15

Reverend Apocalysis: Reality Surpassed Fiction

Chapter 15 - Insider Information

A few hours later.

"Why are you looking for an extra house, Mr. Anton?" asked a friendly old man who had briefly shown Anton the house he wanted to rent. This was the last one, and of all the ones he had accepted, only a few had caught his attention due to the size of their basement.

"As my work requires concentration, I need a unique place for myself, and since I want it to be close to home, there was no better option for me than a house. My requirements are not many, just that it has a large basement and is quiet inside." Anton had rejected several houses because they didn't have a basement.

This was the last one, so if this one had a large basement, then it would be the fifth or close to home. Therefore, apart from having many supplies, he was making sure to have places to go in case his house stops being safe. He wasn't just gathering supplies for that reason; another reason was that he needed to have more than enough resources for transactions.

Many people with the quarantine had different life experiences. For some, it was like living without any problems, but for others, it was hell on earth. Food was barely enough, money was much less, and all they thought about was when this hell would end so they could go back to work.

Some people live day by day, a not-so-distant example was his girlfriend Emma. She had many difficulties when the quarantine arose, and if it weren't for his generous help, they would have had many more problems surviving.

During that time, all they did were long calls, watched movies together, and talked about their daily experiences. Everything would have been calmer if both were in good economic conditions, but unfortunately, it wasn't the case for Emma due to the lack of a father figure and the constant expenses of her sick mother.

Anton understood all of this; he took care of Emma as much as he cared for her mother. He did it not out of pity, but he genuinely felt that way with the relationship they had. It wasn't at all for sexual attraction; everything arose simply because both remained very calm when they talked.

Outside of all that, Anton spent his afternoons either fighting or making sure that many bad things didn't happen. He wasn't a hero; he just felt bored and wanted to give people an appreciation for life.

Everyone needs to be on the right path, but he didn't go beyond hitting some simple students. Some had relationships with gangs, so he dealt with them differently; there only brutality needed to be shown, and it was more than enough to fire a few shots.

But when he took the first step in his relationship with Emma just from a simple instinctual signal, what would it feel like to kiss her? That was a question that went beyond thoughts, and luckily, she responded in the same way.

After that day, Anton lowered Emma's condition to being his girlfriend and stopped the fights. It's not that he was recognized in school, but the bruises on his hands and face said a lot under the rumors.

Some students had seen his fights, and other students suffered under his fists; it was normal for something to be known, but he didn't care. His father gave him a reward for hitting students his age who abused the weaker ones, even sometimes taking him to underground fights with boys his age and betting on his name.

The things Anton had experienced were in a way cruel, but he was very grateful to his father for training him that way. Everything he had in the future was security, tranquility, and the necessary skills to survive.

Since his mother died, Sergei, Anton's father who had trained him seriously, showed his total determination to educate him in many things he needed to learn. Since he wouldn't be around, he wanted to make sure his son knew how to defend himself.

It was in this way that when he was ten years old, he shot a thief who wanted to enter his house, gave him ten shots to the body, and later died from fatal wounds. Anton even made it to the news; some called him a hero, and others simply wanted him away from their children for the possibility of losing control of his actions.

"Mr. Anton, since you saw the large size of the basement and all the security it has, do you want to sign the contract?" asked the landlord a bit anxious to know the answer.

"Yes, it seems like a perfect place..." Anton nodded and went through the necessary procedures, then headed to the warehouse to handle what needed to be done.

...

"Will he really only be expelled for fifteen days? You're all crazy; he broke my son's nose." Adam's mother yelled angrily upon learning that Anton would not be expelled.

"Ma'am, stop bothering me, your son was the first one to throw a punch, so there's little we can do. Besides, there's something special about Anton, and we are forbidden to expel him." The director said with a headache.

This wasn't a mystery; since Anton as a child had shot a thief, and his identity had been exposed to the public, many schools in the state denied him entry, and this caused the government to assign him one.

In addition to many psychological analyses, behavior exams, and character analyses, it was found that Anton had no psychological sequelae from what happened, and he was assigned special care.

And as if this weren't enough, Anton had a somewhat complicated backup. This way, he couldn't be completely expelled from school, and many expected any movement to occur to act.

It was a delicate matter; there were still many things to understand before making a decision, so it was smart to let Anton go for now and wait for his father to return.

...

Weeks passed, and Anton, in addition to spending every morning managing many of the things he had requested to do, completely filled the warehouse with things he would need for his future if any inconvenience arose.

He asked his uncle to get him some more things that left him puzzled, but with enough money, there was no problem getting the weapons, ammunition, fuel tanker trucks, cars, and many other things that would secure his future.

During that time, Anton told Emma the condition he was in, what he knew about the new virus that could be released at any time, or that a quarantine might happen again, and she understood in a certain way why he was acting strange.

Anton knew his girlfriend was intelligent, so it was best to tell her everything about what he was doing and offered her a job directly. He also helped her get a large stock of medicine for her mother, and after that day, he never left her alone.

In the afternoons, he picked her up from school, took her home, and then picked her up to work at his house arranging all the supplies. During that time, they also went to shoot guns at a company owned by his father's friend. It was a process to teach Emma to shoot, but soon the fear was gone.

Everything had been carefully placed, and Anton also discovered that he had secure houses that were now functional. He also communicated with his aunt, but she had gone on a trip, and since they didn't have good contact, Anton decided to stop looking for her.

After exhausting most of his money on rent, bulk purchases, and completely filling a warehouse that was actually a good size, Anton could only wait and study the virus.

He had discovered terrifying things, and as one of those files said, they planned to simulate an epidemic in a very underdeveloped country to test the lethality of the weapon.

Who was really behind all this?

Anton could do little; he could only wait and hope that things wouldn't get out of control. But there were many signs that told him that something was about to happen, so from now on, he would stay at home very calmly.

...

A few days later, Anton asked for some gardening tools, seeds, and extra things he could afford.

After arranging everything at home, Anton, who was setting up the last emergency lamp in the house, looked at Emma returning and sighed with slight helplessness.

"Everything is finished; now we just have to wait..."

"How about we have a date?" Emma asked after finishing taking out the trash.

"Do you want to invite me to dinner?" Anton asked, speaking to Emma in a much closer tone. His hands were on his girlfriend's slender waist, and he whispered, "Oh, is it that you want to pay me in another way for all the amazing things I've done for you?"

"Not tonight, I need to go home because my mother will worry if I don't arrive early." Emma kissed Anton and pushed him away before he couldn't prevent his boyfriend's claws from doing something else.

Anton smiled and asked her, "Aren't you afraid of what might happen?"

Emma thought about it for a moment and pointed out, "It's impossible for that to happen so quickly. At least we would have time to react before it's too late for us, don't you think the same?"

Anton nodded in response; all this couldn't arise momentarily; it was impossible and highly unlikely.