جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 20

Leah sighed and continued, “The storm was all anyone talked about online.“There were new reports every day: another place hit, another island nation flooded.“I’ll never forget the footage. That monthlong hurricane set off disasters across the world.“It left devastation everywhere it went. Island nations vanished one after another. In country after country, communications failed, cutting people off from the rest of the world.“The world went back to an age without the internet or reliable contact.“Within a month, nearly every coastal port had closed. Inland areas escaped the tsunamis, but they couldn’t escape the wind.“Havenland was no exception. The hurricane never made landfall here, but its reach was enormous. The cities closest to Rovaria were hit first.“Trees were ripped from the ground. Cars, motorcycles, electric bikes, bicycles, even the stone bollards beside the road flew through the air.“Anyone who couldn’t get inside a building was swept up, then thrown back down.“Cri

“Warren, three days is too soon! I can’t raise that much money. Can you give me more time?”Raymond slipped back into his usual flattery and complaints.This time, Warren had no patience for bargaining. He cut Raymond off.“Raymond, the branch isn’t the only thing I’m selling.“Vivian and I plan to put all our shares in Young Pharmaceuticals up for sale. We’ll announce it tomorrow and start looking for buyers.“I wanted to give you the first chance because you’re my brother. But if you can’t raise two hundred million for the branch, I doubt you can afford our shares.”That struck exactly where Raymond and Janice were most vulnerable.The other end of the call went quiet.Then Janice spoke, her voice trembling with excitement.“Warren! Are you... are you really selling all your shares in Young Pharmaceuticals?”No one wanted the company more than she did.For all the years she was married to Raymond, she had lived in Vivian’s shadow.At family dinners, Vivian sat at the head of the tab

The family sat down to plan their next steps after agreeing on the shares.“Leah, what do you think we should do first?”Since her rebirth, Warren and Vivian had come to rely on her for guidance.Leah’s expression grew grave. “Mom, Dad, I’ve thought about it. We need to move.”She explained what their family endured after the apocalypse began in her previous life, and why they could not stay in their home.The terrible typhoon was followed by four months of relentless rain.It poured as though the sky had split open.Within three days, Briarford’s drainage system failed. Floodwater covered the city, turning it into a vast expanse of water.In low-lying areas, buildings under fifteen stories tall disappeared beneath the flood.Their villa stood on higher ground, so it escaped complete submersion. Even so, the water reached its top floor.Leah looked at her parents, grief rising in her eyes.“Those months of cold and damp caused lasting damage to Dad’s injured leg.“Fortunately, we had a

A Hotel Room in TavariaAfter another unanswered call, Leah let her phone fall to her lap.She pushed aside her disappointment, looked at her parents, and continued explaining why they needed to move.“After we entered the base, we traded a ton of medicinal supplies from our warehouse for a three-bedroom apartment of about 1,290 square feet.“At first, life was bearable. We could trade medicine for some food. But food and water grew so scarce that even people with credits had nothing to buy. “We were lucky just to eat enough to survive. Eventually, everyone had to form teams and go out to search for supplies.“Just as people began to adjust to the extreme cold, one day the sun didn’t rise.”The endless night had begun!“The cold and darkness together were terrifying! The darkness stripped away what little restraint people had left. Murders, robberies, and violent fights happened constantly.“Society fell into chaos, and so did the base. Security and police couldn’t keep up. Even offic

After dinner, the family sat together again to discuss the apartment renovations. More than an hour later, they settled on a plan.The plan called for vault-grade front and stairwell doors that resisted blasts, drilling, and cutting.Full-height barriers and electrified fencing would guard the stairs between the twenty-seventh and twenty-eighth floors, along with their private elevator entrance.They also planned to reinforce the stairwell walls with composite steel panels, so intruders could not simply break through the walls if the doors held.Every window needed thick, triple-layer glass resistant to bullets and blasts, plus one-way privacy film and exterior security grilles that opened from inside.Soundproofing and insulation would go into the walls, floors, and ceilings.The roof above the attic would receive three additional waterproof layers and two large water tanks. They would leave room for solar panels and install a manually retractable awning with a steel frame.They plan