Jules woke the following morning with the distinct feeling that someone had beaten her with a shovel.
She lay beneath her blankets for several minutes, staring at the ceiling while mentally identifying every muscle that hurt. Her shoulders were stiff, her thighs ached, and the palms of her hands felt tender whenever she flexed her fingers. Even rolling onto her side required more effort than she cared to admit.
For someone who had survived eight apocalypses, she was apparently losing a battle against gardening.
The thought made her laugh, although the movement pulled at her aching stomach muscles. She groaned and reached for her phone, checking the time before opening TutuBe.
Her search history was becoming increasingly embarrassing.
How to prepare garden soil.
Beginner vegetable gardening mistakes.
How to grow potatoes in rows.
Do you need a tractor for a small farm?
The last question had produced several videos featuring machinery that looked capable of tearing apart an entire hillside. Jules had watched one demonstration with considerable interest before discovering the price.
She wasn't opposed to spending money, but purchasing a tractor without knowing how to operate one seemed like an excellent way to destroy her first vegetable garden.
She bookmarked a smaller walk-behind tiller instead.
A notification appeared at the top of her screen.
Family Group Chat — 17 unread messages.
Jules opened it.
Most were from Jorin. He had sent a photograph of a warehouse aisle with the caption, BEHOLD. ORGANIZATION.
Daric had replied, You labeled the wrong shelf.
Jorin responded with three increasingly offended messages before posting another photograph to prove the shelf was correct.
Then Lira had entered the conversation.
Jorin, the shelf is wrong.
Jules laughed so loudly that she startled herself.
A moment later, someone knocked on her door.
"Jules?"
"Come in."
Kaelith pushed the door open with both hands and appeared in the doorway wearing blue pajamas decorated with little yellow stars. His hair was sticking up in several directions, and he carried a stuffed rabbit by one ear.
"Breakfast," he announced.
Jules smiled. "Good morning to you, too."
Kaelith walked over and placed the rabbit on the bed before reaching for Jules's hand.
"Come."
"I'm coming. Give me a minute."
"No. Now."
"Wow. You're bossy this morning."
Kaelith nodded solemnly, apparently accepting the compliment.
Jules carefully sat up, suppressing a wince as her sore muscles protested. Kaelith noticed immediately and tilted his head.
"Hurt?"
"Just a little sore."
The little boy considered this before patting Jules's knee.
"Better."
Jules leaned forward and kissed his forehead. "Much better."
Kaelith beamed and retrieved his rabbit.
By the time they reached the kitchen, Serina had already begun preparing breakfast. Jules had intended to cook, but her mother took one look at the way she was moving and pointed toward an empty chair.
"Sit."
"Mom, I'm fine."
"Then you can be fine while sitting."
Jules opened her mouth to argue, thought better of it, and lowered herself into the chair.
Serina placed a glass of water in front of her. "Were you gardening again last night?"
"A little."
"How little?"
Jules took a drink rather than answering immediately.
Serina raised an eyebrow.
"I may have gotten carried away," Jules admitted.
"That much is obvious."
There was no anger in her mother's voice, but Jules recognized the careful attention behind her questions. Serina had spent years examining patients who insisted they were perfectly healthy while displaying every sign that they weren't.
Jules suspected being her daughter offered no protection from that habit.
"I'm going to take it easier today," she promised.
"Good. Because whatever you're preparing for, exhausting yourself before it happens isn't going to help."
Jules nodded. She meant to keep that promise, at least for the morning.
The warehouse was already busy when Kaelen arrived with Adrian.
Two delivery trucks were parked outside the loading entrance, and several workers were unloading crates of shelving components while Lira supervised the receiving process. Daric stood beside a pallet with a clipboard, checking quantities against a printed packing list. Jorin was inside, updating the inventory records as items were inspected and assigned locations.
Kaelen paused near the entrance to watch them work.
"Your sons have become very particular about paperwork," Adrian observed.
"They get that from their mother."
"I was going to say you."
Kaelen smiled. "That would also be fair."
Daric noticed them and approached, holding up his clipboard.
"Before you ask, the shipment is short."
"How short?" Kaelen asked.
"Six shelving braces. Everything else matches the packing list, but the braces are missing."
"Have you checked the other pallets?"
"Twice. Lira already contacted the supplier, and Jorin flagged the shipment as partially received."
Kaelen looked toward Lira, who gave him a confirming nod.
"Good work."
Daric tried to appear indifferent, although his expression brightened.
Inside, Jorin was examining the updated delivery schedule when they approached his desk.
"Dad, we need to talk about the third facility."
"Adrian is arranging viewings."
"Can we get one with a loading dock and enough clearance for larger vehicles? Because if the boats arrive before we have somewhere to put them, I'm not stacking them beside the mattresses."
Adrian glanced at Kaelen.
"The boats haven't been ordered yet."
"I know," Jorin replied. "I'm planning ahead."
Kaelen pulled up the facility options on his tablet. "We have two possibilities. One is closer to the existing warehouses, but the other has better access for large deliveries."
