Rewrite the Apocalypse dream (by Dee Cari) novel Chapter 349

Chapter 349 More Mysteries Unfold

Finished

“From here on out,” Joanna said, turning to address the whole group as they gathered their bearings in the courtyard, packs still settling into the snow, “nobody travels anywhere alone. Especially not outside the base. Not after everything with Jolie. Buddy system, minimum, until we know what we’re actually dealing with.”

Just then, Josiah came jogging out from the cafeteria direction, half a cinnamon roll still in hard,umbs dusting his jacket. “Joanna! Everyone’s ready to report in the cafeteria – figured you guys might be ungry too, so there’s food.”

“Let’s go,” she said, and the whole group fell in behind her, crossing the courtyard toward the cafeterias warm light.

Inside, the tables had been pushed together, light refreshments spread out – bread, some of Willow’s borscht still warm in a pot, mugs of something hot passed hand to hand. Jolie was already there, tablet set aside for the moment, sitting beside Ryan and Uncle Nate. Nana and Danielle sat close together, deep in quiet conversation. Willow waved the moment she spotted them. Raven sat near the end of the table with Titan curled contentedly in her lap. Levi, Virginia, and Noah rounded out the group, already deep in low discussion that cut off the moment the door opened.

The room erupted into greetings almost immediately – Jolie hopping up despite Michelle’s orders to launch herself at Allen, who caught her easily, spinning her once before setting her back down, relief plain on both their faces. Julian clapped Levi on the shoulder. RJ and Ryan exchanged some kind of complicated handshake clearly established from before. Caleb ruffled Raven’s hair, earning an annoyed swat, while Titan barked happily at the sudden crowd of familiar and new faces. Even Bubbles deigned to headbutt Uncle Nate’s leg in greeting, which for Bubbles counted as practically effusive.

Joanna let the noise wash over her for a moment, watching her people reunite in fits of laughter and easy affection, before finally raising a hand to bring the room back to some semblance of order.

“Alright,” she said, once the worst of the reunions had settled and people began finding seats. “Someone tell me what happened.”

Levi sat forward, expression grim. “Boss, once you told us to start actively looking, scouts found animal activity all over that ridge – more than we expected. Several dens dug into the rock, all clustered near where that poison bush was. I held Raven back before you got here, though.” He glanced her way briefly. “Near a couple of the dens, there’s animal remains. Bones, mostly picked clean. Whatever’s living up there is definitely carnivorous, and it’s been feeding well.”

Ryan leaned in next. “I was telling him I could go in with my invisibility, get a look at the den entrances without anyone or anything – noticing me. Low risk, just recon.”

Raven scoffed loudly before anyone else could respond. “I have Titan with me. He’d warn me the second something got close, and he’d fight anything that tried to hurt me. Just let me go, Joanna! I’ve talked to way scarier animals than whatever’s living in some ridge dens.”

Jake, arms crossed, older-brother protectiveness radiating off him in waves, shot her a sharp look. Raven’s mouth snapped shut immediately, though she crossed her arms with a huff, clearly not agreeing, just choosing her battles.

Jolie spoke up next, expression tightening. “There’s something else, too. Working with Nana and Virginia going over the reserves – we found something disturbing. Last month, I logged several crates of food and gas into storage. Mostly perishables, things that needed to get used before they went bad, so I earmarked

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10:09 Mon, Oct 19

Chapter 349 More Mysteries Unfold

Finished

them for Nana to work into meals.” She paused. “I assumed she’d taken them already. But when we cross- checked the logs against what actually got used in the cafeteria, the numbers don’t match.”

Virginia nodded, arms crossed. “We never touched the rice or beans from that batch – we’ve had plenty in the cafeteria stock already, no reason to dip into reserves for it.”

Nana added, voice steady but clearly troubled. “And anything I do use gets logged in the cafeteria cords same day. We cross-referenced everything. The supplies are gone. Not used, not accounted for missing.”

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“We don’t have the full picture yet,” Jolie said. “Might take a day or two to nail down exactly what’s missing and when.”

Joanna’s jaw tightened. Someone in her own base, stealing from her own reserves. The thought/sat ke a stone in her stomach, uglier somehow than an unknown threat out on the ridge – this was someone close, someone trusted, someone who’d had access.

“Get Greg to help with the paperwork,” she said finally. “He’s good with details, he’ll catch discrepancies faster than any of us.”

Jake grinned despite the tension. “Best lawyer I ever met. If anyone can find a paper trail, it’s him.” He glanced toward Jolie. “Do we have surveillance down there?”

“Guards patrol the whole tunnel system,” Jolie said, “but no cameras. Never needed them before now.”

Briggs leaned forward, his usual cold-commander focus settling over his face. “Are there gaps in the patrol schedule? Guard changes, shift overlaps – timing’s everything. Someone only needs a few minutes to grab a couple of crates if they know exactly when the halls are empty.”

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