Although Julia had cleverly kept to the corner, Suzy had already pinpointed her position through the surveillance feed.
Without hesitation, Suzy gripped the spray gun and pressed down hard.
A sharp jet of pepper spray blasted straight into Julia’s face—soaking her hair, her clothes, everything.
The acrid sting hit instantly. The choking fus made her cough violently, tears streaming uncontrollably down her cheeks.
Worse still, the spray seeped into her eyes.
The mont it touched her eyeballs, a searing pain exploded through her vision.
Instinctively, Julia tried to rub her eyes, desperate to ease the burning—but her fingers were already coated in the spray.
It only made things worse.
Outside, chaos erupted.
Under Suzy’s indiscriminate barrage, nearly everyone had been hit.
"That bitch... she used pepper spray!!"
"My eyes—ahhh, I can’t see!!"
"Don’t rub them! Don’t rub—go, rinse with water—quick!"
...
Shouting over one another, stumbling and half-blinded, the group retreated in disarray.
Inside, Suzy and Leonard had already slamd the security door shut with lightning speed and withdrawn into the apartnt.
"Not bad, Suzy. When did you prepare pepper spray?" Leonard asked, grabbing a cloth and wiping down the long blade in his hand.
A sar of Bill’s blood stained the edge—not much. With a casual swipe, it was gone.
The blade glead once more under the light, sharp and cold as ever.
"It’s just a small starting tool," Suzy said with a dismissive wave. "I’ve got other things too."
For people like them, pepper spray was more than enough.
If they dared co back again... she wouldn’t mind switching to sothing else.
Stun batons, defense sprays, even crossbows—she had them all lined up neatly in her storage space.
She wasn’t opposed to putting them to use.
But after this lesson, they probably wouldn’t dare try anything again anyti soon.
And even if they did—she wasn’t afraid anymore.
The stairwell door was sturdy enough. Without proper tools, breaking through it would be nearly impossible.
At the very least, it would hold for a while.
"Uncle, how does the knife feel?" Suzy asked after a pause.
She’d bought that blade overseas—expensive, but clearly worth it. Otherwise, Bill wouldn’t have bled quite so much.
"Works beautifully." Leonard gave her an approving nod.
"Then keep it for protection," Suzy said.
"Gladly. Thanks." He smiled, weighing the knife in his hand with clear satisfaction.
Leonard had prepared weapons of his own—several machetes, boning knives, even a modified nail gun—but he hadn’t had the chance to bring them out yet.
Now, though, they all seed inferior compared to the blade he held.
There was sothing about it—the balance, the weight—that filled him with confidence.
He stored the knife in his room before stepping back out. "They won’t be coming back anyti soon."
As he spoke, he sniffed—and imdiately sneezed.
The pepper spray Suzy had used was potent. Even though it hadn’t hit him directly, the lingering scent had clung to his clothes.
One whiff was enough to make his nose revolt.
"I’m going to shower—and change. That sll is unbearable."
Suzy nodded. "Good idea."
Even if he hadn’t said it, she had already planned to do the sa.
The scent clung to her as well.
She clicked her tongue softly to herself.
As expected of sothing bought on the black market—the effect was brutal.
Those people outside... were going to suffer for quite a while.
Once pepper spray got into the eyes, the only relief was to flush it out with water.
By the ti they staggered back to Mrs. Warren’s base, it took an entire bucket of water just to ease the burning slightly.
As they stared at the water splashed all over the floor—eyes red, swollen, and streaming—they couldn’t help but feel a pang of pain.
Water was precious now.
But without rinsing imdiately, they might have lost their sight altogether.
All because of 501.
How vicious!
If she hadn’t sprayed them, they wouldn’t have wasted such a large amount of water!
"Mrs. Warren... what do we do now? Are we still going back to 501?"
"Maybe we should try another unit... that place feels off."
"Yeah... let’s just forget it."
A few of them began discussing it openly in front of Mrs. Warren.
In truth, they all wanted the sa thing—to skip Suzy’s apartnt entirely.
None of them wanted to experience that burning agony again.
They’d already wasted so much water, and their eyes still throbbed.
And that household was clearly prepared—first a blade, then pepper spray... who knew what they’d bring out next?
That was a bone too hard to chew.
Better to leave it alone.
Mrs. Warren felt a deep unwillingness in her chest—but she didn’t have the courage to confront Suzy again.
Her son was injured, her own eyes still burned—501 was not soone to provoke.
