The Endgame Chronicles novel Chapter 4

The next afternoon, Hayley walked out of an old office building in the city. By the time she stepped outside, her account had gained another 300 thousand.

These microloan companies were worse than vampires! She sold the house to Philip's family for 400 thousand, but selling it to a loan shark only got her 300 thousand. Plus, the interest was insane.

She had signed a seven-day IOU. Within a week, she would have to pay back 400 thousand to the loan company, or they'd take the house.

It was a bottomless pit, a trap meant only to drain her house away.

No problem. Hayley never planned to pay it back—she didn't even have a house anymore.

The loan was timed perfectly. Just before the apocalypse hit, the company would come knocking on Philip's door. When that happened, the two despicable parties would get into a fight, and chaos would ensue.

Both sides were tough to mess with, but nobody knew who would come out on top. Either way, the house would soon be nothing but rubble.

Hayley stared at the loan money in her account, an idea forming in her head. She went through every lending platform she could find and borrowed from all of them.

She had decided to go all out.

By the end of it, she had another 100 thousand.

Now, Hayley had 720 thousand in hand. Time to stock up on supplies!

First stop, the building supply store. She bought about 50 surveillance cameras, then found a generator seller.

She needed power.

Generators came in wind, water, fire, and diesel. The first three were inconvenient—they were hard to install, slow, and mostly had to be custom-made. Diesel was perfect.

"What size generator do you want?" the shop owner asked.

"What do you have?" she replied.

"We have 35, 50, 200, and up to 800 kW. Anything above 1,000 is expensive."

Hayley checked the specs. A small 30 kW cost about 2,000 to 4,000. Midrange 200 kW ran 10 to 20 thousand. A 300 kW went over 20 thousand. Anything bigger would cost hundreds of thousands. Imported ones were even pricier.

"You can take domestic," the owner said. "The local stuff is just as good, more durable, and works better for most needs. Imported stuff is picky about diesel. You opening a restaurant or something?"

"Yes," Hayley said casually. She needed power to run the fallout shelter's lighting, so restaurant-grade equipment would do the job.

But of course, she bought the biggest, most powerful one. Her system gave rewards based on the level of equipment, so she went all in.

"I want the best. No shortcuts!" she said, flashing her "rich girl" vibe, and bought the generator for 240 thousand.

The owner was grinning ear to ear.

Hayley also had him throw in extra small items—soundproof mats, tool kits, and little accessories. He didn't hesitate and even gave her the last ten gallons of diesel for free.

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