Chapter 3 I NEED A DIVORCE

I spent the next few minutes completely confused. No matter how hard I tried, I still was not able to figure out just how I had managed to be reborn just before the apocalypse. There had been no warming, no strange voice coming to tell me I had gotten another chance, nothing. One moment, I was burning alive on the floor with Ethan standing over me. The next, I was seven days before the apocalypse, awake and fine. I spent the next few minutes looking right at the date on my phone. I checked it so many times, just to be sure that I was not hallucinating. I checked the news, the time, and even my bank account. Everything was exactly as I remembered it. The world around me was still normal, the dead still stayed dead, and people were not going around with fucking superpowers. I spent the next few minutes googling for any reports of unprovoked attacks around the world, and no matter what I checked, I found nothing. No matter how hard I tried, or how many websites I read through, I found nothing that would signal to anyone that the world would end in a week. Eventually, I turned off my phone and took a deep breath. I turned around, intending to leave the bed, but the moment I did that, I froze completely. Sleeping right beside me, and with a peaceful expression on his face, despite my hyperventilating for a couple of minutes, was Ethan. This was the man who I had just watched end my life with a wild glint in his eyes. And here he was, sleeping completely peacefully. I stared at him for several seconds before shaking my head. I was so angry right now, and I knew that if I spoke to him, or woke him up, I might do something bad, something I might regret later. I was back, and this time, I would never let myself be ruled by any emotions: anger, rage, or love. The apocalypse was coming regardless of what I did to him, and right now, it was the only thing that mattered. Morning light had already begun creeping through the curtains. I needed to move, and I needed to do it now. I carefully pushed the blanket aside so I wouldn’t wake him, but the moment the mattress shifted and my feet hit the ground, Ethan stirred awake. His eyes fluttered open and a warm, wide smile immediately spread across his face. "Kara?" he whispered, his voice still sleepy. I didn’t answer. Instead, I moved faster, standing up till I was away from the bed. My reaction was fast enough that his eyes immediately cleared up. "Darling?” he called out as he sat up and rubbed his eyes, “What's wrong?” The moment he said that, his hands reached out towards me. But the moment I felt his touch, my body jerked away. It had not been a conscious choice, but even my body clearly didn’t like him. Ethan's hand stopped, and his brows immediately furrowed, "What the hell?" he hissed, his tone now completely clear, “Why are you jerking away from me?” My only response was to stare at him. Mainly because I had absolutely nothing to say. This was the man that, up until a couple of hours ago, I thought was the love of my life. A man that I had been willing to die for. A man that had repaid my love by burning me alive. For one brief second, I saw him as he had been when I died, with fire in his eyes, and a solid coldness in his eyes. Then, I shook my head, and cleared the image from my mind. Right now, Ethan didn’t have superpowers, but he was still my husband. I frowned, and immediately decided that this was the very first thing I was going to fix. I lifted my head and looked him right in the eyes before finally speaking up, “I am done.” Ethan blinked, “Uh…” He frowned, “Done with what?” "I'm done with you," I answered, This time, Ethan sat upright, "What the hell are you talking about, woman?" he hissed, his tone as brash and abrasive as ever. Now that my eyes were no longer tainted by love, I had no idea what the hell I even saw in him in the first place. I took a deep breath, and made sure he could see the certainty in my eyes before I spoke up next, "I want a divorce." The confusion on his face was so intense that I almost chuckled, almost. "A divorce?" he asked, his confusion slowly giving way to anger. I didn’t answer until I had grabbed my phone from the nightstand. “Yes,” I answered, “I want a divorce. Now, if possible,” Ethan was clearly pissed off now, but he took a deep breath, calmed himself down, and then asked, "Kara, what happened?" "Nothing." I said. I couldn’t just tell him that he had murdered me in my past life now, could I? "Nothing?" He hissed, sitting up fully as he threw the blanket aside. "You suddenly wake up and tell me you want a divorce, and nothing happened?" "I don't want to be married to you anymore." I said, my tone firm, He paused for a moment, and searched my face for any sign, "Did I do something?" I looked at him for a moment. I could have told him any amount of lies, but what would be the point? I had seven days to prepare for the end of civilization, and right now, that was the only thing I cared about. I didn't have time to sit here and argue about a marriage that was already dead. "Just sign the divorce papers when you eventually get them," I said as I turned around and began to walk towards the door. But just before I could reach the bedroom door, he said something to me that stopped me right in my tracks, "Are you cheating on me?" I was so shocked that I stopped walking, “No," I answered, pushing back my laughter. "No?” He hissed, “Then, why are you doing this? Do you have some sort of secret man? Do you? Is that what this-" I didn’t care for him anymore, so I just kept walking, but just before my hands were about to reach the door handle, Ethan leaped out of the bed, rushed towards me and grabbed my wrist. The moment he touched me, I reacted almost instantly. I turned around, and slapped him hard in his cheeks. His head snapped to the side, and his eyes were filled with both shock and pain as he stared at me in disbelief. I pulled my wrist free from his hand, and looked him right in the eyes, "Don't ever touch me again." I hissed, and without waiting for a response, I opened the door and walked right out. The moment I reached the living room, my mind immediately switched to analytical mode. There were a couple of things I needed to survive. The very first thing I needed was a base. The next was a large backlog of food, water, medicine, electricity, fuel and security. But right now, there is one thing I need more urgently than anything else – money. Both Ethan and I were solidly middle class, but we did have a couple of investments laid down. I immediately opened my banking app and the moment I saw the amount on my savings account, my stomach sank to the bottom. I had over a hundred thousand, it was so much money, but it was not enough to buy even a tenth of what I needed. My mind began to spin, and I immediately thought of a way I could get the money I needed. A lottery. There was a lottery draw that was going to happen later today, and I happened to remember the lottery numbers. Not because I had a photographic memory or anything, but because, in my past life, we had the papers for the next day at our make-shift shelter. It was the paper we used last to seal the door, and that meant, I had read the six lottery numbers almost every day for the entire time I had spent in the apocalypse. It would take time, and it would certainly require me to get way more publicity than I would need, but it was the fastest way I could think of to get enough money. Right now, I have enough to start planning for the future. Hopefully, tomorrow, I will have enough to start facilitating the future. Once I had written down exactly how I was going to get the money. I needed a base that was not out in the wilderness, but was also far from people. A base that was easily defensible. A base I could call mine. I immediately walked to the spare room where I had my shower and changed my clothes. By the time I walked out of the room, Ethan was standing right in the living room, and he was staring at me with furrowed brows. Thankfully, he didn’t say anything to me. I immediately walked back to the room, packed some of my clothes, and all my important documents into a suitcase, before walking right out of the house. This time, he tried to stop me, but one harsh look was enough to send him scrambling back. I walked toward my car, stepped in and started the engine. The moment I did, my phone began to vibrate with multiple messages. Some of them were from Ethan, but others were from Sarah. I ignored all of them. I needed a base, and I knew one that would fit the bill. I pulled up the address of the C.E.O of the company I was just about to resign from – Harris, and put my car on drive. Just twenty-four hours ago, I had been running from zombies with food clutched against my chest. Today, I was going to buy a place where I would survive them. I pressed the accelerator and sped off. And not once did I spare a glance at Ethan, who was staring right at me through the open windows.