May Peace Grace Us

Chapter 30: Spending an Idle time

Aila went and did her best to get the cooperation of her relatives to strengthen their homes as much as possible. As she was the only one on the ancestral land, everyone had given her full authority to modify and build something. Going as far as not to worry about money as they can will give her the necessary funds she will need.

Aila was a little uncomfortable with everyone giving her the reign of their shared property. It would be better if her relatives were staying. But due to the fact that most of them already have places where they are now currently rooted, it would be like they are giving this place of land as alone. It did not sit well with her given her experience as a Fortin. Occupying a property that should not be hers alone often leads to bad relationships as greed and dissatisfaction seeps into the cracks that may form in the relationships they had.

Hearing her say such a thing one time, her parents comforted her, saying that everyone had trusted her to build a safe place for the family. A Justine will one day settle down in their ancestral land one way or another. Regardless of how much they root in new, prosperous, and beautiful places, there is simply no other place that makes them calm and satisfied other than their own home.

Aila settled down by hearing and seeing the conventions that her parents had told her. In her heart, she would make home worth going back to.She swears that she will do it. Not only for her friends who have tied their futures to her, but also to the relatives of hers who have never doubted her abilities and judgement.

And quietly, a week before the eve of the apocalypse finally arrived upon them.

Aila had been prepared for so long and she thought she was not lacking in her preparations. There are plenty of supplies in her home and the whole place is secure from all the preparations she made. The crops she has asked to plant are also growing very well and some of them are now nearing their reaping peaks.

Aila decided to go to the city one last time to see Jemma and Honeylet now. She has done what she could to change their fates. Two pitiful women who have given her the greatest regrets of her second life, she wanted them well this time around.

And, of course, she is not a fool to see them face to face, she just wants to see how they are and if they did listen to the things she has warned them about. Finding them is easy. One is that Jemma is still a student, therefore she is often on the university avenue most of the time. Aila could wander there in the name of visiting some kind-hearted teachers who had been asking how she was.

As Jemma was a member of the pep squad, Aila could easily find and see how the girl was.

It can be said that Jemma has polished her eyes and now can see clearly who is true to her and who is not. People who are unaware of the micro expressions of the blonde might not be able to differentiate the difference in how she treats the people around her. The politeness expected as a child of the rich and powerful, is a signature thing for them. Thus, there are indeed too few that could see through her.

It was worth seeing that the three people who genuinely cared for Jemma were nearby. It might be selfish for Aila to be happy with their closeness because of some ulterior motives for allowing Jemma to see them as her sincere friends. Her kindness to Jemma is like an investment for the future. No doubt, as long as Jemma and the three are fine, they will not treat her harshly when the time comes. But still she is glad that things at least worked out well for others.

The next place she went to was the house Aila found for Honeylet and her child.

Honeylet directly filed a divorce after the talk they had. She has already compiled enough evidence of cheating and enough grounds for the court to allow their divorce. She took enough parlormony to get the old couple with her and disappeared from the sight of her husband. She did not bother to send him to prison and just left just like that.

Aila felt that as she had let the woman escape the cage she was in, she was obligated to at least make sure the other would have a safe place to stay. So she discussed with her parents her plan to help the woman, which was greatly supported by her mother. Stating she had long wanted to help Honeylet, only that it was really not suitable for her to do anything for the others.

Aila then inquired about a high end community with a smaller population. She especially looked at the area and she was satisfied enough with the security, quality of the house, and most importantly, the space of the property she bought for the Honeylet and her people. She even did some renovations before she made them move with the assurance that James would never look for them here unless he saw and followed them here or if they personally invited him here.

Obviously, Honeylet did not accept her gift easily. It was already a big thing that the Justine Family had already done enough for her, especially with the speed up of her divorce. There was no reason for her to blindly accept the house with open arms when she did not know what was attached to this good will.

But Aila has proven to be quite persuasive if she wants to be. Coupled with the good deeds the Justines had done for her, Honeylet was persuaded to move and accept the house. And for a few months she and the old couple were living well together with her little girl.

Aila only took a look at them from a distance and saw that Honeylet was quite faithful to the things she had asked her to prepare. And because of that, she is already more than relieved to not worry much about them. This will at least help them live well when the world becomes chaotic a week from now.

Done with all that, she then went to find her parents. And discuss what are the things that she might have missed during her preparation. If possible, she wanted to get them done as she was still in the city.

