Chapter 10: Preparing Supplies

Chapter 10: Chapter 10: Preparing Supplies

Back at the apartment, Dexter Luther had his workers bring over a special, military-grade security door and start the installation.

Several workers carefully hauled the heavy metal door upstairs, its weight producing muffled THUDS.

The whine of an electric drill and the banging of a hammer echoed through the hallway, prompting other residents to poke their heads out of their doors to see what was going on.

Seraphina Sullivan lived in a high-end apartment building, on the very top floor.

She had originally chosen the penthouse not because it was cheaper, but purely for the expansive view overlooking the entire city.

There were four units on her floor, including her own.

Her two closest neighbors were nine-to-fivers just like her. Across the hall lived the Brooks family, a household of six, in an apartment more than twice the size of Seraphina’s.

Just then, Miss Webb of the Brooks family was heading out with her market basket to buy groceries. When she saw the workers going in and out of Seraphina’s apartment, tearing out the old door to install a new one, she stopped. With a puzzled look, she asked, "Sullivan, are you renovating?"

Seraphina looked up and saw it was Miss Webb. Her eyes fell to the basket in the older woman’s hand, and she gave a wry smile. "Yes, Miss Webb. Are you headed out to buy groceries? The supermarkets have been completely cleared out. You think you’ll find anything?"

Hearing this, Miss Webb immediately glanced left and right before conspiratorially pulling Seraphina into the stairwell. She lowered her voice. "Shhh! Sullivan, I’m only telling you this. You know what my son does for a living..."

Something clicked for Seraphina.

Miss Webb’s son, Justin Brooks, was an active-duty soldier who rarely came home.

Miss Webb leaned in closer, her voice dropping to a whisper. "My son called last night. He specifically told us to stockpile supplies ahead of time. He said that soon, all the food and medicine in the country might be placed under unified government Control. Future purchases will probably be rationed."

Seraphina’s pupils constricted, and her heart clenched. Justin Brooks obviously knew something about the government’s recent movements.

It was just as she’d suspected. The government had already started making its move—not with a big public display, but quietly preparing for the coming apocalyptic era.

Miss Webb sighed and shook her market basket. "The supermarkets are cleaned out, but I have other connections. I’m going to the farmer’s market later to buy some seeds. Our apartment is large, so we can grow some quick-maturing vegetables. Even if supplies are put under Control later, nobody can stop you from growing your own food, can they?"

Seraphina paused, and then it hit her.

’She’s right. Stockpiling is just a short-term solution. If the apocalypse really happens, a long-term food source will be the key to survival!’

She looked up at Miss Webb and said with conviction, "Miss Webb, that’s a brilliant idea! I’ll go with you in a bit. I need to buy plenty of seeds, too."

Miss Webb nodded, beaming. "Now you’re thinking! Young people are quick on the uptake; you get it right away!"

The security door installation continued at a frantic pace, the clang of metal echoing down the hall.

While the workers were occupied, Seraphina headed straight to the farmer’s market with Miss Webb.

The market was teeming with people, far busier than usual, with many frantically buying up food.

Of course, plenty of people were also buying seeds and fertilizer. Clearly, they weren’t the only ones who’d had the idea of becoming self-sufficient.

Farming was in the very DNA of the Arkadian people.

"Bok choy, lettuce, spinach... these grow quickly. You can harvest them in a month," Miss Webb said, expertly picking out seeds while rattling off planting advice. "We should also get some sweet potatoes and regular potatoes. They keep for a long time and are very filling."

Seraphina nodded along as she scanned the shelves. A question suddenly struck her. ’My apartment has limited space. How am I supposed to grow anything?’

Her thirty-second-floor apartment didn’t even have a balcony.

She immediately pulled out her phone and quickly searched for "small-space growing methods."

The trending topics about Franklin Ross were long gone, replaced by a few strange news headlines.

Seraphina’s eyes skimmed over the headlines:

#Headless Body of Tortured Woman Discovered in Prythaven!#

#Tens of Thousands of Packages Vanish Overnight from Riventide Logistics Hub!#

...

She only paused for a few seconds before turning her attention back to her search results.

All sorts of solutions appeared on her screen: hydroponics using plastic bottles, planters made from foam boxes, vertical farming on multi-level shelves... Some people had even converted PVC pipes into hanging planters for indoor use.

"Miss Webb, you go ahead and pick out what you need. I’m going to check out the shops next door!" Seraphina said before dashing off toward a nearby hardware store and scrapyard.

Half an hour later, she returned, dragging several large bags filled with empty plastic bottles, foam boxes, discarded shelving units, and even a bundle of PVC pipes and several bags of coconut coir.

Miss Webb stared wide-eyed. "Sullivan, what in the world are you planning to do with all that?"

"Just making a few things," Seraphina said, wiping sweat from her brow. "I’m going to build a three-tiered planter and set up a few hydroponic racks in my living room."

Back home, Seraphina immediately got to work.

She cut open plastic bottles to serve as hydroponic containers, drilled holes in the foam boxes before filling them with soil to make planters, and reassembled the old shelving into a vertical garden.

Following online tutorials, she mixed the coconut coir with organic fertilizer and filled each of her new containers.

’Seven days of prep time is nowhere near enough.’

Her days were spent running to hardware stores for tools, and her nights were spent staying up late to assemble the planters.

By the third day, Seraphina’s apartment was completely transformed—

Planters made from PVC pipes hung outside her windows, already sown with fast-growing vegetable seeds. In a corner of the living room stood a three-tiered shelf, each level lined with hydroponic bottles.

Even her bedroom windowsill was lined with foam boxes planted with shade-tolerant herbs.

Just then, Dexter Luther finally finished installing the military-grade security door.

Seraphina tested it. Even when she smashed it with a sledgehammer, the door didn’t dent, and the lock didn’t budge an inch.

"I told you, this is the kind of door they install in banks. You think you can break it with a hammer?" Dexter Luther said, patting the door in satisfaction. "There. Now you’re safe."

Dexter Luther sighed. "Feels like the world is really changing. I should get going. I still have a lot to prepare myself."

Seraphina didn’t stop him.

As she thought about this, Seraphina suddenly realized that even though she had her special Space to gather supplies in the dungeons, she couldn’t afford to be careless about her reserves in the real world.

This was especially true for basic utilities. Once the apocalypse hit, the water and power would likely be shut off after a while.

’I still don’t know what kind of apocalypse we’ll be facing in the real world.’

"But water and power are fundamental to survival..." she muttered to herself, striding toward the storage room.

Sure enough, in a corner of the storage room, she found the home solar power system she had bought online last year.

She had bought it on a whim after watching a DIY blogger, and now, Seraphina couldn’t help but feel thankful for her impulse purchase.

The kit included:

Two 100W flexible solar panels

A 2000mAh lithium battery pack

An inverter and a controller

And all the necessary wiring and tools

"The output isn’t huge, but it should be enough to charge my phone, boil water, and cook," Seraphina mused, carefully inspecting each component as she planned where to install it.

She decided to install the solar panels on the master bedroom’s bay window—it faced south, received the most sunlight, and wouldn’t be easily spotted from outside.

As for the water problem, Seraphina had also used the three days of the door installation to buy a few things around the city.

She had also dug out several large water containers from home, ones she had previously used for camping.

She cleaned them all thoroughly and filled them to the brim with tap water.

Over those three days, she also bought:

1. A portable water purifier

2. A rainwater collection system

3. Over a dozen cases of bottled mineral water