[Dubbed] Ashes to Empire | Full 60 Eps SD Drama 2026 | Full Short Drama | English Sub 2026 - video Dailymotion

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[Dubbed] Ashes to Empire | Full 60 Eps SD Drama 2026  Watch the full short drama with English subtitles. CEO, billionaire, revenge, betrayal — complete story in one video.  #shortdrama #ceodrama #drama #revenge #fullmovie #englishsub #reelshort #dramabox #miniseries #love #betrayal #drama2026

Transcript

00:00When that rusty boning knife sliced open my wrist artery, I didn't even feel pain, just

00:04relief.

00:05Gear 3 of the Scorchure Apocalypse tense locked in at 149 degrees Fahrenheit every single

00:08day.

00:08I was too flashy back then and my whole stash got raided on day one.

00:11Then my husband Blake and his ex Vanessa basically kept me as livestock.

00:14See, I have typo blood and in a world dying of dehydration, my blood was their fancy kombucha.

00:19Blake chubbed the warm liquid straight from my wrist, then slid the other half bowl to

00:23Nessa with those soft, loving eyes.

00:25Nessa, drink up.

00:27This is the last of it.

00:28Once you do, we'll have enough strength to get out of here.

00:30I just lay there on the cracked floor, watching these two parasites live their best lives off

00:33my blood.

00:34Last time around I was Blake's ride or die wife, sitting on dividends from two publicly traded

00:38companies, yet somehow in the apocalypse I ranked below a stray dog.

00:40As my consciousness faded, I heard the scorching wind howling outside, like the universe was

00:43laughing at what a sucker I've been.

00:44Then I opened my eyes again, an AC vent hit me and I literally shivered, and instead of

00:47corpses, I was back at that same mahogany negotiating table.

00:50Blake slapped a divorce agreement in front of me, totally checked out.

00:54Ivy, don't push your luck.

00:56The Riverview penthouse goes to me.

00:57That dirt plot goes to you.

00:59Final offer.

00:59Keep it up, and Nessa's gonna lose her patience.

01:02I glanced at my phone.

01:03June 1st, 2026.

01:04Exactly one month before the sun became the Grim Reaper.

01:07I pushed down the rage boiling in my chest and took a good look at his so-called luxury

01:10penthouse.

01:10Priciest development in the city.

01:12Full glass curtain walls.

01:13Killer views.

01:14But in the apocalypse, it's just a 360-degree solar oven with zero blind spots.

01:17Anyone inside would be beat jerky within half a day.

01:19And that dirt plot Blake mentioned, an abandoned civil defense bunker way out in the suburban

01:23hills.

01:23Sure, nothing grew on top and people swore it was haunted, but underneath was 20 meters

01:26of solid underground space.

01:28I took a slow, deep breath.

01:29Pulled out my bashed, completely losing it.

01:30Performance.

01:31Picked up the pen with a trembling hand.

01:33Fine, I'll sign.

01:34And done.

01:34I'm heading to the mountains to grow vegetables.

01:36And I never want to see either of you again.

01:38Blake and Nessa exchanged a look.

01:40Couldn't hide the glee.

01:41As far as they were concerned, I'd finally lost the plot.

01:44Trading a $27.4 million penthouse for a pile of dirt.

01:46The second I signed, Nessa swooped in with that fake sweet smile.

01:49Ivy, don't be mad at Blake.

01:50Sure, the plot's in the middle of nowhere, but hey, peace and quiet.

01:53Living solo could be really good for you.

01:54The sarcasm was practically dripping off her face.

01:56I didn't even look at her.

01:57Grabbed my keys and walked.

01:59Stepped out of the law firm into noon sun that felt like a personal attack on my eyeballs.

02:02Not this time.

02:03No more playing dumb.

02:04First order of business.

02:05Not shopping.

02:06Money.

02:07But I couldn't touch my main accounts.

02:08Blake was still watching every transaction.

02:10And that greedy man would've swooped in the second anything moved.

02:14So I drove straight to the biggest luxury resale shop in the city.

02:17My trunk was packed.

02:18Hermes bags, limited edition watches, and all the jewelry I used to treat like it was irreplaceable.

02:22The owner watched me dump tens of thousands of dollars worth of bags on his counter.

02:25Like I was tossing out trash and just...

02:27Mrs. Donovan, are you...

02:28I cut him off, ice cold, not a Donovan anymore.

02:30Cash for everything, no wire transfers.

02:32You can knock off 20%, but I walk out with the money within the hour.

02:35And you don't breathe a word.

02:36Smart guy.

02:37He flipped the sign and thought to counting.

02:39Two hours later I walked out with two black garbage bags that used to hold cat food.

02:42Now stuffed with $690,000 cash.

02:44Not a fortune.

02:45But for bulk basic supplies.

02:47More than enough.

02:48Skipped going home.

02:50Went straight to a rental place instead.

02:51And picked up a beat up, mudspotted minivan that had seen better decades.

02:54Ditched the heels.

02:55Threw on some $20 work boots and a pair of tough jeans.

02:58Looking at my bare face in the mirror.

03:00I finally felt safe for the first time.

03:01In the hell that's coming, beauty is a liability.

03:04Blending in is the only armor that matters.

03:05Next up, time to claim my fortress.

03:07That haunted garbage dump everyone rode off.

03:09Three hours of bumping down the dirt road.

03:11And we finally arrived at the base of a barren mountain.

03:14Desolate was an understatement.

03:15Weeds and rocks are everywhere.

03:16Halfway up the slopes at a rusty iron gate.

03:18The bunker entrance.

03:19I shoved open that heavy door and got hit with a wave of mold from GAM.

03:23Also rat.

03:24Lots of panicked rats.

03:25Inside was pitch black.

03:26Flooded.

03:27Trashed.

03:27With mystery spider webs covering every single corner.

03:29In normal times, you couldn't pay a homeless guy to sleep here.

03:32But to me, this was the arc.

03:34I flipped on my flashlight and pushed deeper.

03:36Dagging the whole way.

03:37Built in the 1960s.

03:38Reinforced concrete frame.

03:40Sitting 20 meters underground.

03:42At least 10 degrees cooler than outside.

03:44When the heat wave hits and surface temps spike to 158 degrees Fahrenheit.

03:47This place becomes a natural AC unit.

03:49Current condition though.

03:49Raw.

03:50Ventilation shafts completely blocked.

03:51All wiring dead.

03:52And the well I remembered from last time had zero water.

03:55Just dried up sludge.

03:56Turning this into a safe house met one hard rule.

03:57No contractors.

03:58Blake had connections everywhere.

04:00One piece of heavy machinery rolling into these hills and he'd know by lunch.

04:02I had to do this and style.

04:03One grain of sand at a time.

04:05I made a list.

04:06Clear the sludge.

04:06Reinforce the gate.

04:07Fix ventilation.

04:08Stoppile supplies.

04:09Every single item.

04:10Pure manual labor.

04:10First move.

04:11I drove the car inside.

04:12And shut the gate.

04:13Home for the next few days.

04:14That night I slept across the back seat.

04:15Eating stale bread that could have doubled as drywall.

04:17Then Blake's social media popped up on my phone.

04:19There he was.

04:19Him and Nessa.

04:20Wine glasses raged.

04:21Floor to ceiling windows behind them.

04:23Finally gave the love of my life a real home.

04:25I chewed my bread and laughed.

04:26Cold and quiet.

04:27Enjoy it.

04:27That giant window is gonna be your personal death trap.

04:31So you'll be on your knees.

04:32Begging for shade and a single drop of water.

04:34First thing next morning.

04:36Priority one.

04:37Water.

04:37The apocalypse doesn't kill you with heat.

04:39It kills you with thirst.

04:41Last life I watched people do the unthinkable for.

04:42Half a cup of mud water.

04:43Deep in the bunker sat in abandoned mechanical well.

04:46I tied a rope around my waist.

04:47Clipped on a headlamp.

04:48And lowered myself down.

04:49Bottom of the well.

04:50Black sludge.

04:51Full stench.

04:52Wrath skeletons.

04:53The smell nearly evicted my last meal on the spot.

04:55No crew.

04:55No shortcuts.

04:56Just me and a penny bucket drink sad little laps.

04:58Scoop mud.

04:58Climb up.

04:59Dump.

04:59Repeat.

04:59Three straight days.

05:00Humile shovel.

05:01Zero benefits.

05:02Black sludge from head to toe.

05:03Snap nails.

05:04Palms bubbling with blister.

05:05Every roll call felt like my arms were going to broke.

05:07But I couldn't stop.

05:08Because I still remembered what it felt like when your throat turns to dust and your blood

05:11goes thick.

05:12Fourth day.

05:13Just afternoon.

05:13One shovel strike and cold liquid exploded.

05:16Straight into my face.

05:17Ground water.

05:18Muddy as hell.

05:19But alive.

05:20I sat at the bottom watching the water.

05:22Rise past my ankles.

05:23Cold soaking through skin.

05:24All the way to bone.

05:25I spook up two hands of ground water and just lost it laughing.

05:27And then somewhere in the laughing, the crying showed up uninvited.

05:29This well was my ticket.

05:30My whole plan hinged on it.

05:32I climbed out and drove straight to the hardware.

05:34District, no rest.

05:35Get to every legit store.

05:37Beeline for the sketchy little shops on the city's outskirts.

05:39Needed the best submersible pump available.

05:41Plus bulk activated carbon, quartz sand, and PP cotton filter cartridges.

05:44Spread the purchases across a dozen shops to stay invisible.

05:47Pulled each one I was buying for a fish farm out in the sticks.

05:49On top of all that, 50 giant plastic water storage tanks.

05:52The well was great.

05:53But groundwater drops in late stage heat events.

05:55So I needed three years worth stored up.

05:57Starting now.

05:58Water done.

05:58Next up, not getting baked a light.

06:00On the ground safe pool.

06:01But extreme surface heat conducts right down.

06:04Can't insulate the whole hillside.

06:06Way too obvious.

06:07So I went with the diamonds.

06:09Sneak his plan.

06:10Land inside.

06:10Drove the van to every building supply market nearby.

06:13And cleared out three shops of thermal wall pool.

06:15And full of bubble wrap.

06:16Cheap.

06:17Light.

06:17Takes out the space of a small country.

