Chapter 21 Tragedy
Before the world fell apart, Skyhaven–a luxury gated community–had never lost power.
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Joy’s home didn’t have a solar generator, so when the electricity went out, she was at a complete loss. Now, the oppressive heat was making her restless and irritable.
She fanned herself with a magazine and grumbled, “It’s sweltering. When do you think the power will come back?”
“No idea, Kiara remembered all too well–in her previous life, once the power went out, it never came back. This brutal heatwave had destroyed several power plants in quick succession. Within days, the water supply systems collapsed too. That was when they truly said goodbye to the civilized world.
She didn’t tell Joy any of this: no need to fuel hier anxiety. Instead, she simply reminded her to stock up on as much water as possible.
Once Joy went to fill a container, Kiara pulled out a notebook and pen, wiping sweat from her brow. “Calm mind, cool body. Class is in session.”
Seeing Kiara’s earnest focus, Joy swallowed her complaints.
Her mother’s side of the family came from one of the most respected medical lineages in the country. Before she could even do basic arithmetic, Joy had already learned to identify medicinal herbs.
She might still be in her senior year of university, but she’d grown up shadowing her grandfather on house calls.
Her training was solid–not the half–baked kind–and once she saw Kiara a friend, she held nothing back in teaching her
Over the next few days, Kiara learned a great deal. Her enthusiasm only grew.
But just as she was finding her rhythm with the medical lessons, her phone rang one night. It was Sibley,
Her voice was tight with fear. She told Kiara someone was pounding on their front door–hard–and shouting threats.
Kiara’s face hardened instantly. She grabbed her car keys and rushed for the door.
Before leaving, she cranked the circuit breaker of her door up to full capacity.
The world was only getting more dangerous–every precaution counted..
She had no way of knowing that, not long after she left, several intruders broke into her place, and only one of them survived the electric traps.
Sibley lived in a commercial district near the city’s middle ring. Before the heatwave, the area had been lively and bustling.
But that also meant the renters came and went constantly, and the neighborhood was full of strangers.
In chaotic times, that made this area a prime target.
When Kiara arrived, the metallic tang of blood hit her before she even reached the door. Her s
stomach sank.
She stepped inside. Moonlight spilled across the living room floor, revealing the scene with cruel clarity.
Sibley was on her knees, bent over the limp body of her father. David Harmon’s face was already turning a grayish–blue. Sibley was making small, broken sounds like a wounded animal.
Her mother, Andrea Harmon, sat nearby, still as stone, her expression hollow.
The sight made Kiara’s chest tighten.
She hurried over. “Andrea,” she said softly, before crouching down to pull Sibley into her arms, wiping the blood smeared across her friend’s face. “Sibley, what happened?”
Sibley’s hands trembled as she rubbed at her face, her expression twisted in grief. “Kiara… my dad–he was trying to protect me–they stabbed him. Seven times. I–I watched him die.”
She slapped herself across the mouth twice, hard. “It’s my fault. I kept telling my parents not to go out for supplies. If I hadn’t
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Chapter 21 Tragedy
stopped them, those people never would’ve targeted us.”
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The moment she realized it was her constant interference–keeping her parents from going out to buy supplies these past few days–that had drawn the attention of those with bad intentions, Sibley was consumed with guilt.
Kiara caught her hands, stopping the self–punishment. Her face had gone grim.
She had never imagined that urging Sibley to stock up on supplies could bring such disaster–to–her family.
A dangerous glint flashed in her eyes. “Sibley, did you see who they were?”
Sibley shook her head, despair clouding her gaze. “They wore helmets. My dad stayed in front of me the whole time. I didn’t see their faces”
The memory replayed in her mind. jagged and raw. Her voice shook. “I want to kill them, Kiara. But I don’t even know who they are. H–how did the world turn into this?”
Kiara swallowed her own grief. She wasn’t good at comforting people, but she could at least hold Sibley tight and rub her back in slow, steady circles.
She was so focused on Sibley that she missed the shift in Andrea’s expression.
Andrea and David had been together since collège–nearly 30 years side by side. And now, in their old age, her husband had been stabbed to death right in front of her.
Her grief was no less than Sibley’s.
Silently, she wiped away tears and looked at Sibley, cradled in Kiara’s arms. Slowly, the numbness in her eyes softened. Andrea had always been gentle, not built for surviving chaos,
Sibley and Kiara had been close since childhood, and Andrea knew the girl well–reserved, yes, but fiercely loyal to her friends.
And Kiara had trained in kickboxing since she was a child and had spent years traveling and surviving on her own. She was far more capable than her sweet, sheltered daughter.
