Rewrite the Apocalypse dream (by Dee Cari) novel Chapter 90

Chapter 90 I swear I thought she was a zombie

Finished

With their radio communications fully secured, the team could speak in low, hushed whispers through the earpieces as they moved down the stairwell. They made it to the underground garage without incident, but the entire structure was eerily quiet. The typical hum of ventilation and the echoing sounds of tenants coming home were entirely gone.

“Check corners,” Joanna whispered over the comms. “Make sure no one else is down here.”

The team fanned out smoothly, checking the shadows between concrete pillars. Once they confirmed the garage was completely empty, Joanna walked up to their parked van and trucks. With a quiet focus of her mind, she swept the massive vehicles directly into her pocket dimension, clearing the parking spaces instantly.

From there, they made their way back up to the ground-floor apartment they had originally lived in. To keep their profile as low as possible, Joanna led the group into her former bedroom, which was now entirely empty of furniture. Months ago, she had taken precautions for a day like today; she had Jolie switch out the standard glass with bulletproof window panes and wired the frame into a silent alarm system.

Joanna unlocked the window and climbed out onto the enclosed patio. The small outdoor area was shielded by a short fence and masked by exceptionally high, dense bushes. She had always planned secure escape routes, and this particular layout allowed them to slip out onto the back street without being seen from the main road. Unless someone knew exactly what to look for, the tiny, natural gap hidden between the bushes provided excellent cover.

Silently, the team squeezed through the gap one by one, stepping onto the asphalt of the rear street.

As they began walking down the road, the stark reality of the collapse came into sharp focus. Several cars sat completely abandoned in the middle of the lanes, their doors thrown open as if the drivers had fled in a blind panic.

At the corner, an ambulance sat crumpled against a smashed street light, its emergency lights still flashing a rhythmic, warning blue against the darkening pavement. A staggering amount of blood was smeared across the interior of the ambulance and pooled heavily out onto the concrete below.

Yet, as the team looked around the silent intersection, not a single person-living or dead-was anywhere to be seen.

Faint sounds of crying and shouting echoed from somewhere in the distance, but the team kept moving down the street, their senses highly alert.

As they neared the intersection, Joanna spotted a massive gas transport truck idling by the curb. She quickly walked up to it and pressed her palm against the cold metal of the fuel tank. “It’s full, guys,” she whispered over the comms, a sharp spark of excitement cutting through her focus. “Give me a minute.”

To anyone watching, it merely looked like Joanna was casually leaning against the side of the truck. In reality, she was siphoning the fuel directly into heavy-duty storage tanks nested deep inside her pocket dimension. After a few tense moments, a wide grin broke across her face. “Nice haul.”

The rest of the team remained rigid and jumpy, forming a tight perimeter around her and scanning the eerie, quiet streets.

Suddenly, on the opposite side of the transport truck, Uncle Nate’s heavy chainsaw roared to life with a

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Chapter 90 I swear I thought she was a zombie

Finished

deafening, mechanical shriek. The abrupt noise made everyone jump out of their skins. As the newest member of the group, Nate had almost zero combat experience, which was exactly why Julian had been

ked with watching over him.

Before anyone could stop him, Uncle Nate let out a fierce, adrenaline-fueled roar. “Die, zombie scum!”

He took off at a full sprint across the pavement. Joanna finished pulling the very last drop of gasoline into her storage space and hurried around the hood of the truck to see what was happening. To her confusion, no one on the team was moving to back him up. They were all standing completely frozen, staring down the road.

What is going on? Joanna thought, breaking into a jog.

She stopped short, her jaw dropping in utter shock. Julian was the only one with a slight smirk on his face, looking as if he were silently cheering on his great-uncle’s warrior spirit.

Down the middle of the road, Nate was aggressively chasing an elderly woman, brandishing the whirring chainsaw directly at her heels.

Rachel slowly lowered her defensive stance, asking quietly over the radio, “Uncle Nate is terrifying… but why is that zombie running away from him? Is he really that scary?”

Jolie squinted down the asphalt, rubbing her temples. “That’s not a zombie,” she murmured dryly. “That’s just Mrs. Klein from apartment 3B. She is really old.”

Jake shook his head in pure exasperation, and everyone immediately snapped their eyes to Julian. The smirk instantly vanished from Julian’s face, his ears turning a bright, heavily tinged red.

“Uncle Nate, stop it!” Julian yelled down the street, his voice cracking slightly with embarrassment. “Come back! That’s our neighbor!”

Hearing his nephew’s voice, Uncle Nate finally slowed his pace to a halt. Mrs. Klein didn’t look back; she used the opening to sprint with surprising agility all the way back toward the security of the apartment complex. Nate turned around and jogged back to the group, his chest heaving as the adrenaline pumped through his system.

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