When the World Ends, She Begins novel Chapter 18

That was terrifying.

Daniel stared at Owen Gatlin's face and felt a chill run down his spine.

Just then, a woman came out of the bedroom, rubbing her weary eyes.

"What's going on, Owen?"

The woman looked to be about ten years younger than Owen, with curves in all the right places.

Daniel froze. This woman wasn't Owen's wife.

What the hell—this woman was bold enough to just move right in?

That didn't make sense. Owen was known for being completely whipped.

Wait a minute ... Could it be that ...

Daniel suddenly realized whose pile of jerky that was.

The meat ... It was her. It was Owen's wife!

His blood went cold. He grabbed a kitchen knife from the chopping board and waved it wildly.

"I'm warning you! Stay the hell away from me!

"You sick freaks! Cannibals! I'm not going down without a fight!"

The couple froze at the sight of him swinging the knife. Terrified, the woman let out a piercing scream.

That was all the opening he needed. He bolted out the door.

By the time Owen gave chase, Daniel was already sprinting back to his own place.

Cursing under his breath, Owen could only return to his unit. He walked in and was greeted by the woman's trembling voice. "Owen, what do we do? He saw everything!"

Owen pulled her into his arms. "Relax. He can't call the cops now. In a little while, there won't be any meat left anyway. No evidence."

"True," She said, feeling relieved. "If the cops do show up, we'll just say your wife went out scavenging and never came back. There are no cameras around here to prove otherwise."

"That's why I love you, Elena. You're smart. Come on, let's go back to bed."

Shameless didn't even begin to describe these two.

Owen used to be a nobody, but he'd lucked out and married a business-savvy wife.

Her money boosted his social standing, but he was rotten to the core.

It didn't take long for him to start hooking up with the new lady at work, Elena Yarrow, who he eventually brought home.

When his wife unexpectedly came home early and caught them, he dropped to his knees, begging for forgiveness.

She was furious and demanded a divorce, insisting that he leave with nothing.

That was when he snapped. In the middle of a heated fight, he killed her.

His original plan was to cut up the body and dump it in the mountains piece by piece. But before he could get rid of it, the disaster hit, trapping him, Elena, and the body inside the house.

Afraid the corpse would start to rot, they dried it out like jerky.

As their food ran out, the smell of the meat became too tempting.

Eventually, they gave in to their worst instincts—after all, in a famine, who could tell the difference between this and regular beef jerky?

The moment Daniel saw her, he lunged forward, wrapping her in a desperate hug, eyes teary.

"Olivia, I was terrified!"

He stammered through everything he'd just seen in 1302.

Olivia's eyes went wide. "Are you serious?"

She was only three months pregnant and had been sleeping hard through most nights. She'd only woken to pee, realizing Daniel wasn't beside her.

"I told you not to go poking around in other people's places. That's dangerous! Thank God you're okay.

"We're not thieves; we're not robbers. We'll rely on ourselves. Tomorrow, we'll take the tub out and look for supplies again."

Daniel said, "But you're pregnant—"

"So what? It's not even showing yet. My baby's stronger than that."

She paused, thinking. "Things are too unstable right now. Keep what you saw in 1302 to yourself. Don't spread it around. Just stay away from that guy and be on guard."

Daniel nodded. "Got it."

A few days passed.

The building finally went quiet.

After all, no matter how much people stole, the food in the complex was limited. Eventually, there was nothing left to take, and everyone went hungry.

The water had risen to the sixth floor before the clouds finally broke and sunlight returned. But at least the rain had stopped.

The city was still half-drowned, but with the sky clearing, people felt a spark of hope. They started heading out again, desperate to find whatever supplies they could.