06:19Land maxed out fast.

06:20So I just kept making trips.

06:21Those days I was a machine.

06:22A very bruised machine.

06:24Hoaring by day.

06:25Setting foam on walls by night.

06:26No crew.

06:27Build my own scaffolding.

06:285-meter ceiling.

06:29Bell of toys.

06:30Lags were more than a project of hooses.

06:33Hundreds of types of industrial pieces.

06:34And so corroded they shed a full layer of skin.

06:36But watching those moldy walls vanish on the silver foil.

06:38One sheet at a time.

06:40Was every blister.

06:41It's not just walls.

06:42It's a shield between me and the end of the world.

06:44Outside camouflage mattered even more.

06:46The ventilation shafts were halfway up the slope.

06:48To hide any signs someone lived here.

06:49I transplanted dead grass and scrub brush.

06:52Over every shaft opening.

06:53Then staged the premium garbage pile by the entrance.

06:56Busted furniture.

06:57Clothes that had given up on life.

06:58I need to make every pass a bite.

07:00Gag and walk faster.

07:02Because when it all hits the fan, nobody's playing nice.

07:04Right in the middle of all this, Nessa called.

07:06Ivy, heard you've been collecting junk?

07:08Blake and I are worried, obviously.

07:10So we saved you a housewarming invite.

07:13You have to come.

07:13Blake laughed in the background.

07:16Actually don't.

07:17You'll track poverty all over the new floors.

07:19I looked at the tub of wet concrete in my hands and kept it short.

07:22Congrats.

07:23Hope you have kids soon.

07:24You won't have long to enjoy it anyway.

07:26Two weeks left.

07:27Infrastructure done.

07:29Time to fill the pantry.

07:30Still had around 138k cash left.

07:32No supermarket runs.

07:33Those flagged the algorithm.

07:35Drove hundreds of miles to farming regions.

07:37I bought it straight from growers.

07:38Aged rice.

07:39Brown rice.

07:39A husk grain.

07:40Stuff city people won't touch.

07:41Cheat stores forever.

07:42Perfect.

07:43Cash only.

07:43200 tons per pound.

07:45Lens suspension.

07:45Formally large and complete.

07:46Mung beans.

07:47Soy beans.

07:47Red beans.

07:48Not just food either.

07:49Sprout them when desperate.

07:51And boom.

07:52Vitamins.

07:52Beyond grains.

07:53Salt and sugar.

07:54Non-negotiable.

07:55A full metric ton of coarse salt.

07:56Spread across dozens of small shops.

07:58Extreme heat.

07:58Means constant sweating.

07:59Low salt.

08:00Means electrolyte crash.

08:01Means dead.

08:02Meat.

08:02Skipped fresh entirely.

08:04Power hog.

08:05Hard to store.

08:06Went with thousands of canned one-chimitin.

08:07And the saddest.

08:08Densest compressed biscuits.

08:09Not optimizing for taste.

08:10Calories only.

08:11Every run was a full body workout.

08:13Did not sign up for.

08:1450 pound rice bags.

08:1520 at a time into the bunker.

08:16Shoulders.

08:17Raw.

08:18Scab.

08:18Raw again.

08:19But watching those empty shells fill up.

08:21Bag by bag.

08:21Better than every Hermes I ever owned.

08:24Laszlo done.

08:25I passed the pharmacy.

08:27Remembered Nessa losing it over a scratch last time.

08:30Then gilting Blake into cutting my flesh so she could heal.

08:32I walked in stone-faced.

08:33And cleared the shelf.

08:34I done.

08:35Antibiotics.

08:35Anti-inflammatories.

08:36Pinkillars.

08:36All of it.

08:37Cashier stared.

08:38I didn't blink.

08:39Stalking a construction site.

08:40Fucking out.

08:41Lightning stirred the sky.

08:43Thunder.

08:43Low and wrong.

08:44Air gone thick and electric.

08:45The opening act had begun.

08:47Three days out.

08:48Weather Bureau slapped a red heat alert on everything.

08:51Experts on TV calling it a temporary El Mino.

08:54Just stay calm.

08:54Only I knew the temperature was never coming back down.

08:58Drill the van to the deepest part of the bunker.

09:00Pulled the battery.

09:01That thing was my backup storage unit now.

09:03On the final lockdown.

09:04Loaded steel plates over every side entrance.

09:07Left only the most hidden main door.

09:08So you lay a defense on the main entry.

09:10Layer 1.

09:11The garbage pile out front.

09:12Layer 2.

09:13A door that looks wooden.

09:14Armored with bulletproof steel plate.

09:15Layer 3.

09:16The original half meter thick reinforced blast door that came with the place.

09:19Added a manual mechanical lock.

09:20No power needed.

09:22Brute force proof.

09:22Done.

09:23Checked every ventilation shaft.

09:25That's where the activated carbon earned its keep.

09:27Packed every duct with filter layers against outside toxins and airborne disease.

09:31Finally, fired up the modified diesel generator.

09:34Ran attached on the deep well pump.

09:36Hmm.

09:36Low mechanical growl.

09:37And clean groundwater started flowing into the tanks.

09:40Watched the gauge climb.

09:41Felt my shoulders drop for the first time in weeks.

09:43Powered off my phone.

09:44Pulled the SIM card.

09:45From this moment.

09:46Ivy Caldwell was officially off the grid.

09:49Boiled a pot of noodles.

09:50Two eggs on top.

09:51Ate every bite.

09:52Then, patched ash out on the moisture barrier mat.

09:53Listening to the wind pick up outside.

09:55Tomorrow the sun shows its teeth.

09:57And I'm ready.

09:59June 30th.

10:006 AM.

10:01Shoop in the cool morning.

10:02Outdoor temp.

10:03113 degrees Fahrenheit before breakfast.

10:04By noon.

10:05Surface temp hit 140 degrees Fahrenheit.

10:07Asphalt started melting.

10:08Roads turned into slow motion tar pits.

10:10Roadside trees yellowed.

10:12Curled.

10:12Then just caught fire.

10:14Ambulance sirens everywhere.

10:15Until the ambulance tires blew out.

10:1820 meters underground.

10:19I watched it all on my monitors.

10:20Solar cameras.

10:21Mountain peak.

10:22Very sneaky.

10:23The footage looked like someone slapped a red filter on reality itself.

10:27Even down here I felt a faint warmth.

10:30My thermostat said 79.

10:31I was in pajamas.

10:32Biting into a fresh radish I just pulled.

10:35Crisp.

10:36Juicy.

10:36Magnificent.

10:37That crunch.

10:38Priceless in the apocalypse.

10:39I audibly sighed with contentment.

10:40Pulled out the backup phone.

10:41Caught a weak satellite signal.

10:43Social media had fully lost the plot.

10:44Blake's feed was still updating.

10:46Different vibe though.

10:47Yesterday.

10:48Steak and wine.

10:49Today.

10:50Why is this AC so useless?

10:51Someone call the building manager.

10:52Photo attached.

10:53His prize four to ceiling windows.

10:54Now wallpapered in newspaper and bag sheets for shape.

10:56That all glass penthouse was now premium human easy bake oven.

10:59Even with curtains.

11:01Indoor tents had to be pushing 122 degrees Fahrenheit.

11:02I pictured Nessa's surgery enhanced face slowly warping in the heat.

11:06And felt absolutely nothing.

11:07A1.

11:08The main event hadn't even started.

11:09Day 3 of the heat.

11:10City power grid.

11:12Deceased.

11:12Transformers exploding all night.

11:14Honestly a great light show.

11:16No power meant no water pumps.

11:18For anyone living in a high rise.

11:20This was game over.

11:21Blake called 17 times.

11:23I powered up my old number and picked up.

11:25A.V.

11:25Where are you?

11:27Does that plot have water?

11:28Nessa shrieking in the background.

11:30I'm dying.

11:31I need water.

11:32Blake do something.

11:34I took a long slow sip of my ice cold mint water.

11:36And put on my best barely alive voice.

11:37I'm not doing great either.

11:39Rats everywhere.

11:39Hot.

11:40Smells terrible.

11:40So thirsty.

11:41Blake heard I was worse off.

11:42And immediately pivoted.

11:44Useless.

11:44Should have kept the place.

11:46At least I could have sold it for water money.

11:48Click.

11:49Gone.

11:49On my mind with me I could see the date.

11:51Of Blake's building.

11:51Had people smashing windows.

11:52And looting already.

11:53The penthouse kept them safe for now.

11:55But no elevator means climbing down 50 floors.

11:57Means dying of dehydration.

11:58I looked over at my hydroponic vegetable rack.

12:00Lettuce growing under the LED grow light.

12:03Almost aggressively green.

12:04Ultra drip system delivering nutrients every 10 minutes like clockwork.

12:07Drip.

12:08Down here in the quiet.

12:09That sound was basically a symphony.

12:10No rush.

12:10I'd wait.

12:11However long it took for them to go from people to monsters.

12:13Two weeks gone.

12:14Everything on the surface.

12:16Charcoal.

12:16The mountains in the distance had gone full grim reaper aesthetic.

12:19Except for my spot.

12:20I've been careful.

12:21Almost perfect.

12:22The ventilation shafts were covered in dead blood.

12:24But all that underground moisture kept pumping up.

12:26And the supposedly dead weeds on top had gone.

12:28And sprouted back green.

12:30In the landscape of total black death.

12:31That tiny patch of green was basically a neon sign.

12:332pm.

12:34Security alert.

12:35A civilian drone.

12:37Wapping up from the base of the mount.

12:39Moving slow.

12:40Operator clearly running on film.

12:42The camera circled a few times.

12:43And locked onto that little green patch.

12:46Then the drone dropped altitude.

12:48My stomach dropped with it.

12:50Busted.

12:50Not by Blake.

12:51By whatever survivors were still crawling around out there.

12:53Because in the apocalypse.

12:54Green means water below.

12:56Green means livable temperature.

12:57I watched the monitor.

12:58And reached under my pillow.

12:59Custom compound crossbow.

13:00Homemade.

13:01Very effective.

13:01If I couldn't hide it anymore.

13:02The next best option was permanent silence.

13:04On screen.

13:05The drone suddenly spun around and bolted back down the mountain.

13:07Which meant one thing.

13:09They were coming.

13:10All of them.

13:10For the only green thing left on earth.

13:12On the monitors.

13:13Two sketchy figures crept up from the mountain base.

13:15Local village deadbeats.

13:16One tall.

13:17One short.

13:17Carrying machetes that had seen better days.

13:19Following the drone's GPS trail.

13:20Straight toward me.

13:21Planning to keep this jackpot all to themselves.

13:23I zoomed in on the camera.

13:25Got a good look at the naked greed in their eyes.

13:27Bro.

13:28What could even be out here?

13:29Shut up.

13:30The drone caught green grass means there's water down there.

13:32Water means we run this whole area.

13:34I sat in my climate controlled monitoring room.

13:37Ice cold coke in hand.

13:39Compensation drooping down the glass onto my fingers.

13:42Outside surface tank was pushing 131 degrees Fahrenheit.

13:44Every step they took was drawing down their life meter.

13:46I shook my head and set down the coke.

13:47In the apocalypse, anyone who steps into my territory is a threat.

13:50Custom barred steel bolts can punch through a wild boar's skull.

13:53You came all this way.

13:54Might as well stay.

13:55Consider it a housewarming gift for my fortress.

13:56They finally dragged themselves halfway up the hill and found the vent shaft I camouflaged under dead grass and trash.

14:01Bro.

14:02Air.

14:02Cold air.

14:03That chill creeping up from underground.

14:05Absolutely lethal temptation.

14:06They went feral on the iron grate, practically trying to bend steel bars with their hands.

14:10I wasn't about to give them the chance.

14:11I was already posted behind the gun cord on the inside.

14:14Cross hairs lopped steady on the fat one's femoral artery.

14:16The bolt punched clean through his thigh.

14:18Tip coming out the other side.

14:20His screams sent a flock of half dead crow scattering.

14:23Before he even processed it, I reloaded.

14:25The second bolt went through his shoulder and pinned him to the scorching rock.

14:28They dropped.

14:29The blood evaporated off the ground almost instantly.

14:31Out here, wounded and immobile, is just a slower way of saying dead.

14:34I didn't finish them off.

14:34Just watched the monitors, cold as ice.

14:36Tracked them from thrashing to stilted two dried out husks.

14:39That was my first lesson after coming back.

14:40Mercy for intruders is just cruelty to yourself.

14:433 a.m. is the coolest part of the day.

14:45And it's still 113 degrees Fahrenheit.

14:47I suited up in my anti-stab gear, grabbed an entrenching tool, and pushed open the heavy blast door.

14:51Both bodies had gone fully rigid.

14:53You think of that burnt, sour stench, no sympathy, not even a little.

14:55I grabbed them by the ankles, and dumped them into a deep ravine on the shaded side of the mountain.

14:58The heat and the scavengers would take care of the rest.

15:01Sushing them, I found the drone remote controller.

15:03The drone itself was a nice surprise, top shelf DJI.

15:06With that thing, I could cover a 5 kilometer radius around the base.

15:09Back inside, I wiped down the controller with alcohol.

15:11Crisis handled.

15:12But that flash of green had been way too visible.

15:15Those two bodies though, best warning sign.

15:17I could have put up.

15:17Done swatting flies outside.

15:19You turned my attention back to the city.

15:20Through the back door I planted in their system months ago,

15:22I tapped into the security cameras of Blake's building.

15:24Day 7 without water or power.

15:26Through those massive floor to ceiling windows,

15:27the scene inside was rough.

15:29That so-called Riverview luxury penthouse, all glass walls,

15:31had become a giant convection oven.

15:32Not a single angle safe from direct sunlight all day long.

15:34Vanessa was slumped on the floor.

15:36Her once pampered skin caked in dried sweat.

15:38Her designer pajamas crusted over with a white layer of salt.

15:41And the filler in her face had warped from the heat.

15:43The vase on the table was knocked over.

15:45The stale water inside licked clean.

15:47Blake was hunched over an empty water bottle,

15:49trying to collect his own pee.

15:50He hesitated, hands shaking.

15:51But the thirst had stripped away every last shred of dignity.

15:54This was the penthouse they took from me.

15:55It had become an actual hell on earth.

15:57I was watering the lettuce on my hydroponic rack,

15:59just enjoying the satisfying little drip of water.

16:01When the phone I'd silenced so nobody could bother me lit up.

16:04Two words on the screen.

16:05Blake Donovan.

16:06I took my sweet time washing my hands,

16:08dried them all, picked up,

16:09and hit speaker while I was at it.

16:10Ivy, Ivy, please help me.

16:12Blake's voice was wrecked,

16:12like sandpaper dragged across concrete.

16:14I know, you have a way.

16:15You had to have stocked water.

16:16We were married.

16:16Doesn't that count for anything?

16:17In the background,

16:19Vanessa's weak little sobs filtered through.

16:20Ivy, I was wrong.

16:21Just one sip of water, please.

16:23I'll do anything for you after this.

16:24Listening to these two absolutely lose it.

16:26I felt nothing,

16:27just the clean, satisfying rush of a long overdue win.

16:29I picked up the scissors

16:29and snipped the dead leaf off the lettuce,

16:31and said, real casual,

16:32Oh, you're thirsty?

16:33Since you're that desperate,

16:35remember that jade necklace you took from me?

16:37That was a family heirloom.

16:38If you two swallow it,

16:39I'll think about getting you a bottle of water.

16:41Silence on the other end for a few seconds,

16:43like they genuinely couldn't process.

16:44I'd ask.

16:44I thought it was just trash talk.

16:46Turns out when survival's on the line,

16:48people will hit rock bottom fast.

16:49Then through the phone,

16:50came a full-on brawl,

16:51and the woman screaming.

16:53Blake, are you insane?

16:54That's a rock.

16:55I'll choke.

16:56You swallow it.

16:56She said she'd give water.

16:58You want to die of thirst?

16:59You are the one who said you'd do anything.

17:00Then came the sound of something heavy,

17:01hitting the floor,

17:02and Nessa shrieking like she was being strangled.

17:04Blake was actually pinning Nessa down,

17:06forcing her to swallow that cold,

17:07hard jade necklace.

17:08I watched the blurry shadows on the security feed,

17:10two people who once swore they'd love each other forever,

17:12now going at it like feral animals.

17:14So this is true love?

17:15One half bottle of water,

17:16and it's worth absolutely nothing.

17:17I got bored of the whole circus,

17:19and just hung up.

17:20I knew they weren't gonna die.

17:21The human survival instinct is a terrifying thing,

17:23and this was only the beginning.

17:24No water, no food,

17:25and they still had energy

17:26to fight each other,

17:27meaning they weren't desperate enough yet.

17:28I'd wait until they were

17:29drowning in their own mess,

17:30begging on their knees like the worms they were.

17:32Outside, the world

17:33was basically a functioning hell.

17:35Surface temps had blown past 140 degrees Fahrenheit,

17:37but down near 20 meters underground.

17:39The thermostat read a cozy 75 degrees Fahrenheit.

17:40The ventilation system

17:41hummed at its lowest setting,

17:43just enough white noise to actually feel calming.

17:46To celebrate successfully flushing,

17:48I'll two spice today,

17:49and to celebrate Blake finally showing his true colors,

17:51I decided I absolutely deserved a treat.

17:53I swung open the heavy sealed door of the cold storage,

17:55and the chill hit me instantly.

17:56Picked out a prime M9 grade Australian white uribeye,

17:59fought,

17:59then just a little flake sea salt

18:00and fresh cracked black pepper.

18:02Cast iron screaming hot,

18:03butter melting in.

18:04That sizzle echoing through the quiet dining room,

18:05like the Maillard reaction was personally healing my soul.

18:07The smell of seared beef hit the whole room.

18:09I took a 1982 Lafitte off the rack,

18:12let it breathe for 30 minutes,

18:13deep red swirling in the crystal glass.

18:15Warm amber mood gliding all around.

18:17I sliced into the perfectly seared,

18:19juicy beef,

18:19and put it in my mouth.

18:20The fat just melted on my tongue,

18:22and the satisfaction hit my whole body at once.

18:23Right now I wasn't just eating steak,

18:25I was having my dignity back.

18:26The contrast was everything.

18:28Chiu chaos outside,

18:29chiu shun level peace inside,

18:30and it locked in one belief for me.

18:32Nobody gets to wreck my life,

18:34not this time.

18:34You reach for my plate.

18:36I cut off your hand,

18:37no hesitation.

18:38Fat and satisfy,

18:39I patched into the spotty local network,

18:41to see just how far gone the outside world was.

18:43The residence group chat for Blake's building,

18:45had completely imploded.

18:46All that civilized,

18:46polite society energy,

18:47gone.

18:48Morals,

18:48laws,

18:48social contract,

18:49all of it,

18:49torched.

18:50Someone started organizing a so-called mutual aid squad,

18:51which was just a fancy name for an armed robbery crew.

18:53It targeted single women and elderly folks,

18:54and were openly discussing which doors were easiest to break into.

18:56And right there,

18:57in the latest member list,

18:58Blake's name,

18:59for survival,

18:59for self-preservation,

19:01this guy who used to walk around calling himself an elite,

19:03always preaching ethics,

19:03had finally ripped off the mask.

19:05Then someone in the chat dropped a bombshell.

19:06Blake,

19:06as his entry fee to the crew,

19:07had ratted out Mrs. Bennet next door,

19:08who lived alone.

19:09He told them she had two pieces of water her son had sent her,

19:11her lifeline.

19:12Reading through the chat logs,

19:13I felt physically sick.

19:14Mrs. Bennet had always been good to him,

19:16brought him fruit all the time.

19:17This was Blake.

19:18Last life he sold me out to Nessa for half a bottle of water.

19:21So selling out a neighbor,

19:22barely a warm up.

19:23He wasn't human anymore.

19:24He was a pure monster.

19:26First thing the next morning I got back on,

19:27the patchy local network,

19:28and saw Blake had posted something,

19:30and he hadn't blocked me.

19:31The photo was clearly posed for maximum impact.

19:33Who was gripping a baseball bat with dark red stains on it?

19:35Two unopened cases of water sitting at his feet.

19:38His eyes had this unhinged.

19:39Pharaoh looked to them.