At the end of the day, they were all the sa: ordinary people who bullied the weak and feared the strong.
Greedy, yes—but not reckless enough to risk everything.
"...Forget about them," Mrs. Warren said through clenched teeth. "It’s getting late. Leave the supplies here and go rest. Tomorrow, we’ll try the other units."
No one objected.
Their eyes were still on fire—they were more than happy to retreat.
One by one, they left.
After shutting the door, Mrs. Warren carried all the collected supplies into her room.
Bill, his arm bandaged, stepped out from inside, his expression dark.
"Mom, you’re just going to let 501 go like that?"
He had heard everything. And he was furious.
He had taken a blade for this—there was no way he’d let it go.
Mrs. Warren looked at her pale-faced son, her heart aching. "Let see your injury again..."
After checking carefully and confirming it wasn’t serious, she sighed.
"That family is... strange. It’s better not to provoke them for now."
Bill frowned.
"Our goal is food," she continued. "Even without them, there are plenty of other households. No need to waste ti."
Bill fell silent for a mont, then nodded.
There wasn’t much else they could do.
As long as the other side stayed barricaded inside, they had no way in—and those bizarre tools of theirs...
For now, they abandoned any plans of dealing with Suzy.
***
At the sa ti, Julia was losing her mind at ho.
She hadn’t gone back with Mrs. Warren. The mont the pepper spray hit her eyes, she had rushed ho instead.
"Honey! Quick—help !!" Her voice was shrill with panic.
"What now?" the man muttered irritably as he got up and walked over.
The mont he got close, the pungent sll of pepper spray hit him. He recoiled instantly.
"What the hell is that sll..." he muttered, frowning.
Julia clutched her eyes, tears streaming uncontrollably. "My eyes... pepper spray got in them... help rinse them..."
Covering his nose, the man dragged her into the bathroom.
He filled a basin with water and pushed her face down toward it.
"Wash it yourself."
Relief flooded through her the mont her face hit the water.
"Help ..." she pleaded weakly.
He frowned, clearly annoyed, but didn’t refuse. Scooping water with his hands, he began splashing it over her eyes.
"What even happened to you?"
"I’ll tell you later..."
His movents were rough, careless—but Julia didn’t mind.
At least, not at first.
Then... Sothing felt wrong.
Why did it burn more the longer she washed?
Her entire face felt like it was on fire.
She jerked her head up, voice trembling. "Why does the water... feel spicy?"
"How would I know?" he muttered.
Squinting through the pain, she forced one eye open—and saw it.
The water in the basin had already turned red, tainted with pepper spray.
He had been using that sa water to rinse her eyes.
No wonder it kept getting worse.
"You couldn’t change the water?!" she snapped, fury breaking through the pain.
He let out a cold snort. "We barely have any water left. Just make do. So fussy."
Julia choked on her anger.
"How is this supposed to clean anything?!"
"You look fine to ."
With that, he turned and walked out of the bathroom.
Julia stood frozen, fists clenched.
Finally, she dumped out the reddish water, refilled the basin with a small amount, and kept rinsing.
By the ti the burning eased even slightly, more than half their household water was gone.
Her eyes still red and swollen, she returned to the bedroom.
The man lay sprawled on the bed. He glanced at her lazily. "So what did you get yourself into this ti?"
Julia sat down at the edge of the bed, teeth clenched. "It’s that family in 501 again!"
"What about them?"
"We told them to hand over supplies—they refused, and even sprayed people with pepper spray!"
"I told you not to ss with them," he scoffed. "Serves you right."
His attitude made her blood boil.
"I... I just can’t swallow this!" she snapped.
Ever since she lost her supplies because of 501, the resentnt had festered.
When she heard Mrs. Warren was collecting supplies, she imdiately went to stir things up.
If it worked, she might have gotten a share.
"Keep this up and you’ll bring trouble on yourself," the man warned. "Don’t say I didn’t tell you."
Julia said nothing. She turned away and left the room.
***
In the end, Mrs. Warren’s group skipped Suzy’s apartnt.
After resting for a day, they resud collecting supplies throughout the building.
Many households cooperated.
So, like Suzy’s, refused outright.
Those who stood their ground were left alone after a few harsh words.
Those who didn’t—eventually gave in under threats from Bill and the others.
Before long, they reached the nineteenth floor.
A young couple lived there, already waiting for them.
After taking inventory, Mrs. Warren led the group onward—up to the twentieth floor.
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