Almost everything was here. The slowest shipment would arrive by tomorrow afternoon.
She sorted her purchases by category. Easier to find what she needed later.
A shower and a face mask, then bed. Ten-odd seconds later, she was asleep. But with so much on her mind, she woke at the usual time without even setting an alarm.
She washed up and took the elevator down to the first floor. After ordering from every breakfast place nearby, she bought two lifetimes' worth of skincare products and face masks. Delivery to B City.
Six more days. She opened a travel app and booked a flight to B City, departing in six days.
By day four, the delivery drivers were out of words. How could one girl eat so much? More than ten orders, ten-odd portions in each. Around a hundred meals altogether.
Perfectly composed, Emma accepted the deliveries and put them into her space. Then she unpacked a shrimp omelet, sausage biscuits, and milk. Breakfast done, she headed for the rental company.
A big six-wheel-drive truck this time. She had livestock to collect.
One day's rental. She paid and drove out. The truck crawled through town. Anything close to its nose vanished into a blind spot below the cab.
Out of the city and onto the highway. She pressed the accelerator.
She knew the way now. Off the highway, straight to the ranch. Her order was ready. The owner and two employees were checking it for the second time.
She turned the truck around and climbed down.
Plenty of room in the back. The employees loaded the chickens, ducks, and geese first, and she drove away. Half an hour later, she found a deserted spot and moved the birds into her space.
She put up the fencing she'd bought between the hills. The birds tore happily across half a hillside. A scattering of feed finally settled them down.
Back to the ranch. This load was pigs, stacked in two tiers. The truck rocked over the gravel road.
Pigs into the space. Two trips for the cattle, two more for the sheep. It was noon before she could stop. She scattered pasture grass over the hills and urged it to grow. At last, with everything she'd brought in, the place was beginning to take shape.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Half a bottle of water took the dryness from her throat. She put away the big truck and took out the smaller one. Before the highway, a stop at the market. Five rabbits, straight into the space.
Back in town, she collected her lunch orders, then drove the big truck to the rental company and returned it.
On the restaurant strip, she checked a review app for the highest-rated places and ordered their signature snacks. Around a hundred portions of other snacks went on the list, too.
The same routine as before, working her way along the whole street. Orders collected, she drove the smaller truck to the coastal warehouses. Salt and coal were stacked high inside.
Several inflatable motorboats and submersibles stood in a corner.
She opened the doors. First, she drew the warehouse holding the salt, charcoal, and bottled gas into her space. The coal warehouse would have to stay for now. A camera was watching the inside. She could come back once the coal dealer had left.
Home again. The last batch of packages had arrived. She opened them, checked that every order was accounted for, and sank onto the sofa with a long breath of relief.
A phone from her space. She started looking at apartments in Crown Heights, B City. She'd heard it was one of the few developments there that hadn't flooded after the downpour.
Solid construction, too. A month steeped in rainwater, and the buildings hadn't collapsed. Farther down the listings, she found asking prices and contact details.
She called. Around $11,148 a square foot. Hardly cheap, but plenty of people lived there. Plenty of rich people in this world.
She reserved an apartment on the twenty-second floor, about 1,722 square feet. Walkthrough and closing in five days. Fully finished. Ready to move in.
Garlic-butter crawfish and an ice-cold cola from her space. She ate as she scrolled through videos.
Everywhere she looked, life was wonderful. Now and then, a video warned about weather abroad. Barely any likes. Almost nobody watching.
She opened one. A country abroad had seen temperatures falling steadily in recent days, the headline said. Already twice the usual seasonal drop, with no sign of it stopping.
The comments were full of people gloating. She scrolled on. Once or twice, someone from E City mentioned the local heavy-rain alerts. Almost no replies.
That the authorities had spotted the heavy rain at all was impressive. A global catastrophe like this couldn't be predicted. At least they'd seen the downpour coming.
Enough warning to stockpile emergency supplies. Enough to save so many lives when the rain came.
She didn't join the discussion. She switched off that phone and checked the downloads on her other phones and tablets.
Videos, movies, TV shows. Plenty of plant-growing tutorials, elementary and high school textbooks, and five thousand years of world history.
Repair guides for household appliances and machinery, too.
She put the phone on the sofa, set an alarm, and lay down. Her preparations had a steady rhythm now. Her sleep hadn't. At three a.m., the alarm rang. She pulled on a jacket that hid her figure and drove the truck to the warehouses.