End Times, Surviving with My Beastly Army 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.

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