"Which one has more floor space?" Daric asked.
"The second."
"Then we should look at that one first."
Lira joined them, studying the information over Kaelen's shoulder.
"Floor space matters, but so does the layout. If we're storing mattresses, furniture, and bulky equipment, we'll need separate zones and clear access routes. We should also confirm the building is dry and that the roof and drainage are in good condition."
Kaelen nodded. "We'll arrange an inspection before signing anything."
"Can we come?" Jorin asked.
"You have work here."
"We can finish it first."
Lira folded her arms. "You can come if your receiving records are complete and the missing braces are properly documented."
Daric looked at Jorin, who returned the look. Neither said anything, but Kaelen laughed quietly at their sudden silence.
"I'll take that as motivation."
A truck horn sounded outside, drawing Lira's attention toward the loading entrance.
"The water tanks are here," she announced.
Daric immediately checked his clipboard, while Jorin returned to his computer to open the corresponding purchase order.
Kaelen watched them move into their assigned roles with a sense of satisfaction. They were still sixteen, and they still argued over things that barely mattered, but the responsibility had given them something worthwhile to concentrate on.
He had expected to spend the next several weeks teaching them how to manage the warehouses. Instead, they were beginning to anticipate problems before he mentioned them.
At home, Selina was discovering that animating a two-minute video could take an unreasonable amount of time.
She had spent most of the morning adjusting the same sequence of frames. Every time she thought the character's movement looked natural, Tavian pointed out something else.
"Her arm is bending backward."
"It's supposed to bend."
"Not like that."
Selina paused the animation and examined the frame. Unfortunately, he was right.
She sighed and reached for her drawing tablet.
Tavian was sitting on the floor with a notebook, writing possible titles for their channel. Most were terrible, and he seemed determined to make them progressively worse.
"What about Doom and Snacks?" he suggested.
"No."
"Survival for People Who Panic?"
"Maybe, but it's too long."
"Don't Die Today?"
Selina stopped drawing and turned toward him.
"Wait."
Tavian looked up. "What?"
"Say that again."
"Don't Die Today?"
She considered the words for a moment before smiling.
"That could actually work."
Tavian straightened proudly. "I told you I was good at this."
"You suggested Captain Disaster six times."
"And eventually greatness emerged."
Selina opened a new document and typed the name at the top.
DON'T DIE TODAY
Underneath, she wrote a possible tagline.
Survival advice for people who would rather be doing literally anything else.
Tavian leaned over her shoulder to read it.
"That's good."
"I know."
"You should add a zombie."
"Why?"
"Because zombies make everything better."
"They really don't."
"Agree to disagree."
Selina saved the document and returned to the animation. She had no intention of publishing anything until the first video was finished properly. The characters needed consistent designs, the narration needed recording, and she still had to figure out how to make the background music fit without drowning out their voices.
For now, the project remained confined to her bedroom and Tavian's increasingly ridiculous suggestions.
When Amira knocked on the door a few minutes later, Selina quickly minimized the animation program.
"What?" she called.
"Can I borrow your pink markers?"
"Which ones?"
"The sparkly ones."
Selina glanced toward the drawer where she kept her art supplies. "They're in the bottom drawer. Just don't lose the caps."
Amira entered, retrieved the markers, and looked curiously at Tavian's notebook.
"What are you doing?"
"Homework," Tavian answered.
Amira frowned. "It's Sunday."
"Advanced homework."
She studied him for another moment before deciding he wasn't worth questioning.
"Okay."
Once she'd left, Selina turned toward her brother.
"Advanced homework?"
"It worked."
"You're unbelievable."
"And yet, very convincing."
Selina shook her head and reopened the animation program.
Jules spent the afternoon researching farming equipment.
She had intended to rest, and technically, sitting at her desk watching instructional videos qualified. Unfortunately, the more she learned, the longer her shopping list became.
A walk-behind tiller would help prepare larger plots, but she'd need to learn how to operate and maintain it. Irrigation equipment would reduce the amount of time she spent carrying water from the stream. Fencing would be necessary before she introduced animals, and she wanted proper storage for feed, tools, and supplies.
The cottage needed furniture, too.
She opened a separate shopping page and began comparing beds, mattresses, tables, chairs, and shelving. A comfortable bed was her first priority. The dimension's accelerated time meant she could spend several nights inside while only a short period passed outside, but that would be miserable if she had nowhere decent to sleep.
She also considered buying a refrigerator before remembering that she already had one in the cottage kitchen. What she didn't have was a dining table, a couch, or curtains, so she added those to the list.
By midafternoon, she'd arranged delivery for a bed frame, mattress, several pieces of furniture, and a compact tiller. She also ordered additional gardening equipment, fencing supplies, and materials for building simple animal enclosures.
She hadn't purchased any animals yet. After watching several tutorials on chicken care, she'd realized there was more involved than providing food and somewhere to sleep. They needed appropriate shelter, protection from predators, clean water, and enough space to remain healthy.
Goats and pigs would require even more planning.
