The Apocalyptic Heatwave

I let out a cold laugh.

Katie had, at the very least, mastered the skill of being duplicitous.

I checked the date—ten days left until the apocalyptic heatwave from my memories arrived. I needed to get everything ready so I could sit under the air conditioner and enjoy the show.

I quickly rented a detached villa in the same neighborhood.

Our neighbourhood was out in the suburbs, so it wasn't very densely populated. Because it was marketed as a high-end retirement community, most of the residents here were wealthy elderly couples. That was also why our security was the best in the whole city.

I only found out in my last life that, after the world was hit by the deadly heatwave, a lot of desperate people showed up.

In the apocalypse, humanity meant little. Everyone answered only to themselves.

But our community was the only one that never got attacked by any looters, all thanks to the top-notch security forces here. It stayed safe until the scientists finally managed to build weather bombs strong enough to fight off the deadly heat, and the heatwave finally ended.

Everyone in our community survived.

After signing a three-month lease, I took a good look around my new villa.

The house came with a huge basement. Honestly, that was the real reason I rented it.

Maybe it was because we were in the suburbs, or maybe the basement was just dug deep enough. Even with a jacket on, I was shivering inside. The place was like a natural icehouse. I silently praised myself, hoping it would be this useful too when the heatwave hit.

Still, I wouldn't put all my hope in just the basement.

With temperatures soaring up to 140 Fahrenheit, even God would feel the heat.

-

For extra safety, I got permission from the property management to reinforce the villa's courtyard walls.

I replaced the gate with a solid iron-forged one. The workers, eager for the extra pay, finished the job quickly and well. The walls were doubled in height and topped with rows of sharp iron barbs, the iron tips gleaming in the burning sun.

With all that, I didn't have to worry about anyone climbing over in desperation. In this heat, the iron would be burning hot—like red-hot branding irons.

"Miss, can I ask why you turned such a nice villa into something like this?"

The day I paid the workers for finishing the work, a man in his twenties finally asked the question everyone was thinking.

I scratched my head awkwardly as I looked at my villa, which now looked a bit like a prison. I chuckled and said, "I have a really coddled cat. I'm afraid she'll sneak out when I'm not paying attention."

Everyone instantly got what I meant.

Behold, here stood another crazy cat lady... Only someone rich would go this far for their pet. The world of the rich was beyond them.

To prepare for power and water outages, I bought many solar panels. I was a science major, so following the instructions to install them was a piece of cake.

With those, I didn't have to worry about losing power when the transformer caught fire in the heat. At least I would have air conditioning.

I also ordered huge water tanks and matching water filters, as well as lots of replacement cartridges to keep the water clean through filtering.

After that, I used my hairless cat as an excuse to buy several more air conditioners at a discounted price from an appliance store that I was friendly with. I installed them in every room and even bought a few standing air conditioning units as backup, just in case one broke.

While paying, I complained to the staff about how hard it was to care for a cat.

I also ordered four large freezers, saying it was to stock up on food for my cat.

It was all about saving money. The more cat food you purchased, the bigger the discount you'd receive.

I had money, true. However, it would never hurt to be smart with it.