End of the World? I'm the Boss novel Chapter 7

Reopening Shangri-La would benefit the zoo. When the place first opened three years ago, it had drawn plenty of visitors, and the zoo made a nice profit from the attention. After the pandemic, the wealthy owner lost interest and stopped managing it. The management of the zoo had always felt it was a waste to let the place sit unused.

When they heard someone wanted to reopen Shangri-La, Robin's superior was clearly happy. "We only have the contact number for his assistant," he said. "I'll send it to you."

"Okay," Robin replied.

The message arrived a short time later. The manager had added another sentence. "Robin, if your friend really decides to reopen Shangri-La, remember me, alright?"

Robin understood immediately. He was hoping for a little favor in return.

"Of course," she said with a faint smile.

She dialed the number.

After she explained the reason for her call, the assistant on the other end spoke in a calm, businesslike voice. "No problem, Ms. Neel. Mr. Henry set the terms. The monthly rent is 100,000 dollars, and we will take 40 percent of the profits. If you accept these conditions, we can sign the contract this afternoon."

Robin nearly clicked her tongue. 100,000 dollars a month and they still wanted 40 percent of the profits.

What a shark!

Shangri-La had been abandoned for years. The owner clearly didn't need the money. Yet the moment someone showed interest, the price and terms became sharp.

Still, she had to admit the man was good at business. No wonder he was rich.

"No problem," Robin said. "But I do have one condition."

"Go ahead."

"Can I pay the rent monthly? I plan to rent it for the long term. If you're worried I might back out, we can write that clearly in the contract. But I can't pay a huge amount all at once." She added, "If that's acceptable, we can set up a meeting."

The assistant paused briefly. "Tomorrow afternoon. Would that work?"

Robin knew that meant he agreed. "Perfect. See you then."

...

Once the rental issue was settled, Robin headed straight for the wholesale market.

Yesterday she had only bought food. But in an apocalypse, people needed far more than that.

She began working down her list. 2,000 cases of sanitary products, including regular pads, overnight pads, and liners. The total came to more than 200,000 dollars.

1,000 boxes of toilet paper, each box containing 48 rolls.

500 boxes of facial tissues. 3,000 towels. 5,000 toothbrushes. 3,000 tubes of toothpaste. 5,000 lighters. 5,000 boxes of matches. She also bought 4,000 cases of bottled water, each case holding four 1-gallon bottles. Then she moved on to drinks. More than 5,000 cases of soda and flavored drinks, along with 5,000 cases of milk. For extra water storage, she purchased 500 large 50-gallon barrels to fill with tap water.

When Robin reached the shelf, which held the condoms, she paused. Then she quietly added 300 large boxes to her cart.

They were useful for their usual purpose. In the apocalypse, they could serve many other practical uses. Stocking up wouldn't hurt.

All together, this round of supplies cost around 1.2 million. Everything was delivered to the Southvale warehouse.

After leaving the market, Robin stopped by more than a dozen pharmacies. She bought large amounts of medicine—antibiotics, fever reducers, cold medicine, medical alcohol, glucose, bandages, iodine, and other supplies.

In the apocalypse, medicine could be just as important as food. In her previous life, even until the day she died, scientists had never found a cure for the zombie virus.

But zombies weren't the only threat. Nuclear radiation had weakened people's immune systems.

In peaceful times, a mild cold or a small fever might pass on its own. But in the apocalypse, if someone developed a fever and didn't get medicine in time, the result was usually only one thing. Death.

After paying the deposit and leaving her warehouse address for delivery, Robin finally headed out.

She had been running all over the city that day. Even though she had been driving most of the time, she still felt worn out. And it made her realize something. Her body was far too weak.

Robin couldn't ignore the difference. In her past life, she had already felt what real strength was like. Compared to that, her current body felt weak and sluggish. Even simple tasks sometimes felt harder than they should. Yes, this time she had started preparing before the apocalypse. She was already far ahead of most people. But that didn't mean she could take it easy.

No matter how many supplies she stored, and no matter how well she fortified Shangri-La, true peace of mind would only come when she had power of her own.

With that in mind, Robin quickly worked out a strict training plan.

She knew she couldn't return to the peak condition of her previous life in a short time. Still, she understood the most effective and scientific ways to strengthen her body as quickly as possible.

First, she attached hoses to every faucet in the house. Then she pulled several large water barrels out of her storage space and began filling them.

She already had plenty of bottled drinking water stored away, but she didn't plan to use that for everyday washing. That would be far too wasteful.

Before long, the house echoed with the steady sound of running water. Robin began her workout while the barrels were filling.

The training method she used had spread widely after the apocalypse. It had been created by a brilliant military researcher.

The system focused on pushing the body to its limits—draining every bit of strength, forcing the body to break through its limits again and again. It was the fastest way to build power.

One barrel took about 20 minutes to fill. With all the faucets running at once, she could fill three barrels at the same time.

By the time Robin finished her workout, sweat had soaked her clothes. Eighteen barrels were already full.

She dragged her sore, exhausted body across the floor and stored the barrels back into her storage space. When she checked the time, more than two hours had passed. It was time for a break.

After doing some quick math, she estimated that filling all 500 barrels would take about 55 hours. Honestly, that pace wasn't bad at all.