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Chapter 4

Autor: Reflection Poetry
The woman heard the door opening behind her, opened her eyes, and turned toward Leah.

Her voice was gentle and full of affection.

“Sweetheart, you’re awake. Are you hungry?”

“Mom...”

It was her mother, Vivian Kane.

No one else would call her sweetheart in that soft, loving voice.

Leah’s eyes filled with tears.

She hurried to the lounge chair, bent down, and threw her arms tightly around her mother.

“Miss Kane, I missed you so much...”

Vivian startled at her daughter’s sudden embrace. She patted Leah’s back and spoke gently.

“What is it, sweetheart? Did you have a bad dream?”

“Mm... Mm...”

Leah choked back tears and could barely speak.

Her mother was warm and alive in her arms. Leah could touch her. She was real.

Leah held Vivian close and buried her face against her shoulder, unwilling to let go.

Then she remembered.

This was their private vacation villa on Palmhaven, a tropical island in Tavaria.

In her previous life, they took this same vacation.

Her father, Warren Young, was in Bayport on business.

Leah was on winter break during her second year of college, and it was bitterly cold back home.

Vivian hated the cold, so she brought Leah to Palmhaven for a warm island vacation.

“There, sweetheart. It’s all right. I'll stroke your hair and chase that bad dream away.”

Vivian held Leah in her arms, gently stroking her hair.

She was as patient and tender as she had been whenever Leah woke from a nightmare as a child.

Then Leah remembered something else, and her heart tightened.

Memories from her previous life rushed back.

During this trip, while she and Vivian were sunbathing on the beach, a powerful earthquake had struck deep beneath the sea nearby.

The quake’s center was far away, and no one died.

But a surge of water had swept onto the beach and swallowed the lounge chairs beneath them.

Both their phones were washed away, and every floor-to-ceiling window at the villa shattered.

Warren had finished his business in Bayport and was about to travel to Palmhaven to meet them.

He heard about the earthquake on the way. When he could not reach Leah or Vivian, panic distracted him, and he was in a car accident.

He survived, but his left leg broke. It had still not fully healed when the apocalypse began.

During the first few months of the apocalypse, his injury flared up again and again through the long stretch of rainy weather.

On countless nights, Leah heard his muffled groans through the wall.

Each sound pierced her heart like a needle.

Guilt and helplessness ate at her for years.

His leg never truly recovered. He could no longer stand for long or walk quickly.

This time, she could not let it happen again.

She had to stop it!

Leah dug her nails into her palm and forced down the emotions rising inside her.

Then she looked up at Vivian.

“Mom, what time is it?”

Vivian picked up the phone on her lounge chair and glanced at it.

She smiled and scolded Leah gently.

“3 minutes past 10, sleepyhead. You’re finally awake. Who was the one who insisted on watching the sunrise?”

Leah took a deep breath and straightened.

Then she put an arm around her mother’s shoulders.

She met Vivian’s gaze, her expression unusually grave.

“Miss Kane, do you trust me?”

“Silly girl. Of course I do. I’ll always trust my sweetheart.”

Vivian’s voice was gentle, with the same playful affection as always.

Leah held her gaze.

When she spoke, her voice was firm.

“Mom, listen to me. I don’t have time to explain everything, but you need to call Dad right now.

“Tell him to wait for us at his hotel in Bayport. He mustn’t come to Palmhaven.

“We’ll take the earliest flight to him. Tell him not to go anywhere. He has to stay at the hotel!

“I’m booking the tickets now. We’ll pack and leave for the airport immediately.”

Vivian froze.

But she could see that her daughter was serious.

Leah often teased Vivian by calling her “Miss Kane.”

She only called her “Mom” when something truly serious was wrong.

Leah had already picked up her phone. Her fingers flew across the screen as she searched for flights.

“Mom, call him! If he’s busy and doesn’t answer, keep calling until he does!”

She remembered.

In her previous life, the earthquake struck a little after five in the afternoon.

Her mother said they could watch the sunset if they stayed on the beach another hour.

Leah refreshed the flight listings. The next flight left at 11:40. They could never make it.

She gritted her teeth and booked the following one—the 2:45 p.m. flight from Palmhaven to Bayport.

They had to leave as soon as possible.

Otherwise, the airport runway would flood, and they would be stranded on the island for three days.

The earthquake had struck after five in her previous life. But what if something changed this time?

What if it happened earlier?

She could not take that chance.

“Mom, don’t just stand there. Call him!”

Leah urged her again, then hurried inside the villa to pack.

Vivian came to her senses and called her husband. She relayed Leah’s instructions exactly.

At his hotel in Bayport, Warren answered the call in bewilderment.

They had agreed that once his work was done, he would fly to Palmhaven and join his wife and daughter for a beach vacation.

Why did Leah suddenly want him to stay where he was while they rushed to Bayport?

