All Chapters of Apocalypse Reborn: My Family Begged But I Shut The Gates: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

“Where the hell is the coffee maker?” Eric’s voice was heard loud from the kitchen the moment Katie stepped into the hallway. “Katie! Susan! Did either of you move it?”Katie stopped halfway to the living room, one hand still on the wall. The house already felt wrong. The usual morning smells were gone. No coffee. No toast. Nothing.“I didn’t touch anything,” she called back. “Maybe Amanda—”“Amanda’s not here,” Eric snapped. He appeared in the doorway holding an empty mug, hair messy, shirt half-buttoned. “She’s been gone two nights and suddenly half the kitchen is missing. The coffee maker is gone. The blender is gone. Even the damn toaster is gone.”Susan came down the stairs in her robe, frowning. “What is all this noise so early?”“Your stepdaughter took the appliances,” Eric said. He set the mug down hard on the counter. “And look at the fridge—empty, completely empty. I opened it looking for milk and there’s nothing. No eggs. No bread. No leftovers. She cleaned it out.”Katie w

“Raymond, if that big beam moves one more time, I’m going to make you pay the doctor bill!”Amanda stood on the wooden platform high up on the house. She held a big nail gun in one hand. Her other hand kept the heavy wood steady. Raymond pushed the thick beam up from below.Raymond made a loud grunting sound. His boots slipped a little on the wood. “You try holding this heavy thing while the wind tries to blow it away! My arms are tired, Amanda.”“You always say you are the best builder around,” Amanda said with a small smile. “One more push. We are almost done.”Raymond pushed hard. The big beam slid into the right place with a solid sound. Amanda shot four strong nails into it fast. Each nail made a clear bang.“There,” she said. She climbed down carefully. “That is the last big piece. The roof is on. The walls are straight. The doors hang the right way. You really helped me build a real house.”Raymond wiped dust from his face with his arm. He looked around the big open room. Sunli

"Amanda?" Raymond's voice came from the open front door. He stood there with his toolbox in one hand and a coffee in the other, staring at the new locks like they had appeared overnight. Amanda froze halfway down the hall. She had only slept three hours. The scrape on her forearm still burned under the long sleeve she had pulled on in a hurry. The defensive ward hummed quietly in the walls, something only she could feel. "You're early," she said. "I wanted to check the window frames before the heat hit." He stepped inside and set the coffee on the counter. His eyes moved from the heavy deadbolts to the perfect clear panels already sealed in place. "When did these go in?" "Late last night." Raymond set his toolbox down slowly. "You installed four custom windows and commercial-grade locks by yourself after dark?" Amanda kept her voice even. "The delivery came earlier than expected. I didn't want to wait." He walked closer to one of the windows and ran a finger along the clean se

The man's jaw tightened as he looked at Amanda. “Look, I've got moving costs, staff to pay, and equipment to clear. I can't just give everything away because you're here tonight.”“I am here by this time because you need this inventory gone,” Amanda said calmly. She was tired, but she refused to let him see how badly she wanted the supplies.Amanda held his eyes. “Then if this other buyer really exists, call them. You can sell everything to them instead.”He opened his mouth, but no answer came. His eyes moved toward the boxes before returning to Amanda, and she knew from that small movement that she'd caught him.She waited quietly. She didn't raise her voice or threaten him. She simply stood there, letting the silence stretch until he became uncomfortable enough to give in.Finally, he rubbed his face and sighed. “Ten percent more.”“Five.”she said firmly.“Eight.”“Five,” Amanda repeated. Her voice remained steady. She had already wasted enough time, and she wasn't going to let him

Amanda stood in the medical bay, clipboard in hand, counting boxes of gauze and antibiotics for the third time that morning. The lower storage room inventory needed to be perfect. Everything needed to be perfect.She reached for another box when her phone buzzed against the metal shelf. The screen lit up with an unfamiliar number. Hospital, the caller ID read. Her hand hesitated over the device before she answered."Mrs. Amanda?" The nurse's voice was gentle, careful in a way that made Amanda's stomach drop before the woman said another word. "My name is Nurse Patricia. I'm calling from St. Mary's Medical Center about Ivy."Amanda's fingers tightened around the phone. She stared at the prenatal vitamins sitting on the shelf beside her, the bottle she had bought for herself, for her own baby, for the future she was fighting to protect."I'm calling about Ivy," the nurse continued, her tone softening further. "She's taken a turn for the worse. The infection has spread. Without immediate