Reborn Three Days Before the Apocalypse

Chapter 6

Ethan never expected the new resident of Unit 1801 to be the same young man who had helped him at the courier station.

The man looked mildly surprised too. He gave Ethan a brief nod before returning to work.

Up close, he had a cold, sharp appearance. He was tall and lean, with broad shoulders and a build that hinted at considerable strength beneath his clothes.

Ethan exchanged a brief greeting before retreating into his apartment.

This life was already different.

Orion had arrived early, and now there was a new neighbor. What kind of ordinary person installed three stainless-steel doors in a row?

Peaceful coexistence would be ideal, but caution was necessary. Saving someone did not mean much once disasters dragged on. When order collapsed, there was no guarantee people would remain the same.

Ethan locked his door, washed up, and ate breakfast. Outside, the sky was slightly brighter but remained dark and heavy.

From the balcony, he watched the typhoon slam against Crownview Residences. Rain battered the impact-resistant glass, while the streets below had become rivers. Cars were half-submerged, and vehicles in low-lying areas were already being swept away.

Ethan raised his binoculars.

The roads were completely drowned. Clouds hung frighteningly low, and a twisting funnel connected the sky to the ground.

A tornado.

It tore through an elevated roadway, sending cars and debris flying while lightning struck trees and briefly set them ablaze before the rain extinguished the flames.

Had there been tornadoes in his previous life?

Ethan couldn't remember.

Too many things were already different, and none of them seemed better.

His phone kept buzzing, so he disconnected from the internet and returned to the kitchen. He spent hours preparing food, blanching beef brisket and beef shank before braising them with spices. He also cleaned the organ meats he had bought earlier.

By the time he finished, the smell had killed his appetite. For lunch, he settled for a simple bowl of chicken noodle soup.

As Ethan turned off the exhaust fan, he thought he heard a child crying.

He ignored it at first, but the sound came again, clearer this time.

From next door.

Ethan hesitated before walking to Unit 1801 and knocking.

“Poppy?”

There was no response.

He knocked again. Just as he turned away, he heard a lock click, followed by a lot of fumbling. The heavy door finally opened.

Poppy stood behind it with swollen red eyes and tear-streaked cheeks. Dried vomit clung to the corner of her mouth, and her flushed face looked wrong.

“Why are you crying?”

Ethan touched her forehead.

It was burning hot.

“Where's your brother?”

“My brother? He's gone.” Poppy rubbed her eyes. “He's left me, too…”

Ethan frowned at the word too.

He glanced at the fortress of doors behind her before gently rubbing her head.

“He probably just stepped out. He'll come back. Do you want to stay with me for a while?”

Poppy hesitated, but she remembered Ethan from the courier station and eventually nodded.

Ethan brought her inside and checked her temperature.

It was over 103°F.

He quickly found the children's cold medicine with a fever reducer and gave her the proper dose. Worried that her brother might panic when he returned, Ethan wrote a note and placed it on the door of 1801.

Thunder shook the building.

Ethan couldn't understand what kind of person would leave a sick child alone in weather like this. Going outside was practically suicide.

The television had no signal, and Poppy curled up on the couch, trembling.

For some reason, Ethan remembered his own childhood at Graybridge Children's Home. He remembered being sick while other children were comforted by their parents, while he hugged a pillow and wondered why nobody had ever come for him.

He wasn't good with children, so he pulled out a tablet and played one of the cartoons he had downloaded.

It worked.

Poppy slowly focused on the screen, and her breathing began to settle.

Ethan sat beside her and checked his phone.

One of the messages was from Claire.

[I didn't mean to be harsh yesterday. Don't be mad. I was really looking forward to you coming to Marcus's birthday. When you didn't, I felt pretty down.]

Ethan stared at it before quietly scoffing.

Claire was finally feeling the pressure.

There were probably still seven or eight people at Marcus's apartment. Birthday parties meant chips, beer, and cake. Nobody had bothered preparing real food, and even instant noodles or crackers wouldn't last long with that many mouths.

Ethan checked the timestamp.

The message had been sent an hour ago.

Right on schedule.

Claire was hungry.

Several friend requests followed. Ethan ignored them all.

Two of the families he had warned also messaged him, thanking him for the warning. They had managed to buy food before the supermarkets emptied, and one even offered to send him money as thanks.

Ethan declined. There was little left to buy anyway.

He continued scrolling through the neighborhood groups.

People were showing off seafood feasts, camp stew, expensive wine, and packed freezers. The comparisons quickly turned into games and message chains, with nobody seeming to understand what they would eventually pay for their carelessness.

There would be two weeks of nonstop rain and wind. Even rescue teams would struggle to reach them. Once food ran out, these people would become desperate.

Most were young adults who lived on takeout and spent freely on clothes and skincare while keeping almost no food at home.

[Went to the supermarket last night. Instant noodles were gone. Can anyone spare something?]

[I only managed to grab two bags of flour, but I have nothing to cook with.]

Once one person started begging, others followed. Someone even invited women over for camp stew, despite living in another building.

Most people simply watched.

Then someone suggested trading five sheet masks for a pack of instant noodles.

Messages flew past until Ethan stopped at a forwarded video.

A car was being swept into floodwater while firefighters struggled to rescue the driver. Before they could reach him, a sudden surge from upstream swallowed the rescue team as well.

There were countless videos like it. Some ended in rescues. Others ended in silence.

Ethan's chest tightened.

He was about to close the app when Claire's message suddenly appeared again.

[Ethan, can we talk?]