Chapter 23-Welcome home

Chapter 23: 23-Welcome home

Inside her car, she settled Nathaniel into the passenger seat, adjusted his position, checked his breathing, and brushed a strand of hair from his forehead.

The moment her fingers touched him, his eyelids fluttered.

’Shouldn’t he be out for a few while longer?’ she freaked out but maintained a calm expression.

"Don’t," he rasped.

Aymara froze. She held her breath and waited for him to continue speaking.

His eyes opened, unfocused but furious. "Don’t touch me like you still have the right to."

Her hand fell away. For a heartbeat, neither of them spoke but Aymara didn’t stop looking at him.

"I know I don’t have the right anymore," she said and felt the pang in her heart.

"Then stop acting like you do," he remained firm, refusing to let his yearning heart embrace her.

"I can’t do that, Nate."

His laugh was weak and bitter. "You never could admit when something wasn’t yours."

She swallowed the pain. "You were never something I owned. You were..."

"Then why are you taking me against my will?"

"Because the day after tomorrow the world ends and you won’t be one of the collateral damages."

He stared at her in silent disbelief. ’So she knew?’ he thought.

He had run numbers every day for months and had seen the apocalypse coming. He had made preparations to survive the upcoming disaster and had planned to head over that evening but she showed up and kidnapped him.

’Is her arrangement more safe than mine?’ it crossed his mind. ’Will it keep her safe?’

"The apocalypse is here."

She knew how impossible it sounded, but beneath his anger she saw the old instinct to protect her, even now.

"I don’t expect you to forgive me or trust me," she whispered. "But I am not leaving you behind again."

His jaw tightened. "You already did."

The words cut cleanly through her. Aymara lowered her gaze. "I know..."

She brushed a strand of hair from his forehead only after he stopped resisting.

"I was an idiot," she whispered. "You were always there for me, and I chose someone who never deserved me."

Her voice trembled from regret and pure rage. "You saved me when I didn’t deserve it. This time, I’ll save you."

Nathaniel turned his face toward the window. "Don’t promise me things you can’t keep."

"I’ll keep this one."

He closed his eyes, but his expression remained tense. He wanted to believe her, and that frightened him. Beneath the anger, the attachment she had abandoned was still alive.

Aymara didn’t push him to accept her. She started the car and drove towards the nearest supermarket.

She stopped at a store, "I’ll buy a few things and be back," she told him. He didn’t move or open his eyes.

She breathed out heavily and immediately turned her attention to store. She got out of the car and hurried in. Her focus immediately went to the shelves filled with games.

Scrabble, ludo, chess, playing cards, puzzles and anything that could keep two people entertained for hours.

One by one, Aymara swept them into her cart, clearing entire rows of games without the slightest hesitation.

The apocalypse might destroy the world outside, but she refused to let boredom become another enemy inside their fortress.

She and Nathaniel would have plenty of time to spend together, and she wanted to make sure they had something to do besides stare at the walls or listen to the endless silence outside and watching dramas on the system and monitors.

Once she was satisfied, she moved into the female section. Her expression turned serious as started piling her cart with sanitary pads.

Aymara stared at the shelves for a moment before beginning her second round of looting.

She emptied the supermarket’s entire supply. Pack after pack disappeared into her cart until the shelves were practically bare. Different sizes, different absorbencies, day pads, night pads, she took everything she could find.

The apocalypse might bring floods, storms, starvation and the collapse of civilization, but there was one thing she knew better than any disaster forecast. Periods would not care.

The factories will shut down, the supply chains will collapse, the trucks will stop running and the stores become empty ruins but menstruation? It would still arrive, every month, right on schedule as if the end of the world hadn’t been announced.

Aymara looked at the mountain of sanitary products in her cart and nodded in satisfaction.

Humanity might be facing its apocalypse, but at least she wouldn’t be caught unprepared when her period decided to show up anyway.

She put everything into the space, and the system immediately multiplied it by a thousand.

The moment the games vanished into storage, a notification flashed before her eyes.

Ding!

[Gaming Room Activated!

Aymara blinked. Before she could even react, the fortress responded.

The gaming room expanded, its walls shifting outward to create a spacious entertainment area. The floor widened, the ceiling rose, and rows of neatly organized shelves appeared along the walls, providing more than enough room to store the ridiculous mountain of games she had just acquired.

The system didn’t stop there. It upgraded the ship’s cooling and heating systems, ensuring that whether the outside world was freezing or burning, she and Nathaniel could sit comfortably inside the ship and play without turning into human popsicles or boiled potatoes.

Aymara stared at the newly transformed room. She had only wanted something to keep them entertained but the system had apparently decided they needed a recreational center.

