Khalifa: Queen in the Apocalypse

The old man passed away three days later.

She was still adjusting to the news when his lawyer called her, asking if she'd like to see him off.

Of course she did. She even asked to bring the dogs with her.

"How are you?" Cauis asked her as he covered her with his embrace. She buried her head in his warmth, tightening her hold.

"I'm fine." She said after a while, lifting her head after a minute of inhaling his scent. "Let's go."

They held hands all the way to the venue. Hearts heavy, but overall fine because they had each other.

It was a lonely ceremony with only her, Cauis, the lawyer, and the two dogs.

She didn't ask where anyone else was, because from what the old man told her before he died, he had no real friends.

The small ceremony was somber and they watched as his casket entered the incinerator.

Khalifa lived a long time, and it was the first time she lost someone she knew relatively well. After all, she lived in a world of peace and everyone's life spans were at least a few hundred years.

It felt… heavy.

The two dogs were whimpering in a heartbreaking manner, as if they knew what was happening. It was Mr. Bo who patted their heads.

Cauis held her shoulders, comforting, and she rested her head against his wide shoulder.

She was glad that he was here.

Her unique eyes reflected the burning fire in front of her. Memories of this elder flashing through her mind.

Their talks, their bonds, and their first meeting.

In the difficult life of the Other Her, this old man could be said to be the one of the very few true elder figures she ever had.

To be more accurate, he was the closest person to family that the little girl had.

Cauis felt her heavy mood and moved her so she could rest entirely on his chest, both his arms around her.

When it ended, the lawyer handed her the urn. "He said to scatter him in the place you would build."

A little confused, but also touched, Khalifa took the urn. She knew he must be referring to the place in her soliloquy of yearning.

But how could he understand what she meant, he didn't even know the world was ending.

Speaking of, the fact that he passed at a good time gave her a little bit of comfort. The world was still peaceful, he had his memories, and he had friends.

She thanked the lawyer, promising him she'd do as the old man wanted.

"Wait." He said, just after Khalifa gestured to say her goodbyes. "There is something else." He said, with that deadpan voice of his.

Mr. Bo, the lawyer, was a man around fifty years of age. He already had heavy traces of the years in his face, and he had a stoic look on his face.

This unchanging look was what he wore when he told her the surprising news, as he asked them to meet them in another setting.

It was in a private room in a restaurant, and at the time she just thought that he was being friendly, despite his apathetic face.

But as soon as the waiter went out, he went straight to the point of the meeting.

"He's giving you half of his property, and the remaining of which to charity."

.

.

"What?"

"His net worth was estimated to be over a billion dollars, including his properties." The older man said as a matter of factly.

She couldn't help but interrupt. "I wasn't entirely the one who saved him last time."

"Well, the decision is his. Mr. Voltaire only named you, that is the fact.

"And he cited many more times of help and companionship. I know it's sad to hear, but you were closer to him than his own daughter was, when she was alive."

The man then lifted his leather suitcase and opened it on the table, taking out stacks and stacks of paper.

He then showed her various deeds and papers. "You can choose which half to take."

"I don't deserve this."

"To the owner, you do. That is more than enough."

Khalifa stared at the papers blankly, not entirely absorbing the large pie that was thrown on her face.

Cauis stared at her and smiled. He knew she had a lot of wants and this money was just enough for her to be able to achieve it.

He was very happy for her.

He gently patted her head to stabilize her. "It is what the old man wanted. You should just be thankful."

She blinked at him cutely and if the scary Mr. Bo wasn't here, he'd have kissed her.

Mr. Bo, fortunately, had enough EQ to know she was still in the process of absorbing the information.

So he temporarily put the papers back into the suitcase and they waited until after the meal to resume the talk.

Afterwards, after a silent meal, the table was cleaned up and the meeting resumed.

At this point, she was already calmed down by the delicious michelin-star food. Achieving enlightenment, her mind cleared and she finally accepted the giant pie.

In her head though, she also thanked the old man, and promised she'd use his hard-earned money in meaningful ways.

The old man had a total of 72 properties around the country, and a dozen scattered around the globe.

She studied the properties very well. With the internet, she managed to get closer satellite images of the properties.

The book mentioned certain cities that fell immediately were City B, D, and M.

City B was where they were currently located.

The rest lasted a bit longer, especially City A, where the Peace Base of the heroine and her heroes resided. City G was also safe.

She chose one property each at City A and G, not entirely for herself, but also for others.

She also chose his only island, located in the Eastern part of the country which she had no knowledge about through the books.

However, it was an uninhabited island so there wouldn't be zombies there. As for animals, she heard the variety wasn't very strong.

The main reason she chose this was because she knew that zombies couldn't swim.

When the heroine, Claire, grew strong enough to control enough water, she managed to completely debilitate a zombie simply by surrounding it with water.

There were a billion people in her country alone, let alone the tens of billions everywhere else. Even if they built a super high wall to block the damned things, maybe it could still fall if millions of zombies attacked at the same time.

She just thought living on an island was the safest bet.

Of course, this was granting her comfort and lifestyle would be maintained.

She had always worried about this. Now that she didn't lack the funds, she opted to make this wish come true.

The old man's last words to her echoed.

'You will definitely be able to make your wants come true.'

Ah, so that was what he meant.

***

Heaving a sigh, she turned to look at the lawyer. "Do you know of several reliable construction teams, Mr. Bo?"

"I do."

"Can you call them immediately?" She said, "I have very rushed, very big projects and I need the best of the best."

"Pardon?"

"I know it's sudden, but I do have projects I need to start immediately."

Mr. Bo stared at her for a moment, pondering, but he knew it wasn't his job to pry.

The man only nodded professionally, and did as he was told.

***

With the help of Mr. Bo, she managed to contact the top 3 contractors that fit her needs: two mid-sized contractors, and one specializing in large-scale projects.

They scheduled a meeting in the afternoon the next day.

Before separating, Khalifa thanked the lawyer again and couldn't help but give him a warning.

"Mr. Bo, can you choose the charity the rest would be donated to?"

"Yes, I was given the authority to decide."

"May I suggest?"

Mr. Bo was a bit startled, but nodded in the end. "Of course."

"I have a few… friends in higher places. I heard there was a huge possibility of a major plague occurring. There were already signs around the globe."

Mr. Bo's eyebrows furrowed, but still waited for her to continue . "I suggest you choose charities that would be able to prepare tons of non-perishable food, food with long shelf lives, water and others.

"In a few weeks, ask them to distribute to various places in the country."

Seeing Mr. Bo staring and pondering, Khalifa couldn't help but add a few words.

"Even if there's no plague, the food wouldn't be wasted."

Mr. Bo only nodded. "This is noted." He said, noncommittal.

Before she entered the car door opened by Cauis, she turned to the old man and said.

"When things explode, you can also stay in one of the properties I got, Mr. Bo." She told him very seriously. "I will definitely equip them well."

For some reason, Mr. Bo followed his instincts and did as he was told, remembering the addresses by heart.

He had never been so thankful for an inexplicable decision all his life.