The Apocalypse Survival Manual (Three Days Before Doomsday, I Stockpiled Billions) novel Chapter 290

Chapter 290

Whoever emptied the gas stations had done it professionally, leaving absolutely nothing behind.

Nicole and Zeph weren’t the type to give up easily, so they checked two more stations anyway.

Both were just as empty.

Zeph thought about it for a moment before coming to a conclusion. “Probably the city government.”

Once the water level dropped, they would need fuel to restart transportation and basic infrastructure. They must’ve sent professional crews out early to secure supplies.

If the city had already organized fuel recovery operations, there probably weren’t many untouched stations left anywhere nearby.

Nicole looked a little disappointed. “So what now? Go home or look for something else?”

Zeph considered it briefly. “Let’s try highway rest stops.”

The gas inside the city had already been cleaned out, but highway service stations were much farther from the city. There was still a chance nobody had gotten to them yet.

The two of them traveled from sunrise all the way into the blazing afternoon heat, roasting under the sun until Nicole felt like somebody could season them and throw them on a grill.

After driving more than 60 miles and checking 2 separate service stations, they still came up empty. Every drop of fuel had already been siphoned out.

Neither of them had expected even the highway stations to get cleaned out this thoroughly. At this point, continuing the search probably wouldn’t change anything.

Plus, the heat was becoming unbearable.

With temperatures pushing 120 degrees, even wearing temperature-regulating gear wasn’t enough to stop them from sweating like they had just climbed out of a swimming pool.

After chugging a couple of sports drinks and cooling off for a bit, they finally gave up on the search.

Fuel mattered, but staying alive mattered more.

Between them, they still had over 250 gallons of gasoline stockpiled already. As long as they used it carefully, it would last a long time.

Zeph turned the motorboat around and sped back across the water.

Then, Nicole suddenly slapped Zeph’s shoulder. “Stop.”

Zeph cut the engine at once.

Nicole pointed toward something near the flooded service station entrance. “What’s that?”

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Zeph looked over.

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Judging from the portion sticking above the waterline, it looked like a large tanker truck. Vehicles like that usually transported either fuel or hazardous chemicals.

They slowly drove the motorboat closer and circled around it once.

As the water level dropped, only the top of the tank sat above the surface, making it impossible to tell what was inside.

Zeph pulled on a diving suit and slipped into the water to check.

A few minutes later, he surfaced again. “It’s a fuel tanker.”

Nicole’s eyes lit up. She honestly hadn’t expected them to get that lucky.

If she had to guess, the tanker had probably been heading toward the service station to refuel it before the typhoon arrived.

Once the storm warnings came, trucks everywhere likely rushed into service areas to shelter from the weather, clogging the station completely and leaving overflow vehicles stranded outside.

Still, there was no way to know whether the tanker had been delivering fuel to the station or if it had just been an empty truck hiding from the storm.

There was only one way to find out.

Zeph scanned the surrounding area carefully through binoculars first. Once he confirmed nobody was nearby, he nodded for Nicole to move.

The tanker vanished into the storage space instantly.

Water surged violently into the empty space it left behind, rocking the motorboat hard enough that Nicole nearly fell overboard.

Zeph caught her arm immediately. “Careful.”

Once the water calmed again, they drove the boat into the flooded service station itself and slipped inside the storage space under the cover of the remaining structure.

The tanker was enormous, with a capacity of nearly 12 thousand gallons.

Zeph twisted open the hatch, and the sharp smell of gasoline burst out immediately.

“It’s full.”

Nicole nearly screamed from excitement. Over 11 thousand gallons of gasoline came out to roughly 33 tons. That was enough fuel to last them a very long time.

All because they had taken one extra glance across the water.

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