Wei Xian stood frozen by the humming roar of the massive primary generator, his fingers tightening around the heavy, grease-stained handle of his wrench. Above him, Vance’s wire-rimmed glasses flashed under the dim, flickering amber glow of the emergency lights, casting long, skeletal shadows across the rusted catwalk."You heard the man," Vance snarled, shifting his grip on the industrial nail gun with a sharp, metallic clatter. "Step away from the primary console, Wei Xian. I don't care how many military supply lines you used to manage before the world burned. Out here, I hold the ledger, and I hold the tap. You want water for your little beach camp? You earn it on my terms, or you walk back out into the sun with your tongue hanging out."Wei Xian’s jaw clenched so hard his molars ached. He could feel the familiar, bitter taste of corporate entitlement rising in the back of his throat—the same sterile, bureaucratic arrogance that had tried to automate human survival

Gabriel did not answer Mdm. Lim immediately. His gaze remained locked on the horizon, tracking the steady, rhythmic rise and fall of half a dozen motorized wooden fishing boats and wider-beached outriggers cutting through the whitecaps of the Singapore Straits."They're too heavy in the water to be raiders," Gabriel said, his voice low, steady, and entirely devoid of panic. He shifted his weight, his hand dropping naturally toward the hilt of the scavenged combat knife sheathed at his belt. "Look at the bowlines. They’re lashed with cargo netting, not boarding gear.""Cargo doesn't keep people from putting a bolt through your neck when they realize you're sitting on fresh water and scrap metal," Mdm. Lim muttered, her grip tightening on her driftwood cane until her knuckles turned the color of old paper. She turned her head, barking a sharp order in Hokkien down the length of the beach. "Chuan! Get the teenagers behind the hull of the old container! If anyone reaches f

"Two lithium cells for six pills of amoxicillin? You're robbing us blind, Batam dog."Jerry’s spit landed centimeters from the Batam trader’s worn leather sandal.Gabriel was already moving before the spit hit the salt-crust on the wood of Bedok Jetty. He squeezed through a gap between two canvas-draped stalls, his boots making no sound against the damp planks. The night market was a powder keg of kerosene fumes, the smell of roasting stingray, and raw, unwashed desperation."Easy, Jerry," Kai said, his hand reaching out to grab the older boy’s shoulder. Kai’s voice was too high, thin with panic. "We need the meds. Just let them talk.""Shut up, Kai!" Jerry violently shook off the younger boy's hand. He kept his right hand hovering centimeters from a sharpened screwdriver tucked into his waistband. "These outrigger rats think because we don't have a grid, we don't know the value of pre-cascade pharma. Look at that vial. The seal is half-melted. It’s proba

"The Kallang basin run-off," Wei Xian said, dropping the greasy rag into the tin basin with a dull splash. He wiped his hands on his trousers, his face hardening into lines of grim realization. "The upstream drainage must have breached the old industrial holding tanks during the storm three nights ago. Heavy metals and chemical waste leaking right into the shallow wells."Gabriel pushed past the canvas flap of the medical tent, his breathing heavy from a morning run along the perimeter. "How many?""Four children down since midnight," Mdm. Lim answered, her voice dropping to a fragile whisper that betrayed her years. "If it hits the main reservoir, half the camp won't wake up tomorrow.""We need the sealed pharmaceutical stash from the old underground station clinic at Dhoby Ghaut," Wei Xian said, standing up and reaching for his heavy-duty flashlight off the workbench. "There are broad-spectrum antitoxins stored in the sub-level vaults. Vaults built to withstan

"The Riau traders aren't here to play charity, Mdm. Lim, and they certainly aren't here to be taxed by a committee that didn't exist six months ago," Suryani said, her voice cutting sharply across the flickering glare of the kerosene lamps arranged on the long communal table.She leaned forward, her forearms resting flat against the scarred teak wood, her dark eyes flashing with a cold, mercantile defiance that made the older woman across from her stiffen.Mdm. Lim slammed her wooden cane down against the packed sand of the beach clearing with a dry, concussive thud that rattled the tin mugs. "We provide the beachhead, the secure perimeter, and the fresh catchment water. If your boats want to dock along our stretch of the East Coast without getting peppered with warning shots from our perimeter guards, you play by our ledger.""Your ledger?" Suryani let out a short, humorless laugh, shaking her head so that her braided hair whipped against her shoulders. "You ha