Chapter 454: Chapter 454: Making Trouble
At Shawn Lynch’s words, the long-haired man panicked. He let out a wail and pleaded, "Don’t, don’t kill me! I was just too hungry, that’s why I grabbed some food. I’ll never do it again, I promise. I’ll be a better person, I swear. Please, just let me go!"
The man in the black down jacket quickly added, "Yeah, I saw everyone else grabbing food, so I just followed them! I only wanted something to eat. I didn’t do anything else! Please don’t kill me! I’m an only son, and my parents are right next door!"
The other two men chimed in, "That’s right! We just took some food. That’s not a crime punishable by death, is it? Please, let us go! We’ll turn over a new leaf, we swear!"
Hearing the four of them, Jim Sheffield, his head covered in blood from the beating, was not pleased.
He pointed to the blood on his head and yelled at them, "What do you mean ’just took some food’? You ganged up on me and beat me! Don’t you dare try to wash your hands of this!"
Then he turned to Winnie Summers and shouted, "You, get over here! I’m ordering you to execute them! They dared to lay a hand on me, and they must pay the price!"
Winnie Summers didn’t even glance at Jim Sheffield. After comforting Ivy Draper, who was sobbing uncontrollably, she said to Mr. Lynch, his son, and the others, "...All those residents are watching from outside. Let’s just lock these men up for now. We can deal with them when the police arrive."
Winnie had considered just killing them all. It would be a clean break and would even conserve resources. But with so many residents watching from the living room, killing so many people in plain sight might cause a panic, which would be disastrous.
Besides, these four looters had families here, too. If she killed them, their relatives might cause trouble. Everyone living here was a neighbor, and neighbors who were on good terms would stick up for each other. It would be worse if that sparked even more chaos.
The police couldn’t get here now. The hundreds of people in the entire building were all relying on the few people in the Emergency Response Office. In a situation like this, maintaining stability was the top priority.
When Jim Sheffield saw that Winnie Summers was ignoring him, he felt he had lost face and became furious.
With his head still bleeding, he ran up to Winnie Summers and yelled, "How dare you defy my order? Do you have any idea who I am? Believe it or not, with just one word from me, I can have this entire Emergency Response Office of yours replaced!"
Jim Sheffield’s words carried into the living room, and many of the residents began to whisper among themselves:
"Well, would you listen to that. I guess the bald guy is some big-shot official. He’s really throwing his weight around."
"It’s disgusting. An official using his power to bully people. He deserved that beating!"
"He’s just talking big! Why would a real official live in a remote neighborhood like ours? I think those looters beat the sense out of him."
"..."
Listening to the residents’ whispers, Jim Sheffield was so angry a vein throbbed on his forehead. He immediately shouted at the living room, "Shut up! All of you! You wretched peasants! With just one word from me, you can forget about getting any more supplies for this community..."
Jim Sheffield hadn’t finished speaking when he suddenly felt something cold on his forehead. The next second, his body went rigid, and his eyes stared forward in terror—
Winnie Summers was looking at him, the chilling indifference in her eyes making one’s blood run cold. The gun in her hand was pressed firmly against his forehead.
In an instant, Jim Sheffield felt his heart begin to pound, and a thin layer of sweat broke out on his brow. He couldn’t believe Winnie Summers would point a gun at him!
It was the first time in his life anyone had ever pointed a gun at him!
Winnie Summers frowned at Jim Sheffield and said coldly, "To be blunt, this whole mess started because of you. I warned you earlier not to flash your valuables, but you wouldn’t listen."
"All the residents are watching now. If you cause any more trouble and stir everyone up, I’ll kill you right here and now!"
The killing intent in Winnie Summers’ eyes was no bluff. She was fully prepared to go through with it to maintain stability. She didn’t care what kind of high-ranking official Jim Sheffield was; the shelter simply couldn’t afford chaos right now.
Jim Sheffield’s mind went blank. His lips trembled, but he didn’t dare make a sound, terrified that Winnie Summers would pull the trigger.
Seeing this, Harvey Jennings quickly stepped forward to mediate. "Hey, what’s all this? We’re all on the same side here! Ms. Summers, please, calm down. Director Sheffield was just speaking out of turn because he was upset."
Winnie Summers slowly lowered her pistol. With a THUMP, Jim Sheffield collapsed to his knees. He felt a warm stream gush down his legs, and the stench of urine suddenly filled the air—he had been so scared he’d wet his pants.
Winnie Summers paid Jim Sheffield no more mind, turning to the others. "Thank you for your hard work. Lock these four in one of the small rooms. And take the deceased’s body outside."
The other members of the Emergency Response Office nodded repeatedly and prepared to drag the long-haired man and the others out.
As Shawn Lynch shoved the long-haired man along, he whispered to Mr. Lynch, "If you ask me, Miss Winnie is great at everything, but she’s just too soft-hearted. Locking these four up is just going to waste our coal and food. It would be better to just kill them all and be done with it..."
Hearing this, Mr. Lynch smacked Shawn Lynch on the back of the head and hissed, "What the hell do you know? You brat! Just do your job and shut your mouth!"
The four men were escorted into the living room, and the residents gathered there quickly parted to make way.
Winnie Summers was just about to calm everyone down and tell them to get ready for some rice porridge when the unexpected happened—a group of people suddenly burst in!
The man leading them was in his fifties. The moment he entered, he dropped to his knees with a THUMP and screamed, "Who was it?! Who killed my son?! I’ll kill you all!"
Following him were four women, all in their fifties or sixties. Their faces were contorted with rage, and they looked ready to roll up their sleeves and start a brawl, shouting, "Where’s my nephew?"
"What did you do to my nephew?"
"I heard something happened to my nephew! Who killed him? Who killed my nephew?!"
This sudden scene left all the residents in the living room stunned.
After a moment, one of the residents said, "Isn’t that Quinn’s family from the 20th floor?"
The person next to him heard this and added, "Now that you mention it, I remember. Wasn’t the looter who got killed just now Quinn’s son? His face was so dirty, I almost didn’t recognize him..."
Hearing the two residents talking, Melody Summers thought, ’This is bad.’ It seemed the man and four women were the family of the man with glasses who had been killed.
They must have heard about his death from other residents and came looking for trouble!
Seeing the situation, Winnie Summers quickly stepped forward and asked, "Please, calm down. Take it slow. Who is your son?"
The father of the man with glasses looked up, about to answer, but in the next second, he caught an unexpected sight of his son’s body. Harvey Jennings and Colin Summers were carrying it, preparing to take it outside to freeze.
Seeing his son’s corpse, the man froze completely.
The next second, he let out a guttural WAIL and lunged toward the body, startling both Harvey Jennings and Colin Summers.
The man’s father went limp, clinging to his son’s body and howling, "My son! Oh, my son! My Buddy! How am I supposed to live without you?!"
His eyes rolled back as he cried, nearly sobbing himself into unconsciousness.
Meanwhile, the man’s four aunts surrounded Colin Summers and Harvey Jennings. They grabbed their clothes and demanded loudly, "He was perfectly fine! How could our nephew be dead?! Who killed our Buddy? Tell us!"
