[A/N: Hello everyone.
As you all noticed in my final author's note in the previous chapter, this is the last chapter before the formal apocalypse begins.
Please comment, I'm feeling lonely.]
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At the gun sales point.
"Hahaha", a raucous laugh sounded. Alex de los Drugos was very pleased with my reaction.
"That's true, they're your friends. Besides, we're making deals like the elegant men we are, and we shouldn't stain this, our stage, with something as common as blood", he said, letting go of my shoulder and returning to Ron.
I walked quickly to the truck, trying to calm my mood; my back had begun to sweat profusely. When I got to the back of the truck, I loaded a couple of bags, taking a few bundles out of one of them to establish the exact figure for this exchange. I carried the bags near Ron and returned to my original position.
"Here's the money", Ron said, pointing to the bags. "Where are the guns?", he asked, his tone more irritated than before. He seemed to feel guilty for getting me into trouble.
"The boxes are in the warehouse. I even added some gifts", he said, pointing to a building near the location. "We should go now. We've got some fun ahead of us", said Alex from the Drugos as he tossed a wrench to Ron.
"See you soon, my better half", he said loudly as he left. He hadn't looked at me, but I clearly knew he meant me.
An hour later, in a warehouse.
"I apologize again for what happened, Alex", Ron said guiltily.
"I know you didn't mean to. Besides, everything turned out okay, didn't it?", I said in a calm tone. However, inside, I was completely alarmed; now I had something else to worry about besides the disastrous future that awaited us.
"I hope so", said Ron with a wry tone.
"David, can you take care of the weapons?", I asked, a little exhausted by the previous situation. "Besides, I don't know much about them, so I won't be much help", I added.
"Sure, no problem", he agreed, unbothered by the extra work.
At Alex's house.
"That was unexpected", I said with a wry tone as I lay in bed.
I had spent the last half hour reviewing the notes I'd written about the visions, looking for any hint of a criminal gang or a group of survivors led by one. However, nothing seemed to indicate I'd encounter them in the future.
"I feel like I mentioned knowing about survivor groups to my base mate, but I don't know if I told her I knew one called Drugos", I thought as I reviewed the notebook and tried to remember.
Saturday, November 14, 2026, 1 day until day 0.
"Again?", I asked in a sleepy voice. "Who's calling so early in the morning?", I added in an annoyed voice, seeing that there was one incoming call and about 10 missed calls.
"David?", I asked, alarmed, as I answered my cell phone.
"You finally answered. I was very worried. I thought I'd found you, that band of lunatics", David said, relieved. "What happened to you?", he asked.
"I fell asleep", I said, a little embarrassed, looking at the time: 11:12 am. "I'll get up right away so we can meet up at the containers", I said, feeling a little guilty.
"You must have been very tired after last night", he said understandingly. "No need to rush, we'll meet up after lunch. I'll update you on my progress", David suggested.
"I'm listening", I said.
"First, the builders you hired for the eight houses spoke to me. They're all upgraded. They found our requests a little suspicious, but money is king in these transactions, so they didn't ask too many questions. Also, the auto repair shops have started installing upgraded tires and glass reinforcements; the rest will be completed next week", he explained the progress of the house and vehicle improvements.
"That's great", I commented.
"On another note, I took the time to prepare a weapons kit for all the houses. This includes pistols and ammunition, as well as blades and spears. I also left sturdy clothing for several people at each location, as well as a number of multipurpose items, such as tools, ropes, and the like", he added.
"What do we do with the food?", I asked, noticing he hadn't mentioned anything about these.
"I've been thinking that we're having quite a bit of money left over from using installment payments, and while the weapons took a significant amount of our funds, we still have enough left to fill the warehouses we had planned to acquire, the containers, the trucks we had planned to prepare in case of emergency, and also fill the houses to the brim with food", David explained calmly. "My idea is that we focus first on filling the warehouses and containers until we can't fill them anymore and finally prepare the necessary supplies for each of the houses or vehicles. This is to prioritize the items with the greatest capacity", David suggested.
"Sounds good to me. We can fill the houses no later than next Thursday, and before that, we can focus on the rest", I said, accepting his suggestion. "Anything else you want to say?", I asked after waiting a few seconds without him saying anything.
"Well… I warned some acquaintances or friends about what would happen without consulting you first", he said with a guilty tone.
"There's nothing to consult me about", I said in a calm voice. "I mentioned that I hadn't warned anyone because at the time, no one would believe it, but now we could shout it out in public, and people might even think we're telling the truth", I explained, calming him down.
"That's true", he murmured.
"Did they believe you?", I asked curiously.
"Yes, no one doubted it", he said with a hint of pride in his tone. "Everyone is making plans on their own to help their families, preparing food, toiletries, knives that are easy to get, some of the recommendations on things I thought would be very useful. One of them even suggested keeping in touch with shortwave radios set to a single frequency, so we could contact each other even when the phone signal drops", he commented excitedly.
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[A/N: An apocalypse with communications can be much easier.]
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"That's true, we should have thought about communications", I said thoughtfully. "Although I don't know how it works", I commented to David.
"Don't worry, he's already preparing some radios that function as transmission stations; he called them 'Base Radios,' while we bought a large number of portable radios that can be set to a specific frequency", David said.
