Chapter 1

After sending the voice message, Miranda White put her phone away. She jabbed her crimson-painted nails in my face. “Listen up! We’ll gather here every day before we head out. That’s the rule!

“If you want to leave, fine! Go the long way around!”

The other members from the power-walking mob beside Miranda chimed in one after another.

“That’s right! Ever since we formed the power-walking group, we never made way for cars!”

“We won’t make an exception for today either. Otherwise, any random vehicle will think it can push us around! What if one of them hits us?”

“If you want to go through, then skirt around. Why should we be the ones to make the way?”

But we only had one entrance that led out to the main road. There was no other way to skirt around.

I remembered my father-in-law, Bradley Priestly, had collapsed all of a sudden and foamed at the mouth. His body had convulsed helplessly.

A human life was on the line.

I clenched my fists tightly as I stared at Miranda at the center of the crowd.

“Miranda, everyone listens to you. With just one word from you, the ambulance can get through.

“The patient’s condition is really serious! We can’t afford any more delays!”

Although they had loaded Bradley into the ambulance with professional emergency equipment on board, the doctor who rode with him had said his condition was extremely critical. The equipment in the ambulance alone would not be enough. They had to get him to the hospital immediately.

Every minute of delay meant greater danger.

I looked at Miranda and said through gritted teeth, “Miranda, I’m begging you. You and—”

“Get lost!”

Miranda shoved me aside impatiently. “What do I have to do with your patient?! Stop talking nonsense!”

My shin slammed into a round stone bollard. I tripped and fell hard to the ground. My palm hit the pavement. A sharp sting shot through it as blood slowly seeped out.

Miranda waved the small flag in her hand as she shouted even more energetically, “Sunset Power-walkers, assemble! Everyone gathers here! Nobody gives way!”

Miranda was a central figure in the group.

At her command, those who had hesitated before decided to join them.

The narrowed road was about to be completely jammed. It was packed so tightly that even a cat could barely pass through.

I panicked. If this went on any longer, my father-in-law would be in danger.

I struggled to get back on my feet. I pleaded with the crowd. “There’s a person in there fighting for his life. Please move aside. Just a little. It won’t take long…”

But no one paid me any attention.

They avoided me with cold faces. They gathered under Miranda’s small flag and quickly formed neat rows.

They completely blocked the road.

Even a bicycle would not be able to get through the tightly packed crowd, let alone an ambulance.

The doctor in the ambulance grew anxious. He wound down the window. “Ms. Shirley, the patient’s condition is extremely critical. Any further delay will cost him his life!”

Miranda clearly heard what the doctor had said, yet she only let out a cold snort.

With no other choice, I picked up my phone to call my husband, Caleb. Miranda always listened to him.

Caleb answered my call.

“Caleb, Bradley…”

Smack!

Miranda knocked my phone out of my hand with her small flag.

It hit the ground. Then, the power-walkers trampled over it one after another. It was crushed beneath their feet.

The screen flickered once before it went completely black.

Miranda strode to the front. She held her small flag high and shouted, “You’re a disgrace! Your father’s nothing but a country bumpkin! He’s nothing like my hubby!”