"Cole… thank you. Honestly, I don't think I'm interested in working for anyone right now. I'll just take a breather, leave the whole corporate circus behind."
I tried to sound emotional and tired, tried to be who I used to be. But twenty years of chaos, of being awakened, of mindless slaughter, of the life I lived, kills emotions. It hollows you out. Still, I wasn't that man anymore. Not yet.
Cole looked at me weirdly, probably wondering how I'd gone from bawling to calm so fast. Then he smiled, most likely congratulating himself for "cheering me up."
Classic Cole. Narcissistic bastard.
He walked over and patted my shoulder. I had the sudden urge to hug him but I was known to hate intimate contact, so I flinched instead, just enough to sell the act.
"If you need me, call anytime," he said.
I nodded, whispered, "Thanks," and let him leave.
Two hours later, my room looked like the lair of a mad investigator. Papers everywhere, some pinned to the walls. I was pacing, pen in one hand, the other rubbing my chin.
I wasn't about to risk writing any of this down electronically. No way. Everything I remembered from the future, every event, every death, every mistake was going on paper. Ink and paper, not code and circuits. Safer that way.
I started jotting by year, mapping out the chaos after the apocalypse. The supply shortages, the government collapse, the rise of awakened zones. I needed to prepare, get materials, protect the few people I cared about: Cole, Anna… and, well that's all.
But all that required money. A lot of it.
And the dead-end job I'd just lost? It wouldn't have helped even if I'd kept it.
Ping. Ping.
My phone chimed again. Been doing that more than an hour now. Who the hell was blowing up my notifications?
Oh. Dad.
I sighed and immediately blocked the number. He'd probably already heard I lost my job. In a city of sixty million, give or take, bad news spreads faster than Essence through a dying core. Or maybe it's just my bad news.
Whatever. Screw him. The job's gone in six months anyway.
I laughed, low, cynical, a little too bitter even for me.
I needed money, fast. I had fifty thousand meros to my name, that's two weeks of living if I'm lucky. I was about to toss the phone aside when I saw a headline in my notifications.
"CAF World Cup Finals, March 14th."
I froze. Then grinned.
Of course. The Continental Alliance Football World Cup. I remembered exactly who won. Exactly how it ended. It was a crazy game. The winner was, unexpectedly the weaker team, the greatest game of the century. The whole world watched it.
Hahaha
Every man's fantasy, knowing the outcome of a game before it's played.
Time to make that dream pay off.
I needed a loan. A big one. And I knew exactly where to go.
I gathered my notes on the future, folded them carefully, and slid them into the hidden compartment under my bed, the same spot I used to hide my best shoes from Cole.
Once I was sure everything was safe, I locked the door and nearly sprinted out. Rick and Morty's Support Firm, it was only a ten-minute walk from my apartment. I could make it in seven.
As I walked through the streets, two things hit me immediately.
First, my body was pathetically weak. Three minutes of running and I'd probably collapse, panting like a goat in heat. I needed to fix that, fast.
Second, the world looked painfully alive.
A college kid ran past, late for class.
A woman stood by the corner, waving fliers with desperate energy, probably advertising a new shop.
A young couple kissed carelessly under the morning light, all laughter and warmth.
People were everywhere, rushing, talking, living.
Blissfully unaware that, in a year, this city would be silent.
Then I heard it. That grating, nasal voice.
"Yo, Levi! Been a while! Paid off all your debts yet?"
I didn't need to look. Only one person had that voice.
I turned slowly and saw him, Nick. Or as everyone called him, Fat Nick. Son of Rick, co-founder of Rick and Morty's Support Firm. This was one of their mid-tier branches, and I'd been one of their "regulars" since I was sixteen.
I smiled, tight-lipped and sharp. This would be my last loan. And my biggest one yet.