19:40Those were his trophies from robbing Mrs. Bennet.

19:41Two cases of water paid for with one person's life.

19:43Word was that a sweet,

19:44gentle old woman,

19:45had been shot down the stairs by Blake when she tried to fight back.

19:47Blake didn't have an ounce of guilt.

19:49He was actually proud of it.

19:50People were hitting him up as a tough guy,

19:51and someone even nominated him to be four captain.

19:53Ready all that praise on the screen.

19:54I let out a cold laugh.

19:56Blake thought he'd become a warlord.

19:57He was just a short-sighted idiot.

19:59Two cases of water in this kind of heat.

20:01How long does that buy you?

20:02Three days.

20:03Five?

20:03In an apocalypse where productivity has hit absolute zero,

20:05burning through your stash is inevitable.

20:06And he was out here loud by showing off his violence and his supplies,

20:09basically lighting a torch in the middle of a pitch black forest.

20:11His little power trip was just a dying flicker before the end.

20:14Tall puppies get cut those desperate people out.

20:16They would be at his door.

20:17I was about to close my laptop and hit the gym,

20:20when the pinned post on the local survival forum caught my eye like a knife.

20:25The title was bold, red, and screaming.

20:28In the world where rats were starving,

20:3010 boxes of instant noodles was basically a winning lottery ticket.

20:33I traced the poster's IP in about three seconds,

20:35and shocker, it was Blake's neighborhood.

20:37My stomach dropped, and something cold and sharp took its place.

20:40So they burned through those two stolen water cases,

20:42or that glass greenhouse.

20:44Finally, cooked them a lot.

20:45Blake suddenly remembered the worthless dirt plot he so generously dumped on.

20:49Last life he robbed me straight up.

20:51This time he got clever, using the internet and human greed as his weapon.

20:54The replies were already dripping with desperation and hunger.

20:57Classic Blake, getting other people to do his dirty work.

20:59Trouble was coming, big trouble.

21:00I stared at the screen, and a slow, ugly smile crept across my face.

21:03My fingers tapped the desk, quiet and steady.

21:05Oh, you wanna come? Come on then.

21:07You're walking into this with your eyes open,

21:08so don't cry when I turn this place into your graveyard.

21:10My trap grid has been sitting there, bored and hungry,

21:12just waiting for some greedy idiots to feed it.

21:14The riots had totally spiraled out of control,

21:16with gunshots, explosions, and screaming stitching together a death soundtrack every night.

21:20Blake and Nessa finally figured out the glass penthouse wasn't livable anymore.

21:24They any longer, and you're either roasted or eaten by a mom.

21:27Through the last working traffic cam at the intersection,

21:29I caught their whole escape prep on camera.

21:31The Range Rover was packed to the roof.

21:34And Blake, genius that he is, threw in one spare gas can,

21:36but multiple cases of red wine in the trunk.

21:38Gotta keep the vibes right, even during the apocalypse.

21:40Nessa tossed Blake's entire box of books out one by one,

21:43and swapped them for a staff of limited edition Hermes bags,

21:46and a few oak couture gowns, that would cause heat stroke.

21:49She clearly thought this was a vacation.

21:50Or maybe she was already planning my funeral.

21:52Watching her kick those books off the car with a look of pure contempt,

21:55I actually laughed out loud.

21:56In this world a brook can start a fire, wipe your ass, or block the wind.

22:00What a silk gown is literally only good as kindling.

22:04These two absolute idiots, even with a hundred reincarnations,

22:06couldn't fix the factory defect inside their skulls.

22:08Their escape went sideways faster than expected, not even 12 miles out.

22:12The tires blew on the melting asphalt.

22:13The road had literally liquefied.

22:15Ground temp hitting 176 degrees Fahrenheit,

22:17hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk.

22:18No jet, no spare, no one coming to help.

22:20They had to ditch the car and walk,

22:21through the scattered public cans still running.

22:23I watched the whole disaster unfold.

22:25Death race on above, tar pit below.

22:28Every single step was a full body effort,

22:30just to peel their shoes free, soles literally smoking.

22:32The roadside was lined with heat mummified bodies,

22:34some still half alive.

22:35Moaning, reaching out like dry twigs, begging for help.

22:38Blake kept his eyes forward and dragged Nessa along,

22:40refusing to look.

22:41Nessa's pricey surgically enhanced face was already peeling under the UV assault,

22:44bright red and bubbling with blisters.

22:47She was sobbing, screaming, she wanted to go home.

22:48And Blake, out of patience, slapped her hard.

22:51She bled from the lip.

22:52He said, shut up, or stay here and feed the dogs.

22:55A two-hour drive took them two full days on foot.

22:57But by my count, they crawled to the foot of the mountain in two days.

23:00Time to prep their welcome gift.

23:02I got to work setting up the reception.

23:04No way I was wasting my precious explosives on these two.

23:05I dug through the junk, then in the far corner of the storage room,

23:07and pulled out a few dozen rusty animal traps.

23:09Left behind by the old hunters who used to work these hills.

23:11She's still sharp, just with a nice vintage rust aesthetic.

23:13To upgrade the damage output,

23:14I grabbed my fake industrial rubber gloves,

23:16choked back the nausea,

23:17and made a trip to the septic tank.

23:18I brushed layers of long-fermented sewage sludge onto every set of teas.

23:22This stuff hit harder than poison in the apocalypse.

23:24The heat had bacteria, multiplying ten times faster than before.

23:27One little nick from these jaws.

23:28An infection rate was 100%.

23:29Death, just a matter of time.

23:31I carried my little collection of bio-weapons out

23:33and buried them along the only path meeting to the entrance.

23:35Topped into rock crevices and dry brush,

23:37dusted over with a thin layer of loose dirt.

23:39Every single trap, handcrafted with love, just for them.

23:41Wanna walk through my door?

23:42Leave your legs.

23:44Heading back down after setting the traps,

23:45I heard fate whimpering from a patch of dead grass.

23:48Pushed to the side,

23:49found a massive Tibetan mastiff.

23:51Skin and bones.

23:52Broken chains still around its neck.

23:54Fur rotting where the metal had dug in.

23:56Clearly dumped by owners who bail.

23:57Barely alive.

23:58Couldn't even lift its head.

24:00In the world where people eat each other,

24:01humans are scarier than any beast.

24:02Animals are way more loyal.

24:04Something in me cracked a little.

24:05I mixed a bowl of porridge with water and antibiotics

24:07and set it down.

24:08It lapped it up like its life depended on it.

24:09Tongue chasing every single grain of rice.

24:11Then actual tears rolled out of its eyes.

24:12Didn't expect that to be a whole rescue operation.

24:14Three days later,

24:15it stood up.

24:16Still shaky.

24:17But that black coat had a shine to it now.

24:19And the build?

24:19Absolutely intimidating.

24:20It followed me everywhere.

24:21Totally devoted.

24:22Anyone who can near,

24:23you got a deep, slow growl from the chest.

24:25I named him Onyx.

24:26My first line of biological defense.

24:28His nose beats any security camera.

24:29His teeth beat any trap.

24:31In this apocalypse,

24:32he's the only one I trust to watch my back.

24:34Day 5.

24:34Moon.

24:35The air itself was basically on fire.

24:37Blake and Nessa finally showed up at the base of the mountain.

24:39Their designer outfits had become glorified rags.

24:42Kicked in dirt and dry blood.

24:43Let's crack like old bark.

24:44Eyes completely vacant.

24:46But then,

24:46they looked up and spotted the bunker entrance.

24:49I disguised as a trash heap.

24:50And their eyes lit up like feral animals.

24:52They caught that,

24:53tiny leak of cool air drifting out.

24:56Ivy, Ivy, Blake.

24:57Scream.

24:58Flawing his way up on all fours.

25:00Fingers digging into the dirt.

25:01I'm your husband.

25:02I'm here for you.

25:03We're family.

25:03Open up.

25:04I need to talk to you.

25:05His voice bounced around the empty valley.

25:07Sharp and gross.

25:08He was testing me.

25:09Psyking himself up.

25:10Trying to pull rank using our old dynamic.

25:12I stood at my hidden lookout.

25:13Cold coconut water in hand.

25:15Straw in it and everything.

25:16Just watching them come to get me.

25:17More like,

25:18come to take me out and steal my spot.

25:20Genuinely nauseating.

25:21They charged up the hill.

25:22Zero hesitation.

25:23Totally clueless about what was hiding in that dead grass.

25:25Nessa was first.

25:26Done with the heat.

25:27Done with running.

25:28She wanted first dits on that cool air.

25:30Snap.

25:30That crisp, metallic click rang out across the hillside.

25:33Followed immediately by a blood-curdling scream.

25:36Ah!

25:36My leg!

25:37My leg is broken!

25:38Nessa hit the grung heart.

25:40Right leg locked in a giant bear trap.

25:42Rusted teeth sank straight to the bone.

25:44Blood everywhere instantly.

25:45She was riding in the dirt.

25:46Wound getting filthier by the second.

25:48Blake, right behind her, froze.

25:49His first move wasn't to help.

25:51It was to scramble backwards two steps so he wouldn't be next.

25:54True love.

25:55Everybody.

25:55Real ride or die stuff.

25:57I picked up the mic connected to the external speakers.

25:59Voice ice cold across the valley.

26:00Private property.

26:01Trespassers get deleted.

26:02Take one more step forward, and the next trap won't catch your light.

26:05It'll catch your throat.

26:05I watched them freak out down there.

26:07It took a long sip of coconut water.

26:09Ice cold.

26:10Absolutely perfect.

26:11Only after checking there were no more traps, did Blake finally stop.

26:14He looked at Nessa bleeding out and rolling in pain, then at the sealed iron door, and

26:18figured brute force wasn't gonna cut it.

26:19Then he dropped to his knees on the scorching gravel with a thud and started kowtowing, forehead

26:23hitting the ground until it bled, mixing with sweat.

26:26Ivy!

26:26Babe!

26:27I know you're in there!

26:28We were married!

26:29That's gotta count for something!

26:30Even if I messed up, Nessa's innocent.

26:32She's just a helpless woman.

26:33Her leg is broken.

26:33She'll get infected and die without treatment.

26:35You've gotta have medicine in there.

26:36Please, just open up and give us a little.

26:37Even just some water.

