Chapter 3: Preparations
The wait had gone on forever. Knowing that time was not your friend had turned a beautiful dream into an endless nightmare.
Knowing that just by closing your eyes you could go back to the hell on earth of life that had been had was not palatable.
"So... shall we close the deal? " the morning had come, and the first buyer had taken the bait.
The house was not in perfect condition, but at least it was tempting, because it was located in a high-class residential area, which raised its price through the roof.
In short, he could buy several houses with just the down payment from the sale of the land, although that was not enough. She had to get more items if she wanted to survive comfortably for those three months.
He no longer planned to live like a rat, eating the bare minimum, rationing every food item and eating every other animal, no matter how disgusting.
In his past life he had to do atrocities he would not want to remember just to survive.
He had to eat animals, insects and even...he didn't even want to remember their voices anymore.
"All right, but in exchange for letting you stay until the end of the month I'd like you to lower the price of the property."
The salesman rubbed his hands together.
His card hanging on his chest was waving everywhere from his little laugh.
He looked at Richard as an ignorant young man easy to steal from. He wasn't going to survive long with what was coming, you could almost see how he would end up alone in that agency scared out of his mind and trying to harness his power until he was eaten to death.
"Mr. Anthony, I can give you the discount you are planning...but I would like the advance money in front of me in less than a minute".
"come on don't be like that, you still need to show me the house "he replied, trying to buy time.
Anthony took a sip of your coffee. Now less confident than before, something normal knowing that he had a young man desperate for money, here there was room for maneuver.
"Anthony, here we're not talking about the typical sale with papers, lawyers and banks that take months. Here it's like this: I sell you the house at a comfortable price, you give me a down payment, and I sign an agreement for you to receive it at the end of the month. But the down payment has to be on my desk now, or I get up and it's over."
Richard said this with an artificial calm.
Time was running out and it was no longer to play negotiator. While he would have looted that whole place before, at least for now he was governed by the laws.
"well...how much are we talking about for the advance?"
Anthony conceded, he seemed to be sweating bullets...damn youth.
"we're talking 10% of the total money. If you give me that right now, the rest we settle with the bank at closing. If not, there's another buyer who's already offered me a little less, but at least more than you want to start with."
Things had worked out well for luck.
Now it was time to move on to the next buyer and so on until I got as much money as possible before the end of the day.
Oddly enough he had to go to some shabby places, although the risk was much greater, after all the records of the purchase and sale of that land were already set in stone at the bank.
Richard gave a tired sigh, "things were easier before."
"..."
The now quiet office had fallen deathly silent as the only one approaching at a slow pace was Anthony's secretary.
"boss, is it okay that that deal was made for that real estate?"
Though that alone was the trigger for the man's fury.
"hell no damn it!"
He had had to give in because that piece of land was too tempting, after all who wouldn't want to own land in one of the richest areas in all of the United States.
It was like buying diamond at the price of coal. Although it also had its risks after all the damn kid could get away with the deeds.
Although with the contract and with the bank in between as an agent of the law. If that kid magically disappeared he could have the deeds and everything that belonged to him.
"call Liam...tell him I'm going to collect on the favor he owes me and if he doesn't respond"
"tell him there's money involved in this deal."
"..."
Supermarket.
"are you going to order anything else?" her tone seemed sarcastic.
"mmm...call your manager, tell him if he could also buy the products from your warehouse but at a higher price".
The young woman ran off.
She seemed to be a part-time student. Although by her way of going quickly it was not known if it was her first day or if she was nervous about what was happening.
Although it wasn't normal to see trucks coming in line to take the food that had been on the shelves moments ago.
"is he some kind of scalper?"
"seems to be preparing for a war..."
"should we be worried?"
The whispers were not long in coming. Though some were closer to the truth than others.
If they could be lucky enough to follow their instincts and save food for at least a month they would have a chance to survive at least a while longer.
After all, while the blood moon lasted three months, the blood frenzy only took a month to stop, when all the undead began to form the first virus core.
The appearance of a well-dressed man caught Richard's attention.
"damn why is this happening on my watch..."
"are you sir the one who wants to buy the food from our supply hold? " he came out rubbing his hands together, almost drooling at the opportunity.
His eyes sparkled when he saw that the trucks had almost taken all the food in the store. Most of the food was non-perishable, so they had hit the golden goose.
"I told the previous manager that this kind of food was selling better...call me crazy" scoffed the manager, with a short laugh that didn't hide his anxiety to close the deal.
"in a moment sir, right now I'll take you to the warehouse!"
the man directed him towards a metal door. the creaking of the hinges was not long in coming as the whole place was filled with shelves and shelves of stacks and stacks of canned food, soups, beans, bagged rice and so on, as well as distilled water and more.
Having access to such an amount of money had almost brought a smile to Richard's face.
In short, he now had everything he needed to be able to live this life.
At least he wouldn't have to be eating protein bars made from who knows what, the only food that had been traded for people down the food chain.
Some people swore they knew what they were made of, but hardly anyone could make it out alive after finding out.
Although he had figured out what they were made of, in short, it was a mixture of various meats.
"Are you all right, sir?" asked the manager.
He had been surprised to see the look of disgust on Richard's face from one moment to the next. Which made him panic...could it be that something here made him sick?
Things were well canned, the environment was clean, so there was no reason to doubt that the food had not been well stored.
"Nothing happened...I remembered some things I didn't want to remember".
"everything is perfect I'll take it all".
"..."
so you want to rent this house?"
"are you sure?"
She continued to ask the real estate agent.
She couldn't believe that someone would rent a psychiatric center as a country house, well the place was big, besides it was very safe because it had walls and everything...but no one sane enough in the head would ask to rent it for a week and even worse being away from the hand of God.
It was three hours away by car, it was not very close, but it also had its water well and some cultivation areas that were previously used to give some activities to the patients.
"Yes, I'll see how it works for a week… if everything goes well, I'll buy it later."
Just hearing the word buy the girl didn't wait any longer and didn't show him any more.
"then say no more...by the way my name is Evelyn "she approached in a flirtatious way.
"I have a wife...please stay away".
Although such hopes were gone and fell like a bucket of cold water.
"All right, come on, follow me to sign the lease." He trailed off, his steps filled with discouragement.
I thought I was going to get a rich new generation, I might be a little crazy to think of living in that place.
But money was money, He could do whatever he wanted with her, if it would at least help him send to hell his obnoxious cousin who bragged to him about her boyfriend all the time.