The Space

Chapter 2 — The Space

Chloe's POV

I didn't sleep much that night.

Every time I closed my eyes, I remembered the last three months of my previous life. The hunger. The fear. Daniel walking away from me without looking back.

Then I would open my eyes and see the date on my phone.

March 12.

I was really back.

The thought should have made me happy, but there was something else bothering me.

How had I returned?

I remembered dying. I remembered the pain and the moment everything went black. Then I had woken up in my old bedroom as if none of it had happened.

There had to be a reason.

I sat cross-legged on my bed and tried to remember everything from the moment before I woke up. There hadn't been anything unusual, except for a strange warmth that had spread through my body just before I opened my eyes.

I closed my eyes again.

"Is there something I'm supposed to do?"

Nothing happened.

I opened them.

"System?"

Still nothing.

I almost laughed.

Maybe I had watched too many apocalypse movies before going to sleep.

I was about to forget the whole thing when I noticed the hair tie on my bedside table.

Without thinking, I stared at it.

The next second, it disappeared.

I froze.

My eyes widened as I looked at the empty table.

"What?"

I reached for the spot where it had been, but there was nothing there.

Then I suddenly felt something inside my mind.

It was difficult to explain. It was almost like knowing something was there without actually seeing it.

The hair tie.

It was still with me.

I thought about bringing it back.

It appeared in my palm.

I stared at it for several seconds before a laugh escaped me.

"You've got to be kidding me."

I tried again.

This time, I picked up a pen.

It disappeared.

I brought it back.

Then my phone.

In and out.

A bottle of water.

In and out.

Each time, the strange feeling inside my head became clearer.

There was a space.

A place that belonged only to me.

I sat on the bed, staring at the water bottle in my hand.

If this was real, it could change everything.

I got up and went to the kitchen.

I found a piece of bread and held it between my fingers.

I hesitated before putting it into the space.

The bread disappeared.

I waited.

Nothing happened.

I checked again, and it was still there.

I took it out and looked at it.

It looked exactly the same.

I frowned.

Maybe I was getting ahead of myself.

I put it back and decided to wait.

An hour later, I checked again.

The bread was still fresh.

My heart began beating faster.

I immediately understood what that meant.

If time really didn't pass inside the space, I could store food without worrying about it spoiling.

That alone was enough to make me want to scream with happiness.

In my previous life, food had been one of the biggest problems.

People had fought over cans of beans. Families had hidden rice beneath their beds. I had once gone almost two days without eating because I couldn't find anything.

Now I could buy food before the apocalypse even began and keep it safe.

I started looking around my room with new eyes.

What else could I store?

I picked up my shoes and put them inside.

Then a blanket.

A bag.

Some clothes.

Bottles of water.

They all disappeared easily.

There was no struggle, and I didn't feel any heavier.

Curious, I tried to sense how large the space was.

I couldn't see the walls.

It felt strangely empty, as though I were standing in a huge room with nothing inside it.

I couldn't tell where it ended.

"How big are you?"

Of course, there was no answer.

I smiled despite myself.

I would figure that out later.

There was still one thing I needed to know.

Could the space hold living things?

My eyes landed on the small plant near my window.

I walked toward it, then stopped.

"No."

I shook my head.

I wasn't going to experiment on my plant.

If it died, I would feel horrible.

Maybe I could test it with something else later, but for now, I had enough information.

The space could store objects.

Nothing inside seemed to age.

And I could take anything out whenever I wanted.

That was already more than I could have asked for.

I sat at my desk and pulled out a notebook.

If I wanted to survive, I couldn't depend on luck.

I needed a plan.

Food came first.

Rice, beans, flour, pasta, noodles, canned food, cooking oil, salt, sugar, spices and anything else that could last for a long time.

Then water.

Lots of water.

Medicine and first-aid supplies came next.

After that, clothes, shoes, blankets, toiletries, batteries, flashlights, cooking equipment, tools, seeds and fuel.

The list kept getting longer.

I remembered the things people had fought over during the apocalypse and added them one by one.

I wasn't going to be that helpless woman again.

This time, I would have everything I needed.

There was only one problem.

Money.

I looked at my bank balance.

It was nowhere near enough.

I couldn't possibly buy all those things with what I had.

I leaned back in my chair and sighed.

Then, almost immediately, a memory surfaced.

A company.

I stared at the notebook.

I remembered it clearly now.

Three weeks before the apocalypse, one company had suddenly become the center of attention after a major announcement. Its stock price had been ridiculously low before the news broke.

Afterward, the price had skyrocketed.

I remembered watching people talk about it everywhere.

One man in our survivor group had made a fortune because he had bought shares early.

Back then, I had thought he was incredibly lucky.

Now I knew exactly what had happened.

I knew the company.

I knew the date.

I knew roughly how low the price would be before it rose.

A slow smile spread across my face.

Maybe I didn't have much money now.

But I had something better.

I had three months of memories that nobody else had.

And if I played my cards right, I could turn those memories into everything I needed.

I closed the notebook.

For the first time since waking up, I felt genuinely excited about the future.

The apocalypse had taken everything from me once.

This time, I was going to take advantage of everything it had taught me.

And I knew exactly where to begin.