26:38Full tears.

26:39Full snot.

26:39Oscar-worthy.

26:40Performance.

26:40Honestly.

26:41Like he was the victim and I was some cold-blooded executioner.

26:44He was banking on guilt.

26:45Betting I still had feelings.

26:47Betting I'd go soft.

26:48Bad bet.

26:49Last life.

26:49When they slit my wrist and drain me dry.

26:50Whatever conscience I had left drained out with it.

26:53I watched his little show with zero emotion.

26:54Just disgust.

26:55Oh, now we're invoking marriage.

26:57When you were chugging my blood, did you think of me as your wife then?

27:00When you left me on that balcony to die, where was all that love?

27:02Watching them nearly dehydrate was fun.

27:04But I decided to upgrade the experience a little.

27:06I ran the pipe out through the top ventilation shaft.

27:09And aimed it right at their spot.

27:10Turned the valve.

27:11Crystal clear water came pouring down.

27:13A gorgeous shimmering curtain writing fung of them.

27:15It hit the scorching rocks with a satisfying hiss.

27:18A little cloud of steam rising up instantly.

27:19The smell of wet earth drifting through the air.

27:22For two people basically mummifying alive.

27:24This wasn't torture.

27:25It was psychological slow death.

27:27Blake and Nessa's eyes went completely blank.

27:29Mouths open.

27:29Desperately lapping at muddy water off the ground.

27:31Nessa didn't even register her leg anymore.

27:33Dragging the trap behind her.

27:35Tongue pressed against burning rock.

27:37Chasing every last drop.

27:38I shut the valve.

27:39Water stopped.

27:40Dead silence.

27:41One song.

27:41My voice came through the speaker.

27:43Dripping with amusement.

27:44Both of them nodding frantically.

27:46Pure desperation in their eyes.

27:47Then let's play a game.

27:48Slap each other.

27:49Wow this slap wins a cup of water.

27:51Ready?

27:51Go.

27:52One second of silence.

27:53Just the hot wind.

27:54Smack.

27:55Blake didn't hesitate.

27:56Wound up his whole arm.

27:57And cracked Nessa clean across the face.

27:59Nessa hit the ground.

28:00Blood at the corner of her mouth.

28:02Totally stunned.

28:03The cheek swelling up in real time.

28:04You actually hit me.

28:05Nessa shrieked.

28:06All that love in her eyes.

28:07Curdling into pure venom.

28:09Crack.

28:09She clawed back.

28:10Nails dragging three deep bloody lines.

28:12Down Blake's face.

28:14You absolute bitch.

28:15If you hadn't thrown out my books.

28:16Would we even be in this mess?

28:17This is all on you.

28:18You're just useless.

28:19Couldn't find supplies to save your life.

28:21If I were you I'd just die already.

28:22They weren't at it.

28:23Every foot landing solid.

28:24Blake had the weight.

28:25Advantage.

28:26Pin her down.

28:27And punched.

28:28Nessa went for the eyes.

28:29And bit his ear.

28:30I filmed the whole thing on my phone.

28:33Have a cup of water.

28:34And the great love story just dissolved.

28:35Every ugly thing underneath finally showing.

28:37Ten minutes later.

28:38They were both racked.

28:38Flat on the ground.

28:39Gasping.

28:40I kept my word.

28:40And tossed something out the window.

28:42An expired bottle of medicated oil.

28:43Drink up.

28:44Clears the head right up.

28:45Good stuff.

28:46Don't waste.

28:46Blake picked up that rolling bottle.

28:48With shaking hands.

28:49Cracked it open.

28:50One sniff.

28:51And yeah.

28:52He knew.

28:52He looked up.

28:53Eyes gone cold and calculating.

28:55He'd been played.

28:56Didn't matter how much he begged or bled.

28:58That door was never opening.

28:59Rush it.

29:00He glanced at the bear trap.

29:01Still locked around Nessa's leg.

29:02Nope.

29:03Not that brave.

29:03So he pried the trap off with both hands.

29:05Face like a thundercloud.

29:06Ignored every scream.

29:08Grabbed Nessa.

29:09And limped the both of them back down to the base.

29:10There was an abandoned mine shack down there.

29:13Dark.

29:13Damp.

29:13Full of bad droppings.

29:14But just enough shade to not die instantly.

29:16They didn't leave.

29:17Blake stopped at the entrance.

29:18And looked back up at me.

29:19No more begging.

29:20Just cold.

29:21Calculating malice.

29:22He was waiting for an opening.

29:23Or backup.

29:24That look said he'd burn everything down.

29:26Just to take me with him.

29:27Classic.

29:27If he can't have it.

29:28Nobody can.

29:28I knew this wasn't over.

29:29We were barely past the opening credits.

29:31Didn't care.

29:32In this fortress I built from scratch.

29:33I'm the final boss.

29:34You want to play?

29:35Let's go.

29:36I'll see how long you last.

29:37In a cave with no food and nothing but despair.

29:40I knew Blake couldn't be trusted.

29:41That look he gave wasn't just for show.

29:43Next evening.

29:44The infrared alarm tripped.

29:46On the monitors.

29:47A thick blacksmoke column rose from the base of the mountain.

29:49Cutting straight up into the still air.

29:51Signal fire.

29:52He was calling for backup.

29:53Sure enough.

29:54A crew showed up.

29:55Armed with machetes and shotguns.

29:57The one leading them had a scar across his face.

30:00Built like a wall.

30:01Eyes like a shark.

30:01Gnome raiders.

30:02The nastiest crew operating in the area.

30:04Blake glint out to meet them.

30:05Leg wound and all.

30:06Pointing up at my mountain.

30:08That gross little smile plastered on his face.

30:10One look at Scar's expression.

30:11And you could fill in the pitch yourself.

30:12Supplies up there.

30:13Unlimited water.

30:14Lone woman living solo.

30:15Blake didn't hesitate for a second.

30:17Sold me out completely to settle the score.

30:18He wanted this place turned into a slaughterhouse.

30:20Me as the main event.

30:21Classic Blake.

30:23Honestly.

30:23When survival's on the line.

30:25Everyone else is expendable.

30:26This crew was different though.

30:27Not the average desperate stragglers.

30:28These guys came prepared.

30:30Scar was careful.

30:31Pulled a black waterproof bag from his pack.

30:33Heavy.

30:33Landed with a dull thud.

30:34From my stocking up days I knew immediately.

30:37Either homemade explosives.

30:39Or detonators.

30:40My stomach dropped.

30:41Pongs went cold.

30:42My blast door is solid.

30:44Could take a truck at full speed.

30:45But directional charges.

30:46Different story.

30:47And the vents with a real weak point.

30:48One detonation or a smoke funnel.

30:50In there and I'm cooked.

30:52Can't just sit here playing defense.

30:53That's a losing strategy.

30:54I watched them huddle at the base running their plan.

30:57Blake pointing around like a tour guide.

30:59Sketching out the vents.

31:00The entry points.

31:01All of it.

31:02I tightened my grip on the remote.

31:03Knuckles going white.

31:04Let me roll out the welcome back.

31:06Bye.

31:06You wanting so bad.

31:07This is my turf.

31:08My rules.

31:09Time to show them.

31:10That some doors aren't entrances.

31:11They're a one-way trip.

31:13Bold plan.

31:15Borderline insane.

31:16I suited up in full insulated gear.

31:18Strapped on the gas mask.

31:20Took a breath.

31:20And hit the remote myself.

31:22Here's go ending.

31:23The disguise trashy door rolled open.

31:26And they're in the buffer zone.

31:27Exactly what I'd staged.

31:29Need stacks of cardboard boxes.

31:31A few slashed rice.

31:32Bags stealing white grain across the floor.

31:34In that golden hour light.

31:35It looked like the promised land.

31:37The boxes were packed with rocks for weight.

31:39The rice was moldy months ago.

31:42But from out there.

31:43That was hope.

31:44That was worth dying for.

31:46Once it was set.

31:47I slipped back behind the second glass door.

31:49And watched through one-way bulletproof glass.

31:50Meanwhile.

31:51I flicked on the corridor systems.

31:53They were already sold in lubricant oil.

31:54Their wires on both walls now live at 380 volts.

31:57I lit a welcome corridor.

32:00Direct express to the afterlife.

32:01The door's open.

32:02It's open.

32:03Must be a power failure.

32:04Systems down.

32:05Blake screamed.

32:06Voice cracking with excitement.

32:07Pointing at the supplies.

32:09Eyes basically leading his skull.

32:10Scar blinked.

32:11Then lit up completely.

32:12Last shred of caution dissolved by pure greed.

32:15Boys.

32:15God just handed us dinner.

32:17Move.

32:17Grab everything.

32:19Woman's mine.

32:20Supplies split even.

32:21The whole crew howled and charged up the hill.

32:23Blake was first.

32:24Limping on that wrecked leg and still leading the pack.

32:27He hit the corridor first.

32:29Hand almost reaching that stilled rice on the ground.

32:31Then his foot slipped.

32:32He went down hard.

32:33Completely lost it.

32:34And rolled all the way to the drainage pit at the end of the corridor.

32:37Pit I pre-dug.

32:39Bottom line with rusty irons.

32:41The scream was genuinely horrific.

32:43But it barely carried before the mob flooding in behind him drowned it out.

32:46The five raiders right behind Blake didn't fare much better.

32:49They piled up on the slick floor in a human heap.

32:52Weapons flying everywhere.

32:54Cursing.

32:54Scrambling to get up.

32:55Palms and bodies.

32:56Hitting the electrified walls and floor grid.

32:58That's when I calmly.

32:59Pulled the red switch.

33:01Biz sit.

33:02Blue arcs crackled through the narrow corridor.

33:04Bodies convulsing.

33:06Foaming.

33:06Eyes rolling back.

33:08Skin visibly blackening and charring by the second.

33:11Burnt hair and ozone filling the air.

33:13Industrial voltage.

33:13Not messing around.

33:14Scar at the back reacted fast.

33:16Slammed the brakes.

33:17Even grabbed the guy next to him as a human shield.

33:20Still caught the edge of the arc.

33:21Got launched backwards.

33:23Slammed into the ground outside.

33:24Hair standing straight up.

33:25Pull back.

33:26Now.

