Stopping the Apocalypse

Awakening

Hanna Storm lay in her bed as her alarm began ringing in her ears, chasing away the dream she was having of her life before her father had killed himself just as she opened the door to his office. That was when her life really began going to hell, but for 6 months all she had had to worry about was her step monster and her two ungrateful brats demanding she hand over her inheritance so they could squander it however they wanted.

She sighed as she sat up remembering the first few days of the apocalypse, running through the nightmare on the 4th day when the fire bombs the military had used incinerated 5 blocks worth of houses and anyone unfortunate enough to be trapped in the inferno. None of it doing anything but making the zombies that they had tried to destroy into walking skeletons that were somehow even more terrifying than the rotting corpses chasing you.

As she looked around at her small shack in Camp Delta, she remembered the next 4 years as clear as a bell. Claudia her step mother and her sons Michael and James had essentially been carried by her and what she perceived as her obligation to support them thinking it was what her father would have wanted. Their pathetic strength and speed abilities making them more valuable than she was in the apocalypse, as she had no ability whatsoever.

She however didn't let it slow her down as she put on the armor she had spent 4 years making, each piece perfectly form fitted to protect her from the zombies if they were ever attacked while scavenging the supplies from the city that were still good. Without them, none of the Camps would survive for long as growing crops had been next to impossible for the last 4 years. 2 brutal winters had caused extensive spring flooding that made planting impossible, followed by extreme droughts that made the plants wither and die before producing anything edible.

Once ready, she walked out into the early morning glow to meet her team, which ironically included Michael and James. They had two miles to cover before they got to the area they were scavenging now, all of them nervous as there were two large swarms they had to sneak past. Any mistakes would cost lives that they could ill afford to lose.

The morning had gone perfectly, each one of their packs stuffed with supplies that would mean the Camp could eat for a few more days. Between the 5 of them, they carried 600 pounds of goods, the 2 strength ability people carrying 150 pounds each. They were headed back when they got to where they usually crept past the first swarm, when they got to it and it was much closer than it had ever been to their crossing. They were forced to find a route further away from them, one that had a few zombies that they were forced to kill as quietly as possible. They were crossing the road one at a time, the team knowing that any noise would give them away.

Hanna was the last one to cross as she slipped through the debris left in the road, halfway across the major road when a deafening crash came from where her team was crouched and hiding, the shelf of supplies that had been abandoned crashing to the ground.

"RUN!" She yelled as the first screeches from the swarm sounded as the zombies began pursuing them as they made a mad dash to their safety corridor that lead to the Camp. None of the team had to be told twice as Hanna began running as fast as she could as she pulled a pipe bomb from her bag and tossed it under a car that was still parked there. She knew it was enough to turn the vehicle into shrapnel as it was her own special mix of high powered explosives.

She had just died behind the corner of the building she had to run behind when it detonated, shredding dozens of the swarm to bits as she began running across the last half mile of field before they got to the fence. The only problem, the Swarm was hot on her heels as she got to the final stretch where her team was already making their way through the gate. James was the last one through and looked at her and the situation before he sneered and slammed the gate shut just before she reached it. "Die b***h, we never wanted you for anything beyond your riches anyway." he sneered as she dropped her pack as he turned and ran as she smiled, pulling the cord on a special surprise as she drew her guns and began shooting the zombies that were getting close.

The noise began drawing every zombie that heard it as she counted down, knowing that this bomb would level several hundred yards. The amount of time her so called brothers had not even getting them half clear of the blast radius when the blinding flash filled her vision.

Hanna didn't know what to expect with death, but she didn't expect it to look like a gaming network system filled with computers and monitors playing scenes from her life. She walked over to the main display and sat down.

'Hanna Elizabeth Storm. Time of life prior to event, 21 years 3 months 11 days. Time survived after event: 4 years 7 months 28 days. Reset time earned prior to event, 7 days. Ability detected: Quest/Reward system. Ability detected: Temporal Rebirth. Current Quest, survive apocalypse and learn details of mission left to you by father. Rebirth will occur in 10 seconds.' the screen displayed making her shake her head before another blinding flash forced her eyes closed.

When she opened them, she was launching herself out of bed 7 days before the apocalypse. She looked at the clock and sighed, its display confirming that it was exactly when she believed it was. 7 days before the world as they knew it now ended, and for a moment she hoped the entire thing had been a nightmare.

'New Quest: Prepare safe house for apocalypse.

'New Quest: Gather supplies before apocalypse.' it said before displaying a list of supplies that would be enough to start her own small Camp.

'New Quest: obtain ¥15,000,000 to fund establishment of Camp.' the system showed her in a user interface that appeared in her mind that showed her essentially everything she wanted to know about herself. It broke her down into base stats that were objective and completely accurate.

'New ability detected, personal storage space. Current capacity: 5 cubic yards.' it showed her.

Just as she finished getting dressed she heard the door slam open, letting her know that Claudia and her sons were there yet again to demand the house from her. This time however she smiled as she saw the quest, knowing exactly how she would get the funds in one go. She headed down to the kitchen where she poured herself a cup of the freshly brewed coffee from the pot that she had bought after her father passed away.

"Morning." she grunted as the three people she hated the most walked in as if they already owned it.

"You need to give this house to James as a wedding gift Hanna, it is way more than you need." Claudia demanded as she had nearly every week since her father had died.

Hanna smiled as she looked at Claudia. "You know what, you are absolutely right. So for his gift, I will let you buy it from me for ¥15 million. The 10 million credits will be his gift from me. Otherwise I am going to list it today for ¥25 million and we both know there are a dozen people who have wanted it for decades." She replied before taking a sip of the hot liquid.

"You expect us to pay you?" Claudia demanded incredulous at the thought.

"Well yes, generally when you buy property it costs money. You think James is worth $25 million in my book? Your lucky I am giving you a 10 million discount." Hanna said not caring about them after what had just happened to her.

"Fine, the courthouse opens in 3 days. We will transfer it then." Michael said with his fake authority.

"No, you will transfer the funds today and I will give you the deed and a contract. Anything left in the house this time tomorrow, will automatically be yours. But I get the money today from you, or I get it from any realtor who wants to make a quick sale." she countered as James looked between the two of them nervously.

All three of them knew that ¥15,000,000 would wipe out all of their cash reserves, but that if she took the deed to a realtor and said 25 million they would jump at the opportunity to make a profit. All three of them knew it was too good an opportunity to let slip away.

"Fine, you get the deed and paperwork and we will transfer the money." Michael said in the same tone.

Hanna actually laughed at that before she glared at him. "I am not moving a single muscle until the money is in my account. If you think I trust you for half a second, you are certifiably insane. So either make the transfer now, or get out. I have real business to take care of, getting rid of your trashy asses is first on the list. You want the house, 15 million now." she countered stubbornly as Claudia nodded while Michael pulled out his phone and made the transfer. As soon as it hit her account she transferred it to a different one they didn't know about before she walked into her father's old office and grabbed the documents from the estate folder. She walked into the kitchen, filled out the sale papers she had been sitting on for months and signed it before she signed the deed as well and handed them to Michael. "Now piss off and never bother me again."

"You have 24 hours, after that everything left here is ours." Claudia said as all three marched out of the house smugly pleased that they had finally won. So they thought.