The Apocalypse Survival Manual (Three Days Before Doomsday, I Stockpiled Billions) novel Chapter 319

Chapter 319

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Sven had come to talk business, and he didn’t bother hiding what he wanted: Water.

Nicole had been waiting for him to put it on the table first. She let a trace of strain show on her face and said, “I can get it, but checkpoints are tighter now. It’s not like before. Best I can do is one truck a day.”

The neighborhood was full of wealthy people, and one truckload of water would barely make a dent. Still, Sven knew clean, drinkable water was almost impossible to get these days.

“That’ll work.”

When it came time to settle what he would trade for it, Nicole, who had already developed a taste for high -end supplies, put raw emeralds at the top of the list. Dried seafood and salt came after.

After a round of bargaining, they struck a deal. One 20-ton truck of fresh water could be exchanged for 500 pounds of dried seafood, 1,200 pounds of fresh seafood, or 2,000 pounds of coarse sea salt.

Nicole could choose whichever option she wanted, as long as she gave them notice ahead of time.

Just like that, the two sides resumed their partnership, only now their schedule flipped from day to night.

After dark, Zeph drove the water tanker into the villa district. Around 2 a.m., he and Nicole left right on time, with Nicole following behind in the beat-up car.

They took a long route around the crowded areas, found a quiet place to rest for a while, then arrived at the agreed drop-off point at 5 a.m. Once the delivery was done, they loaded 500 pounds of dried goods into the truck and headed back to the villa.

To keep anyone from getting suspicious, Zeph occasionally drove out during the day, too, making it look like they were only doing ordinary seafood trades.

Once they had slept enough during the day, they went back to stockpiling cooked food.

Over the next half month, they stored more than 1,000 pounds each of fish balls and pork meatballs. They cooked whatever they could with ribs and fish, from frying them to making stew.

They did the same with seafood, making dishes with squid, shrimp, crab, seaweed, and so on.

If they could cook it, they packed it away. In the future, they might not get another stretch of time this perfect for stocking up.

One evening, Nicole suddenly started craving barbecue. “Zeph, you’ve been working hard these past few days. How about we grill tonight? Consider it a reward.”

Zeph saw right through her, but he didn’t call her out. “Sure.”

The two little ones had no complaints, either. Everyone here loved food too much to pretend otherwise.

They had oysters, squid, ribs, pork shoulder, chicken wings, chicken tenders, mushrooms, corn, and more. They had everything they needed. It felt like a full backyard cookout.

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Nicole handled the marinade while Zeph set up the charcoal grill on the rooftop.

Poppy helped where she could, laying out the food on trays and passing things to Nicole as she worked. Cola sat beside them the whole time, drooling like he had been personally invited to supervise.

The coals glowed red in the grill, and the smell of barbecue drifted into the night.

The evening was still hot, but the four of them were all wearing temperature-regulating clothes. Besides, the coast cooled down faster, and the temperature had already dropped below 113 degrees.

With those clothes protecting them, life almost felt unfairly good.

Nicole knew her way around the kitchen, and with Zeph helping at the grill, the barbecue came together fast. Fresh off the fire, it smelled unbelievable.

Whenever Poppy wasn’t looking, Nicole quietly slipped some of the food into her storage space. Barbecue had to be eaten hot. Once it cooled, it lost half its soul.

Poor Poppy waited more than an hour, and the chicken leg Zeph had promised her still somehow wasn’t

ready.

When everything was finally close to done, they carried it all to the table.

The group sat together on the rooftop. Zeph drank beer, Nicole had some wine, and the two little ones drank soda. 1

A soft sea breeze moved over them, and stars glittered across the distant sky.

Nicole had spent so many years fighting just to stay alive that she could barely remember the last time she had stopped long enough to enjoy the ocean at night.

The darkness covered the ugliness of the disaster, and the stars shone so brightly that the world almost looked peaceful. It made it easy to imagine that when the sun came up tomorrow, everything would still be beautiful, alive, and untouched.

Something twisted quietly in her chest. Nicole picked up Zeph’s beer and took two swallows. “It would’ve been nice if none of this had ever happened.”

But the world didn’t deal in “ifs.”

Zeph took her hand. “With you and Poppy here, I’m not as scared anymore.”

In the darkness, a dog’s head suddenly appeared, staring at him in silent judgment.

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