Chapter 6: Preparing to Force the Door Open

Forcing the door open was an option they had, but they didn't want to use it. It could easily make the person inside desperate. Once people become desperate, they are capable of anything. 

They had done this before with another family that reportedly had a lot of food because the man was an online seller. The house was filled with biscuits, snacks, beef jerky, and more. He refused to share his food and kept his door closed, so they had no choice but to resort to force.

However, breaking in wasn't easy. When they tried, the man went crazy, destroying the food rather than letting them have it. He threw the food out the window, stuffed his mouth, or even threw it into the toilet. By the time they got in, much of the food was gone. In the end, he even jumped from the building, laughing that he'd rather give his food to God than to these beasts!

They were enraged. They were beasts? The man had so much food but wouldn't share a bite, even wasting it. He was the real beast! Originally, there was a lot of food, but by the time they got in, there was only some almost inedible beef jerky, stale chips, and hard cake left.

The food thrown outside was either taken by ferocious animals lurking around or destroyed by the hail from the sky. The outside was now a forbidden zone for humans. The extreme cold was painful, but the hail from the sky was unbearable.

They resented that man but learned a lesson. Since then, they tried not to force doors open to avoid a lose-lose situation. Deceiving someone into opening their door was the best option, using force only as a last resort.

David watched them coldly from inside. His surveillance drone revealed their ugly behavior. He chewed on a truffle bread, holding a lamb chop in his left hand and a steak in his right, stuffing his mouth. He had been asleep, full and satisfied, but William's approach to the door set off his alarm.

The drone's feature allowed setting up a red zone in a specific area, triggering an alarm if someone entered. David had set up such a zone outside his door. Woken up, David felt hungry again. He ate his unfinished meal and watched their performance on the monitor.

If they knew he was inside eating a Michelin-star meal, they would probably lose control out of jealousy. Hearing their words, David mocked, "Stop knocking. If you dare, come in and take it. Or are you looking for another child to appeal to my sympathy?"

He was greasy-handed but happily so. In this world, many couldn't afford such grease. Licking his fingers, he watched them nearly going mad outside.

"David?!" William was stunned to hear his voice. He thought someone else had sneaked in, but it was David himself eating meat inside. "How is that possible?" He was in disbelief, then knocked harder.

How could David have survived? The odds were incredibly low. They didn't just steal his food; they beat him, trampled over him. Even if David had hidden food, his injuries should have been fatal, not to mention the extreme cold without any heating or the broken windows. He should have frozen to death!

How did he suddenly come back to life and even change his door?

 "He's... still alive?" The others were shocked. They never expected the person inside to be David, whom they had already robbed.

"No matter if he's alive or not, but... it smells so good." They couldn't help but salivate over the aroma. 

"What do we do now?" someone from downstairs asked. 

"We tricked him last time, but he won't open now!"

"Try again?"

 "Are you an idiot? Wasn't last time enough?" William shouted, "Seeing his attitude, he won't open. Let's break in!"

 "Robert, get the tools!" 

"Got it!" A scruffy strong man carefully descended the stairs.

After speaking, William knocked again and shouted, "David, don't blame us for not warning you! We know we were wrong last time, so if you open now, we'll only take a small part of your food. But... you know Robert's methods. If we have to break the door, it's not up to you!"

Another person yelled, "William's right! We still have room to negotiate! We're all neighbors; nothing is non-negotiable!"

"Negotiate my foot!" David was furious and yelled back, "Instead of spouting nonsense, think about how you'll die! Do you really think I'm still the fool who opens his door for anyone?"

His anger was quick but fleeting because he knew he was no longer like them. 

From the monitor, it seemed he was the only one who had changed. The others still looked poor. Perhaps others had changed too, but certainly not these people. Why bother talking to those doomed in the apocalypse?

David couldn't help but laugh, "Do you know what I'm eating? Lobster, abalone, lamb chops, steak! Guess what I just drank? Bouillabaisse!"