The Last Ten Days, The Apocalypse Countdown

Chapter one

The first class cabin smelled like lavender and fresh coffee. Soft leather seats, warm ambient lighting, and the low hum of the aircraft engines filled the space like a lullaby.

Nicholas Marchetti opened his eyes.

For a full ten seconds, he did not move. He did not breathe. He just stared at the smooth white ceiling above him, waiting for the screams to start again. Waiting for the stench of rotting flesh. Waiting for the bone deep cold that had followed him through every waking moment of the apocalypse.

Nothing came.

No ice, no zombies. No blood freezing in his veins.

"Mr. Marchetti, would you like some water?" A soft voice floated toward him. A beautiful flight attendant leaned down with a warm smile, her name tag reading Sophia Russo.

Nick grabbed her wrist without thinking. His grip was tight, desperate.

"What's the date?" His voice came out rough, cracked.

Sophia blinked but kept her composure. "It's June 21st, 2032, sir. Are you alright? You look a little pale."

Nick released her hand like it burned him. He sank back into his seat and pressed both palms against his face.

June 21st, 2032.

Ten days. There were exactly ten days before the apocalypse would rip the world apart. He remembered the date like it was branded into his skull. July 1st. That was the day the earthquakes shattered every major highway on the continent. That was the day the super cold wave plunged temperatures to fifty below and killed the power grid in six hours flat. That was the day the first zombies crawled out of the wreckage, hungry and mindless and endless.

And that was the day Nicholas Marchetti, age thirty five, had died like a dog in a frozen ditch with nothing to his name but frostbitten fingers and a bellyful of regret.

But here he was. Alive. Clean. Warm. Sitting in first class like he was heading to a business meeting instead of the end of the world.

"Sir?" Sophia's voice pulled him back again. "Can I get you anything?"

"No. Thank you. I'm fine." Nick forced a thin smile and watched her walk away.

The moment she disappeared behind the curtain, he pulled out his phone. His fingers were still trembling. The lock screen confirmed it. June 21st, 2032. Ten days before everything ended.

He was reborn.

Nick closed his eyes and let the reality wash over him. In the apocalypse, money had become worthless within hours. Paper bills were used as kindling. Bank accounts were just numbers on dead servers. The only currency that mattered was Time Energy, a glowing countdown that appeared on every human's forehead the moment the disasters began. Time Energy extended your natural lifespan. It strengthened your muscles, sharpened your senses, and could be transferred through skin contact or harvested from the bodies of dead zombies. The more you had, the longer you lived and the harder you hit.

In his previous life, Nick had been pathetic. A Level Four physique with barely a thousand years of stored energy. He survived by hiding in basements and eating whatever scraps he could find, like a rat gnawing on crumbs while wolves feasted. He watched stronger survivors build armies and claim territories while he shivered alone in the dark.

But there was one thing that set him apart.

Nick turned his focus inward, reaching for that familiar space inside his mind. A grin spread slowly across his face, wide and genuine and almost dangerous.

His Space Ability. It was still there. A massive storage dimension, frozen in time, equivalent to ten full sized soccer fields. Anything placed inside would never decay, never spoil, never age by even a single second. This impossibly rare ability had been his only real advantage in the apocalypse, and it had followed him back through death itself.

"Ten days," Nick murmured, his eyes now sharp and calculating. "I have ten days and two point five billion reasons to make this count."

The plan formed in his mind like a blueprint being drawn in real time. First, he needed to secure his inheritance before his wonderful family stole it out from under him. In his past life, his stepmother Elena, his half brother Vincent, and his father's sworn brother Frank Costello had conspired together to rob him blind. They forged documents, bribed lawyers, and left him stranded in Bellport City with nothing but the clothes on his back right before civilization collapsed.

This time, he would flip the table on every single one of them.

Second, he needed supplies. Mountains of them. Enough food, fuel, medicine, and equipment to sustain a small army for years, all crammed into his spatial domain before July 1st.

Third, he needed allies. Real ones. People who were loyal, capable, and wouldn't sell him out for a can of beans when the world went dark. In his previous life, he had been too weak and too alone to build anything. He wandered the frozen wasteland like a ghost, barely surviving while others thrived. That version of himself was dead now. Literally.

The new Nick Marchetti was going to be different.

The plane shuddered slightly as the landing gear deployed. Through the window, the skyline of Bellport City rose against the afternoon sun, glass towers and busy highways and millions of people who had no idea they were ten days away from the end of everything.

Nick tightened his jaw and stared at the city below.

"This time, I'm not the rat," he whispered to himself. "This time, I'm the one who owns the maze."

A cold, quiet smirk settled on his face. It was the kind of smile that didn't reach his eyes. The kind that promised trouble for anyone who got in his way.

He had ten days, a spatial dimension the size of a small town, and a memory full of apocalyptic secrets that no one else on earth possessed.

The countdown had already begun.

When the plane touched down and the cabin doors opened, Sophia Russo gave him one last polite smile from the front of the aircraft.

"Welcome to Bellport City, Mr. Marchetti. I hope you enjoy your stay."

Nick picked up his bag and stepped into the jet bridge.

"Oh, I plan to," he said quietly, more to himself than to her. "I plan to enjoy every single second of it."

Because in ten days, seconds would be all anyone had left.