Warren did not understand what was happening, but he agreed to follow Leah’s plan and wait at the hotel for his wife and daughter.

Back at the villa, Leah quickly stuffed her clothes, documents, and other belongings into a suitcase.

Vivian returned to the bedroom after the call, still bewildered. She watched Leah pack, held back her questions, and went into the bathroom to gather their toiletries.

Within twenty minutes, they had packed everything.

Leah called the hotel front desk and arranged a car to take them to the airport.

The receptionist said it would arrive at the villa in fifteen minutes.

With that done, Leah finally relaxed a little.

She sank onto the floor and let out a long breath.

Only then did some of the weight lift from her chest.

Vivian saw that Leah had stopped rushing around. She hurried over and crouched beside her, her voice full of worry.

“Sweetheart, tell me what’s going on. Why do we have to leave so suddenly?”

Leah looked up and gently took both her mother’s hands. Her gaze was clear and serious.

“Mom, would you think I was talking nonsense if I said I’d been reborn?

“If I told you the sea near Palmhaven would be hit by an earthquake after five today, would you believe me?”

Vivian stared at her, at a loss for words.

“I... Sweetheart... You...”

She reached toward Leah’s forehead, afraid her daughter had a fever and was talking nonsense.

Leah saw her reaction and knew this was not the time to explain.

Telling Vivian about the storage space would be even harder.

She would give her parents time to understand once they were safe.

For now, they had to leave.

“Mom, please don’t ask anything else or try to make sense of it yet. Just trust me this once. Let’s get out of here first, okay?”

Leah’s expression was too grave to dismiss.

Vivian was confused and shaken.

In the end, she nodded.

The car arrived soon after.

Leah and Vivian picked up their luggage and headed straight for Palmhaven Airport.

On the way, Leah still worried about Warren, so she called him again.

She reminded him over and over not to leave the hotel.

He had to stay in his room.

He should eat lunch at the hotel too.

He must not go sightseeing.

And above all, he must not drive.

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  • Apocalypse Rebirth: I Took the World’s Supplies for Myself   Chapter 29

    Lucas’ refusal was polite but immediate.“I know you can.”Leah met his eyes with certainty.“I found you here. That should tell you how much I know about you.”Her expression seemed to say there was no point denying it.Lucas narrowed his eyes and studied her.He had no memory of her, yet her eyes held the same weary distance he knew in himself, as though she too had seen too many people die.But she was so young.She also looked at him with unmistakable warmth and honesty.He was sure she meant him no harm. For reasons he could not explain, he felt he should trust her.At last, Lucas stubbed out his cigarette.He spoke quietly.“Come inside.”They passed through the steel door and entered a courtyard.A modified SUV stood in the middle.Discarded tires lay piled against one wall.They followed a gravel path to a drab brick building at the far end.Lucas opened the door.The furnishings inside were old and sparse.A low table with chipped paint stood beside two wooden chairs with croo

  • Apocalypse Rebirth: I Took the World’s Supplies for Myself   Chapter 28

    A dusty Land Cruiser bounced over the rutted road. It left the city and turned into a cluster of abandoned concrete buildings on the south side.William stopped outside an ordinary-looking gray building and knocked on a heavy steel door.The door opened.The man who answered stood about six foot one. A fitted black tactical shirt showed off his broad shoulders and narrow waist.He had sharp features, a straight nose, and a strong jaw. A short scar crossed his left eyebrow, but it only added to his rugged good looks.His eyes caught Leah’s attention most. They were deep and still, with a weary distance that suggested he had seen too much death.Leah got out of the car and hurried to the door.“Lucas!”Her voice trembled.In her previous life, Lucas collapsed outside her house on a night of pouring rain, covered in blood. She dragged him out of the mud, treated his wounds, gave him medicine, and cared for him for two months.Once he recovered, he became the best friend she trusted most.

  • Apocalypse Rebirth: I Took the World’s Supplies for Myself   Chapter 27

    “Miss Young, call me again if you need anything.”Harrison drove off before Leah could reply.Leah checked in again, passed through security, and boarded a flight to Kavell at 12:40 p.m. Dunehaven time.Three hours later, the plane landed at Kavell International Airport.Leah changed into a long-sleeved black jumpsuit before boarding.Once the plane landed, she tied back her hair and put on the blue robe she bought in Dunehaven. She wrapped a scarf around her hair and neck, leaving only her eyes visible.She picked up her backpack and stepped out of the plane. Hot air filled her nose with the smell of dry dust, jet fuel, and diesel exhaust.Leah remembered what Lucas said about Kavell’s unmistakable smell.There was no jet bridge. A shuttle bus dropped the passengers outside a low, weathered building with yellow walls.That was Kavell’s international terminal. Concrete barriers and blast walls stood outside, but no flag marked the building.The line for arrival checks moved slowly. The

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  • Apocalypse Rebirth: I Took the World’s Supplies for Myself   Chapter 25

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