The Apocalypse Survival Manual (Three Days Before Doomsday, I Stockpiled Billions) novel Chapter 128

Chapter 128

Yeah, right. Cola wasn’t buying it.

The dog turned his head away, all attitude.

Nicole peeled off her temperature-regulating socks to prove her point. “Here, try them yourself. They’re slippery.”

She tossed them straight at the dog’s face.

Cola froze for a second, his mouth twitching.

This human of his really acted like an animal sometimes. At least she didn’t smell.

Cola lunged at her, paws flying.

Nicole caught him in a hug, rubbing his head. “You’ve got to be a good dog, okay? Tomorrow, you apologize to him. If he hadn’t stepped in just now, I would’ve cracked my head open. And then you wouldn’t have me anymore.”

Her voice dipped lower. “All the chicken, beef, and fish I’ve stored, you wouldn’t get any of it. You’d be out there wandering again.”

Apologize? Not happening.

Cola refused outright. He put on an innocent face and rested his paws on her shoulders while whining.

This was his home now. He didn’t want to go back to wandering.

Nicole sighed. Teaching a dog to admit fault… Well, that sounded like the trainer’s job.

She didn’t want to strain their bond, so she made a quick decision and passed the problem off to Zeph.

Fair trade. A proper trainer didn’t just build strength. Mental conditioning mattered, too.

By nightfall, the cold had worsened.

Nicole stepped onto the balcony and checked again.

Negative six degrees.

The cold was brutal. God knew how many people would spend the night sleepless or never wake up again.

She pulled the curtains shut and turned on the solar lamp, then took dinner out from her storage space.

Even with three heaters running, her hands and feet still felt numb. The food cooled fast, going lukewarm

in minutes.

Lamb warmed the body.

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Chonte 128

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Nicole brought out a clay pot of lamb stew and shared it with Cola, eating quickly before it lost its heat.

She pulled out two bowls of bone broth. She mixed some kibble into Cola’s portion. “Eat it while it’s hot.”

Seeing a meal his human made with love, Cola dug in happily, even if it burned his mouth a little.

It didn’t matter. Food first.

After Nicole finished the broth, warmth spread through her body again.

She checked on Ash and Snowy in the other room. The two adults were doing fine, but the baby rabbits

were struggling.

Another one had died.

They had been born with barely any fur, and they received no real care from their parents.

Rabbits were naturally resilient to cold. Some breeds could survive even in extreme cold conditions.

However, this was still a coastal area.

Even so, they seemed to be adapting faster than expected.

The newborns needed milk. Nicole stripped off Snowy’s fur coat and temperature-regulating layer.

Compared to yesterday, when they had been shaking nonstop, both rabbits looked much calmer today.

Animals adapted faster than humans, it seemed.

After Snowy finished feeding, Nicole kept watching. There were no shivering or signs of distress. Rabbit fur really did its job.

So all those clothes she had made were pointless.

She pulled out some hay from storage and let them eat their fill. Then she stepped into her storage space and took a hot shower. It felt incredible.

She couldn’t help it. Showering was wired into her. No matter how cold it got, she had to wash up, or she would feel miserable.

Back in the summer, when the heat and humidity were unbearable, she would sometimes shower three times a day.

That was the kind of place this used to be. Now it was frozen solid.

When she came back out, Snowy was still fine, calmly feeding the babies.

Nicole didn’t hesitate. She stripped Ash’s clothes off, too. The heaters stayed on. They would need time to fully adjust.

With nothing else to do, she climbed into bed and checked her records for the storage space.

Almost four months had passed. She had been careful, using the time sparingly.

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In total, Nicole had saved up 145 hours.

That meant she could stay inside for six full days.

It hadn’t been easy. She wiped off imaginary tears.

Danger was everywhere. She would have to keep saving, keep building toward something better. Maybe one day, she and Cola could just live out their lives in there.

Thinking about it, she let out a quiet laugh.

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