When the World Ends, She Begins novel Chapter 6

The two men drove a silver van out toward the outskirts of town.

Natalie followed them from a distance, watching as the van pulled up to an abandoned factory.

The front gate was locked, but the moment their van stopped, a fat man came out and pulled it open.

"You two are still the fastest," he boomed. "The other teams aren't back yet. I'm bored to death here alone!"

The fat man, Bobby, had a voice as loud as his body was big. Natalie parked not far away and could hear everything clearly.

There were only three of them here at the moment.

Relieved, she reached for her door handle.

"Keep your voice down—we're being followed," Flynn, the redhead in the duo, tugged at Bobby.

"What? You led the cops here?"

"Not cops. I saw in the rearview—it's a woman."

Bobby burst out laughing. "A woman? That's what you're afraid of? Let me see what kind of woman she is."

By now, Natalie had walked up with a polite smile.

"Hello, how much fuel do you have? I'd like to buy some."

All three men froze.

She's here to buy fuel?

Flynn squinted. "You followed us in the middle of the night just to buy fuel?"

"Sorry, I urgently need a large amount of diesel and gasoline. The legal supply is limited. When I ran into you, I thought I'd take my chances."

Bobby's gaze swept over her from head to toe.

Well, what a beauty.

Tall, fair-skinned, with long hair swaying in the night breeze.

He rubbed his hands together and grinned lewdly. "Sweetheart, getting fuel's easy. Keep us company for a while, and you can have all you want."

Flynn chuckled. "Yeah, have some fun with us, and I'll give you a discount."

Natalie stood under the dim light outside the warehouse with an unreadable expression.

"Let's go inside and talk."

Hearing that, the three men practically skipped toward the factory, leading her in.

Inside was a mess. Oil drums were stacked everywhere, each labeled by type.

At a glance, Natalie saw not only diesel but also gasoline, with labels even distinguishing between 87, 89, and 91 octane grades.

Not bad. They had everything.

She was quietly satisfied. This much fuel could last her decades.

"When will the others be back?" she asked.

"Not for a while. They'll come in the early hours of the morning."

The three of them edged closer with lecherous smirks, ready to lay their hands on her.

Natalie dodged a groping hand without breaking a sweat.

Flynn's face twisted in anger, and he swung a slap at her. "Bitch, be smart! If you don't behave, I'll kill you right now, and no one will ever know!"

Natalie blocked his hand and reached into her storage space with her other hand, pulling out a knife. Two quick jabs and Flynn collapsed on the floor.

It happened so fast that Bobby hadn't even seen how his partner fell before his own fist came swinging toward her.

Natalie sidestepped, slipped behind him, and drove her foot hard into the back of his knee.

Trained and precise, her strike landed with a loud crack.

Bobby dropped instantly, clutching his twisted leg and howling in pain.

The last man stared at her in shock, unable to believe she'd taken down both of his buddies in seconds. He backed up several steps, grabbed a machete from the corner, and charged at her with a roar.

Oh? Going for the kill?

Natalie smirked. She'd lived through the apocalypse and killed more times than she could count.

It was funny that a few petty crooks from peacetime thought they could take her life.

With a flick of her wrist, she pulled a massive cloud of flour from her storage space and flung it into his face.

How had that flour just appeared in her hands?

And how did that knife come from out of nowhere?

A Ford Transit?

Clearly, her physical strength still needed work.

After tidying up, she collapsed onto her bed as sleep overtook her.

Just then, from downstairs came a steady thud, thud, thud.

Has the guy from Unit 1302 still not finished butchering the pork?

Natalie's thoughts drifted hazily, but she was too tired to care and soon fell into a deep sleep.

The next morning, she woke to the sound of rain pattering outside her window.

She reached for her phone, and it showed July 10th, 2039 on the screen.

In her previous life, this was the day the rain began.

Each summer had grown hotter than the last, and this year's heat was unbearable. Since summer began, this was the first rain to come.

People were cheering at the rare cool air, unaware that by tomorrow, this gentle rain would turn into a catastrophic downpour, sweeping across the globe and marking the true beginning of the end.

Natalie jumped up and washed quickly. This was the last day before the apocalypse. She needed to get her triangular bayonet back from Talia.

Just as she reached downstairs, her phone buzzed.

It was the water quality testing company sending the digital report.

Natalie opened it eagerly.

The water met drinking standards.

Relieved, she happily headed toward Talia's house.

Talia lived in a villa community nestled halfway up Greenhaven Mountain, reachable only by a winding road.

Rain made the roads slippery, and the rented truck was hard to drive on such terrain, but Natalie still chose it.

After all, society hadn't collapsed yet, and she couldn't exactly drive the stolen Ford Transit around in plain sight.

She kept a steady grip on the wheel with eyes fixed ahead—when suddenly, a pure black armored vehicle appeared coming toward her.

Her eyes widened. This ...