someone else knows

Chapter 4

I couldn't sleep.

The message kept replaying in my mind.

The world is about to change.

Who had sent it?

And more importantly, how did they know?

I sat on the edge of my bed with my phone in my hand, staring at the unknown number.

I called again.

Nothing.

Straight to voicemail.

I tried sending a message.

Who are you?

No reply.

I waited five minutes.

Then ten.

Nothing.

I threw my phone onto the bed and stood up.

Maybe it was a prank.

Maybe someone had somehow heard about my preparations and was trying to scare me.

But deep down, I knew that wasn't it.

The wording was too specific.

They hadn't said there would be trouble.

They had said the world was about to change.

Exactly what I knew was coming.

I walked to the window and looked outside.

The city was peaceful.

Cars moved along the road.

People walked home from work.

A couple laughed outside a restaurant.

Children played near a shop.

Nobody knew that in three months, most of this would disappear.

I closed the curtains.

I couldn't afford distractions.

Whether the stranger knew about the apocalypse or not, I still had work to do.

The next morning, I drove to the construction site.

The shelter was beginning to look different.

The walls were almost finished.

The reinforced gate had been installed.

The water storage system was being connected.

I walked around the property, checking everything carefully.

"Miss Elena."

I turned.

The contractor approached me.

"We've found a problem with the electricity."

"What kind of problem?"

"The backup generator you ordered is larger than the system currently installed. We'll need to upgrade some of the wiring."

"How long?"

"Two days."

"Do it."

He nodded.

I continued walking.

Two days wasn't long.

But every hour mattered.

I had ninety days.

I needed to use every one of them.

My phone suddenly vibrated.

I stopped.

Another message.

The same unknown number.

Unknown: You shouldn't trust everyone helping you build that shelter.

My heart dropped.

I slowly looked around.

The workers were scattered around the compound.

One of them was carrying equipment.

Another was working near the gate.

Nobody looked suspicious.

I typed quickly.

Elena: Who are you?

The reply came almost immediately.

Unknown: Someone who knows what happens when you trust the wrong people.

I froze.

Those words felt personal.

Too personal.

I typed again.

Elena: What do you want from me?

This time, there was no response.

I looked at the screen for several seconds.

Then I deleted the conversation.

If someone was watching me, I wouldn't give them anything else.

From that moment on, I became even more careful.

I changed the security codes.

I moved some of my supplies to hidden storage rooms.

I kept only a small amount of food visible.

Even the workers didn't know the full layout of the property.

There was one room beneath the house that only I could access.

It would become my emergency storage area.

If someone broke into the shelter, they would never know it existed.

By evening, I returned home.

Maya was waiting.

"You've been busy lately."

I placed my bag on the table.

"Yes."

"You're always disappearing."

I looked at her.

"Do you need something?"

She smiled.

"Can't I just check on my sister?"

The old Elena would have smiled back.

The old Elena would have believed her.

Not anymore.

"I'm fine."

Maya studied me.

"You've changed."

My heart skipped.

"What do you mean?"

"You used to tell me everything."

I shrugged.

"People change."

Her smile disappeared for a moment.

Then she laughed.

"I suppose they do."

She walked away.

I watched her carefully.

In my previous life, Maya had been the person I trusted most.

She knew my passwords.

She knew my plans.

She knew where I kept my money.

She knew almost everything about me.

That had made betraying me easy.

This time, she would know nothing.

I went upstairs and locked my bedroom door.

Then I opened my notebook.

I added another rule.

Never tell Maya anything about the shelter.

I paused.

Then I added another.

Never let Adrian know where I am storing supplies.

I closed the notebook.

There were eighty-nine days left.

Two days had already passed.

I needed to move faster.

The following morning, I made another trip into the city.

This time, I bought things most people wouldn't think about.

Water purification equipment.

Portable cooking equipment.

Solar panels.

Seeds.

Basic tools.

First-aid supplies.

And several books about growing food.

I wasn't planning to depend entirely on stored supplies.

If the apocalypse lasted for years, everything I had would eventually run out.

I needed to become self-sufficient.

By the time I returned to the shelter, the sun was setting.

I stepped out of my car.

Then stopped.

Something felt wrong.

The main gate was closed.

Everything looked normal.

But one of the security cameras had moved.

I stared at it.

I had positioned it toward the driveway.

Now it was facing slightly toward the wall.

Someone had touched it.

I immediately reached for my phone.

The contractor appeared from inside.

"Miss Elena?"

"Who touched that camera?"

He looked confused.

"Camera?"

I pointed.

He walked over and examined it.

"I don't know. None of my workers touched it."

My stomach tightened.

I looked at the wall.

Then the gate.

Then the surrounding road.

Someone had been watching.

I walked inside and checked the security recordings.

There was nothing unusual.

No one had entered the property.

No one had crossed the gate.

But someone had clearly moved the camera.

I sat in front of the monitor.

For the first time, I wondered whether my preparations were already too obvious.

Maybe I should have bought everything more slowly.

Maybe I had drawn attention.

My phone vibrated.

I almost dropped it.

Another message.

Unknown: I told you to be careful.

I stared at the screen.

Then another message appeared.

Unknown: They're watching you now.

My blood ran cold.

I looked toward the cameras.

For several seconds, I couldn't move.

Then I stood.

If someone was watching me, I couldn't let fear control me.

I had survived the apocalypse once.

I had died once.

And I had been given another chance.

I wasn't going to waste it because of an unknown stranger.

I walked toward the security room and changed every access code.

Then I looked at the countdown on my wall.

Eighty-nine days.

The apocalypse was coming.

But now I had another problem.

Someone else knew.

And I had no idea whether they wanted to save me...

or destroy me.