Six

"Here you go, ma'am. This is the first batch of bottled water you contracted."

Willow glanced at the heavy-duty flatbed truck piled high with shrink-wrapped cases of spring water, nodded approvingly, and tipped the driver to help unload everything directly inside her leased commercial storage bay.

The supplier was Murphy, an honest, hardworking local trucker who had recently scraped together enough savings from his freight business to buy a modest suburban home for his family.

Murphy wiped the heavy sweat from his forehead, diligently helping stack the cases without a single complaint. Just as he finished and turned to leave, his cell phone started ringing.

"Hey, Dad. What's going on?" Jack answered.

"Jack, son, do you think you can help find a buyer? All the regional meat-processing plants and commercial livestock brokers pulled out of contracts this season. What on earth are we supposed to do with all the livestock everyone raised?"

Murphy's voice spiked with panic.

He knew half the families in his rural farming community had invested heavily in livestock operations including his own relatives, who were currently drowning in surplus pigs, free-range chickens, ducks, meat rabbits, and commercial fishponds. If they couldn't offload their stock, the entire village was facing financial ruin.

Willow's ears twitched. Livestock?

She had originally planned to visit an agricultural farming co-op after wrapping up her dry goods run, but it looked like the opportunity had just walked straight to her doorstep.

Slowly stepping closer, Willow asked, "Excuse me, did I overhear that your town has surplus livestock for sale?"

Murphy nodded eagerly, his eyes lighting up as he looked at her. Could this heavy-spending commercial buyer be a lifeline?

"Yes! Half the township runs agricultural co-ops out our way. Between everyone, we've got roughly three thousand market-ready hogs, tens of thousands of free-range chickens, ducks, and turkeys, plenty of rabbits, and over a dozen commercial catfish and trout ponds."

Willow gave a sharp nod. "Take me out to the township tomorrow. I'm setting up a regional food distribution network, and I happen to need massive amounts of fresh meat."

Murphy's face broke into a massive grin, and he readily agreed on the spot.

Once Murphy departed, Willow swept her hand, transferring the entire palletized water inventory straight into the Sanctum's spatial storage. She stood back and looked at the cleared warehouse floor with quiet satisfaction.

Most of her core survival supplies were locked in. Over the past few days, she had also placed bulk online orders for heavy-duty survival appliances and backup generators.

Checking her digital wallet, she saw her balance hovered around $1 million flat.

Tomorrow, she could safely allocate about $500,000 toward purchasing livestock. With whatever funds remained, Willow planned to secure a heavy-duty expedition RV on installment.

The following morning, Willow rode out to the rural farming community alongside Murphy. The local villagers greeted her with overwhelming hospitality and enthusiasm, making Willow feel almost guilty for what was coming.

After touring the sprawling co-op farms, Willow didn't hesitate. She bought out fully half of their entire livestock inventory on the spot, and hired local hands to seine and harvest thousands of pounds of fresh fish from the ponds.

While it didn't clear out every single animal, it injected a massive cash flow into the community and completely solved their immediate crisis. Murphy was deeply moved, though slightly disappointed she hadn't bought the rest.

Reading his thoughts, Willow offered a parting piece of advice, "Winter holidays are just around the corner. Why not hold onto the remaining stock and sell them closer to the seasonal peak? Market prices will be much higher then."

"The buyer's right! We should keep the rest and sell them after the holidays," the surrounding farmers agreed among themselves.

Willow kept her expression neutral. She had done more than her fair share of charity.

With the apocalypse barely two months away, the cash she left behind would at least give these simple, hardworking country folk enough resources to survive the initial economic shocks.

After settling a bill of over $400,000, Willow loaded the first massive wave of livestock into her box truck, while Murphy arranged to haul the remaining purchased batches directly to her warehouse later that afternoon.

Once she was back at the storage bay and alone, Willow swept the entire convoy of livestock straight into the Sanctum's storage matrix, collapsing onto a chair from sheer exhaustion.

Needing a breather, she flashed her consciousness inward, stepping into the Sanctum to inspect Echo's handiwork.

"Master! You're back! Look, I've organized everything you brought in!"

Echo the spirit-moth fluttered over eagerly. Following her glowing trail, Willow was stunned: the spatial realm had undergone a total agricultural revolution.

Magical spirit-beasts and rare herbal plots were now securely cordoned off from mundane earthly livestock by a shimmering, transparent energetic barrier, preventing any cross-contamination.

Dedicated, climate-adjusted pastures had been constructed for the pigs, poultry, and rabbits.

Incredible achiever that she was, Echo had even excavated a massive new secondary pond specifically for the incoming fish stock.

Further down, emerald-green vegetable shoots were already bursting through the rich soil, fed by irrigation channels fed by the realm's crystalline mountain spring.

The only quirk? The raw spring water inside the Sanctum was strictly for flora and fauna, if a human drank it directly without dilution, it triggered an intense, full-body allergic reaction complete with severe swelling and relentless hives.

Aside from that minor rule, the inner warehouse zones were packed to absolute bursting with enough provisions to sustain a small civilization for decades.

Treating an ecstatic Echo to a feast of gourmet spirit-berries, Willow rested for an hour before materializing back into the physical world.

She spent the remainder of the afternoon managing deliveries inside the warehouse's secure office. Having dismissed the facility's night watchmen earlier under the guise of private corporate leasing, she had total privacy to manage her inventory.

…

The next morning at 7:00 AM, her phone buzzed awake.

The bulk industrial appliances and heavy-duty solar generators she had ordered online had arrived en masse.

The delivery courier was practically drowning in packages and called to ask if she could meet him at the central freight depot.

Willow readily agreed, driving her box truck straight to the terminal. It took her a full grueling hour to forklift and load every single heavy crate into the back of her rig.

With the heavy freight sorted, Willow decided against driving the massive box truck that afternoon. Instead, she locked up the warehouse, hailed a rideshare, and headed straight toward the city's premier international auto expo center.

According to automotive forums she'd browsed the night before, a specialized overland and tactical vehicle showcase was currently running at the convention hall. It was the perfect place to hunt for her ultimate survival transport.

Stepping through the massive glass doors of the convention center, Willow was greeted by rows of gleaming machinery: luxury sedans, sports cars, sleek SUVs, and heavy-duty utility rigs.

She checked her mobile balance, she had just over $800,000 left in liquid funds. She wasn't entirely sure if high-end prepper vehicles would clean her out completely, but she was ready to make a deal.

Wandering past the commercial rows, two specialized custom builds immediately caught her eye: a rugged overland expedition RV and a heavily reinforced tactical SUV.

Both vehicles had undergone extreme aftermarket military-grade modifications: multi-layered bulletproof security glass, reinforced carbon-titanium body plating built to armored-car specifications, and self-healing, puncture-resistant polymer tires designed to tear through heavy snowdrifts and debris-choked wasteland highways without blinking.

The expedition RV was essentially a rolling luxury bunker, fully outfitted with a reinforced bunk bed array, a marine head and shower, a tactical communications desk, and an induction kitchen setup.

The tactical SUV, meanwhile, offered high-clearance off-road articulation, massive torque, and an independent heavy-duty winch system.

There was just one fatal flaw: the combined price tag was staggering, pushing well past twenty million dollars.

Willow stared at the sticker price, gritting her teeth in sheer disbelief.

That is highway robbery.