Gaming Room: Lv1- Lv3

Capacity: Increased

Temperature Control: Enhanced

Game Storage: Expanded

Comfort Level: Maximum

Aymara’s lips slowly curled upward. She got back to the car and drove off. The drive took longer than she wanted but every minute mattered.

When she reached the port, people were gathered around her cruise ship, taking pictures and recording videos.

A group of spoiled young people had apparently decided it was the perfect social media backdrop.

"Seriously?" she sounded annoyed.

Aymara parked, got Nathaniel out of the car and onto his wheelchair and pushed him toward the ship.

One of the young women approached with a folder. "I saw this ship yesterday and have been trying to find the owner. I have experience with large vessels. I can captain a ship this size, and I’m looking for work."

She handed over her resume. Aymara glanced at it and returned it. "No. Not necessary."

The woman blinked. "No?"

"I don’t need a crew."

"But this ship is enormous. You can’t operate it alone."

"I’ll manage," Aymara said and asked for the woman’s Mbank account and transferred money to the woman’s account.

The woman’s eyes widened. "One hundred thousand?"

"Take it and leave."

"But..."

"Consider it compensation for the time you wasted waiting here for me."

Aymara pushed Nathaniel forward. She wasn’t hiring anyone. Not after what had happened in her previous life. She remembered the crew she had trusted, fed, and protected. The people who had eventually turned against her and got her killed. Never again.

Her ship belonged to her and Nathaniel and that was enough. She moved on and unlocked the entrance.

The doors opened, and the group of content creators rushed toward her. "Wait, Miss!"

"Can we come inside?"

"Just for a few minutes to shoot content?!"

"We’ll record content and leave!"

"We’ll tag you!"

"We’ll credit you as the owner of the ship and make you go viral!"

Aymara stared at them by next tomorrow, the internet would probably be gone. There would be no trending videos, likes, or followers. Only hunger, fear, death, and survival.

There offer held no real value to her so she quickly declined. "No, thank you."

One young man frowned. "Why not?"

"Because I said no."

"It’s just a video," a young girl stated. "Why be so stingy?"

"I don’t care," she replied coldly.

A girl rolled her eyes. "She’s so selfish."

Another muttered, "Rich people are unbelievable."

"If you don’t leave, I’ll call the police," Aymara said.

The group exchanged uncomfortable glances before leaving, still muttering under their breath.

Aymara waited until they were gone, then closed and locked the entrance.

The security system activated.

[Authorized personnel only.]

Aymara smiled.

"System, authorize Nathaniel."

[Authorizing host’s beloved]

"???" Three question marks floated on Aymara’s forehead.

[Authorization complete.]

[Host’s beloved can now access the ship without requiring host to be present.]

Aymara ignored the nickname the system gave Nathaniel and pushed him inside. The door sealed behind them.

For the first time that day, she could breathe. ’Finally, Nathaniel was safe with her.’

Aymara wheeled Nathaniel toward the main lounge and checked the system.

Food, medicine, water, energy, weapons, technology, security, defense, agriculture... everything was ready.

She placed Nathaniel somewhere comfortable, then walked to the bridge.

"Auto-drive."

[Auto-drive activated.]

The engines came alive, and the cruise moved away from the port.

Through the window, the city looked peaceful, almost painfully beautiful. People were still living ordinary lives, unaware that tomorrow their world would end.

Aymara returned to Nathaniel and crouched beside his wheelchair.

"Welcome home, Nate."

His eyes narrowed. He slowly opened his eyes and glanced at the fully furnished lounge and showed no reaction.

"Don’t call it that," he stated. Coldly.

She brushed his hair from his forehead. "This time, I won’t let anyone hurt you."

"You’re the one who hurt me the most," he spoke, meeting her gaze.

Her hand stopped. The words were quiet, but they carried more weight than his shouting ever could.

Aymara looked at him, her throat burning. "I know... I was wrong."

Nathaniel looked away, his face pale and rigid. He wanted her to understand. He wanted her to suffer the same pain he did but when her eyes filled with regret, his anger faltered, frightening him more than anything.

The cruise moved farther into the water. Behind them, the port grew smaller while ahead lay the endless ocean.

In a day, the world would face tsunamis, hurricanes, flooding, chaos, monsters and death, and Nathaniel wouldn’t face any of it alone.

She had built this fortress for him and filled it with everything he could need. This time, she would protect him even from the entire world.

Aymara rested her hand against his head. "You’re safe now."

Nathaniel closed his eyes. He still didn’t forgive her or trust her. He didn’t know whether he could survive being near her without reopening every wound she had left behind.

But beneath the anger, his heart still recognized her as the person he cared about the most and that was the one thing he could not escape.

Outside, dark clouds gathered over the distant horizon. The ocean remained deceptively calm.

Tomorrow, it would become a monster but today, it was carrying them home.

[APOCALYPSE COUNTDOWN: 1 DAY REMAINING.]