She decided to start with chickens once the enclosure was ready. The thought of collecting fresh eggs from her own animals was unexpectedly satisfying.
Jules looked toward the clock.
She had spent most of the afternoon shopping and researching. Her body felt better than it had that morning, although her shoulders were still stiff.
She could enter the dimension for a little while, just to check the garden.
She stood, stretched, and walked toward her bedroom door to make sure it was locked before entering.
The familiar scent of grass and damp earth greeted her, and she immediately headed toward the planting beds.
She knelt beside the lettuce row and noticed something green emerging from the soil.
Jules leaned closer, hardly daring to believe what she was seeing. Several tiny shoots had pushed through the earth, their delicate leaves unfolding toward the light. She checked the beans next and discovered that a few had begun sprouting there as well.
For several minutes, she moved between the rows, examining the seedlings and comparing their appearance with the pictures in her gardening book.
They were small, but they were growing.
Her first crops.
She laughed, unable to help herself, and reached for her notebook to record the progress.
The time difference made it difficult to judge how many days had passed for the plants without keeping careful records. She had already spent enough time inside for the seeds to begin germinating, and she needed to track the growth properly if she wanted to understand how the dimension affected different crops.
She wrote down the approximate planting time, the current growth stage, and the condition of the soil before watering the beds.
When she finished, she considered preparing another plot. Her arms were still sore, but the ground was waiting, and she had plenty of seeds.
She retrieved the garden fork and began working on a new section. After several minutes of digging, however, her shoulders started aching again, and she found herself pausing between movements.
Jules looked down at the tool, then toward the small green shoots she'd been so excited to discover.
She remembered her mother's warning that morning. Whatever she was preparing for, exhausting herself beforehand wouldn't help.
With a reluctant sigh, she returned the fork to the tool pile.
Instead of continuing to dig, she walked toward the stream and sat beneath a tree, opening one of her gardening books. She could learn without wearing herself out, at least for a little while.
That evening, the family gathered around the dining table while Jules served dinner.
Kaelen had returned from the warehouse with several updates, and Daric and Jorin were eager to explain how the water tank delivery had gone. Their enthusiasm was interrupted several times by arguments over who had discovered the missing shelving braces first.
"You didn't discover them," Jorin insisted. "I noticed the quantity didn't match."
"Because I counted the shipment," Daric replied.
"Because I told you to count it."
"Because that's literally my job."
Serina placed her fork down and looked between them.
"Boys."
Both fell silent, although Daric continued glaring at his brother across the table. Kaelen hid a smile behind his glass before explaining that the important thing was that they'd caught the discrepancy before the shipment was marked complete.
"Exactly," Daric replied, apparently considering the matter settled.
"And Lira said the new inventory system is working well," Jorin added.
"She also said you need to stop changing the column colors," Daric reminded him.
"They were ugly."
"They were functional."
"They can be both."
Jules laughed while helping Kaelith cut his food. Her youngest brother had been listening to the argument with great interest, occasionally repeating words he recognized without understanding what the twins were actually discussing.
Across the table, Selina and Tavian exchanged a brief glance when Kaelen mentioned the family's emergency supply lists. Selina had spent the afternoon turning those same general preparedness principles into cartoon scenes, and Tavian was clearly struggling not to make a joke about their secret project.
Fortunately, Amira distracted everyone by asking whether they could have a swimming pool at their future home.
"We already have one," Jorin pointed out.
"I mean a bigger one."
"How big?" Daric asked.
"Really big."
Tavian leaned back in his chair. "Like an ocean?"
Amira considered it seriously before nodding. "Maybe."
"You'd need a boat," Daric said, earning an amused look from Jorin.
"Good thing we're buying some," Jorin replied.
Everyone laughed, including Kaelen, while Amira began explaining that she wanted a pool with a slide, a waterfall, and enough room for everyone to swim at the same time. Kaelith immediately announced that he wanted a slide too, although he seemed far more interested in the idea of splashing water than in the size of the pool.
Jules smiled along with them, enjoying the familiar noise of her family arguing over things that didn't matter. For a while, she allowed herself to forget the countdown, the warehouses, and the disasters she knew were coming.
After dinner, she helped clean the kitchen before returning upstairs.
Serina watched her go but didn't stop her. She had noticed how often Jules disappeared into her room lately, and although her daughter had promised to rest, she still looked tired. Serina intended to give her a little space before bringing it up again.
Jules, meanwhile, was already thinking about her seedlings. She wanted to see how much they'd grown and perhaps, if she had enough energy, begin measuring the area for the chicken enclosure.
She closed her bedroom door and glanced at the clock. There was still time to get a few things done, and the dimension would allow her to accomplish far more than she could manage in an ordinary evening.
But as she considered returning to the garden, she remembered the soreness that had greeted her that morning and the way her mother had immediately noticed it.
Having more time didn't mean her body could work without rest. If she intended to keep preparing the dimension while helping her family with everything else, she would need to establish a routine that allowed her to eat properly, sleep, and recover between working sessions.
The extra time was an advantage, but only if she learned how to use it without burning herself out.