Rewrite the Apocalypse dream (by Dee Cari) novel Chapter 157

Chapter 157 Are You Sure You Aren’t Dr Anderson?

Jonna locked eyes with RJ. “Check if it’s all clear,” Joanna whispered.

Finished

RJ paused for a second, her expression turning distant as she scanned the area, casting her mind outward to detect any signs of life. After a moment, she shook her head. “I can’t sense any survivors around,” she muttered, keeping her voice low. “We should be good, at least in the nearby area.”

Joanna didn’t waste another moment. Stepping forward, she raised her hand and swept it across the room, In a seamless, fluid motion, every crate of supplies and heavy piece of machinery vanished, instantly pulled into the secure confines of her dimensional storage space. The dock was left entirely bare.

Joanna turned back toward the group, her face serious as she adjusted to the grim reality. “RJ and Kailee there are people downstairs on the bottom floor,” she instructed, her voice tight. “They’re still breathing, but most are barely alive. If anyone can be revived, tell me immediately.”

She then caught Julian’s eye and nodded toward the vehicle parked outside. “Julian, you and I will go wake up our guests.”

Leaving RJ and Kailee to check on the survivors, Joanna and Julian marched out to the van. They climbed inside, where the two prisoners were tightly bound-the woman who had previously blindsided Joanna, and the man who had gone after Julian.

As the doors slammed shut, both captives stirred. They were groggy from being knocked out, but their eyes quickly opened, looking utterly scared and dazed as they stared up at their captors.

“Names,” Joanna asked in a short, soft voice.

The quiet delivery sent a sharp chill straight down the prisoners’ spines. Despite the fear radiating through the vehicle, both captives tightly closed their mouths and stayed silent.

Joanna shifted her gaze over to Julian. Message received, Julian raised his hands and let a dangerous crackle of blue electricity arc out over his knuckles. The raw, buzzing power filling the cramped space of the van was an unmistakable threat. Anyone seeing that would naturally panic.

Right on cue, both prisoners started breathing fast, their chests heaving as the reality of their situation set

“My name is Michelle Calder!” the woman suddenly gasped out, tears welling up in her eyes as she stared at the sparks, completely terrified.

Beside her, the man remained eerily calm, his face entirely blank of expression. “I am Warren Knox,” he replied, his voice steady.

Joanna tilted her head, watching him silently for a long, heavy second. “Really?” she murmured. “Are you sure you aren’t Dr. Anderson?”

At the mention of the name, the man’s stoic facade cracked. His eyes instantly teared up, finally showing a raw flash of vulnerable emotion. He looked away from Joanna and pointedly glared over at Julian.

“Dr. Anderson was killed earlier by him,” Warren said, his voice trembling with bitter resentment.

Joanna sat down in the van, casually leaning against the opposite wall. Her relaxed posture made her seem

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Chapter 157 Are You Sure You Aren’t Dr Anderson?

even scarier, projecting absolute control over the tight space. She pulled out a small blade and began flicking it idly in her hand, the metal catching the dim light.

Finished

With a heavy sigh, she looked at the prisoners. “I will give you one chance to be honest,” she said, her voice dropping into a completely flat tone. “If you lie… you die. It’s the apocalypse, and no one will come to your

rescue.”

She sighed again, sounding almost bored by the necessity of the threat. “I will be kind and say I have someone who can use telepathy and will tell me if you lie,”

A suffocating silence filled the van. Michelle and Warren looked back and forth between Julian and Joanna, their wide eyes filled with absolute dread, staring at the duo as if both were literal monsters. Joanna let the quiet stretch out, a long, agonizing pause to make sure the weight of her words completely sank in.

Once she saw the terror peak, she stopped flicking the blade, fixed her gaze on them, and started questioning them.

Joanna leaned forward slightly, her blade instantly stopping its casual flicking. “What happened in there?” she demanded.

Michelle swallowed hard, her face draining of what little color it had left. The mere memory looked horrific enough to tear her apart.

“We heard about the virus taking over the city,” Michelle began, her voice shaking violently. “We were all told to go home for the day that the outbreak started. I work in the lab processing lab technology. I am a surgeon that tests products.”

She took a ragged breath, tears spilling over her eyelashes. “Once they told us to leave, I cleaned up to go home. My supervisor, Dr. Anderson, walked into the lab just as I was washing my hands. He was breathing heavy, and his eyes were blood red.”

The van was deathly quiet as she continued. “He called my name. But when I turned, I felt something happen. I could see everything, but I couldn’t speak. His voice was inside my head. It completely controlled me.” Michelle shuddered, gripping her restraints. “He had me go to the other lab. After that… I was in and out of consciousness.”

Joanna shifted her sharp gaze over to the man. “And you?” she asked, her voice dangerously calm. “What do you remember?”

Warren looked down, a tight grimace forming on his face as he relived the nightmare. He described a terrifyingly similar situation, explaining how he had also fallen under Dr. Anderson’s mental grip on day

one.

“But I managed to break free,” Warren muttered, his jaw clenching. “I was able to hide from Dr. Anderson after the second day.”

Joanna narrowed her eyes, her blade stilling. “How?”

“It’s my leaves,” Warren explained, gesturing vaguely toward his pockets with his bound hands. “I have a specific plant I harvest. Eating the leaves cleared my head temporarily. It was just enough to break his psychic hold so I could run and hide.”

Joanna reached into her jacket and pulled out a small plastic bag, gently shaking it so the few leaves inside rustled against the plastic. “These?” she asked.

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