Chapter 2

It was all a calculated lie. Once Joanna returned home that summer, they conveniently changed their minds. Back then, naive and desperate for affection, Joanna actually believed they just loved her too much to let her move away again. Instead, she ended up working a grueling summer job for pocket change, completely broke and forced to give up on her degree.

A sharp knock at the door interrupted her thoughts. Her takeout had arrived.

After paying the delivery driver, she sat down and opened the container. Steak and potatoes, cooked to absolute perfection. She took a bite and closed her eyes in pure bliss. Five years of starvation made the hot meal taste like heaven. Even the sting of an ice-cold cola felt like a miracle. Joanna smiled a bit. Even though it was a dream, I truly feel like I have lived through every missed meal of the past five years.

As she finished her meal, she began mapping out her next steps. Suddenly, a memory struck her like lightning.

My great-grandmother's emerald bracelet!

She remembered a specific fight during Thanksgiving weekend, right before the zombies appeared. Gwen had violently thrown her down the stairs, and Joanna's arm had been badly cut against the sharp edges of the emerald bracelet she was wearing. In the dream, Joanna had only been wearing it because she spotted it in her safety deposit box while handling the share transfer, deciding on a whim to take it.

Everything had been normal until her blood soaked into the emeralds.

She had to get that bracelet immediately. It was her greatest asset. In her dream, everyone assumed she had naturally awakened a space-storage superpower during the apocalypse. She had kept the truth strictly to herself. The moment her blood activated the bracelet, a mechanical system had chimed inside her mind, granting her the pocket dimension. Because she could never find enough rare gemstones to upgrade it, the space had remained locked at level three.

This time, she would maximize its potential. She would go home, strip her life of unnecessary baggage, and hoard every resource imaginable. And when the world fell apart, she would watch her mother and stepsister try to survive without her. A dark, predatory smile spread across Joanna's face, a sudden flash of killing intent glinting in her eyes.

Fortunately, her bags were already packed for the summer break. She was originally scheduled to fly home on Friday, but she refused to step foot in their house just to be treated like an unpaid maid.

Feeling her energy return thanks to the meal, she decided to audit her finances. Her branch of the family possessed massive wealth tied up in company shares. Even though her father had passed away years ago, Gwen and Alice had been left an identical amount of shares, which should have allowed them to live in luxury.

Instead, Joanna used her funds responsibly to pay for college, while Gwen and Alice constantly whined about being broke. They blew through millions every single month on mindless luxury until nothing was left. That was exactly why Gwen had manipulated her on the phone a few weeks prior.

"Your sister should have your shares since she is getting older," Gwen’s voice echoed on the phone a few weeks ago, dripping with false sweetness. "If you give them to us, we promise we will send you to college so Alice won’t have to worry. With the extra wealth, she’ll be guaranteed an excellent match for a husband. It’s not like you’ll ever need that extra money once you have a career. Besides, you should always take care of your family."

It was hilarious how Gwen always preached about taking care of family, considering they had never spent a single second caring for her. Ever since moving away for university last year, Joanna had lived modestly, working campus jobs and never overspending.

Joanna unlocked her phone, opened her banking app, and logged into her account.

She currently had just over 10 million dollars in her account. Once she sold her shares, she should be able to pocket roughly 50 million more.

Joanna frowned at the screen. Is that even enough? It doesn’t feel like it.

She paused, considering the logistics of a global collapse. After the apocalypse starts, society breaks down instantly. Looting and stealing become the norm. Since 90% of the world's population would contract the zombie virus within the first three months, Joanna decided to shift her strategy. She would delay purchasing bulk supplies until just a few days before the outbreak.

She wasn't scheduled to leave for her hometown until Friday. Tomorrow, she would start mapping out the warehouses and big-box stores she targeted to raid. When Thanksgiving weekend arrived, she would simply walk in and collect everything for free.

Her immediate priority for the morning, however, was tracking down raw gemstones. Her pocket dimension started at a modest 500 square feet, but it could expand significantly by absorbing emeralds and other precious stones. She knew of three local flea markets that specialized in estate jewelry. Once she retrieved her great-grandmother's bracelet from the safety deposit box, the real work would begin.

Time was terrifyingly short. Beyond the zombie threat, the Earth would soon be ravaged by extreme climate shifts: mega-tsunamis, catastrophic flooding, subarctic winters, and scorching heat waves. Because her college town sat only a few hours from the coast, she knew she would eventually have to migrate toward the mountains by year three. Alice and Gwen would need to make it there too—otherwise, her revenge would be incomplete. Rather than succumbing to the horrific fate of her timeline, Joanna would become the apex predator of this new world while her family suffered at the bottom.