Rewrite the Apocalypse dream (by Dee Cari) novel Chapter 156

Chapter 156 Are You Alright?

Finished

Once the commander was out of earshot, Julian hoisted the older man over his shoulder with an exaggerated roll of his eyes. He looked closely at Joanna, his usual aloof demeanor dropping for a fraction of a second. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.” Joanna said, rubbing her bruised ribs. She glanced around the dark laboratory. “Did you see any plants in here at all while you were fighting?”

Julian stopped dead in his tracks. He slowly looked around the dark, terrifying, blood-splattered room, then back at her with a look of pure, utter bewilderment. His expression loudly screamed: Really? It is pitch black, full of flesh-eating monsters, and you want to look for a bush?

Joanna rolled her eyes at Julian’s bewildered face and waved him off. Leaving him to carry the neatly dressed stranger, she turned and began a focused search through the dark laboratory wings.

After five minutes of navigating shattered glass and blood-slicked corridors, her flashlight illuminated a heavy wooden door. The name plate on the frosted glass read: Dr. Anderson.

She paused, a sharp thought crossing her mind. The same man Julian is carrying?

Stepping inside, her beam swept across a pristine medical fume hood. Resting safely inside the glass enclosure was a small potted bush bearing tiny, vibrant yellow berries. Joanna pulled the plastic bag from her pocket and held the loose leaves up next to the living plant. The shape, texture, and distinct scent were identical.

“This is it!” she whispered.

Unable to contain her excitement, she opened her spatial storage and threw the entire potted bush into her secret space. She didn’t stop there. Moving like a whirlwind through the office, she grabbed every research file, medical notebook, and encrypted drive on the desk, sweeping everything into her space in one fluid motion. Maybe Caleb could figure out what was going on here, she thought.

Thoroughly satisfied with the hidden haul, she turned on her heel and slipped out of the office, heading back down to the lobby to leave the building.

Joanna materialized on the asphalt right outside the main entrance of Pharmatec. The air smelled strongly of fresh cordite and burnt rubber, the street entirely cleared of the standing dead.

RJ immediately jogged over to meet her, a relieved smile breaking through her exhaustion. “We did it, boss,” RJ reported, her chest heaving slightly. “The distraction worked perfectly. Once the telepathic loop snapped, they walked right into the crossfire. The soldiers slaughtered every single one of them outside.”

Across the intersection, Commander Briggs was already back in full military mode. He stood in the center of the road, shouting barking orders and using sharp hand gestures to guide the heavy armored vehicles directly to the facility’s loading dock to begin packing the medical supplies.

Looking past the military convoy, Joanna spotted their own tactical van rolling smoothly up the street. Kailee was behind the wheel, navigating the vehicle around the mountain of dead corporate zombies with a fierce, confident grin on her face.

Julian hoisted the neatly dressed scientist into the back of the van, tossing him next to the tied-up woman from the basement. Two grueling hours later, the entire Pharmatec facility was officially cleared out.

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Chapter 156 Are You Alright?

Finished

The dark parking lot was now organized into massive, distinct piles of equipment and medical supplies,

rfectly divided into the agreed forty percent for Briggs and sixty percent for Joanna’s team. Joanna’s face broke into a rare, radiant smile as she looked at her massive mountain of cargo. There were heavy plastic crates stuffed with high-grade antibiotics, pristine boxes of gauze and elastic bandages, and a wide array of high-tech surgical instruments and specialized diagnostic machines that Joanna was completely clueless about.

Julian leaned casually against the side of the van, watching her with an amused, aloof smirk. “Look at you,” he teased in his smooth CEO drawl. “You always light up like a child on Christmas morning whenever you’re hoarding. It’s a very corporate trait, Joanna. I approve.”

Joanna rolled her eyes but didn’t bother denying it. The haul was a massive victory.

Commander Briggs walked over, wiping sweat and black grime from his forehead. He looked thoroughly satisfied with his forty percent share of the supplies. “Great working with you, Joanna,” he said, his posture relaxing just a fraction from his usual stiff military bearing.

She offered a firm, appreciative nod. “Same to you, Commander.”

Briggs took a step closer, his linebacker frame throwing a shadow over her as his eyes darted toward the dark perimeter. He lowered his voice, his tone shifting into something deadly and calculated. “After everything Galen said… I want to set a trap for Jax.”

Joanna smirked, her dark eyes flashing in the night. “I figured as much.”

Briggs looked at her intently, leaning in slightly. “Any ideas?”

Joanna nodded in approval. It felt good to see the hardened military man finally trusting her a little more. “Yeah, I can help with that. First, take your haul and clear a path to the city center. Go down to the city hall building-it’s a good six blocks from the mall-and hide your men there. Be quiet, and make sure you get those heavy trucks completely off the street, okay? I’ll be shortly behind you and meet you there.”

Briggs listened closely, digesting the strategy.

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