33:26It's a trap.

33:27Electric.

33:28He screamed in full panic.

33:30Crawling out on all fours.

33:31Scar made it out alive.

33:32But lost more than half his crew.

33:34Humiliation plus fear plus rage.

33:36Brain fully offline.

33:38Nessa.

33:39Leg wrecked.

33:39Was dead last.

33:40Dragging herself along.

33:41Catching her breath against a rock.

33:42Scar grabbed her by the hair and yanked.

33:44Bumped her in front of whatever was left of disguise.

33:46You think you can trap me?

33:48This is your great spot?

33:49My brothers are dead because of you.

33:51Boys.

33:52She's yours.

33:53Make it hurt.

33:53For the ones we lost.

33:55Nessa screamed.

33:55Fought back.

33:56Nothing working.

33:57Screaming Blake's name over and over.

33:58Against a bunch of guys.

34:00Who'd lost everything.

34:01She had zero leverage.

34:02I muted that feed.

34:03Just watched the screen.

34:05Cold.

34:05Meanwhile in the spike pit.

34:06Blake was in the corner.

34:07Hand clamped over his own mouth.

34:09Curled into a ball.

34:10Not making a sound.

34:11To survive.

34:12He threw Nessa away.

34:12Again.

34:13Again.

34:13The survivors weren't ready to quit.

34:15Too proud to walk away empty.

34:17They tried lighting.

34:18Wet grass and half burnt branches.

34:20Smoke rolling in.

34:21Their plan.

34:21Choked me out.

34:22My internal air circulation.

34:23System had been running for hours.

34:24Nice try.

34:25Night fell.

34:25I strapped on.

34:26Military IR night vision.

34:27Everything went that creepy glowing green.

34:29Reached into the cabinet for my personal collection of Molotov cocktails.

34:32Custom batch.

34:32High proof liquor.

34:33Gasoline.

34:34Dissolved foam.

34:34I climbed silently to the top hidden observation point.

34:37And watched through the firing slit.

34:39You guys love fire so much.

34:40Let me upgrade that for you.

34:41I zeroed in on the center of their little campfire huddle.

34:44And threw the first bottle hard.

34:45It cut a clean arc through the dark.

34:48Clacked glass shattering into the silence.

34:51Like a gunshot.

34:52Apocalypse heat means everything.

34:53Around us was basically kindling.

34:55Where dry as a bone.

34:56Molotov cocktails were the perfect match.

34:58Fire swallowed their camp whole.

35:00Corpses and all.

35:02Fire.

35:02We're on fire.

35:04Some of them became human torches.

35:06Sprinting through the flames.

35:07Screaming.

35:08Slapping themselves.

35:09Just spreading it further.

35:11Scar fully ablaze.

35:12Something clicked.

35:13And he made a.

35:14Desperate run for the water pipe.

35:15He remembered the water.

35:16Only way out.

35:17Hands shaking.

35:18Twisted the valve open.

35:19Aimed it at himself.

35:20Praying it would put him out.

35:22What came out wasn't water.

35:24It was high octane gasoline.

35:25I pumped in under pressure.

35:27Boom.

35:27Fuel hits open flame.

35:29Instant flashover.

35:30Scar became a fireball.

35:31The explosion swallowed his scream whole.

35:34He hit the ground rolling.

35:35Went still slowly.

35:36Turned to char.

35:37Nothing left.

35:38But the sound of fat crackling.

35:39The whole base of the mountain was a sea of fire.

35:41Lighting up the pitch black sky.

35:42The fire burned all night.

35:43Gying out just around dawn.

35:45Air thick with gasoline.

35:47Char.

35:48And dead body smell.

35:50Raiders.

35:50Gone.

35:51Nessa.

35:51Nowhere.

35:52I suited up in full heavy gear.

35:54Dry powder extinguisher in one hand.

35:56Long handle tongs in the other.

35:57Time to clean up.

35:58When I got to the spike pit.

36:01I noticed something.

36:02Moving under the pile of charred bodies.

36:03I raised an eyebrow.

36:04Nudged the top layer of crispy raiders aside.

36:07Blake.

36:08This cockroach actually survived.

36:10A puddle at the pit bottom broke his fall.

36:11Lucky him.

36:12Not a single patch of skin intact.

36:14One eye swollen to a slit.

36:16He heard my footsteps and forced his head up.

36:18Staring at me through that one cloudy eye.

36:20Making this low rattling noise in his throat.

36:22Nothing in that look but pure bottomless hatred.

36:24Ivy.

36:25I'm going to kill you.

36:26I didn't kill Blake.

36:27One clean cut.

36:28Way too easy.

36:29I dragged him out of a body pile.

36:31His red form leaving a dark green streak across the ground.

36:34Used the same heavy chain that used to hold onyx.

36:36Locked it around his neck.

36:37The cold metal making him flint.

36:39I set him up in the buffer zone.

36:41Between door one and the blast door.

36:43No sun.

36:43No rain.

36:44But also no exit.

36:46Every day.

36:46One bowl of sour slop.

36:47The occasional moldy bread crust.

36:49I needed him alive.

36:50Watching me eat well and thrive.

36:52Every second a reminder of.

36:53Exactly how badly he lost.

36:55Also.

36:56His face is.

36:56The best alarm system.

36:58Anyone dumb enough to breaking gets.

36:59Him as their welcome gift first.

37:01Welcome to your new position.

37:02My guard dog.

37:03I patted his head.

37:04Turn and shut the blast door behind me.

37:05Sealing the light and every last bit of hope on my side.

37:08All those tid.

37:09And the apocalypse stopped pretending.

37:11Camps blew past anything humans were built for.

37:12Poppy all have 167 degrees Fahrenheit.

37:14Even cacti gave up and turned to ash.

37:16Asphalt didn't just melt.

37:17It started off gassing toxic black smoke.

37:20The indoor thermometer crept up past 82 degrees Fahrenheit.

37:23And then the ground water started dropping.

37:26Miserably.

37:27Tabs running thinner.

37:28Pump straining with that dry wine.

37:30I had to fire up the expensive closed loop water filtration system.

37:33Starting now.

37:34Shower water.

37:34Vegetable rinse water.

37:36All of it gets recycled.

37:37Every drop worth more than gold.

37:39Zero waste.

37:40Meanwhile.

37:40Gui Kao Sai.

37:41Hand had water in two days.

37:42On the monitor.

37:43I watched him flat on the concrete floor.

37:45Dehydration had stripped out whatever was left of his humanity.

37:47Body shaking.

37:48Blackened.

37:49Swollen tongue out.

37:50Licking his own urine off the ground.

37:52To stay alive.

37:52Even one more second.

37:54He'd let go of every last shred of dignity.

37:56And gone full animal.

37:57On top of the heat that could cook you.

37:58Plague showed up too.

37:59The city below was stacked with uncleared bodies.

38:03At these temperatures.

38:04With everything baking and evaporating.

38:05The whole city became one massive petri dish.

38:06Ancient and mutated viruses.

38:08And bacteria going absolutely wild.

38:09He stroked.

38:10Cholera.

38:11Plague.

38:11Death in every cubic inch of air.

38:13Even from kilometers away.

38:14That distinctive sweet rot stench of decomposing bodies.

38:17Drifted up the mountain on the hot wind.

38:19Seeping into every crack in the rock.

38:21One whiff.

38:22And your stomach turns itself inside out.

38:23I sealed every external vent immediately.

38:26Not a single gap left open.

38:27Then kicked on the back of the internal oxygen loop.

38:30And the industrial grade air purifier at max setting.

38:32Lushinori hummy.

38:33And the air inside went clean again.

38:35From here on out.

38:36This fortress is.

38:37A fully sealed independent ecosystem.

38:39Cut off from everything.

38:40Outside isn't just a heat apocalypse anymore.

38:42It's a bio one too.

38:43Anyone out there who dares pull.

38:44Off their mask for one breath gets those pathogens straight into their lungs.

38:47Slow and painful exit guaranteed.

38:49Just when I thought NASA was ash.

38:51She came back.

38:52But what showed up on the security feed was not a person.

38:55This was something that crawled out of house.

38:57Most of her skin had carbonized.

38:59Hair completely gone.

39:01She somehow survived the fire.

39:03And now ran truly on one setting.

39:05Hunt.

39:06She clawed her way back up.

39:07The mountain.

39:08And into the buffer zone.

39:09Those cloudy.

39:10Inside out eyes.

39:11Locked onto Blake.

39:13Chained in the corner.

39:14Pure starvation had wiped her mind clean.

39:16Just a low growl in her throat.

39:17She did a red mice.

39:18Her beloved.

39:19Just saw fresh meat.

39:20She lunged.

39:21Shockingly fast.

39:22And bit a chunk clean out of Blake's thigh.

39:25His scream punched straight through the blast door.

39:28Echoing underground.

39:29He stared at this reeking thing in front of him.

39:31Unable to connect her to that precious.

39:33Delicate.

39:33Girl he'd once put on a pedestal.

39:34He simply could not process it.

39:36I was parked in front of the security monitor.

39:38Fresh ground coffee in hand.

39:39Still steaming.

39:40Watching this horror show unfold.

39:41And I laughed.

39:42Like.

39:43Actually cried laughing.

39:44Kamas got incredible timing.

39:46Last life.

39:47I was their personal blood bag.

39:48Caged up.

39:49Kept alive just to fuel them.

39:50This life roles reversed.

39:52Blake became Nessa's meal.

39:53Getting mauled by the woman.

39:55You once would've died for.

39:56Watching Blake thrash on the ground.

39:58Trying to kick off a feral Nessa.

40:00Dark green fluid spreading across the floor.

40:02I set down my coffee.

40:03Walked over to the feeding slot in the inner door.

40:04Clank.

40:05I tossed in a rusty serrated boning knife.

40:08The one I used to use on expired meat.

40:10Want to live?

40:10I set through the interpump.

40:12That flat.

40:12Zero warmth in my voice.

40:14Simple rules.

40:15Whoever kills the other one.

40:16Gets a cold can of coke.

40:18One can.

40:19Winner drinks.

40:20Both of them froze mid-struggle.

40:22They looked up at that dark little slot.

40:25And in their heads.

40:26That coke.

40:26Was the holiest thing on earth.

40:28Not a second of hesitation.

