The Apocalypse Survival Manual (Three Days Before Doomsday, I Stockpiled Billions) novel Chapter 120

Chapter 120

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Poppy officially “retired” from kitchen duty and ran off to the living room to play with Cola.

One pound of flour mixed with water made about a pound and a half of dough, and each pound of dough

could turn out around 100 raviolis.

With Hughie’s group pitching in, they finally managed to crank out a 1,000 dumplings.

Nicole took 300 of them, trading back an equal amount of flour and meat to Zeph.

Hughie’s group wanted to try making raviolis themselves, but Nicole was completely wiped. She didn’t help, just lent Beatrice the hand-crank meat grinder and cut them a big chunk of frozen pork they had been storing at her place.

After grabbing about an hour of sleep, her walkie-talkie crackled to life. “Hey, want to spar today?”

“Yeah.”

“If you want to practice with the crossbow, come earlier.”

No way she was saying no to that. Nicole rolled out of bed and pulled on her shoes. “I’m on my way.”

Zeph’s cooking might be questionable, but in every other area, he was solid. His marksmanship, especially, was on another level.

Nicole had done some archery back in school, so she wasn’t starting from zero.

Worried Cola would cause trouble, she dropped the dog off with Hughie’s group. Poppy chased after him, laughing. “Cola, wait for me!”

When Nicole stepped back into Zeph’s apartment, there was a wooden target mounted on the living room wall. Zeph brought out the crossbow.

It looked a little unusual, but there was no doubt about its power. Nicole raised a brow. “You made this

yourself?”

This kind of weapon wasn’t something you could just buy.

“I modified it,” he said simply.

He clearly didn’t feel like explaining, and pushing would only make things awkward, so Nicole let it go.

Zeph handed her a set of bamboo bolts and walked her through the basics, how it worked, how to aim, how to fire.

With her foundation, she picked it up fast.

The living room was too small, so he led her out into the hallway by his room, giving her more distance. He loaded a bolt, then stepped in behind her.

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Chapter 120

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“Hold steady with your right hand. Line it up.”

There was a height difference between them. He leaned forward slightly, adjusting his posture so his line of sight matched hers.

That brought them very close.

As he helped her line up the shot, his warm breath brushed against her pale neck. A tingling numbness spread through her body, and she went stiff.

Her heart tightened. She could even catch the faint scent of soap on him.

Uh… Wasn’t this a little too close?

Nicole wasn’t used to it. She instinctively tried to pull back.

Zeph noticed her stiffness. “Focus.”

She snapped back to herself, forcing the stray thoughts out of her head and steadying her aim.

His warm hand adjusted her arm slightly. “Lift it a bit.”

Aim. Release.

With a sharp whoosh, the bamboo arrow shot out and struck the target.

Seven ring, a bit off from the center.

“For a beginner, hitting seven is pretty good,” Zeph said, not forgetting to encourage her. “Better than Poppy.”

Wow, thanks.

After guiding her a few more times, and seeing her improve from seven to around eight and a half, he let her continue practicing on her own.

He sat on the couch, scrolling through his phone, his expression cold and focused. Nicole had no idea what he was looking at.

From a glance, his profile was almost flawless.

Nicole pulled her thoughts back and kept practicing, calm and steady.

She shot over 20 arrows. One hit dead center.

It was nothing to brag about. The distance was still too short. Once it increased, her accuracy would drop.

She had to catch up to his level fast, like that day on the motorboat, when he nailed a heart with a single

shot.

After half an hour, Zeph reminded her, “Don’t overdo it. An hour a day is enough. Just come on time.”

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Chaplin 120

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