The urgent knocking sounded on the door again. Then, I heard voices on the other side of the heavy security door. It was a little distorted, but I could still hear Valerio's familiar voice.

I curled up on the couch. My dog, Lasagna, who was in my arms, wanted to bark, but I hurriedly held her mouth shut.

I then sent Valerio a text message.

"I'm not home."

The knocking stopped.

Another text message immediately appeared in my inbox, and he sounded urgent.

"How could you not be at home? Didn't you say that you were going to open the door for me?"

A few seconds later, he seemed to have noticed that his tone had been a little too rough, so he followed it up with another text message.

"Did you go out gathering supplies again, babe? It's okay. I'll wait for you at the door."

Before the zombie outbreak heightened, I had told him that I would be going out to stockpile as many supplies as I possibly could, so there wasn't much to be suspicious about my statement earlier.

Then, I heard Valerio's cautious voice at the door.

"Gemma went out gathering supplies. She'll be back soon."

Finally, I heard someone else's voice at the door responding to him.

"Is she home or not? Get your facts straight, Valerio Petrucci!"

The speaker sounded like a young man, rash and impatient. He might just be a lackey after all.

"Keep quiet, Paolo. Don't lure the zombies here," Valerio said, keeping his voice down.

"What's the point of keeping my voice down?" the guy named Paolo said at once, raising his voice. He retorted loudly, "We've all been noisy as hell while making our way here all the way from Calvaston! And now, you're telling me we might die waiting in the hallway instead?"

Another voice sounded just then, and it carried an unsettling authority. He was probably the leader of the debt collectors.

"Shut up, Paolo Abate."

It was silent for two seconds.

Then, the same voice spoke again.

"Valerio Petrucci, you told us that your girlfriend's place was safe and there was plenty of food and supplies to go around, and there was also a security door to keep us safe. But now, we're all trapped outside, tired and hungry. What are you planning to do about it?"

Valerio sounded tense as he replied, "I'm sorry, Signore Marco Puglisi, but I'm not making you wait out here on purpose. It's just that… She might not be home after all."

Marco Puglisi. So, he was the leader of the debt collectors. I was going to have to remember his name now.

Then, a fourth voice piped up. He sounded old and aged, as he said, "She's lying to you."

My heart sank at once.

Valerio sounded like he wasn't confident anymore. "She wouldn't, Signore Quinto Campana—"

"Even if she's not lying to you," he said, interrupting him. "Do you think she'll let us in when she comes back later and sees so many of us out here?"

Valerio denied it at once, his tone frantic yet certain.

"That's impossible. She loves me so much that she can't possibly refuse me!"

Angry live comments immediately began popping out before my eyes again.

"What's the point of Gemma refusing him anyway? They'd all just be going to force their way in!"

"Yeah! And the moment they got in, that old shit Quinto Campana would try to open up all of the windows for 'ventilation', thus spreading their human scent far and wide and attracting all the zombies to them!"

"That Paolo's no good either! He'd steal Gemma's newly-bought laptop and play games loudly on the speaker all day, every day!"

"Yeah, and Gemma would get so mad that she'd threaten to break the laptop, and that's when Valerio would pretend to try and defuse things between them, playing the good guy as he tells her to suck it for a few more days until they left."

"They'd even tear into all of Gemma's stockpiled food, leave trash everywhere, and finish everything without ever bothering to go out for more supplies! And then, Marco would try to eat Gemma's dog, but when she went to stop him, he'd stab her to death!"

My hands were shaking.

Lasagna licked me on my chin as she stared at me with warm, gentle eyes.

I had been adopted from the orphanage by my grandparents. And after they passed away, they didn't just leave me this apartment but also Lasagna behind.

But now, as I was reading the live comments in my head, I definitely wasn't going to open the door for them anymore!

I forced myself to breathe in deeply before replying to Valerio's text message.

"I realized that it was a little too dangerous to go back after looking for supplies, so I'm going to stay the night with Luisa. You can find somewhere else for shelter."

Luisa Cioffi was my best friend.

As soon as the men outside my door realized that I wasn't home and stood them up at the last minute, they immediately began loudly and angrily cussing me out.

Soon, I received another text message from Valerio.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier, babe? I'm already at your door! Why don't you just tell me your combination code? Let me stay inside for a few days."

I bit on my lower lip. It seemed like he wasn't going to give up without getting in today.

Before I could reply, I heard footsteps outside my door. Someone else was also here.

It was my neighbor from across the hall, Danilo Verde. He'd gone out this morning to gather supplies, but I didn't know if he managed to get any.

