Rewrite the Apocalypse dream (by Dee Cari) novel Chapter 22

Chapter 22 The victory was immediate agony

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Finished

They drove in silence to the industrial district. Jolie unlocked the perimeter gate of the third warehouse, and Joanna drove the SUV straight inside, the heavy metal doors rolling shut behind them.

The vast warehouse floor was dominated by fifty massive, corrugated steel shipping containers. They were stacked ten rows wide and five high, towering over the vehicle like giant, rusted monoliths.

“I want to try something before the modifications begin,” Joanna said, stepping out of the car.

Jolie took a few paces back, her eyes sparkling with anticipation. Ever since Joanna had revealed her dimensional storage space, Jolie had become her number-one fan. Watching heavy items vanish into thin air looked like pure magic, and it had cemented Jolie’s absolute, unwavering loyalty.

Joanna walked up to the nearest container. It was more than double the size of a car-easily the largest object she had ever attempted to store. She closed her eyes and focused her mind on her spatial dimension, trying to pull the massive steel structure inside.

Instantly, a sharp, white-hot pain spiked behind her eyes. Joanna gasped, stumbling backward as her vision swam.

“Joanna! You okay?”

“I’m fine,” Joanna lied, rubbing her throbbing temples. “Can you… can you grab me a bottle of water from the car, please?”

As soon as Jolie turned her back, Joanna frantically unzipped her purse. Inside were a handful of high-quality emeralds and rubies she had purchased a few days ago. Jewels were still wildly expensive right now, but she knew they were the key to upgrading her power. She didn’t want to waste her dwindling cash on them when she could just loot the jewelry stores for free after the apocalypse, but she was desperate.

She threw the gemstones into her storage space. A faint, microscopic ripple echoed through her mind as the dimension absorbed the wealth, but it wasn’t the massive surge of energy she needed.

Jolie hurried back and handed over the water. Joanna downed half of it, her heart hammering against her ribs.

“Okay,” Joanna muttered, wiping her mouth. “Let me try this one more time.”

She stepped back up to the towering metal wall. This time, she didn’t just use her mind; she pressed both palms flat against the cold steel. She forced her breathing to slow, visualizing the

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Chapter 22 The victory was immediate agony

exact corner of her dimensional void where the container would sit.

Move, she commanded her mind. Move!

Finished

She pushed with everything she had. Her muscles locked up, her legs began to shake violently, and heavy beads of sweat broke out across her forehead. The pressure inside her skull built until it felt like her brain was going to fracture.

Crack.

She felt a literal rip in her mind. The massive shipping container vanished instantly into thin

air.

But the victory was immediate agony. The warehouse spun violently. Joanna’s knees buckled, the concrete floor rushing up to meet her.

“Joanna!” Jolie screamed, lunging forward and catching her before her head hit the ground.

Joanna couldn’t open her eyes. A terrifying, icy numbness was spreading down her arms. She felt something warm and wet pour from her nose, dripping down her lip.

“Oh my god, you’re bleeding,” Jolie’s voice sounded frantic, muffled as if she were underwater. A napkin pressed against Joanna’s face, dabbing at the blood. “Joanna, talk to me! Look at me!”

Joanna tried to respond, but a wave of violent nausea washed over her. Her consciousness was slipping, darkness clawing at the edges of her mind. She tried to check her storage space, but the mental door was locked shut-she was too weak to even sense it.

“The car…” Joanna choked out, her voice a fragile whisper. “Get me… to the car…

The backlash of her power was brutal. As Jolie dragged her toward the SUV, Joanna realized a terrifying truth: if she couldn’t even handle a single shipping container, she was nowhere near ready for what was coming.

Joanna rested for nearly an hour while Jolie meticulously inspected every container inside and out. Jolie noted down each serial number, just in case they needed to track the supplies later.

By the time Jolie finished, Joanna felt physically recovered. However, a new anxiety weighed heavily on her mind. I need to figure out how to get these shipping containers into my space, she thought, a knot tightening in her stomach. If I can’t, I’m looking at a mountain of problems.

Worse, she desperately needed a reliable supplier for raw, uncut emeralds and jade. Hunting through flea markets and jewelry stores had yielded nothing but average quality at exorbitant prices-completely unfeasible for buying in bulk.

I have to settle this gemstone issue before the land deal closes next week, Joanna groaned internally, her mind racing. The emeralds she had already absorbed into her space were only

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