The Apocalypse Survival Manual (Three Days Before Doomsday, I Stockpiled Billions) novel Chapter 222

Chapter 222

The familiar soundtrack and cheesy holiday lines instantly pulled everyone back to the days before the apocalypse.

A trace of sadness lingered in the room, but young people naturally leaned optimistic. Reality wasn’t going to change, and compared to ordinary survivors, the people on the 18th floor were already living far better than most.

Nicole sat on the couch, munching on trail mix.

Cola shoved poor Poppy aside, planted his massive head in Nicole’s lap, and stared up at her with those glossy black eyes.

Left with no choice, Nicole tore off a strip of jerky and fed it to him by hand. 1

But that tiny bite barely counted as a snack to him. Cola looked at her like she had personally offended

him, his expression practically saying, ‘Seriously? That’s it?’

Nicole could only sigh and start feeding His Majesty bigger pieces instead.

She didn’t give him too many, though. No point spoiling him rotten. Once they got home, she would make him an extra meal instead.

Honestly, she had already been deliberately controlling his portions at dinner because she was afraid he would literally eat Hughie’s group into poverty.

The Christmas movie lasted about two hours, and by the time it ended, it was already late at night.

Back home, Nicole showered, changed into soft temperature-regulating sleepwear, and crawled into bed

beneath the blankets.

Right as she was about to fall asleep, the walkie-talkie crackled.

“Are you asleep yet?”

“No. I was just about to.”

They had only left Hughie’s place a little while ago. Did something happen?

There was a brief pause on the other end before Zeph spoke again.

“Nicole… Merry Christmas.”

Nicole glanced at the clock and realized it had just passed midnight.

“Yeah. Merry Christmas to you, too. Hope this Christmas brings you and Poppy a little more peace and a better year ahead.”

“You too. Hope you and Cola have a warm Christmas and an even better year ahead.”

1/3

“Woof!”

+15 Bonus

Cola had just dragged his dog bed into the room. The second he heard the walkie-talkie, he started barking furiously at it.

Sleep time. Stop talking already.

Nicole snapped back to herself. “Cola’s telling me to sleep. Good night.”

The moment Nicole hung up, Cola grabbed the walkie-talkie in his mouth, carried it out to the living room,

and tossed it aside.

Bedtime meant bedtime. No staying up late.

Nicole burst out laughing. Seriously, who was the owner here? The dog had gotten so addicted to managing the rabbits that now, he was trying to manage her, too.

Was she really getting bossed around by a dog now?

She turned the lights off and fell asleep.

Christmas morning breakfast was just as important, but in this brutal weather, anybody who could stay buried under blankets would happily sleep in.

Nicole finally dragged herself out of bed around 10 a.m. and immediately felt that the cold had gotten

worse again.

She checked the thermometer on the balcony.

Minus 58 degrees.

The freezing air stabbed straight into her lungs, scaring Nicole badly enough that she hurriedly pulled on the mask attached to her temperature-regulating gear.

She headed into the storage space to wash up, applied skincare carefully, then finally came back out.

Zeph handled lunch again while Nicole stood nearby directing operations like a commander overseeing

battle tactics.

He definitely lacked natural talent, but he made up for it by being hardworking and eager to learn. After enough practice and trial and error, his cooking had already surpassed Hughie’s group by a mile.

Poppy came running into the kitchen wearing new clothes and a brand-new hat, grinning from ear to ear.

“Zeph, your cooking smells so good!”

Nicole nearly laughed out loud. Poor little Poppy. She had finally stopped criticizing her brother’s cooking and upgraded to hyping it up instead.

Zeph, meanwhile, didn’t forget to teach his little sister proper manners.

“If my cooking’s good, who do you think deserves the credit?”

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+15 Bonus

Without hesitation, Poppy threw her arms around Nicole.

“Thank you, Nicole! You taught Zeph how to cook!”

She dug into her pocket, pulled out a piece of Christmas candy, and stretched up on tiptoe to feed it to Nicole.

“Here.”

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