Hearing this, everyone turned to look at Mandy Sinclair.
Troy Lowell stared at Mandy Sinclair's figure, looking her up and down. "So there are plenty of supplies right here in our building? Where? Don't tell me they're at your place."
Mandy Sinclair shot Troy Lowell a reproachful look. "If only I had supplies and water at my place, I would have handed them over to Mr. Crawford at the first opportunity! Unfortunately, I don't have anything left! But I know who does!"
"Who?" Sebastian Crawford asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Sierra Sullivan on the 36th floor. She does!"
At these words, the crowd exchanged glances. None of them knew who Sierra Sullivan was.
Even though they all lived in the same building, neighborly relations weren't what they used to be.
It was perfectly normal for people living on different floors not to know each other.
Troy Lowell's eyes were full of curiosity. "How do you know she has a lot of supplies? Did you see them with your own eyes?"
How would Mandy Sinclair know if Sierra Sullivan had supplies in her apartment?
But it didn't matter whether she did or not.
Mandy Sinclair's expression didn't change. "I've seen them before."
'What if she really does have them!'
'And even if she doesn't, I'll just say Sierra ate it all.'
'It'll have nothing to do with me!'
Seeing Mandy Sinclair say this without batting an eye, Troy Lowell instantly believed her.
"Mr. Crawford, let's go check it out!"
When he saw everyone turn to look at him, Troy Lowell quickly tried to justify himself.
"I just think... she's a young woman all by herself. She can't protect that many supplies. If she joins us, we can protect her..."
Sebastian Crawford said nothing, just stared at Mandy Sinclair without blinking.
Mandy Sinclair's heart hammered in her chest under his gaze, but she forced herself not to look away.
After a few seconds, Sebastian Crawford finally spoke. "In that case, let's go take a look."
Only then did Mandy Sinclair let out a sigh of relief.
Led by Sebastian Crawford, the large group made their way toward the 36th floor.
Climbing from the tenth floor to the 36th was an incredibly draining task.
Most of the people living in this building were well-off.
They were people who barely walked a few steps on a normal day; now, suddenly having to climb over twenty flights of stairs was practically torture.
As they climbed, some of them started to curse under their breath.
But the thought that they had no water and little food left at home made them grit their teeth and push on.
Many had already made a silent vow: no matter what, they had to make Sierra Sullivan hand over her supplies!
If they climbed all the way to the 36th floor, exhausted to the point of death, only to not even see a shadow of the supplies, they would truly cough up blood from frustration.
...
Sierra Sullivan was exercising when her doorbell rang again.
Sierra Sullivan looked toward the entrance, her brow furrowing tightly.
'Who is it now?'
'It's only been two days since the apocalypse started. Why do people keep showing up at my door?'
Sierra Sullivan softened her steps and slowly walked toward the door.
The LCD screen of the video doorbell clearly displayed the situation outside.
Outside her door was a massive crowd of people!
The one frantically ringing the doorbell was a brawny, muscular man.
Standing not far behind him was Sebastian Crawford.
And at Sebastian Crawford's side was Mandy Sinclair, a smug look on her face.
The moment she saw the expression on Mandy Sinclair's face, Sierra Sullivan guessed what was happening.
'Mandy Sinclair must have told them something for all these people to come looking for me together!'
Outside the door.
Troy Lowell was mashing the doorbell button.
But the bell rang again and again, and still, there was no sound from inside.
This made Troy Lowell irritable, and he slammed a heavy palm against the door.
The door was unscathed, but Troy Lowell's hand went numb from the impact.
"Damn it! I've been ringing the bell for ages and no one's answering. You don't think there's no one inside, do you?"
As he said this, Troy Lowell shot a look at Mandy Sinclair.
Being stared at by Troy Lowell, Mandy Sinclair felt a chill run down her spine. "There is! There definitely is! Two nights ago, I saw her go upstairs with my own eyes!"
"Then she's doing it on purpose!" Troy Lowell got even angrier. "She's too scared to open the door, so she must have a guilty conscience! Mr. Crawford, I bet she has tons of supplies in there! Why don't we try opening the door another way?"
"What way?" Sebastian Crawford shot back. "If you want to break this door down with brute force, you'll need a cannon. Even if you could find a locksmith right now, they wouldn't be able to open it without specialized tools."
Being publicly refuted by Sebastian Crawford, Troy Lowell struggled to save face. "How do you know, Mr. Crawford? Maybe the door just looks tough..."
"Because I have the same model at my place."
Troy Lowell instantly shut his mouth.
Since Sebastian Crawford himself had said so, there was nothing left to argue.
Seeing Troy Lowell fall silent, some of the others grew anxious. "So what do we do now?"
"Yeah! We worked our asses off climbing to the 36th floor, we can't just go back down like this, can we?"
Sebastian Crawford knew that just sending them back down wasn't an option.
This was the first thing he'd done since organizing this group. If he failed so spectacularly right out of the gate, what authority would he have left?
Sebastian Crawford stepped forward, walking up to the door.
"Sierra Sullivan, I know you're in there. Don't be afraid! We're not here to cause trouble! We just have something to discuss with you!"
"You've seen the situation outside! The apocalypse is here! We don't know when official help will arrive. We have to unite to get through this crisis!"
"I've organized everyone, and we've all agreed to pool our supplies for unified planning and distribution! I hope you'll join us too!"
"To be honest with you, I'm a Superpower User! Rest assured, if you open the door now, I will definitely protect you. I won't let anyone bully you!"
Inside the apartment.
Sierra Sullivan heard every word they said loud and clear.
Sierra Sullivan hadn't paid any mind to his earlier words.
But when she heard Sebastian Crawford's last sentence, she was instantly energized.
'A Superpower User?'
'Superpowers actually exist?'
'I thought that was the kind of thing you only find in novels!'
But on second thought, the apocalypse had arrived and Aberrant Beasts had appeared, so it wasn't that strange for humans to have Superpowers.
'If humans didn't even have Superpowers, then they'd really be doomed.'
Sierra Sullivan stared intently at the screen, but didn't say a word.
Although she was curious about Sebastian Crawford's Superpower, now was not the right time to speak up.
Sebastian Crawford, however, did not disappoint.
He raised his right hand and opened his palm.
As his palm opened, a ball of fire materialized above it.
Watching the fireball dance in Sebastian Crawford's palm, Sierra Sullivan's breathing grew heavier.
'It really is a Superpower!'
'That's a Fire Ability, right?'
"Sierra Sullivan, we were listening to the radio just before we came. It said that those man-eating Dunescrawlers are afraid of fire. And I happen to have a Fire Ability. Do you know what that means?
It means I can leave this building and go outside to find supplies without having to fear those Dunescrawlers.
I know you might have some supplies, but how much could you possibly have? You'll run out eventually. It's better to cooperate with us! When the time comes, we'll take you with us to find more supplies! We can all survive this together!"