Chapter 4

"Hey, manager." Logan lifted his chin and called out to the man, holding up his box of steak. "I'm a VIP customer at your store. I don't eat compressed biscuits. See this? This is imported steak I just bought. Find me a portable stove and cook it for me.

"I want it medium-well, with plenty of rosemary and black pepper. Make sure you let it rest long enough."

Everyone around him who was gnawing on dry, rock-hard biscuits went silent. Dozens of pairs of eyes locked onto him at once.

The manager paused for a moment, then smiled bitterly. "Sir, the power's out, and the ventilation system isn't working. Pan-searing a steak creates too much smoke. Besides, we need to save the gas canisters to heat up water for the children."

"Not my problem. That's a failure of service on your end." Logan let out a cold scoff.

"Fine, forget the steak. I need to wash my shoes. Someone stepped on them earlier. Regular mineral water will damage the material. Bring me two bottles of Evian."

Even I could not stay quiet after that.

A young mother nearby who was holding a baby stood up, her voice raw as she shouted at him, "You want to use Evian to wash your shoes? I can't even get enough hot water to make formula for my baby! Are you even human?"

"What are you yelling at me for?" Logan flinched, but then puffed out his chest and shot back. "These are limited-edition sneakers! They cost tens of thousands! Of course, you use premium water to clean them. Take a look at your own shoes. You all look like beggars."

The young mother's husband was already clenching his fists and moving forward. I grabbed Logan and dragged him back just in time.

"Let go of me! You're wrinkling my jacket!"

"If you want to die, don't drag me down with you!" I hissed through gritted teeth, right into his ear.

"Nobody's playing by the rules here anymore. Keep pulling stunts like this and they'll throw you outside to freeze into an ice sculpture."

Logan's face went white. He seemed to remember what happened to the man at the entrance, and he finally shut his mouth.

In the second half of the night, the temperature dropped even further. The thermometer in the supermarket read five degrees Fahrenheit.

Even wrapped in comforters and down jackets, people's hands and feet were going numb. Every breath came out as a cloud of white mist, and frost clung to their eyelashes.

Logan's lips were turning purple from the cold, yet he still clutched the corner of the down jacket he refused to wear, muttering to himself.

"I'm not cold. This is nothing. I've done winter swimming before."

"We can't take this! It's too cold! We need to start a fire!"

Someone voiced a suggestion. Starting a fire indoors was dangerous, but when the choice was between freezing to death and smoke inhalation, everyone instinctively chose warmth.

The manager directed everyone to clear out an open area and found some sheet metal barrels to use as fire pits. Fuel became the next problem.

"Burn the wooden pallets! And the cardboard boxes!"

Everyone pitched in, tearing apart the wooden pallets from under the shelving units. Several fire pits were soon crackling with flames, and the firelight brought a long-overdue sliver of warmth to that desperate night.

People huddled around the fire pits in tight clusters. Logan was no exception. With his usual shamelessness, he elbowed his way right into the innermost ring. However, it did not take long before he started acting up again.

"Ahem! What is that smell?" Logan covered his nose, waving his hand in front of his face with a look of pure disgust.

"Is this wood moldy? The smoke is so thick it's making my eyes sting. My limited-edition sneakers are suede. Suede absorbs everything. They're going to reek of smoke."

An older man next to him was warming his hands over the fire and snapped without looking up. "If you don't like the smoke, go sit in the corner and freeze!"

Logan could not take being spoken to like that. He pointed toward the clothing section in the distance. "There's a ton of clothes over there, isn't there? Burn those! Cotton clothes make less smoke when they burn, and they give off more heat."

My heart skipped a beat. The clothes in that section were life-saving supplies for keeping warm.