After crying for a while, Noah had stopped because his throat had become sore and he had no longer had any energy left.

Now, he was just sitting on his knees, staring at his parents' corpses in a daze.

Da! Da! Da!

He heard the footsteps on the stairs and slowly turned his head around. The look in his eyes changed slightly when he saw Max carrying his sister in his arms, but he did not say anything, and just nodded slightly at Max.

Max nodded back, his eyes glinting upon noticing the subtle change in his eyes. Then, he looked at Naira, who had her eyes closed, and said in a low voice, "We are here."

Naira opened her eyes and turned her head around to look inside the room. After a moment, she said, "Take me to them… Please."

Max nodded and entered the room, arriving next to the bed where her parents' bodies were lying.

Naira stared at them for a long while. Though she didn't cry, mainly because she could not due to lack of energy, her grief was clear in her eyes.

Max stood there in silence, not rushing her even though the smell was a bit unbearable. Though he hadn't done it with her properly, he had added her in his harem. Since she was his woman, he was willing to be patient with her.

Besides…

He could feel Noah's complicated gaze on him and it was nursing his resentment.

After a while, he heard Naira say, "Can you close their eyes?"

"Of course," Max nodded, leaned down slightly and closed their eyes with one hand while the other wrapped around her waist so as not to let her fall.

"Thank you." Naira muttered, "Please take me away now."

Max nodded and walked out of the room, but as he passed by Noah, he dropped the half-filled pack of Corpse Decomposing Powder in front of him and said, "Sprinkle this on their bodies if you don't want them to rot."

…

Naira's Room…

Max was sitting behind Naira, and she was leaning back against his chest. His hand was around her, resting on her belly while the other hand was holding the slice of Nutritious Bread in front of her mouth.

Every once in a while, she would take a small bite, then chew on it for a while before swallowing it down.

After every few bites, he would put the cup of water sitting on the bed beside them to her lips and she would take a sip.

When Noah came down, carrying the packet of Corpse Decomposing Powder, he saw this scene and stared at them in a daze.

Max noticed him and his lips curved up into an unnoticeable grin.

"You are done?" He asked.

"Yes." Noah nodded, snapping back to his senses, and slowly ambled over before proffering the packet with both hands.

Max's eyes flickering seeing this. Then, as he took the packet, he took out a thin slice of Nutritious Bread, and handed it to him, "Go and eat it in your room."

Noah stared at him for a moment, seemingly wanting to say something, but in the end, he just nodded, "…Yes."

As he walked out of the room without looking back, a hurt look flashed in Naira's eyes.

How could she not understand that her elder brother had just tacitly allowed Max to be with her and do whatever he wanted.

'He and Father did their best to keep me and mother safe from others and didn't let those men come near us even when we were starving and were thirsty and they were offering food and water. But now…'

She sighed in her heart, feeling abandoned and betrayed.

Despite that, though, she didn't blame him.

She knew, just like how she had suffered, he had too. And same as their parents who couldn't endure the suffering anymore and decided to end things, she had considered it too and was sure Noah was the same.

The only difference was, Noah had somehow held out until now while she didn't even have the strength to walk even or hold anything since last night, so she couldn't do it even if she wanted.

Now, with Max's arrival, there was a hope to survive. So, it was understandable that he wanted to cling to him.

Wasn't she the same?

Despite knowing she had to give herself to Max if she received his help, she was still eating his food and drinking his water.

So, how could she blame her brother for turning a blind eye to what was happening?

"What are you thinking?"

Suddenly, she heard Max's voice and snapped out of her thoughts.

"I… Nothing." She murmured before taking a sip of water.

"How are you feeling?" He asked,

"Bett—" She was about to say 'better' without meaning it, but she suddenly realized she was indeed feeling better, not as weak as before.

'Hm? How?' She thought, surprised. She only had a small piece of bread and some water, so logically she shouldn't feel so much better that she was feeling.

'Maybe it's because I was completely drained and stressed, my brain feels relieved after knowing I won't be starving anymore.' She mused before shaking her head, and saying, "I feel better now."

"Good. Finish this bread and you'll feel even better." He said before handing her the bread, "Trying holding it."

"Mm." Naira nodded and grabbed the bread with trembling hands.

"Very good. Now eat it on your own." He said and began getting up when Naira hurriedly turned to him, and asked, nervousness flashing in her eyes, "W-Where you going?"

Max smiled and gently caressed her gaunt cheek, "I'm going to look for someone. But don't worry, I'll be back soon."

Naira bit her lip, not wanting to say anything, but her heart trembled at the thought of him not coming back, and she said, her tone pleading, "…Please don't go."

Max furrowed his brows. He knew she was feeling insecure, but he wanted to go look for Chloe as soon as possible.

What if she was in the same condition as her, about to die? Wouldn't he regret not reaching her on time and missing out on her?

However…

He looked at Naira.

He didn't really want to leave her here because the house was wide open for any intruders to enter and neither she nor Noah could defend themselves.

'Wait…'

He looked at her and asked, "Has no one tried to enter your house in the past few days?"

Naira shook her head, fear flashing in her eyes, "No. Most of the people in our neighbourhood have either fled or have been… killed."

"What do you mean?" Max asked, his brows knitting together.

"Five days after the nukes were launched, some people had suddenly arrived here and began forcing their way inside every house.

They were very cruel and merciless. They killed the men, and r-r*ped the women who they found to their liking. Then… they killed them too. And after pillaging the supplies, they left."

Naira's voice trembled as remembered the scenes of that day and told him.

"None from the first twenty or houses on the right end of the street managed to escape because those people had come from the right.

When others heard the commotion and saw what was happening, everyone was terrified and began escaping.

However… Those people noticed and began chasing everyone down. They were very fast. Except for those at the farthest left end of the street, they caught everyone else and killed them."

Max's expression turned grave when he heard this, especially the 'they were very fast.'

'Were they martial artists? But isn't only the Foster Family supposed to be a martial artist family in Red City?' He thought.

Then, he looked at her and asked, "Then how come you guys are fine?"

While the main door was smashed open and things were in a disarray in the house, they themselves were alright. This didn't make sense.

"We were lucky." Naira said, "When this house was built, my father had bribed the builders to make a small basement in the backyard for some reason. We didn't know about it, but when my father saw those people, knowing we might not be able to escape, we quickly gathered our remaining supplies and my father took us into the basement. We stayed there for a day before coming out."

"You were lucky indeed." Max nodded after hearing this.

People weren't allowed to make basements without permission from the government, i.e. Governor's Mansion, and getting the permission was a very complicated task and chances of getting it were extremely low.

He didn't ask why her father had the basement created because he wasn't interested and could guess that it might be because he was involved in some illegal activities.

"Do you know what happened to your neighbour, Professor Evelyn? Did she manage to escape?" Max asked, hoping her answer to be yes.

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