spoke in a low voice.

"Our food supplies have almost finished, so we are trying to ask the others and share the food equally."

After a few more questions, he found out that the woman wasn’t even the mother of the kid.

The man with the baseball bat, Andrew, was the father of that girl. And the other man was also someone who had taken pity on the girl and decided to share the resources for now, believing that if they could last a few more days, the government might have done something by then.

Not wanting to break their morale, he didn’t say anything about their expectations of the government saving them.

In half a month, this world will belong to the awakeners. The age of democracy has passed away.

"So would you consider joining our group?" The woman asked with some hope, as even a little bit of food could ensure the child’s survival a bit longer.

"No, I am sorry." Declining their offer, he didn’t even show any shred of hesitation.

Though he still asked them about their ID names in the community chat group, leaving them a bit confused.

Mary’s dejected expression could be recognized even from where Lucien stood, but he didn’t explain anymore.

Mark, the one holding the pan in his hands didn’t show much of a reaction as if expecting a response like this.

One would be a fool to share their limited stocks of food, but they still tried nonetheless.

I can give them some food if they are in need, but they would need to be useful to me. I am not doing charity here. I just hope they don’t die in some confrontation before I even get the chance to talk again.

With a last glance, he returned to his flat without any other encounters.

Closing the door, he first went and changed his inverter battery to a new one he had just received.

Now he wouldn’t need to worry about the electricity shortage anymore.

"Though I would still need to reinforce my house. I am only safe because I am on one of the top floors, and many survivors are downstairs."

Shifting his attention, he looked around the house and felt satisfied.

Now he had food, electricity, and wouldn’t even need to worry about water.

But it still felt he was missing something.

Something important.

Someone to talk to.

He thought as he sat down on his bed.

Lucien knew he needed someone to live with, talk to, and much more. Humans were social creatures.

And seeing as how things are going in the current situation, living in the house all alone could even drive some people insane.

"But whom?" As he was thinking, the image of a woman appeared in his mind.

Evelyn.

The same person who was nowhere to be found in his past life and rejected anything related to Black Water like she was disgusted by it.

From what he knew, only a few people had seen her after the apocalypse started which confirmed the fact that she was present in this building.

But she had vanished without a trace from then on.

And how did he know so much?

Because Aiden had also searched for her throughout the building just due to her exceptional beauty and figure that surpassed Clara’s by a mile.

She should still be alive... hopefully.