Chapter 3
Stella shot to her feet and rushed to the balcony, pulling back a corner of the curtain. Outside, it was pitch black, only the faint glow of streetlights cutting through the darkness.
Rain was pouring down in sheets, and visibility dropped to less than 16 feet.
"It's here," Stella murmured.
Susan came over, too. The sight of the downpour drained the color from her face. She never doubted Stella again.
At two in the morning, the Riverton weather service issued a Flood Advisory. It reminded residents to take precautions and to stay indoors if possible.
By four, the advisory was upgraded to a Flood Warning. Standing water began to appear in the old town, and some roads were flooded.
Panicked posts started showing up on social media. People shared photos of their flooded garages or complained about being stuck in traffic.
At six, a Flash Flood Emergency was declared, the highest level warning in Riverton's history. Residents were told to stock up on supplies, stay inside, and not go out. The government activated emergency response, and all businesses and schools closed.
The Sunrise Haven residents' group chat was going wild.
[Holy crap. This rain is insane. My balcony is leaking!]
[The old town is totally flooded. The water is up to my waist. It's terrifying!]
[The supermarket is wiped out. I couldn't even get a pack of salt!]
[Sunrise Haven sits on high ground. We should be fine, right. Hope it doesn't flood.]
[Does anyone have extra supplies? We didn't stock up. Can someone help us out?]
The chat was nothing but people freaking out. Some were scared, some were complaining, and some were asking for handouts. Stella stared at the screen stone faced and then silenced the whole thing.
They would all have to look out for themselves.
She'd warned them. This wasn't just a rainstorm, it was the apocalypse. But nobody listened.
Now, it was way too late for regrets.
Stella turned to look at her mom. Susan was in the kitchen making breakfast, with pancakes on the griddle and milk and toast right next to them. As she took in the spread, relief filled Susan's eyes.
Luckily, she had listened to her daughter and stocked up ahead of time.
Luckily, they were on the 18th floor, inside that rock solid fortress.
The rain had been pounding down for three days straight, showing no signs of stopping. Riverton's old town was gone under water, with the flood up past people's chests.
Folks living on the lower floors had no choice but to move upstairs. The air was thick with cries and desperate pleas for help.
Sunrise Haven was still safe for now, thanks to its higher ground, but trouble was already starting to brew inside the complex.
Water was out. The power was still on, but the pressure was too low for anyone on the upper floors to get a drop.
People had to use the complex's temporary water spots, but even those ran low fast. Every single day, folks would stand in line and scramble for water.
Supplies were running low, too. The supermarket in the complex had already been cleaned out. Residents who hadn't stocked up started going door to door, asking if anyone had extra supplies.
Stella's door wasn't spared either.
The urgent pounding was followed by a desperate man's shout. "Is anyone there? Do you have any spare water or food? My kid can't take it anymore. Please!"
Stella sat on the couch, completely still, not even lifting her eyelids.
Susan felt a pang of sympathy and started toward the door, but Stella pulled her back.
"Mom, don't open it," Stella said, her voice cold as ice. "If you do, it'll never stop. Today he's begging for water, tomorrow someone will come to snatch our supplies. When people are starving and terrified, human nature means nothing."
"But his child—" Susan began.
"That's his problem, not ours. He didn't prepare, so now he has to face the consequences," Stella replied, her gaze steely. "Keeping ourselves safe is plenty. Don't get all softhearted. Softheartedness in this kind of end of the world will get you killed."
Susan met Stella's eyes, then reluctantly let her hand drop. The knocking dragged on for ages, but when nobody answered, the man finally stomped off, grumbling and cursing as he went.
Stella went to the door and looked through the peephole. She watched his back as he left, and her eyes showed no sympathy.
In her last life, she let her soft heart get the best of her. She gave a stranger her only bottle of water.
That guy came back with a bunch of people, grabbed all her stuff, beat her half to death, tossed her into the floodwater, and left her there to rot.
This time, she would never let that happen again.
It's every man for himself.
In this rainstorm apocalypse, being a soft touch was just being mean to herself.
The complex's group chat got louder with people crying for help. Some folks even tried to buy stuff for crazy money.
[Anybody got pasta? I will pay ten times the store price!]
[Someone got water? We are almost out. I will pay whatever you want!]
[Please, bread. Please, canned soup. My kid is starving. Please!]
Just then, someone thought of Stella.
[Hey, I saw a bunch of trucks pulling into our complex a few days ago. Someone was setting up a convenience store in that little storefront by the entrance. You think they still got stuff left?]
[Yeah, I saw it too. Eight whole trucks. They gotta have tons of supplies!]
[Who is the person running that convenience store anyway? Come on out and hand over some supplies. We are all neighbors here. We gotta help each other out!]
[No kidding. This is a crisis. Keeping everything hidden away is just plain selfish.]
The group chat blew up with accusations. Some people even started trying to track down who the "store owner" was. Stella glanced at the messages, a smirk playing on her lips.
Selfish? In the apocalypse, staying alive was the most selfless thing there was.
She'd seen this day coming ages ago. That was why she used a fake name, a temporary phone number, and hauled every last box of supplies from the shop to her apartment.
Now, if anyone checked, all they'd find in that shop were empty cardboard boxes scattered everywhere.
Try and take her supplies? In their dreams.
By the fifth day of nonstop rain, Sunrise Haven's property management couldn't take it anymore. They packed up and left. The whole neighborhood fell into anarchy. Anyone who hadn't stocked up was plunged into despair.
Some people hadn't eaten in days, their eyes red and wild. Now they were putting all their hopes on the store owner.
A bunch of desperate neighbors teamed up and headed for the shop at the entrance, banging on the door.
"Open up. Hurry, open the door. Hand over the supplies!"
"Stop hiding. We know there's stuff in there. Come out now!"
"Open up, or we're breaking the door down!"