Reborn Before The Apocalypse: The Last Safe Hotel

*****

In a dimly lit room, illuminated only by the weak glow of a lantern, Ronan Ashmore lay helplessly on the freezing floor.

His hands and feet were tightly bound, while blood covered his battered body, slowly hardening beneath the unbearable cold.

Waves of agony coursed through his broken body, yet the physical pain was nothing compared to the disbelief in his eyes as he stared at the people surrounding him.

They were the very people he had spent years trying to please: his father-in-law, Joren Frost; his mother-in-law, Helena Frost; his brother-in-law, Rael Frost; and Varek Rim, his wife's closest male friend.

Each held a weapon, and none showed the slightest trace of pity.

"I should have gotten rid of a useless bastard like you long ago!" Joren snarled as he brought his iron baton down against Ronan's leg.

Crack!

Ronan's body jerked violently as a scream tore from his throat.

"Blame yourself for being worthless before the apocalypse and remaining worthless even during it!" Rael spat before swinging his baton into Ronan's arm.

Another sickening crack echoed through the room.

"How many times have we told you to get lost?" Rael sneered. "You consume our resources yet contribute nothing!"

Ronan trembled against his restraints, tears of pain gathering in his eyes.

"Why...?" The word escaped as barely more than a whisper. "Why are you doing this?"

He couldn't understand.

Since the apocalypse began, he had risked his life countless times to search for food, gather supplies, and protect their home.

Even when resources became scarce, he had always made sure his family ate before he did.

Yet now, they were beating him to death.

Varek crouched beside him, a cruel, sinister smile spreading across his face.

"You still don't understand?" he sneered. "Once you're dead, Celeste will finally be free. Then I'll finally be able to make her mine."

He raised his spiked club and brought it down against Ronan's other hand.

"Argh!"

Before another blow could fall, Helena suddenly raised a trembling hand.

"Wait."

The three men stopped.

Helena stared at Ronan, a flicker of hesitation crossing her face.

"Do you think Celeste will hate us if she discovers we killed him?" she asked quietly. "He's still her husband."

Joren's expression hardened.

"And what exactly do you suggest? That we waste a sanctuary quota on him?"

Rael scoffed. "My sister only has enough space for a limited number of people. If Ronan takes one of those places, someone else has to stay behind."

He looked directly at his mother.

"Are you willing to leave your dog behind?"

Helena's hesitation vanished.

Varek immediately seized the opportunity.

"We're doing this for Celeste, Auntie. Ronan is useless. He isn't contributing and is consuming resources. Why waste a precious sanctuary quota on him?"

Ronan stared at Helena, desperately searching her eyes for some trace of compassion.

He had respected this woman for years. He had obeyed her countless demands and risked his life for her family.

Surely, after everything, she wouldn't truly choose to have him killed.

Then Helena slowly nodded.

"You're right." Her voice was cold. "Once he's dead, we'll tell Celeste that he disappeared."

Something inside Ronan shattered, and the last trace of hope vanished from his eyes.

The three men exchanged glances, then turned their attention back to him.

Ronan was already too weak to resist. He could barely move as the weapons descended upon him again.

He waited for a miracle… for Celeste to suddenly appear, or for someone, anyone, to step in and stop them.

But no one came.

His vision gradually darkened, and… without realizing it, a single tear slipped down his cheek.

‘If heaven gives me another chance, I will never sacrifice myself for people like you again.’

Then darkness swallowed him.

….

"Ah!"

Ronan suddenly bolted upright in bed, gasping violently as cold sweat drenched his body. His chest heaved as he frantically examined himself, running trembling hands over his arms, legs, chest, and face.

There were no wounds, broken bones, ropes, or freezing floor beneath him. Everything was intact.

"I... I didn't die?"

His voice trembled with disbelief.

Ronan slowly raised his head and looked around the small room.

The familiar bedroom, the clean sheets, the untouched carpet, and everything else around him appeared exactly as he remembered.

His eyes widened.

"This... is my room?"

For a moment, Ronan couldn't make sense of what he was seeing.

Before he even realized it, memories came rushing back… the unnatural snowfall that had swallowed the world in the middle of summer, the freezing temperatures, the collapse of the power grid, the starvation, and the violence that followed.

Then came the government's announcement of an underground sanctuary… one that could protect only a limited number of people. Those deemed valuable to humanity's future were given quotas.

Celeste, an exceptional doctor, had received enough space for her family, her brother's fiancée and her family, and even Varek and his family.

Everyone had made it into the sanctuary.

Everyone except him.

He had even been beaten to death because of his quota, yet now…

"Was that… all a nightmare?”

Ronan’s fingers tightened around the bedsheet as his heart pounded violently.

Just then, his alarm rang beside him, startling him out of his thoughts.

He instinctively grabbed his phone and silenced it, but… the moment his eyes fell upon the date displayed on the screen, his entire body froze.

He stared at it several times, unable to believe what he was seeing.

"This date..." His voice trembled.

He remembered it perfectly. September 20, 2077

It was the day the Premier League season had begun, and more importantly, it was exactly one month before the apocalypse.

Ronan's fingers tightened around the phone as the truth finally dawned on him.

"I've... returned,” he muttered with a raspy voice, his breathing caught in his throat. “I’ve been given another chance by heaven to change everything.”

Disbelief, excitement, gratitude, and hatred surged through him all at once.

Eventually, tears filled his eyes as he covered his face and laughed.

He had lost everything in his previous life, yet heaven had granted him another chance.

Slowly, the laughter faded.

Ronan lowered his hands, and the gratitude in his eyes gave way to something colder… resolve.

His thoughts drifted to the Frost family and the years of humiliation he had endured as their live-in son-in-law.

His in-laws had treated him like a servant, while Celeste had remained indifferent, never stopping them or treating him like a husband.

Even during the apocalypse, while she worked safely inside heated medical facilities, he had continued risking his life outside for their family.

And they had repaid him by murdering him.

Ronan gritted his teeth, different emotions hitting him all at once.

He had spent his previous life begging for the Frost family's acceptance and sacrificing everything to protect people who had never valued him.

But now… never again.

A faint, chilling smile appeared on his lips as he thought about everything he knew was coming.

He knew when the apocalypse would begin, how society would collapse, where resources could be found, and which opportunities would soon become impossible to obtain.

Ronan’s fingers tightened around the phone.

“One month,” he muttered icily. “One month before the world froze.”

“One month before civilization collapsed. And one month before the people who murdered me would need me.”

A cold smile slowly appeared on his lips.

"Before anything else, I'm divorcing Celeste."