The Apocalypse Survival Manual (Three Days Before Doomsday, I Stockpiled Billions) novel Chapter 339

Chapter 339

A faint glow flickered in the distance.

After a month here, Nicole knew the layout well enough to move without making a sound.

The front door stood open. A fire burned on the floor, lighting the room. Around it, about 18 people sat or stood. Their clothes were ragged, their skin dark from the sun, and all of them stared at the unconscious man on the ground.

They looked like refugees from the very bottom.

The man wore camouflage. He looked like a soldier.

Nicole studied him. Something about him felt familiar, like she had seen him before.

She had barely interacted with soldiers since coming to the coast. The only time had been…

It was him. The young soldier who had handed out relief supplies.

He was badly injured. Blood soaked his clothes, especially around his thigh where the tourniquet had turned dark red.

He was still bleeding, and his face had gone pale.

Injuries like that, after a tsunami, usually meant death.

The people around him knew it, too. Their faces all carried the same look.

Nicole had lived through three years of this world. She knew exactly what that expression meant.

Beside her, Zeph had changed.

Nicole reached out and took his hand. It was cold and tense. The killing intent coming off him was impossible to hide, and he felt like a different person.

“I’ll go first.”

A rough voice broke the silence.

A man pulled a rusty knife from his pocket. “Everyone gets a share. No exceptions.”

A child nearby stammered, “But… He saved us.”

The man showed a yellowed grin. “Kid, are you hungry?”

The child shrank back and stayed quiet.

No one else spoke.

The man gripped the knife tighter and stepped forward. The firelight flickered across his face, making him look twisted and cruel.

Nicole didn’t reach for a handgun. She carried a submachine gun and walked in. “Quite a scene you’ve got here.”

The group startled and turned toward her.

A clean, well-kept woman like her stood out too much.

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The man’s eyes locked onto her immediately. Then he saw the gun in her hands, and fear hit him. Before he could say anything, a tall man stepped in behind her, equally cold, equally armed.

Seeing them together, he quickly hid the knife and forced a strained smile.

“Everything we had was swept away. The one who saved us is hurt. Do you have any food or medicine?”

Nicole didn’t entertain it. “Two choices. Leave now, or I’ll kill you all.”

“Now, there’s no need for…”

Zeph raised his hand and fired. The bullet tore through the man’s ear.

He screamed and grabbed his head, blood running down his neck.

Nicole swept her gaze over the others. “You should know I have a temper. And I don’t like repeating myself.”

The threat in their faces was enough. The crowd hesitated, but fear won. One by one, they backed away.

Then someone spoke up. “Wait. We can’t leave him behind.”

A few understood and rushed back, trying to lift the soldier.

Nicole pressed the gun to the man’s head. “Or I shoot you, and they carry you out instead.”

The man froze, then gave up and ran with the rest.

Nicole stepped forward. The soldier was burning with fever, his body covered in cuts and stab wounds.

She stood there for a moment, weighing it. Then she took out water, antibiotics, and supplies for treating wounds.

If it had been anyone else, she might have walked away.

Looking at him lying there, however, she couldn’t help thinking of Zeph from her last life.

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