Chapter 5: Home Base
August 5th arrived with aggressive wildlife.
Reports started flooding social media around noon: deer attacking hikers in the mountains, birds dive-bombing joggers in parks, even a raccoon that sent three people to the hospital after going berserk in a grocery store parking lot.
Maya showed me the news articles when we met at Lucky's Diner that evening.
"Prediction three," she said. "All correct."
"I wish I was wrong," I admitted.
"But you're not. Which means August 15th is real." She closed her phone. "Tomorrow, we get that apartment. No more waiting."
August 6th was a Saturday. Perfect timing—landlords worked weekends, and we looked less suspicious approaching during business hours.
We'd prepared our story: Maya was nineteen, working at the diner, and I was her younger brother who'd just moved to Seattle for school. Our parents were overseas (vague enough to avoid questions). We needed a place fast and had cash.
The landlord's office was a small building three blocks from Cascade View. The man behind the desk looked tired and not particularly interested in us until Maya pulled out nine hundred dollars in cash.
"First month's rent and deposit," she said confidently. "For unit 4D at Cascade View."
The landlord—Mr. Patterson, according to his nameplate—perked up. "4D's been empty for two months. Tenant broke lease and disappeared. I was starting to think nobody wanted it."
"We want it," I said. "We can move in today."
Mr. Patterson looked between us. "You're both pretty young. Got jobs? References?"
"I work at Lucky's Diner on Pine Street," Maya said smoothly. "Four nights a week, been there six months. My brother's starting at Seattle Community College in September." She pushed a fake student ID across the desk—something she'd made using a photo of me and a printer. "We just need a place to crash that's affordable."
The fake ID was risky, but Mr. Patterson barely glanced at it. He was too busy counting the cash Maya had laid out.
"Nine hundred," he confirmed. "Rent's eight hundred a month. This covers first month plus a hundred deposit." He pulled out a lease form. "I'll need you to sign, and you're good to go. Move in today if you want."
Maya signed quickly. I was technically a minor and couldn't legally sign a lease, so we'd agreed she'd be the official tenant.
Ten minutes later, we walked out with keys to unit 4D.
"We did it," Maya said, staring at the keys in her hand. "We actually did it."
"Now comes the hard part," I said. "Turning it into a base that can survive the apocalypse."
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We spent August 6th through 14th in a blur of preparation.
Day 1 (Aug 6): Moved our supplies into 4D. Cleaned the apartment top to bottom. Assessed what we needed.
Day 2 (Aug 7): Maya worked while I went shopping. Used our last $30 to buy bulk rice, beans, and pasta. Stole canned goods from a supermarket when the staff wasn't looking. Our pantry started filling up.
Day 3 (Aug 8): Reinforced the apartment door with extra locks and a wooden bar I installed across the frame. Maya taught me how to nail boards over windows properly—strong enough to hold but removable if we needed visibility.
Day 4 (Aug 9): Filled every container we had with water. Bathtub, pots, empty bottles. If the water stopped running on August 15th, we'd need reserves.
Day 5 (Aug 10): Maya's 19th birthday. We celebrated with stolen cupcakes from a grocery store bakery. It was ridiculous and sad and perfect. "Last birthday before the end of the world," she joked. But her eyes were scared.
Day 6 (Aug 11): I stole a baseball bat from a sporting goods store's clearance section. Also grabbed a crowbar and a tire iron. Weapons. We were building an arsenal.
Day 7 (Aug 12): The mass amnesia event hit Seattle.
Hundreds of people woke up not knowing who they were. Hospitals overflowed. The news went crazy. Maya and I watched the reports and said nothing, but we both knew: this was it. The last sign before everything fell apart.
Day 8 (Aug 13): We barely left the apartment. Just stocked more food, rechecked our supplies, and went over the plan for August 15th.
"Stay inside," I said for the tenth time. "Don't go out when the aurora happens. Don't engage zombies unless we have to. Focus on survival first."
"I know," Maya said. She was sharpening our knives, her hands steady despite the fear in her eyes. "What about the System? You said it'll appear when the apocalypse starts?"
"At 3:47 AM on August 15th. Exactly when the aurora fades. It'll show up as text in your vision—like a video game interface. Don't panic. Just read what it says and follow the tutorial quest."
"Tutorial quest?"
"Survive the first day. Complete it, and you get points to spend in the System Shop. That's when we can buy real skills and items."
Maya nodded, absorbing this. "And Lucas Reed? The protagonist from your novel?"
"He'll be in downtown Seattle when it starts. Probably getting his SSS-rank ability right about now." I checked my notes. "We won't run into him early. He doesn't leave downtown until day three."
"Good. I don't want to compete with some overpowered protagonist for resources."
I almost laughed. "Smart thinking."
Day 9 (Aug 14): Our last day of normal life.
We spent it quietly. Maya didn't go to work—she'd quit the diner yesterday, claiming family emergency. No point in keeping up appearances when the world was ending tomorrow.
I cooked dinner with our supplies. Rice and canned vegetables and some chicken I'd shoplifted that morning. We ate in silence, both of us thinking about what was coming.
"Are you scared?" Maya asked suddenly.
"Terrified," I admitted. "But also... ready? I've spent two months preparing for this. Two lifetimes, technically. If I can't survive now, what was the point of any of it?"
"Two lifetimes," Maya repeated. "You've never fully explained that."
"I died before this," I said carefully. "In another life. And somehow ended up here, in Ethan's body, with knowledge of what's coming. I don't know why or how. But I'm not wasting the chance."
Maya considered this. "Reincarnation. Transmigration. Whatever you want to call it." She shrugged. "I've seen weird things in foster care. This doesn't even crack my top ten."
That made me smile despite everything.
We went to bed early that night. Set alarms for 3:30 AM. Tomorrow, we'd need to be awake and ready when the aurora came.
I lay on the couch (Maya had taken the bedroom—she'd paid for most of the apartment, after all) and stared at the ceiling.
Tomorrow, the apocalypse began.
Tomorrow, I'd find out if two months of preparation and two lifetimes of failure were enough to survive.
Tomorrow, everything changed.
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