All Chapters of REBORN BEFORE THE APOCALYPSE: MY EX BEGS FOR MERCY: Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

POV: PHINAThe city had gone dark, and I knew darkness would make desperate people brave enough to do terrible things.From the central command hub, the thermal camera displays showed the terrifying reality of our new geography. Down in the valley, hundreds of miles of urban grid had vanished into a silent, freezing void. Highland Crest Manor, glowing like a stadium under our high-intensity perimeter floodlights, was practically screaming its presence across the county.Rumors were already traveling faster than the storm through the dark valley, whispers that a young heiress on the mountain was sitting on subterranean vaults overflowing with grain, fresh water, fuel, and pharmaceutical-grade medicine designed to last decades."Edwin, kill the primary floodlights," I ordered sharply, my voice echoing off the concrete walls. "Dim the courtyard LEDs by seventy percent and pull the heavy thermal blinds across all upper-tier viewports. I want this compound as dark and uninteresting as a de

POV: PHINAThe security alarm in Sector B's lower medical vault didn't sound like a klaxon; it was a silent, high-frequency chime that vibrated directly against my wrist terminal.I reached the subterranean pharmacy corridor in less than ninety seconds, my tactical sidearm drawn, boots silent against the cold concrete floor. The heavy steel door of Vault B-4 had been bypassed using a copied keycard, held slightly ajar by a piece of rubber tubing.I kicked the door open, raising my weapon. "Don't move!"A man scrambled backward into the metal shelving, knocking over a box of sterile bandages. He was holding three sealed vials of broad-spectrum IV antibiotics clutched tightly against his chest, his hands shaking so violently he could barely hold them.It was Thomas, a middle-aged electrician from the valley whom we had admitted into Sector C two weeks ago."Don't shoot! Please, don't shoot!" Thomas wept, pressing his back against the cold steel rack, his face pale and slick with cold sw

POV: PHINAI had spent months preparing for atmospheric freezes, electrical grid collapses, and severe resource scarcity. But I had never truly envisioned that an organized, heavy-weapons force of desperate survivors would march up my mountain to tear down my home.The cold static from the short-range radio intercept still hung in the air of the command hub, heavy as lead.“Tomorrow at midnight, we will bring down the North Wall with heavy explosives and take the whole damn mountain."Edwin, initiate Level Red compound lockdown immediately," I ordered, my voice dropping into a razor-sharp, lethal register. "Seal the subterranean access tunnels, engage the magnetic deadbolts on all secondary blast doors, and move all non-combatant civilians into Sector C’s subterranean fallout shelter.""Executing now, Miss Phina," Edwin replied, his hands flying across the control interface. Down in the living sectors, low-frequency security chimes began to echo as heavy iron grates dropped over doors

POV: PHINAPhina had survived the attack, but the blood on her hands felt heavier than every weapon she owned.The subterranean garage smelled of burnt cordite, copper, and damp snow. White sheets covered three silent forms near the Sector A airlock, while the low, agonizing groans of six wounded guards echoed from Alex’s makeshift trauma bay.I stood in the far corner of the quiet armory, staring down at my hands. The skin around my knuckles was raw and bruised, the black soot from my rifle pressed deep into the lines of my palms. I had washed them twice with cold water, but no matter how hard I scrubbed, the ghost of that metallic scent lingered on my skin.In my first life, I had died helpless, freezing, and alone because I was too weak and trusting. I had spent months building this fortress, buying steel, hoarding medicine, and hardening my heart so I would never be vulnerable again.And yet, men were dead because of my supplies.A quiet step sounded on the concrete floor behind m

POV: PHINAPhina felt the cold, and she immediately knew something was wrong.It wasn't just the ambient chill of an unheated concrete corridor. It was a sharp, biting frost that seeped straight through the triple-glazed thermopane glass of Sector A, turning my breath into thick, heavy plumes of white vapor inside the command hub.I rushed to the master environmental terminal, my heart hammering against my ribs.On the digital display, the exterior ambient temperature sensor was dropping at a terrifying rate: minus twenty... minus twenty-five... minus thirty-two degrees Fahrenheit.My mind raced backward through the memories of my first life. In my previous timeline, the deep secondary freeze wasn't supposed to arrive for another six weeks. It was supposed to be a slow, creeping winter that gave survivors time to burn wood and scavenge insulation.It shouldn't be dropping this early.A cold, suffocating terror gripped my chest as the truth hit me: th