Rewrite the Apocalypse dream (by Dee Cari) novel Chapter 100

Chapter 100 Ryan, Danielle, and Josiah

FinKed

any normal-day, a drive to the north side of town would take a mere fifteen minutes. But navigating the really of the apocalypse turned the short trip into a grueling, sixty-minute ordeal. The streets were choked with abandoned vehicles, wandering groups of the infected, and shattered infrastructure that forced Joanna to constantly brake, swerve, and navigate right alleyways to keep the utility truck moving forward.

As the truck engine hummed under the strain, Ryan leaned back against his seat, trying to steady his breathing. He looked over at Joanna’s focused profile and decided to break the heavy silence./

“I know I’m a businessman now, but I always loved living off the land,” Ryan shared, his voice sounding raspy in the dim cab. “Wilderness survival has been my true passion for years. I can track animals through almost any terrain, and I can whip up a sustainable meal with nothing other than a hunting knife. I can gh some, too-not a whole lot, but I can hold my own if things get messy. I promise I’ll do my part to help take care of your team.”

Joanna kept her eyes locked on the dark road ahead, her hands effortlessly guiding the steering wheel around a crumpled sedan.

“We won’t be short on supplies,” Joanna explained calmly. “My team and I knew about the apocalypse for a while before the collapse actually hit. We’ve been preparing. We have more than enough stock to get by.”

Ryan’s eyes widened slightly in surprise, but before he could press for details on how she could possibly possess that kind of advanced warning, Joanna shifted the conversation to their next move.

“We aren’t staying in this city,” she continued, her tone steady and decisive. “Our final destination is a place called Evercrest. The team is going to pack up and head out in a week or so. If you and your family are coming with us, you have until then to get ready.”

Ryan nodded eagerly, a massive wave of relief washing over his face as the truck finally turned onto the darkened streets of his northern neighborhood.

Joanna slowed the truck as they entered the quiet, tree-lined streets of the northern suburbs. “For the next week, your family and you will stay with us,” she said, her voice dropping into a stern, unquestionable register. “You will go out with the team and scavenge for whatever remaining resources we can find. Most importantly, I expect you to follow my orders at all times. No hesitation. No arguments.”

“I understand. Completely,” Ryan agreed right away, turning in his seat to stare at her.

He couldn’t help but marvel at the sheer presence she carried. She was a beautiful young woman, yet she commanded the room better than any CEO, politician, or military official he had ever met in his entire corporate career. When those three zombies had breached the front aisles of his store earlier, Ryan had barely made it out of the showroom alive, paralyzed by raw panic. Joanna had walked into that exact same brightly lit maze alone and neutralized all three threats in less than a minute. It was incredible.

Remembering how the rest of her crew operated at the complex and on the street, Ryan felt a profound sense of security. He could tell every single one of them was exceptionally well-trained, deadly, and perfectly synchronized under her leadership.

As a wilderness man at heart, Ryan had always deeply disliked massive crowds and chaotic environments. The thought of cramming his wife and young child into a panicked, claustrophobic refugee camp at the police station had been tearing him apart from the inside. He knew what happens when resources get scarce in an enclosed space with hundreds of desperate civilians. Settling his family with Joanna’s tight-knit,

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Chapter 100 Ryan, Danielle, and Josiah

Finished

disciplined unit felt less like a dangerous detour and more like the ultimate stroke of survival luck.

re almost there,” Ryan whispered, pointing through the windshield as his house finally came into view at the end of the dark cul-de-sac. “Second driveway on the left.”

Joanna killed the truck’s engine, leaving the vehicle shrouded in the deep shadows of the quiet cul-de-sac. Silently, she and Ryan stepped out onto the pavement and approached the dark house. As they crossed the lawn, a dark, unmistakable smear of fresh blood on the neighboring driveway caught the glare of the suburban streetlamp. Joanna narrowed her cyes, her hand instinctively dropping to the grip of her tactical hatchet.

Before she could raise a warning, the front door of Ryan’s house clicked open. A woman stood on the threshold, her face pale with terror. It was his wife, Danielle.

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