The Apocalypse Survival Manual (Three Days Before Doomsday, I Stockpiled Billions) novel Chapter 278

Chapter 278

+15 Bonus

Most women were terrified of snakes.

Just the slick, cold look of them was enough to make people’s skin crawl. After the disasters mutated them into larger, more grotesque creatures with vivid, unnatural colors, they became even more horrifying.

Nicole instinctively stepped backward. She had barely started reaching for a weapon when Zeph moved

first.

Pulling her behind him in one smooth motion, he swung the entrenching shovel with brutal precision. 1

The snake’s head flew clean off. Blood splattered across the floor almost instantly.

Nicole couldn’t remember exactly when the snake infestation had broken out in their previous life. If she recalled correctly, it started around the time the floodwaters receded to the sixth floor.

Now, the water had already dropped halfway below the fifth floor, yet they had only seen a single snake

so far.

Back then, the snakes had appeared in massive swarms that left people numb with fear. Because of that, Nicole had stocked up on plenty of realgar powder ahead of time, yet she never even got the chance to

use it.

The city’s aggressive pest control efforts had clearly made a difference. As conditions improved, the infestations naturally eased as well.

At this rate, the snakes probably wouldn’t have much opportunity to spread.

The moment the snake died, someone suddenly rushed out from the corner nearby.

“Can I have the snake?”

The man’s voice sounded frantic and desperate.

He was painfully skinny, filthy from head to toe, and his clothes were so stained with grime that it was impossible to tell what color they had originally been.

Before he even got close, the sour reek coming off him had already drifted over.

When neither Nicole nor Zeph answered, he pleaded again. “Please. I haven’t eaten in days.”

Zeph ignored the request. Using the entrenching shovel, he lifted the snake and flung it outside instead.

The body landed with a wet smack on top of the floating trash in the floodwater.

Then Nicole and Zeph started the motorboat and headed off.

As she looked back, Nicole watched the man jump straight into the filthy water and swim toward the garbage to retrieve the snake.

113

+15 Bonus

Not giving it to him had been the right decision.

Zeph had only brought Poppy downstairs to hunt rats once, and by the very next day, people had already

started lingering downstairs, hoping to scavenge leftovers.

If it happened again, they would probably start openly asking the 18th floor for supplies.

Sure, those survivors looked pitiful and exhausted, but there was something much darker in their eyes now. The only reason they acted meek was because the 18th floor held overwhelming power over them.

The second that advantage disappeared, those same people would probably be the first to rush upstairs with knives in their hands.

You didn’t need to hurt people, but handing out kindness too freely was dangerous, too.

Nicole had learned that lesson thoroughly in her previous life.

After delivering the rats to the neighborhood committee, they happened to arrive just as a shipment of canned goods from the food factory was being unloaded.

The cans looked like generic store-brand food cans, completely plain except for the bare metal surface.

They had nothing printed on them, and each one weighed around eight ounces.

Since Nicole and Zeph came by so often, the staff already knew the 17th and 18th floors of Building 1 at Crownview Residences were working together, so they handed over the rewards in a single batch.

More than 1,500 pounds of rats had earned them a total of 150 cans.

The large backpack bulged completely full, drawing greedy looks from nearly everyone around them.

The moment they left the neighborhood committee, several people immediately started trailing behind

them.

Nicole exchanged a glance with Zeph.

Without a word, the two accelerated the motorboat hard across the water, spraying filthy floodwater behind them and leaving the furious curses of their pursuers in the distance.

According to their original agreement, the Goodmans received 75 cans. But Gabrielle was far too experienced to accept the split without protest.

“You all did most of the work,” she insisted. “It’s only fair if you take more.”

“We already agreed on the terms,” Nicole replied. “We’ll split everything exactly as planned.”

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify