When the World Ends, She Begins novel Chapter 53

Back then, Braxton had been in such a rush to the point that he hadn't checked Tiffany's condition.

So, she really got knocked stupid from that hit?

Or maybe it was his sloppy CPR, the delay in pulling her back which cut off her oxygen to her brain too long.

He wasn't about to admit that, though.

He looked at Natalie with a face full of grief. "Nat, how could you? You electrocuted Tiffany into an idiot!"

Natalie rolled her eyes and kicked him across the room.

"Don't you dare try that guilt-trip crap with me.

"Stop whatever crap you're trying to pull!"

She hadn't come here for negotiations—she'd come to break him.

She stormed over and grabbed him by the collar and slapped him across the face over and over.

Braxton wanted to fight back, but he couldn't even twitch. His entire body was locked down, helpless as a rag doll.

The blows weren't deadly, but the humiliation was.

After all, Natalie was a woman he had once liked—and now here he was, yanked around in her grip like a helpless little kid.

Humiliation burned across his face, so hot it felt numb.

Natalie slapped him again and again dozens of times and once his face became swollen and distorted, she finally stopped, satisfied.

Side by side, Braxton and Tiffany looked like a pair of swollen red hogs, impossible to tell apart.

Natalie took in their pitiful state and felt a surge of satisfaction.

Even though Braxton was half-dazed from the beating, one thought still held him together—the fear that she might kill him here and now.

Slumped on the floor, he stammered, "Nat, you've really got it wrong! That day I had no choice—I only went along with the neighbors to borrow food because—"

"Save it!" Natalie cut him off with another brutal kick.

Their grudges went far deeper than that one incident.

Betrayal in her last life, scheming in this one—their crimes piled high, even down to the moment they had once literally devoured her. She wasn't about to waste breath counting every score.

Instead, she simply used him as a punching bag, working out her rage with blow after blow.

She only stopped once Braxton was knocked out cold.

Tiffany, watching Braxton get thrashed, didn't rush to his aid. Instead, she clapped along to the rhythm of the blows.

"Braxton is getting beat up by the bitch!"

Natalie's brow arched. Still mouthing off? She turned and gave Tiffany the same treatment, fists and kicks until the room finally went quiet.

When it was over, Natalie stretched, every muscle loose, her body humming with relief.

She dumped the both of them on the floor without a second thought, then tore through their apartment.

The haul wasn't bad. She managed to secure three bottles of water, two packs of hardtack crackers, a bundle of hot dogs, five packs of canned soup, and a mountain of stale bread.

It wasn't a bad score.

What was I doing before this? Why am I on the floor?

When did she get so fat?

How much good food has she been feeding this thing? People are starving to death out there, and she's got enough to feed a dog fat!

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