Rewrite the Apocalypse dream (by Dee Cari) novel Chapter 230

Chapter 230 Julian’s Secret Stash

Finished

Inside the reinforced warmth of Julian’s mansion, the crew settled into the heavy silence of the gated estate. Kailee and Briggs immediately set up a small perimeter monitoring station in the foyer, linking a tactical tablet to the exterior cameras, while Rachel and Jake double-checked the heavy steel latches on the lower-level windows. Caleb quietly slipped away, heading upstairs to one of the vacant bedrooms to meditate and tune his mind to the layout of the city ahead.

Julian walked up to Joanna, handing her a steaming cup of hot coffee. She took a sip, her eyes scanning the immaculate, highly fortified space. The fact that the tap water was running told her he’d installed a separate, underground tank-a detail both practical and deeply impressive.

“Julian, this setup is insane!” Joanna said in genuine appreciation.

The tension in Julian’s face eased, a rare, soft smile reaching his eyes. “This all started the moment I left the airport after meeting you. Every decision, every asset liquidated… it was all to build this.”

He stepped closer, his gaze dropping to her healed shoulder before rising to meet hers, hot with an intensity that pulled all the air from the room. His hand hovered over hers on the coffee cup. “Caleb showed me glimpses, enough to seed a path with supplies. I thought I was preparing for the end of the world. But really… I was just trying to build a place safe enough for you. I see now my efforts were a footnote compared to yours.”

After a long pause, Julian broke the intense silence, gesturing toward a plush velvet sofa that practically radiated his pre-apocalypse wealth and status. He led Joanna over, the quiet luxury of the room acting as a strange shield against the frozen world outside.

“I have enough supplies here to last a lifetime,” Julian said, his voice returning to a practical, tactical tone as they sat. “I made sure to stock up on generators, food, medical kits, and thousands of gallons of water. This place will hold against standard scavengers, but it’s not impenetrable to high-level threats.”

He leaned in closer, his eyes locking onto hers. “Let me show you my secret stash in the basement. I want you to take everything into your pocket dimension right now, just in case we have to abandon this position quickly.”

Julian stood up and stepped toward a heavy mahogany bookshelf on the far wall. He pressed a hidden latch beneath one of the shelves, and a section of the wall swung open with a soft hydraulic hiss. Behind it, a dark staircase spiraled down into the earth.

He led Joanna down the steps, the temperature dropping slightly until they reached the bottom. Julian tapped a biometric scanner on the wall, and the entire space flooded with clean, bright LED light.

The basement opened into a massive, heavily fortified bunker. Rows of heavy-duty industrial shelving lined the concrete walls, stacked high with high-caliber ammunition, medical crates, tactical gear, and survival rations. In the center of the room sat several large, high-output generators still wrapped in factory plastic, alongside crates of advanced tech.

“This is it,” Julian said, turning to her. “Everything you need to keep the crew sustained for months. Put it all in your space.”

A wide grin broke free on Joanna’s face. Julian sighed helplessly, a fond smile tugging at his lips at how adorable she looked when her greedy little hoarding expression showed.

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10:44 am MNMM

Chapter 230-Julian’s Secret Stash

Finished

She immediately walked over to the far wall, where rows of specialized firearms were meticulously mounted. Some of these high-tech weapons were pieces Joanna had never even heard of. Below them sat crates of grenades and enough heavy artillery to take over a small country.

Just then, Briggs’s sharp voice echoed from the top of the stairs. “Julian? Joanna?”

He stepped down into the bunker, his expression cold and aloof, but a distinct spark of tactical appreciation lit up his eyes as they swept over the massive inventory. Jolie came hot on his heels, stopping dead in her tracks with her eyes widening in pure excitement.

While Jolie rushed straight toward the wall of firearms with an appreciative whistle, Briggs approached the artillery with a detached, clinical focus that barely masked his underlying thrill.

“Where did you get this hardware, Hawthorne?” Briggs asked, a rafe, tight smirk on his lips. He picked up an unfamiliar rifle, testing its weight. “Experimental plasma-cores. Devastating firing capacity.” He locked eyes with Julian. “Specs on the launchers. Now. They’re going into active rotation.”

Jolie grabbed a crate of heavy grenades, laughing at the sheer volume of explosives. “Forget the specs, Commander! Look at this firepower. With this stash, we could level Tech Valley ourselves.”

Julian smiled, a smug expression crossing his face as he crossed his arms. “Ask nicely, Commander, and I will let you play with them all later.”

Briggs froze. He flashed Julian an annoyed, commanding stare that could have melted steel, his jaw tightening for a tense second. Then, his eyes dropped back down to the experimental plasma rifle in his

hands.

“Please,” Briggs muttered, his voice flat but entirely compliant.

Jolie burst out laughing, and even Julian’s smirk widened at the sight of the stoic military man swallowing his pride for a piece of high-grade hardware.

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