40:30Zero.

40:31Blake grabbed the boning knife off the ground.

40:33Didn't even flinch.

40:33When the blade sliced his palm open.

40:35Nessa threw herself at his throat.

40:37Fingernails digging deep into his flesh.

40:39Thud.

40:39The dull sound of steel finding meat.

40:41Blake put everything he had left into driving the knife into Nessa's chest.

40:45Once.

40:46Twice.

40:46Three times.

40:47Dark green splattered across his face.

40:48But he did not stop.

40:49Not until Nessa went completely still.

40:51Those venom filled eyes frozen open.

40:52Staring straight through him.

40:53Blake shoved the body off and crawled to the gate.

40:55Face soaked in blood.

40:56Those charred hands locked around the iron bars.

40:58Eyes blazing with something feral and unhinged.

41:01Coke.

41:01Give me the coke.

41:02I killed her.

41:03I won.

41:03I pulled out an open can.

41:05And right in front of him.

41:06Slowly poured it onto the concrete.

41:07Maybe three inches from the bars.

41:08Dark liquid bubbling on the ground.

41:10Sweet smell drifting up.

41:11Lick it clean.

41:12Blake pressed his face to the floor.

41:14Dust and dark green fluid and all.

41:15Frantically lapping up that gritty cola.

41:17Letting out the satisfied.

41:18Broken whimper.

41:19That's when the old radio.

41:21Nothing but static for weeks.

41:23Crackled to life with a human voice.

41:25This is coalition government.

41:27Shelter number seven.

41:27All survivors please note.

41:28Proceed immediately to the west side of the city.

41:30Large underground shelter.

41:31We will provide food and water.

41:33So the government finally showed up.

41:34Two months into the apocalypse.

41:35They converted existing civil defense tunnels into one big shelter.

41:38But I knew exactly what that meant.

41:40I've been to a place like that in my last life.

41:43Hundreds of thousands crammed together.

41:44Strict hierarchy.

41:45Resources locked up top.

41:47Regular people shoved into the bottom bunks.

41:49It was a slave camp with better branding.

41:50Easy to get in.

41:51Nearly impossible to leave.

41:52I turned off the radio without expression.

41:54Cutting off that very tempting voice.

41:56I had my own kingdom.

41:57I wasn't about to be anyone's bottom bunk.

41:59And I definitely wasn't taking handouts.

42:00A group of survivors passed by the mountain base.

42:02Loaded down.

42:03Half star.

42:03Clothes basically dissolving off their bodies.

42:05Creely headed for the government shelter.

42:07After hearing the broadcast.

42:08A few of them spotted the hint of green up the slope.

42:11And got ideas.

42:12Armed with sticks and rocks.

42:14They crept up to the first gate.

42:16But the second they looked through the bars at what was inside.

42:19Every single one of them lost it.

42:20There was a creature covered in dark green fluid.

42:22Skin charred and rotting.

42:23Face down on the ground.

42:24Gnawing on a decomposing corpse.

42:26It hurt them.

42:27Blake's head snapped up.

42:28That one eye blazing.

42:29A guttural growl rising from his chest.

42:31Monster.

42:32There's a monster eating people.

42:33Run.

42:33They screamed.

42:34Truth over each other.

42:35And fled down the mountain.

42:36Without looking back once.

42:38Blake's horror show just handled.

42:39A whole security threat for me.

42:41And that is his only.

42:42Remaining purpose.

42:43Scarecrow.

42:44Outside.

42:45People were starving.

42:46Treating kids for food like it was normal.

42:47Meanwhile my underground farm.

42:49Bathe in purple growl lights.

42:50Was hitting its first real harvest.

42:52Climate control.

42:52Custom nutrient solution.

42:54The whole setup.

42:55And the sweet potato song.

42:56The hydroponic racks were absolutely thriving.

42:59I pulled on my cotton gloves.

43:00And carefully dug out a pile of fist sized sweet potato.

43:02Red skin.

43:03Yellow flesh.

43:04Still damp with soil.

43:06Smelling like actual earths.

43:07Which I hadn't smelled in forever.

43:08In this apocalypse.

43:09This pile could start a 100% riot.

43:11That night I air fried two of them.

43:13Then slow cooked the thick sweet potato congee.

43:15I even tried fermenting the leftover.

43:16Start into a jar of homemade wine.

43:18Low proof.

43:19But actual grain alcohol.

43:21Peeled back the crispy skin to reveal soft steaming golden flesh inside.

43:24Caramel juice running down my fingers.

43:26One bite.

43:27Straight up sweet.

43:28That deep.

43:29Carb low dissatisfaction.

43:30Hitting in a way no synthetic food ever could.

43:32I mixed onyx a bowl with mashed sweet potato and canned wanchon meat.

43:35Fancy.

43:36One human.

43:36One dog.

43:37Deep underground.

43:38Listening to the wind.

43:38How outside.

43:39Lending our absolute best lives.

43:41Turns out.

43:42Heavy enough food.

43:43Doesn't fix to avoid eating a brain.

43:45Weeks of isolation.

43:47Zero human contact.

43:48No social media noise.

43:49Just silence so thick it had weight.

43:51I started feeling this deep.

43:53Bone level loneliness.

43:54Sometimes it hit harder than hunger.

43:56I catch myself talking to the mirror.

43:58Repeating random sentences over and over.

44:00Just to confirm I still could.

44:02I'd stare at the ceiling for hours.

44:03Completely zoned out.

44:05No idea if it was day or night.

44:06Mental health.

44:07I realized was just as critical as physical.

44:09If my mind went.

44:10The bunker meant nothing.

44:11I'd crack before the heat got me.

44:13So I forced myself onto a schedule.

44:15Two hours of working out every day.

44:17Full sweat.

44:18Dopamine versus depression.

44:19Round one.

44:20I dug out the box of books Blake had tossed away.

44:22Read every word out loud.

44:23One by one.

44:23I started talking to onyx like a person.

44:25Named every lettuce.

44:27Every potato.

44:28Little green grew a centimeter today.

44:29That's my boy.

44:30Onyx.

44:30This book is genuinely terrible.

44:32The author has never seen apocalypse in their life.

44:34I'm not just surviving.

44:35I'm staying sane while doing it.

44:37In this war against loneliness.

44:39I refuse to lose.

44:40Blake finally gave out.

44:41The burns alone had wrecked his body.

44:43Then the infected wounds.

44:45Then eating Nessa's rotten flesh.

44:46His fever spiked hard.

44:47He lay on the cold concrete in the buffer zone.

44:49Body convulsing every few minutes.

44:51Breathing barely there.

44:52Right before the end.

44:53He had a moment of clarity.

44:55He lifted his head toward the security camera on the inner door.

44:58One eye leaking cloudy tears.

45:00I thought he was going to confess.

45:02Apologize.

45:02He didn't.

45:03In that ragged, barely there voice.

45:05Wait.

45:05Ivy.

45:05I regret it.

45:06If only I hadn't.

45:07If I hadn't divorced you.

45:08Hadn't given you this land.

45:09This place would have been mine.

45:10I could have ruled this whole area.

45:11Had everyone kneeling at my feet.

45:13I would have been king.

45:14Even dying.

45:14His last thought.

45:15Isn't what he owed me.

45:16It was power.

45:17It was greed.

45:18What a pathetic.

45:19Ridiculous.

45:19Infuriating man.

45:20One last exhale.

45:22And his head dropped.

45:23Dead inside his own delusion.

45:25Done.

45:26Every shred of love and hate.

45:27Burned to nothing in the heat.

45:29No grief in my chest.

45:30Just the clean feeling of taking out the trash.

45:32Three days after Blake died.

45:34The sword of Damocles finally dropped.

45:36The big one hit right on schedule.

45:38Months of heat and drought.

45:40Had turned the whole city into one giant tinderbox.

45:43The air itself was basically lighter fluid.

45:45One spark.

45:45Maybe dry lightning.

45:46Maybe arson.

45:47Who knows.

45:48And it set off the most insane wildfire anyone had ever seen.

45:51The wind carried it at terrifying steep.

45:53Swallowing the surrounding mountains whole.

45:55On the security monitor.

45:55The pitch black sky.

45:57Had turned solid red.

45:58A sea of fire in every direction.

46:00Flames licking the clouds.

46:01My bunker became a lone island.

46:03In an endless ocean of fire.

46:04Flames went to town on the rock surface.

46:06The outer blast door glowed red hot.

46:08Groaning as the metal warped.

46:10Even through meters of concrete and rock.

46:12I could hear the trees exploding outside.

46:14The sound of a world burning alive.

46:16Blake's body.

46:17Along with the remains of every thug who'd come before him.

46:19Got swallowed up instantly.

46:20No crematorium needed.

46:21The fire would handle it.

46:22Clean and thorough.

46:23Ash to ash.

46:24The fire didn't just bring heat.

46:26The scarier part was it was eating all the oxygen.

46:29I'd sealed every vent in advance.

46:30But hours of intense burning.

46:32Had turned the whole area.

46:33Into a low pressure dead zone.

46:34The oxygen monitor started freaking out.

46:36Alarm blaring nonstop.

46:38Beep.

46:38Warning.

46:39Oxygen level below 18%.

46:40A heavy suffocating pressure hit me.

46:42Chest tight.

46:43Couldn't get a full breath.

46:44Temples pounding.

46:44Dark spots creeping into my vision.

46:46Onyx had gone flat on the floor too.

46:48Tongue hanging out.

46:49Heaving hard with every breath.

46:50Eyes glassy and scared.

46:52Not messing around with this one.

46:53I cracked open the last five.

46:54Emergency oxygen canisters.

46:56Strapped the rick up mask onto Onyx.

46:58Hulled a heavy tank onto my own back.

46:59And we pushed deeper into the bunker.

47:01Back near the reservoir.

47:03High humidity.

47:04And the best air reserve in the whole place.

47:06We huddled in the dark.

47:08Listening to the roar outside.

47:09A total coin flip.

47:09Either my oxygen runs out first.

47:11Or the fire burns itself out first.

47:13Every second.

47:14Felt like a year.

47:16Even with meters of rock and custom heat insulation panels.

47:19At several thousand degrees sustained.

47:21Heat finds a way.

47:23The thermometer inside.

