Hoarding Resources In Apocalypse

Chapter 4

Ciro's phone buzzed at 9:00 AM with a text from Sarah that was so transparently manipulative it almost made him laugh.

"Baby, your basement storage is such a mess! Let me organize it properly. I'll bring help so we can get it done fast. You deserve to have everything neat and accessible for your project!"

Ciro stared at the message and saw exactly what she was doing. She wanted full access to catalog everything he'd stored so she could report back to Marcos and Natalie about the scope of his wealth. She wanted to photograph, inventory, calculate, and plan.

He texted back: "That'd be great. Thanks."

An hour later, Sarah showed up at his door with Marcos standing behind her, wearing work gloves and a helpful smile that didn't reach his eyes.

"Surprise!" Sarah said brightly. "I brought Marcos to help. He's really strong, so he can handle all the heavy lifting."

Marcos extended his hand. "Hey man. Sarah told me you've got quite the setup going. Happy to lend a hand with whatever you need."

Ciro shook Marcos's hand, looked into the eyes of the man who would kill him with a metal pipe in twenty-six days, and felt nothing but cold calculation. "Appreciate it. Follow me."

They went down three flights of stairs to the basement, and Ciro unlocked the storage unit. Inside were boxes and equipment stacked exactly as haphazardly as he'd arranged them that morning—after pulling everything back out of the Void Storage specifically for this performance. Sarah's eyes went wide.

"Oh wow, this really is a mess. Okay, let's get organized." She immediately started directing traffic like she was running a corporate logistics operation. "Marcos, you handle the heavy boxes. I'll do inventory and create a system. Ciro, you can supervise and tell us what goes where."

Marcos started moving boxes. His voice came out casual, but his eyes were sharp and calculating. "So what's all this stuff for, anyway? You starting some kind of camping business or outdoor adventure company?"

Ciro leaned against the concrete wall. "Long-term storage. Inventory from work."

"Inventory?" Marcos lifted a box of thermal sleeping bags and raised an eyebrow. "This looks like serious expedition gear, man. You planning to climb Everest or something?"

"Just like to be prepared."

Sarah pulled out her phone and pretended to take organizational notes, but Ciro watched her angle the camera to photograph the contents of every box she opened. Thermal base layers, emergency blankets, water filtration systems, and freeze-dried food rations. She was documenting everything, building a catalog of his supplies to analyze later.

Marcos kept probing while moving shelves. "This must have cost a fortune. You get some kind of supplier discount through Volmart?"

"Something like that."

They worked for three hours, moving, sorting, and organizing. Sarah created a detailed inventory list on her phone with item counts and estimated values, while Marcos mentally calculated what everything was worth. They thought they were scoping out his assets. They thought they were getting insider access to whatever wealth he was hiding.

Ciro watched them work and said nothing.

At noon, he ordered pizza and acted grateful. "You guys are lifesavers. I couldn't have done this alone. Seriously, thank you."

Marcos grinned and clapped him on the shoulder. "Happy to help, bro. That's what friends do, right?"

They sat on boxes eating pepperoni pizza in the basement, and Marcos steered the conversation exactly where Ciro knew he would.

"So seriously, man, what do you actually do? Sarah mentioned you work at Volmart, but this doesn't look like Volmart-salary spending." Marcos gestured at the organized supplies. "This is tens of thousands of dollars' worth of gear."

Ciro took a bite of pizza and chewed slowly. "I had some investments pay off."

"What kind of investments? I'm always looking for good opportunities. Made decent money on Ethereum last year."

"Crypto, mostly. Got in early on something that blew up."

Marcos's eyes lit up like Ciro had just confirmed a lottery win. "No shit? Which coin? I've been dabbling in crypto too. There's so much potential if you know what to look for."

"Something more obscure. You wouldn't have heard of it."

"Try me. I follow like fifty different coins."

Ciro shrugged. "Rather not say. Don't want to jinx it."

Sarah jumped in right on cue. "Baby, Marcos is really good with investments. He has connections in real estate and tech startups. Maybe you two could partner on something? Diversify your portfolio?"

Marcos nodded enthusiastically. "Absolutely, man. I've got this deal coming up, actually. Luxury apartment conversions downtown. We're buying old buildings at discount prices and flipping them into high-end rentals. Guaranteed twenty percent return in six months. If you're sitting on crypto profits, you should definitely diversify into real assets before the market crashes."

Ciro pretended to consider it while watching Marcos's face carefully. "Maybe. Let me think about it."

"No pressure at all, just saying the offer's there. Limited spots, though. We're closing the investment round in two weeks." Marcos smiled. "Sarah's got my number. We should grab drinks this week, and I can walk you through the whole opportunity."

"Sure. Sounds good."

They finished eating and went back to cleaning. Marcos and Sarah exchanged satisfied glances when they thought Ciro wasn't looking. By 6:00 PM, the basement storage unit was immaculately organized, with everything labeled, shelved, photographed, and cataloged like a professional warehouse operation.

Sarah stood back and admired their work. "There. Now you can actually find things when you need them. Everything's organized by category, and I made you a digital inventory list." She showed him her phone with a detailed spreadsheet. "I'll email it to you."

"You're amazing," Ciro said, and meant it in a way she'd never understand. "Thank you both. Seriously."

Marcos stretched his arms. "Anytime, bro. We should do this more often. Maybe I can help you source more inventory if you need it. I've got connections with wholesale suppliers."

"I'll keep that in mind."

After they left, Ciro waited twenty minutes, then went back down to the basement. He opened the storage unit and looked at the neatly organized shelves and labeled boxes that Marcos and Sarah had spent eight hours perfecting.

Then he opened the Void Storage interface and stored everything in sixty seconds.

The unit sat completely empty.

Upstairs, his phone buzzed with the spyware feed showing new messages.

Marcos: His basement could hold millions in goods. I counted at least fifty thousand in survival equipment, and he said that's just inventory from work, which means there's more. He's either preparing for something massive or reselling at serious markup. Either way, he's sitting on major capital.

Sarah: I took photos of everything and made a full inventory list. Sending now. What's the play?

Marcos: Get him to invest with me. Once his money's in my business account, we control it. We can liquidate slowly over six months, and he won't even realize until it's gone. By then we'll be untouchable.

Sarah: What if he says no to the investment?

Marcos: He won't. I can tell he's lonely and desperate for friends. Look how grateful he was today for basic help. We just keep being supportive and helpful until he trusts us completely. Two weeks max, and he'll hand over the money himself.

Sarah: Perfect. I'll push the investment angle tomorrow. Tell him how smart it would be to partner with you. He's already falling for it.

Marcos: Good. Keep me updated. This could be the biggest score we've ever pulled.

Ciro read the entire conversation twice and set his phone down on the kitchen counter.

They had spent eight hours doing free labor, organizing his apocalypse supplies while thinking they were scoping out assets to steal.

They had literally built and cataloged his survival bunker.

They had prepared the shelter that would keep him alive while they froze to death outside.

Twenty-six days until they realized their