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?

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