“There is nothing missed, I guess?” Judith said, as she thought that the supplies and preparations Aila had made were way too complete and could support them for so long. In the first place, she knows nothing about survival practice or anything other than what she knew in the controlled camping environment lessons she received when she was young.

Stephen chuckled at his wife’s puzzled appearance as he placed a hand on her head. “For most parts there is indeed nothing missing in what Aila prepared. But I propose we should gather enough things, which are plenty at the moment but are sure to be short in supply in the apocalypse. For example, some delicacies and snacks..”

“Right, I haven't thought of those.” Aila was enlightened as she heard that. All she was thinking was the necessities that they would need in the long run. She did not think of things that they would no longer enjoy the moment society collapses.

But no one could blame her for forgetting these things. There is nothing important in the apocalypse other than food that will fill the belly. Taste and presentation? That thing does not matter as long as it can make them full and does not kill them. Delicacies are actually extinct in the mind of Aila for so many years.

“You are thinking of long-term sustainability, my child.” Stephen was distressed as he saw the significance of each focus his child put on some goals she made. “At the moment things are still fine and there are still plenty of things you can indulge before it is impossible. In the past months, we made you stay in the villa. Have you ever eaten a chocolate in all that time?”

Aila was silent, as she really did not. All the meals she actually had were all simple and quick. After she was full, she did not even take a snack in favor of making more preparations. Perhaps her being in the villa has kick-started her survivalist instincts that she subconsciously wanted to save and do the minimum to achieve precise results.

“Hah…” Aila sighed as her movements in the past months flashed in her mind. “I really did not have the time getting some relaxation or having some idle enjoyment.”

“So for now, let’s just gather some of these things. If possible, we should get a large number of them. From what you said before, even expired foods are priceless at that time. We can also use them as bargaining tools for some things when the time comes.” Stephen said, as some profiteering model came to mind.

Aila nodded at the suggestion. Though she is more inclined to just order a few boxes of those directly to the warehouses, she did not decline the suggestion to wander in the mall with her parents. She wanted some quality time with them too. Let this be a last moment of normality before the bomb drops.

On the way to the mall, Aila took the opportunity to see some changes in the city. Roughly two months ago, a new disease was widespread. It was almost the same with the flu but a little more tricky than influenza. At that moment, it is still not a deadly thing, but there are plenty of people being admitted to the hospital because of it.

Due to the rise in the number of reported incidents, the city has issued a health emergency, advising people to take supplements, take some exercise, and to follow some safety protocols. Thus, the increase in people wearing masks all over.

But Aila knew this was just one of the many diseases that would arise during this period of time. On the eve of the outbreak, these diseases will evolve and make the infected become walking undead, roaming and salivating over their former fellow men.

There are plenty of ambulances running all over the street once in a while. Her parents were actually afraid of her having an episode due to her accident prior, but Aila definitely did not develop any sense of fear about it. Compared to her instinctive and complex feelings towards Alfred, an ambulance is really nothing.

So far, there will be no problems in social order at the moment and Aila manages to get some relaxation. She had some fun spending time with her parents like they did when she was a child. They even joked about bringing her to the children’s area, before they decided to hit the arcades.

They then went to the food court before they shopped for some books and stationery at the bookstore. Judith says that this is what they had missed. People need some entertainment in their lives, working and working without some leisure will really have a deep impact on their mentality. So she made a list of things they could gather for hobbies: painting materials, some needles for sewing and various handicrafts, some sculpting materials, some random books and some board games they could play in winter.

Judith also expressed she also wanted some sports equipment that they could use. Although there is already a gym available for use, she thinks that they need some indoor sports they could enjoy, like table tennis. Saying that the boys of Aila’s friends are particularly active people, they need something to vent their energy with. So they also bought some necessities like balls and the likes they could use when they have the time to let loose.

Aila would have said that these things are not really necessary. The moment the apocalypse starts, it would be hard for people to have a moment of peace to enjoy these things. However, with Judith having good intentions about buying these kinds of things, Aila just did not voice them out in the end.

Next, they went to the grocery to buy some snacks they will buy in bulk tomorrow. And before they went home, they dropped by the pharmacy to buy the few drugs that they could. Travis may have already supplied these, there is nothing bad if there is more at hand.

Later that night, Aila had a peaceful sleep she had not had ever since she returned in time. Too peaceful that it sends her shivers deep in her spine. Because the next day she woke up, the world was changing at a fast pace.