Chapter 7

Hannah drove a short distance, then stopped and put the breakfast orders from her trunk into her storage space.

Only three empty insulated boxes remained.

Her next stop was less than half a mile away: a shop selling savory breakfasts and fried pastries.

Hannah ordered a month’s worth here too, with fifty orders prepared each day.

Each order included a hearty breakfast and an assortment of fried pastries.

The shop also sold oat milk for 2 dollars a bottle.

Hannah did not order any. It was easy enough to make herself.

She could find a recipe online instead of spending money on it here.

After collecting that order, Hannah stopped at a bakery to pick up 300 assorted sweet and savory pastries.

The bakery was popular in the neighborhood.

It sold plenty every day.

It was some distance from Pennford University, but students willing to get up early still came here for breakfast.

Hannah spent a long time persuading the owner to make 300 assorted sweet and savory pastries for her each day.

Whenever she couldn’t come in, the owner would set her pastries aside in the freezer.

The owner even hired an extra worker to help.

By the time Hannah collected everything, it was after eight.

She went straight to Pennford University to arrange a leave of absence.

Students normally had to apply within the first week of the semester.

This semester was nearly over, so Hannah did not know whether they would approve her request today.

Even if they refused, she did not intend to return when the next semester began.

It was only a diploma.

The apocalypse was coming.

She did not plan to make a living as a dancer afterward.

The diploma would not matter.

Hannah planned to go straight to the academic office, but then decided to speak to her instructor first.

Her dance instructor, Quentin Hayes, was a man in his thirties.

Quentin was an exceptional dancer.

He competed internationally many times and won awards.

He thought highly of Hannah. He said her dancing had a spirit that moved people.

She was born to dance.

Quentin called her on the second night after her rebirth.

He asked why she missed two days of class.

Hannah told him she felt troubled and could not get into the right frame of mind.

Dance was like music.

Even a skilled dancer struggled to perform well when she wasn’t feeling her best.

Quentin understood that better than anyone.

When Hannah found him, she gave the same explanation.

She said she kept having strange, disturbing dreams.

She dreamed that the world was ending and everyone wanted to hurt her.

She missed her late parents and did not feel like herself.

She wanted to get away for a while and recover.

Quentin listened without comment.

He simply asked her to dance for him.

But he stopped her before she finished.

His expression turned grave.

He never imagined his most promising student could be carrying so much despair.

She was also full of anger.

She danced with such hostility that it seemed she might take someone down with her.

Quentin was stunned by what he saw in her performance.

Could he have misread her?

He saw her only a few days ago.

How could his most promising student change so completely in that time?

In this state, Hannah could hardly dance.

If no one helped her, he feared her life would fall apart.

Hannah had no idea what Quentin saw in her dancing.

As she danced, she thought about the day she died in her previous life.

That day, Hannah returned from her shift at the farm inside the survivor base.

Jenna Sutton, who often went with her to search for supplies, said a friend found a house buried beneath the snow on the outskirts of town.

The house had a cellar.

It was tightly sealed.

There was no sign anyone opened it.

There was a good chance supplies remained inside.

But the seal was so secure that Jenna’s friend needed help opening it.

The friend offered twenty percent of whatever they found to two people willing to help.

Hannah owned an electric saw she found earlier, so they invited her.

Jenna’s friend said they would take care of the electricity it needed.

Hannah had no reason to be suspicious. She did have the saw.

She also searched for supplies with Jenna and several of her friends many times.

They always divided what they found fairly.

So, Hannah suspected nothing.

But when she arrived, Jenna and her three friends were not the only ones there.

Jeremy, May, and Miles were there too.

As for Sherry?

After May sold Hannah to the man downstairs, Hannah escaped and injured him and his mother with a knife.

His family paid for Hannah with food and water. They were furious that she got away.

They went straight to Jeremy and threatened Miles’ life unless he and May handed Sherry over in Hannah’s place!

Hannah learned what happened from someone at the survivor base who lived in the same building at the time.

That person did not know what happened to Sherry afterward.

But the way May’s family looked at Hannah, as though they wanted to tear her apart, gave her some idea.

May’s family came for revenge.

At some point, Jenna and her friends joined forces with them.

They lured Hannah out here to get her killed!

The moment Hannah arrived, the group surrounded her.

She saw the way they looked at her and realized they wanted to kill and eat her!

It was a look only someone who lived through the apocalypse would recognize: a desperate hunger for food.

Hannah had no idea when Jenna and her friends became cannibals.

When she realized what they planned, fear was not the first thing she felt.

She felt sick!

Jenna once told Hannah that a friend treated her to meat.

Hannah remembered how Jenna savored the memory as she spoke.

At the time, Hannah thought nothing of it.

They were all starving.

Of course, Jenna would remember a meal with meat.

It never occurred to Hannah that the meat was human!

She spent all that time so close to cannibals?