Then I looked at Owen, arms full of Lesley Henson's belongings, already halfway through my front door.
It hit me like a freight train.
I had actually been reborn.
And I'd come back to the day before everything ended.
Judging by Owen's behavior, he already knew about the Frost System. In this timeline, I must have already told him.
In my previous life, this was the exact moment I'd refused his demand to take Lesley in.
The apocalypse had a way of stripping people bare, and Lesley Henson was the loudest mouth in any room she walked into. If I let her move in, the entire city would know about my Frost System within three days. Every activation drained my energy. If too many people found out and came begging, I'd be worked to death before the heatwave even broke.
And if I died, my family died with me.
So I'd put my foot down. Hard. I refused to let Owen bring Lesley into our home.
That decision kept Owen, his family, and mine alive through three brutal months of apocalypse.
Lesley wasn't so lucky.
Ten days in, she and her family ventured out to scavenge fresh food. The sun killed them where they stood.