"What are you all doing here?" he asked.

Valerio immediately replied, "I came here looking for my girlfriend, Gemma Barletta, but she told me that she just went out and asked us to wait inside for her."

I had a sudden bad feeling about this.

Danilo and I had a tense relationship. He was a petty thief and often stole my parcels and food deliveries when he thought I wasn't looking.

When the apocalypse arrived, he kept hounding me to give him more supplies, but I kept turning him down each time.

And now that there were so many rough characters waiting for me at my door, I knew that he would take the opportunity to make things worse for me.

As expected, I immediately heard Danilo's gleeful voice saying, "Oh? But she's right at home as we speak!"

Valerio didn't speak.

Danilo thought that he didn't believe him, so he raised his voice and said, "She even told me this morning to stay out of her way! And I've been keeping an eye on her door ever since. She never left."

Then, the sounds ceased outside my door.

It was a long time later before I heard Valerio's voice again. He sounded hoarse.

"Got it."

Danilo left afterward. Meanwhile, the entirety of my back was drenched in cold sweat.

A short while later, a thunderous banging on the door erupted at once.

"Gemma! You're in there, aren't you? I've been waiting all day out here! Why the hell are you pretending not to be home?"

Valerio's voice was completely devoid of the usual gentleness. Instead, he sounded urgent and even a little ruthless.

It was a massive hullabaloo outside my door.

Paolo wouldn't stop cussing me out. He was also the loudest of the bunch, and his words were very ugly and derogatory.

"What the hell? She's been playing us for fools, I see! How dare she not open the door for us when she was home the whole time? Who the hell does she think she is, looking down on us like that?"

"Bitches these days are rude and arrogant as hell," Quinto added.

"Watch as I go in and teach her a good lesson!" Paolo yelled again.

I retreated away toward the end of my hallway, my back firmly pressed against the wall as I stared at the metal door.

Just then, a strange sound suddenly came from the direction of the stairwell. It was sticky and sounded draggy. Every step was slow and hesitant, like something heavy was being dragged across the floor.

It was accompanied by the chilling sound of grinding teeth.

My blood ran cold.

The zombies were here, lured in by their commotion!

Danilo, who was just about to head up after going downstairs, bumped right into a zombie and immediately let out an ear-piercing scream.

There was then the sound of liquid splattering and bones shattering.

Lasagna trembled violently in my arms. I buried her head into my chest, covering her ears.

However, the sounds could still be heard.

"Damn it!"

Someone cursed outside the door. It was Paolo. "Boss! What should we do?"

"Shut up!" Marco's voice was still low and suppressed, but this time, I could hear the trembling in his voice.

Quinto didn't say a word, and neither did Valerio.

Then, the door was pounded on even harder and more desperately than before until it rattled and shook the whole apartment.

"Gemma Barletta! Open the fucking door!" Valerio screamed, his voice distorted as it was filled with fear and urgency. "You heard that sound just now, didn't you? Open the door and let us in!"

I still didn't move from my spot. I suddenly recalled all of the live comments I'd read earlier.

"She's dead as soon as she opens the door for them! Paolo will snatch everything he sees, Quinto will throw open all the windows to attract the zombies, and Marco will force her into giving up her supplies at knife point!"

"And when they eventually kill her dog in the end, that good-for-nothing Valerio will still be too damn scared to even make a peep!"

However, if I didn't open the door for them, all four of them would die outside my door.

"Gemma Barletta!"

Valerio pounded on the door again. "The zombies are right outside! You heard them! Hurry up and open the door!"

Paolo also threw his weight against the door, making the door shake and rattle even more loudly than before.

"Open the door! Open the door now! Those things are going to get us!"

"La Signorina," Quinto's low, threatening voice was heard through the door. "You heard what happened to the other guy just now. If you don't open the door, you're going to die right after us!"

They then stopped throwing themselves at the door and began targeting the door's weakest spot—the door lock.

They kept attacking the door lock now as it was the most likely to break first, and their hammering only grew louder and louder with each strike. The lock visibly began wobbling.

"It's working!" Paolo shouted. "This stupid lock won't hold anymore!"

"Move aside. Let me at it," Marco suddenly said, his voice sharp and forceful.

There was a muffled thud. The lock emitted a piercing metallic scraping sound, and I saw a thin sliver of light shining through the keyhole.

Suddenly, a gunshot rang out down the hallway, and someone outside yelled angrily at them.

"What the hell are you all doing at Gemma's apartment?"