Rewrite the Apocalypse dream (by Dee Cari) novel Chapter 62

Chapter 62 Horrific memories of her five-year survival in the dream

team stared at the dust on the floor, their eyes wide with a mixture of terror and sudden, fierce hope.

“We want to try the water,” Jake said, his voice gruff but determined. “If it can help us awaken something- anything-to help us survive, we need it.”

“I was hoping you’d say that,” Joanna said. She reached into her space and manifested a large, insulated five- gallon container filled with crystal-clear, spring water. “Drink exactly one cup after training every single day. Write down every symptom, every strange sensation, and every change in your body. Hopefully you cany train longer too. I don’t know how it will affect those who haven’t awakened yet.”

She turned her gaze to Jake. “Jake, you’re in charge while I’m gone. Train everyone to the absolute limit. Prepare bug-out bags with essential gear, rations, and ammunition for every person. If a zombie swarm hits this building, we need to be able to move in thirty seconds.”

Joanna reached into her jacket and pulled out a handful of sleek, military-grade satellite phones, handing one to each person. “These are encrypted. If the cellular grid goes down early, we use these to stay in contact. No exceptions.”

The atmosphere in the room turned thick with anxiety. Jolie hugged her arms tightly against her chest, her eyes glossy. The reality of Joanna leaving them, even for just four days, made the looming apocalypse feel terrifyingly real.

“Hey,” Joanna said, her voice dropping to a grounding, steady register. “Look at me. Keep busy. Train hard, get those food orders placed, and pack those warehouses. I will be back in four days at the absolute latest to clean everything out and secure this place. We are going to make it.”

After a round of tight, emotional, and tearful goodbyes, Joanna wiped a stray tear from Jolie’s cheek and turned around, her face instantly twisting into a grouchy, irritated scowl as she locked eyes with Julian.

Julian, completely ignoring the solemnity of the room, had a smug, satisfied grin stretching across his handsome face. He grabbed his designer duffel bag, thrilled at the prospect of finally having her completely to himself on the open road.

“Let’s go, Hawthorne,” Joanna grumbled, grabbing his arm tightly.

With a final nod to her team, she pulled him out the door, stepping straight into the gathering shadows.

Before leaving the city, Joanna drove to the two active warehouses. Moving with practiced efficiency, she touched the stacked crates, vanishing them into her dimensional storage space within seconds. Julian stood frozen, his sharp eyes widening in genuine astonishment as he witnessed her ability firsthand for the very first time. Joanna ignored his stunned expression, quickly texting Jolie that the warehouses were entirely cleared out just in case the timeline worsened.

As they hit the highway, Joanna’s expression darkened when she realized their route directly bypassed her hometown-the place where her mother, Gwen, and her stepsister, Alice, lived. Sensing the sudden, suffocating tension radiating from her, Julian quietly asked what was wrong.

Joanna let out a cold, bitter laugh and decided to tell him the truth. She explained the horrific memories of her five-year survival in the dream. She detailed how she had starved on their scraps while fighting bloody battles to keep them fed and protected, only for them to brutally betray her.

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Chapter 62 Horrific memories of her five-year survival in the dream

“Alice wanted me out of the picture to claim a base commander named Drew,” Joanna said, her knuckles turning white on the steering wheel. “She sliced open my arms and legs to keep me from running, and then radioed the base to lie about an attack. It is what made me decide to form a team in the first place. I figure if I could keep my team alive they would help return the favor.”

Her voice trembled with a mix of old grief and fresh rage. “But the worst part was my mother, Gwen. When I begged her for help, she just sneered and slapped me to the ground. She kicked me, shattered my ribs, and called me an ungrateful brat. She said if Alice had been the one to awaken the storage power, they would have never kept me around. They sold me out to a ruthless faction leader, your old friend Elliot, to be experimented on in a dark basement.”

Julian’s posture shifted instantly, the arrogant billionaire completely vanishing while putting the pieces together. A terrifying, icy aura settled over him, his dark eyes flashing with a dangerous, lethal intensity as he absorbed the sheer cruelty her family had inflicted on her. He stared out the window, a slow, predatory smirk cutting through his anger.

“Well,” Julian said, his gravelly baritone dripping with smooth, malicious intent. “It would be a shame to drive all this way and not pay them a little visit. What do you say we go mess with them a bit on our way through?”

For the first time all day, a genuine, wicked smile broke across Joanna’s face. “I think that’s an excellent idear

The rumble of Julian’s sleek, armored truck was a comforting purr against the backdrop of the darkening highway. Joanna watched the grey asphalt fly past, her thoughts a tangled knot of timelines and tactics. A sudden look at her phone confirmed her suspicions: the regional news app was lighting up with reports of unseasonable, hyper-localized lightning storms creeping toward the mountain valley.

“We need fuel,” Julian noted, his gravelly voice breaking the silence as he steered the heavy vehicle off the exit toward a brightly lit mega-station on the outskirts of her old hometown. “And if we are going to be stuck in Brimstone Peak during a historic storm, I want proper espresso and high-calorie rations. My palate refuses to suffer early.”

Joanna rolled her eyes, but a faint, genuine smile tugged at her lips. “Fine. But keep your head down. This is their territory.”

She didn’t need to specify who they were. Julian’s grip on the steering wheel tightened, a predatory glimmer flashing in his dark eyes.

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