47:24Declined fast and blew past 104 degrees Fahrenheit.

47:26Walls were hot to the touch.

47:28Air thick and scorching.

47:29Every breath felt like inhaling a hairdryer.

47:31I held every single ice block out of the cold storage.

47:34Piled them around the reservoir.

47:35Desperate DIY coolant cyst.

47:36They melted embarrassingly fast.

47:38Water spreading across the floor.

47:39I was soaked head to toe.

47:40I couldn't tell if it was sweat or melt water.

47:42Running on empty.

47:43A straight up endurance race against death.

47:45I wiped on its down to keep its tab manageable.

47:47While keeping my eyes locked on the thermometer.

47:49If it clunged any higher.

47:50The electronics and circuit systems would start shutting down.

47:52And then I'd be blind and deaf.

47:54Buried alive in an underground cough.

47:55But panicking wasn't an option.

47:56I drank salted ice water.

47:58And forced myself to stay loved.

47:59Compared to everything outside.

48:00Getting tarbonized instantly.

48:02This was practically a spa day.

48:03Just had to outlast it.

48:04That's the whole game plan.

48:05Just when I thought I'd hit my limit in.

48:07Was ready to play dead to save energy.

48:09The outer door took a massive hit.

48:13The whole bunker shook.

48:15A dozen chunks of rock raining down from the ceiling.

48:18Monitors showed a giant mutant boar.

48:20Charred black all over.

48:21Skin peeling off in strips.

48:22The fire had driven it completely feral.

48:24And dying.

48:25It caught a whiff of cool air.

48:26Desperately hunting for.

48:27Somewhere to escape the flames.

48:29It smashed through the.

48:29Already wrecked decoy cover.

48:30And blew past the first door.

48:31Charging straight into the buffers.

48:32It headbutted Blake's carbonized skeleton clean across the room.

48:35Stomped it to powder.

48:36Then started going absolutely berserk on the blast door.

48:38That door was solid.

48:39But even it wasn't built for a dying monster running on pure rage.

48:42The frame let out a metallic shriek.

48:44Concrete cracking at the joints.

48:45That door cannot go down.

48:47If it breaks.

48:47The fire.

48:48The toxic air.

48:49The heat all flood in.

48:50Everything I've built means nothing.

48:52And both Onix and I are done.

48:53I dragged my oxygen deprived.

48:55Heat wrecked body off the floor.

48:57Made it to the firing port on the inner door.

48:59Through the observation window.

49:00I could see the boss bloodshot eyes.

49:02The massive tusks.

49:03Face twisted in pure agony.

49:05I pulled out the tricked out.

49:06Heavy duty industrial nail gun.

49:08Loaded up the extended steel nails.

49:09Held it steady with both hands.

49:10Go for renovations.

49:12Now doing.

49:12Very different work.

49:14The bore was still going full sen.

49:16Had no idea what was coming.

49:17Deep breath of oxygen.

49:19Held it.

49:19Aimed straight at the ice socket.

49:21One muffled shot echoed through the tight space.

49:24The nail punched clean through the eye.

49:26Straight into the brain.

49:27Central nervous system.

49:28Offline.

49:29The bore let out one horrible shriek.

49:30That massive body just collapsed.

49:32Like spasming hard a few times.

49:34Then nothing.

49:34Crisis over.

49:35I slumped to the floor.

49:36Gulping oxygen through the mask.

49:38Sweat dripping off my face.

49:39Looking at that enormous carcass.

49:41I actually laughed.

49:42Almost killed me.

49:43But honest.

49:44That's parting gift nature could have sent.

49:46We're having barbie two tonight.

49:47The fire raged for three full days and nights.

49:49Like it had a personal grudge against everything.

49:50That ever existed.

49:51Oxygen reserves inside were nearly gone.

49:54I watched the pressured beige creeping toward the red.

49:56And just as I was about to risk cracking open the backup vent.

49:59A thunder clap hit like the sky was splitting in half.

50:01Boom.

50:02The whole on the ground structure shook.

50:04Then came the sound of heavy, relentless pattering.

50:06Rain.

50:07It was rain.

50:08Sure.

50:08I knew it was acid rain.

50:09Gross of as hell.

50:10But right now it was the most beautiful thing I ever heard.

50:12Water hit fire.

50:13And the whole mountain disappeared in white steam.

50:15It killed the blaze.

50:15Pulled the temperature.

50:16Back down from nightmare levels.

50:17The thermometer inside started a slow descent.

50:20And that red alarm light finally went dark.

50:22I collapsed on the floor and just held onyx.

50:24Tears coming whether I wanted them to or not.

50:25Made it.

50:26Beat death one more time.

50:27My home standing.

50:28Day after the rain stopped.

50:30Temps dropped to around 104 degrees Fahrenheit.

50:32Still brutal.

50:33But survivable.

50:34I suited up in full acid rain gear.

50:36Grabbed the detector.

50:37And cracked open that long.

50:38Sealed door.

50:39Hit immediately by a wall of burned.

50:41Chemical stank.

50:42Outside was pure scorched earth.

50:44Nothing left.

50:44Every tree reduced to black charcoal.

50:46Their rock where the mountains used to have a face.

50:48Lake.

50:49Nessa.

50:49The boar.

50:51All unrecognizable after the fire and acid rain.

50:53Officially part of the soil now.

50:55Didn't give them a second look.

50:56What caught my eye was a tiny flash of green in the rock cracks below.

50:59In the middle of all that blackened nothing.

51:01One stubborn little weed was pushing through the ash.

51:03Droplets on its leaves catching the sunlight like tiny diamonds.

51:06Life finding a way.

51:07Also a pretty good omen.

51:09As long as the roots hold.

51:10Fire and rain.

51:10Can't finish the job.

51:11Green will come back to this wasteland eventually.

51:14Same goes for me.

51:15Knocked down.

51:15Repeatedly.

51:16Still here.

51:16Humans are that fast.

51:17It's honestly impressive.

51:18Once tents hit 104 degrees Fahrenheit.

51:19Survivors started crawling out from underground.

51:21I loaded up the modded off-roader.

51:23Threw onyx in.

51:24Headed down to the city.

51:25The thriving metropolis was now one massive ruin.

51:27Collapsed buildings.

51:28Burned out car skeletons.

51:30Shriveled bodies everywhere.

51:31Streets completely empty.

51:33Just wind moaning.

51:34Shrew the wreckage.

51:34Going off memory.

51:35I found what used to be Blake's so-called luxury complex.

51:38That all-glass tower was now a blackened skeleton.

51:41Every paint shattered or melted frozen midrip.

51:42Like metal tears.

51:43Sucked through the rubble for a while.

51:44Finally found the warp.

51:45Fire damaged safe.

51:46And inside.

51:46The half-gold.

51:47Barbe Lake had fought tooth and nail for the last life.

51:49And secretly stashed like a treasure.

51:50This time around.

51:50The gold had melted and re-solidified.

51:52Into a twisted lump.

51:53Looked like scrap metal.

51:54Coated in black ash.

51:56Holding that heavy little chunk.

51:57I couldn't help but laugh.

51:58He wrecked his life.

51:59Sold his soul.

52:00Betrayed everyone for this thing.

52:02Now it's just sitting quietly in the ashes.

52:04Worth less than a potato in my pocket.

52:06The apocalypse's greatest irony.

52:07And his most brutal punchline.

52:09Back on the mountain.

52:10The official shelter broadcast kept moving the recruitment pitch.

52:12Didn't move me an inch.

52:13I had crystal clear well water.

52:15More food than I could eat.

52:17A fortress.

52:18And most importantly.

52:20Total autonomy.

52:21But I couldn't sit on this gold mine alone.

52:23Used the surplus supplies as fate.

52:24And screened a few.

52:25Wonders passing through.

52:26The base of the mountain.

52:27Most had families in tow.

52:29On the sides.

52:30Edges worn smoothed by the apocalypse.

52:31I didn't need slaves.

52:32Revolt.

52:33I needed people with skin.

52:35In the game.

52:35I offered clean drinking water.

52:37And a daily ration of sweet potatoes and rice.

52:39Which to them was basically five-star treatment.

52:41In exchange.

52:42They cleared farmland at the base.

52:44Patched up the fire damaged outer defenses.

52:45And built greenhouse frame.

52:47I was the only.

52:48Authority here.

52:49The one who made the rules.

52:50They called me Miss Caldwell.

52:51Eyes full of respect and genuine gratitude.

52:53Because here.

52:53Work equals food.

52:54And in a world full of starving people.

52:56That's basically a miracle.

52:57On this wasteland.

52:58And I built my own.

52:59Micro civilization.

53:01No brute looting.

53:02No pointless killing.

53:03Just leverage.

53:04Resources.

53:05And the grip on what keeps people alive.

53:06My rules.

53:07My patch of order carted out of hell.

53:09And this patch.

53:09It belongs to ID Caldwell.

53:10The year.

53:112027.

53:11New year's sake.

53:12First light of morning broke through the clouds.

53:13And hit the mountaintop.

53:15Yielding the whole wasteland in gold.

53:16I was in the rocking chair by the bunker entrance.

53:18Light blanket across my lap.

53:19Onyx was at my feet.

53:21Bigger than ever.

53:22Soaking up the sun.

53:23You're twitching now and then.

53:24Hot tea in hand.

53:25Steam curling up lazy and slow.

53:27I looked out at the valley below.

53:28Terraced green farmland where there used to be nothing.

53:30Workers moving through the rows.

53:31Their laughter and the sound of kids playing drifting up faintly.

53:34The world was still brutal.

53:36Still full of unknowns.

53:38Maybe a deep freeze next.

53:39Maybe earthquakes.

53:40But right now.

53:40I was alive.

53:41And doing it with dignity and on my own terms.

53:43Blake.

53:44Nessa.

53:44And every single person who'd ever come for me.

53:46All just us now.

53:47Swept away without a trace.

53:49And me.

53:51Ivy Caldwell.

53:52I made something of myself in the apocalypse.

53:54On the map full of dead.

53:55Grey's silence.

53:56This mountain burns with the light of civilization and hope.

53:58And it doesn't go out.

[Dubbed] Ashes to Empire | Full 60 Eps SD Drama 2026 | Full Short Drama | English Sub 2026

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