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A few hours later.

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

"Since my work requires concentration, I need a unique place for myself. Because I want it to be close to home, a house seemed like the best option. My requirements are not many, just a large basement and quiet interiors." Dominic had rejected several houses because they didn't have a basement.

This was the last one, so if it had a large basement, it would be shelter number five or close to home. Apart from gathering supplies, he was ensuring he had places to go if his house became unsafe. He wasn't just stocking up for that reason; another motive was having more than enough resources for future transactions.

From his experience in his previous life, many people had different experiences during the quarantine. For some, it was easy, but for others, it was hellish. Food was barely sufficient, money was scarce, and all they could think about was when this hell would end so they could go back to work.

Some people live day by day, like his girlfriend Emma. She faced many difficulties during the quarantine, and if it weren't for his generous help, they would have had many more problems surviving.

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

Dominic understood all of this; he cared for Emma and her mother. It wasn't out of pity, but because of the genuine connection they shared. It wasn't driven by sexual attraction; it just happened because they felt calm together.

Apart from all that, Dominic spent his afternoons either fighting or ensuring that many bad things didn't happen. He wasn't a hero; he just felt bored and wanted to show people appreciation for life.

Everyone needs to be on the right path, but he didn't go beyond hitting some simple students. Some had gang relationships, so he dealt with them differently; there, showing brutality and occasionally firing shots was more than enough.

But when he took the first step in his relationship with Emma just on 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, Dominic lowered Emma's condition to being his girlfriend and stopped the fights. He wasn't recognized in school, but the bruises on his hands and face spoke volumes under the rumors.

Some students had seen his fights, and others suffered under his fists. It was normal that something was known, but he didn't care. His father rewarded him for hitting students his age who bullied the weaker ones. Sometimes he even took him to underground fights with boys his age and bet on his name.

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

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

That's why, when he was ten, he shot a thief who wanted to enter their home; he gave the thief ten shots to the body, and he later died from the fatal wounds. Dominic even made it to the news; some called him a hero, while others just wanted him away from their kids for fear of him losing control.

"Mr. Dominic, since you've seen the large size of the basement and all the security it has, do you want to sign the contract?" Asked the landlord, a bit eager for an answer.

"Yes, it seems like a perfect place." Dominic nodded and completed the necessary procedures, then headed to the warehouse to sort out what needed to be done.

...

"Are they really just expelling him for fifteen days? You're all crazy; he broke my son's nose!" shouted Adam's mother angrily upon learning that Dominic wouldn't be expelled.

"Madam, please 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 Dominic, and we're forbidden from expelling him," said the principal, with a headache.

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

In addition to many psychological analyses, behavioral exams, and character assessments, it was concluded that Dominic had no psychological aftermath from what happened, and he was given special care.

And if this wasn't enough, Dominic had a somewhat complicated background. This made it impossible to expel him completely from school, and many were waiting for any move to act.

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

...

Weeks passed, and in addition to spending every morning managing many of the things he had requested to do, Dominic fully stocked 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 were no problems getting weapons, ammunition, fuel tankers, cars, and many other things that would secure his future.

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

Dominic knew his girlfriend was intelligent, so it was best to tell her everything about what he was doing and offer her a job directly. He also helped her secure a large reserve 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 again to work at his house, organizing all the supplies. During that time, they also went shooting at a company owned by his father's friend. It took a while to teach Emma how to shoot, but soon she overcame her fear.

Everything had been carefully arranged, and Dominic also discovered that he had secure houses that were now functional. He also tried to contact his aunt, but she had gone on a trip whose return date or destination was unknown, so since they didn't have good contact, Dominic decided to stop looking for her.

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

He discovered terrifying things, like in one of those files, where it 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?

Dominic could do little; he could only wait and hope things didn't spiral out of control. But there were many signs indicating that something was about to happen, so from now on, he would stay home and keep calm.

...

A few days later, Dominic ordered some gardening tools, seeds, and extra things he could afford.

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

"Everything's finished; now we just wait." Dominic would now create perfect nurseries in the warehouse; there were large grounds outside that weren't being used, so he would use them for his own interests.

The nurseries would be abandoned once chaos began; there was a nearby area with a large number of vegetable-growing zones, so Dominic planned to rent those places.