Making Money

Chapter 3 — Making Money

Chloe's POV

The next morning, I woke up with one thing on my mind.

Money.

Having the space was a huge advantage, but it wouldn't fill itself. If I wanted enough food, water, medicine, fuel, clothes, tools, and everything else I would need, I had to find a way to increase the money in my account first.

Fortunately, I knew things that other people didn't.

I just had to be careful.

Making too much money too quickly would attract attention, and the last thing I needed was someone wondering how an ordinary woman suddenly became wealthy.

I started with the company I remembered from the previous life.

I searched for it online and found the stock immediately. The price was still low, exactly as I remembered. The announcement that would send it upward was still several weeks away.

I stared at the screen for a while.

In my previous life, I had watched people talk about this company after the price had already risen. I hadn't understood much about investing then, and even if I had, I wouldn't have had enough money to make a difference.

This time was different.

I transferred a reasonable amount of my savings into my investment account and bought the shares.

It wasn't everything I had.

I wasn't foolish enough to put my entire future into one investment, especially when I had an apocalypse to prepare for.

Once the purchase was complete, I leaned back in my chair.

"One step at a time."

I still had a little money left, but not enough.

So I looked for another opportunity.

There was a local business deal I remembered from my previous life. A small company had been struggling at the time, and most people ignored it. A few weeks later, they secured a contract that completely changed the business.

The contract itself wasn't connected to the apocalypse, but the opportunity was useful.

I couldn't invest a huge amount, so I put in only what I could afford to lose.

Then I stopped.

I didn't want to become greedy.

My memories were valuable, but they weren't perfect. I remembered major events because they had affected my life, but I couldn't remember every detail of every company, every price, or every date.

If I relied too heavily on my memories, I could make a mistake.

And one mistake could cost me money I desperately needed.

After checking my plans several times, I moved on to something I understood better.

Things people would need.

Even before the apocalypse began, there had been signs of shortages. In my previous life, I hadn't paid attention to them until it was too late.

Certain basic goods became increasingly expensive during the weeks before the collapse. Cooking oil, rice, bottled water, batteries, fuel, medical supplies and canned food were some of the first things people started buying in large quantities.

I couldn't predict every price perfectly, but I knew what was coming.

That gave me another advantage.

I didn't need to buy everything immediately. I could buy certain supplies while they were still affordable and store them until I needed them.

The problem was that I needed somewhere to put everything.

I smiled when I remembered my space.

That part was already solved.

Over the next few days, I became very careful with my spending. I didn't suddenly start buying expensive things or living differently. If anything, I became more ordinary.

I still went to work.

I still dressed the way I usually did.

I still answered my mother's calls when she called.

The only difference was that every decision I made had the apocalypse somewhere in the back of my mind.

One afternoon, I received an email about my investment.

I opened it casually.

Then I sat up.

The stock had started rising.

My heart skipped.

It wasn't a huge increase yet, but it was moving exactly as I remembered.

I didn't sell immediately.

In my previous life, the biggest increase had happened after the company's announcement, which was still several days away.

I waited.

When the announcement finally came, the stock jumped.

I stared at the number on my screen.

For the first time since returning to the past, I felt like I was actually changing my future.

I sold part of my shares.

Not everything.

Just enough to give myself more money while leaving the rest invested.

The profit wasn't enough to make me rich, but it was more than I had started with.

And that was all I needed.

I used part of it to pay my bills and kept the rest separate from my normal spending money.

Then the business investment I had made earlier started moving in the direction I remembered.

That gave me another small profit.

By the end of the week, I had increased my savings considerably.

I sat at my desk and looked at the numbers.

It wasn't millions.

It wasn't some unbelievable fortune.

But it was enough to start.

And that mattered more to me than becoming rich.

Money had never been the thing I wanted most.

In my previous life, I had learned that money couldn't buy safety once the world collapsed. A person could have thousands in their bank account and still starve if there was nothing left to buy.

What mattered was having the right things before everyone else realized they needed them.

I opened my notebook again.

I had already written down everything I could remember about the first few weeks of the apocalypse.

Now I added estimated prices and where I could buy certain supplies cheaply.

I also wrote down the names of several places that would eventually close.

Some of them had large warehouses.

Some carried medical supplies.

One had farming equipment.

Another had fuel.

If I moved early enough, I could buy what I needed without paying the ridiculous prices that would come later.

I looked at the growing list and felt a strange sense of calm.

For the first time, I wasn't simply waiting for the apocalypse to arrive.

I was preparing for it.

I still had a long way to go, but I finally had enough money to begin serious stockpiling.

I closed my laptop and pulled my notebook closer.

Then I turned to a clean page.

I wrote the date at the top.

March 18.

Underneath it, I began writing everything I would need.

I paused for a moment before adding the first five words.

Three months.

Then I continued.

Food.

Water.

Medicine.

Fuel.

Weapons.

Seeds.

I stared at the list.

It was no longer just a plan.

It was my chance to survive.

And this time, I wasn't going to wait until the world collapsed before I started fighting for my life.