"Great, now even when we're separated, we can find one of the houses so we can communicate", I said, a little relieved.
"I would have liked to have access to the military's communications as well", David commented.
"I think I can help with that", I said without giving it much thought.
"What do you mean?", he asked me.
"Well, my friend is an army officer, stationed in the regiment closest to the city. I don't know if he's at the camp the military is building, but I can ask him to get me a couple of those radios they use", I told David.
"Excellent!", he exclaimed. "Will you be able to send us those radios? Won't he get in trouble for this?", he asked.
"I don't think so", I said hesitantly. "Anyway, I'll ask him if it's possible, and if it's not possible, well… at least we'll try", I added.
"I'll leave that up to you. Let me know", he said before hanging up.
After the call ended, I started searching for my cell phone for the nickname under which I had added my friend to my contacts list. It had been a while since I last spoke to him, but he was a fairly serious guy who preferred to continue improving as a soldier rather than wasting time in pointless meetings, and thanks to this, he's come a long way in the ranks of our army. It's not that he's the kind of friend who leaves you in the dust; it's that his personality doesn't process the waste of time on meaningless gestures of those superficial friendships.
"Here he is", I said as I saw the contact's name 'Private Ryan'.
"Did something happen to you?", the voice on the other end of the call asked in a serious tone.
"Nothing happened", I clarified in a calm tone.
"My parents?", he asked, maintaining the same tone.
"No", I replied.
"Yours?", he asked again.
"Nothing like that", I said, a little exasperated, remembering how our conversations always started the same way. "You don't change one bit, dear 'Private Ryan,'" I said playfully.
"And your memory is still in the same poor shape, Alex", he said with an exasperated tone that was a bit of a departure from his usual manner of speaking. "I'm First Lieutenant Adams, and my given name is Bryan, not Ryan. I mentioned that to you last time", he added, this time seriously.
"Hahaha… That's the only way to get a different reaction from you", I replied with a laugh, pleased to have achieved my goal.
"What's the problem?", he asked, wasting no time.
"I need some military radios so I can listen in on their conversations", I told him firmly.
"I know you wouldn't risk my career over something so trivial. What do you need them for?", he continued probing.
"A 'birdie' from another country informed me about what's about to happen, and I need another 'birdie' to keep me abreast of what's going on here", I hinted, without directly revealing that I was privy to information he knew.
"I don't know what you're talking about, civilian. But if you need to complain about a lack of communications, you can contact Second Lieutenant Walker at +XX XX XXX XXX", he replied in a robotic tone before hanging up without any goodbye.
"I was protecting myself", I muttered.
It was quite likely that the army monitored all communications of its staff and officers. His reaction to my insinuation was undoubtedly an attempt to protect me from some form of censorship. Furthermore, he provided me with the number of an officer close to him, who would surely be able to help me with what I needed.
"I'll call him right away", I thought as I wrote down the number Bryan had provided.
"Hello?", a voice that sounded similar to Bryan's answered.
"Second Lieutenant Walker?", I asked to confirm I had dialed the correct number.
"This is him", he replied.
"This is Alex, a friend of First Lieutenant Adams. I was given your number for complaints about the communications problem", I explained.
"I understand. The consultations will be held in the main square at 12:00. The dress code is casual, and you should wear an army cap", he said without waiting for me to respond. "I don't have much time left", I exclaimed, alarmed, when I saw the time on my cell phone.
I grabbed my keys and phone and quickly left the house. I drove the truck to a street near the plaza in search of a parking space. Finally, I arrived at the plaza just five minutes before noon.
I began walking around, looking for a man who matched the description I'd been given, but I couldn't see anyone nearby. After a few minutes, I spotted a man in his 30s, wearing a tight T-shirt and jeans, and wearing an army cap.
"Second Lieutenant Walker?", I asked as I approached.
"Follow me", he replied without hesitation, showing me the way.
I tried to keep up, but it was clear that his physical condition was excellent, while mine was still far from it. Even though I've been doing cardio training for the past two weeks, all I've noticed is an improvement in my endurance. Upon reaching a busy street, we sat on a bench.
"I had instructions for your extraction in the hours before the state of emergency began", he commented as soon as we were settled.
"Extraction?", I asked, surprised.
"Yes, we would ensure that some personnel went to their homes with relocation orders. You would be placed in the temporary military zone on the outskirts of the city, and the other four would be placed in one of the refugee centers under construction around the artillery regiment near the city", he said in a serious tone.
"What other four people?", I asked, uncomprehending.
"First Lieutenant Adams' parents and yours", he clarified casually.
"I see", I said, my voice trembling. "He was always attentive to everyone", I thought, noticing how Bryan had made plans to keep not only his parents, who should have been his priority, but also mine, and me, safe. Now that I know this, the future I saw in the visions seems more and more unknown to me. It made me wonder what happened to these people close to me.
"They'll be safe, right?", I murmured, thinking about what would happen in the future with Bryan and our families.
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[A/N: CHAPTER COMPLETED
Thanks everyone for reading.
The next chapter begins a small arc, and there's a lot of tension to come.
Read my other novel called Vinland Kingdom: Race Against Time.
You can find it on my profile.]