Reborn Cave Queen of the End Times novel Chapter 4

Out of the corner of her eye, Autumn glanced toward the back of the pharmacy. She smiled and nodded casually. "Sure, go ahead and sign me up. By the way, does your back door lead into Golden Estate?"

"Yeah," the worker answered without thinking. "You can go straight into the neighborhood from the back door. All the buildings here are part of the neighborhood. Your membership card is ready, ma'am. Please pay over here."

Autumn paid without hesitation.

As she was leaving, she asked casually, "What time do you usually close? Is anyone on duty after hours? I get stomach problems whenever the seasons change. If I get sick in the middle of the night, I won't have anywhere to buy medicine."

"You can keep some medicine at home," she said with a smile. "We close at eight every night. Once we lock up, nobody stays here."

"I see. Then give me two more boxes of diarrhea medicine." Autumn smiled even wider. She had gotten the information she wanted.

Golden Estate was an exclusive neighborhood for the wealthy. Its security was extremely tight.

The apocalypse had not arrived yet. Society still had rules and order. Getting in through the front gate would be almost impossible.

But the pharmacy's back door was a different story. She could slip inside without anyone noticing.

Her plan was set. She tossed all the medicine into her storage space, then headed to a park two blocks away. She found an empty corner and instantly stepped into her storage space. Working as fast as possible, she changed her clothes.

When she came back out, she looked like a completely different person. She now resembled a teenage boy.

Autumn was five foot eight and had kept her hair short because it made work easier. Dressing as a boy didn't look strange on her at all.

She put on a black face mask and a black baseball cap, lowered her head, and returned to the pharmacy.

"Sir, can I help you with something?" the worker asked as she walked over. Before she could get close, Autumn clutched her stomach and rushed inside.

"My stomach hurts. I need the restroom first. Get me some diarrhea medicine. Hurry!" She mumbled the words and kept running.

The worker quickly grabbed a box of medicine from the shelf and handed it to her. At the same time, she took the hundred-dollar bill Autumn shoved into her hand and watched as the young man sprinted toward the restroom. "Hey, your change—"

"Keep it." Before the words had fully left her mouth, Autumn was already inside.

She shut the door. Then locked it.

Autumn quickly looked around the restroom. The window and air vent faced the villa district of Golden Estate. Not far away stood a row of blooming magnolia trees, their flowers bright and beautiful.

On the other side was a large patch of bushes, thick and overgrown in the warmer weather.

She grabbed the windowsill and climbed in one smooth motion. Crouching on the ledge, she pulled a multi-bit screwdriver from her pocket and quickly removed the security bars from the window. Then she jumped. The moment her feet touched the ground, she did a forward roll and disappeared into the bushes.

Now, she waited.

Waited for night to fall.

The old Autumn would never have been able to stand this.

But after surviving 15 years of the apocalypse, hiding in a bush for a few hours was nothing. She could squat in a blizzard or sit in a desert for an entire day without complaining.

Out of ten billion people, only 2,000 had survived to the end. Every one of them had learned their own tricks for staying alive.

The security guards patrolling the neighborhood passed by the bushes four times. Not one of them noticed that a person was lying quietly less than seven feet away.

At last, the sky grew dark.

Autumn kept waiting.

Like a lone wolf, she stayed hidden and patient, saving all her strength for the final strike.

Golden Estate slowly grew silent. The noise of the day faded away. When the hands on her watch reached three in the morning, she finally moved.

Avoiding the security cameras, she silently made her way to the largest villa.

All the lights inside were off. Everyone had gone to sleep.

Keeping close to the cold outer wall, she slowly moved toward the kitchen.

She slid her screwdriver under the window and gently pried it open.

One hand on the sill, she slipped inside smoothly.

The instant she landed, she rolled behind the kitchen door and listened. Silence. Only then did she continue.

The villa was huge, with too many rooms to count.

She had no idea where the gold bars might be hidden.

And she didn't have enough time to search every room.

So...

Well, well.

Interesting.

Well, that worked too.

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