The moment the new group chat was created, panic swept through the residents.
"Tony is a monster! He stormed into three homes and robbed them blind!"
"Apartment 301 had two young guys. They tried to fight back and got shot dead."
"The other two, 302 and 401, gave up their food and water right away once they saw the gun. What choice do you have when you're starving?"
One resident furiously typed:"We have to band together and stop that psycho Tony! We outnumber them—we can take him!"
Messages flew in."Yeah, there's over fifty households here. We can't be scared of just five or six thugs!""If we unite, he's toast!""He's just one guy with a gun. Big deal!""I'll kick his crippled ass with a left hook and a spinning back kick!""Guy's got a bum leg. Take the gun away and I could drop him with one hand tied behind my back!"
Everyone was hyped up, ready to take Tony down like vigilantes in a bad action movie.
But then someone asked:"So when are we doing this?"
Silence.
Shouting slogans was easy. Actually putting your life on the line? Not so much.No one wanted to be the one to catch the first bullet.
People started backpedaling.
"Look, we gotta be smart about this. No need to rush.""Yeah, storming in like that is suicide. We need a strategy.""Let's win this with brains, not brute force."
Ethan Cross scoffed. Just moments ago they were talking about kicking Tony's ass. Now they're pretending to be chess masters? What a joke.
Then Uncle Joe—retired army vet and the building's old security guard—spoke up:"This can't go on. That bastard's gonna bleed us all dry. Even if he doesn't shoot us, we'll starve if he robs us blind."
"I'll lead the charge. Who's with me?"
Joe had always been a quiet man, but he was respected. He wasn't just some hothead—he was serious.
"Uncle Joe, you're a legend!""I'll lend you my chef's knife!""I've got a souvenir sword from my last trip to Chinatown. It's totally real—probably.""Tony's just a cripple. Sneak up behind him and boom, it's over!"
Everyone offered advice. No one offered themselves.
Joe tried again."I can't do it alone. Tony's got a gun, and backup. We need at least ten people to have a shot."
Crickets.
Then the women chimed in.
"We're just weak girls, okay? You strong men need to protect us!""Come on, guys! Be our heroes!""This is your moment to shine!"
That's when the dudes got pissed.
"Hold up! Weren't y'all screaming 'women first' online last month? Now we're expendable?""Equality, remember? Let's all go fight together.""You wanna fight the patriarchy? Go punch Tony in the face yourself!""I'll fight—but only to protect my wife and kids. I'm not dying for strangers."
The chat blew up. The revolution had turned into gender warfare.
Ethan watched from his sofa, amused as hell. It was exactly like his past life.This was why Tony had been able to slaughter half the building before anyone dared to resist.
Even when people saw neighbors die, they still hoped maybe they'd be the lucky ones to survive.They just didn't want to be the first to die.
Uncle Joe tried one last time to bring the conversation back."Focus, people. We need to deal with Tony before he picks us off one by one."
But then came a message from Sweetie Liu, age 22, fresh out of college, self-proclaimed "soft girl queen" and lead keyboard warrior of the anti-male faction:
"Joe, give it a rest. You're a soldier. You should be the first one charging in."
"We've got plenty of useless men in this building. Let them sacrifice themselves so the rest of us can live."
"In today's society, women are more valuable anyway. Men exist to serve and protect us."
"If any of you bottom-feeders think otherwise, I suggest you shut up and go die quietly."
Ethan almost dropped his coffee laughing.Oh yeah. This world was beyond saving. And he loved watching it burn.