The Apocalypse Survival Manual (Three Days Before Doomsday, I Stockpiled Billions) novel Chapter 373

Chapter 373

“Cola, you were amazing,” Nicole praised.

Cola grinned as he ate, the earlier hurt already gone.

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When they stepped back outside, the fire had burned out, leaving only blackened wreckage behind.

Worried about Poppy, Nicole didn’t get involved in Felix’s cleanup. Instead, she pulled out the Hummer to head. back to Ironvale Base.

The base felt noticeably quieter. Anyone who could fight had been sent out, and even Felix was gone.

That coward only showed his face when there was something to gain.

With defenses this thin, Nicole almost felt like grabbing a rifle and cutting them all down.

Still, she forced herself to rein it in. This wasn’t the time.

Felix might be a coward, but he was careful, and there were always eyes in the dark.

Back at the house, Zeph knocked on the door.

“Poppy.”

A few minutes later, the door opened. Poppy threw herself into Zeph’s arms.

“Zeph!”

Seeing the tear tracks on her face, Zeph’s expression hardened. “Who did this to you?”

“I don’t know.”

Someone had knocked, tricked her into opening the door, and then said a lot of ugly things. She hadn’t understood all of it, but at seven, she had seen enough on TV and cartoons to know it was dirty.

Zeph went inside and spent some time calming her down.

With Cola staying close, Poppy gradually relaxed again.

After lunch, the two of them used naptime as cover and slipped into the storage space.

Nicole had a bad feeling.

“We need to be careful. Felix isn’t just paranoid and afraid of dying. He’s also extremely petty. He keeps the other leaders fighting each other to stay in control, but those people are a mess. They follow whoever feeds them, so they’re not a real threat to him.

“We’re different. If you hadn’t stepped in today, he wouldn’t have been able to turn things around. Drakehold Base would’ve taken him out sooner or later.

“Someone like him won’t tolerate anyone rising above him. He’ll come after us soon.”

Zeph nodded. “Drakehold Base is finished. Ironvale Base is next.”

They didn’t waste time, loading every weapon and preparing charges and fuel bombs.

When they came out of the storage space, the base was in chaos. Engines roared as more than 20 vehicles

poured

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Truck after truck carried supplies. Food, weapons, gasoline, livestock that looked either half-dead from heat or freshly slaughtered, and…close to 30 women.

Felix stepped out of an SUV, all smiles, walking with a swagger.

“Pick a few clean ones and send them to my room.’

The thugs actually started picking the better-looking ones, dragging them off to be washed as their cries filled the

air.

Nicole covered Poppy’s eyes and turned back toward their room.

Having blown off steam, the tattooed men were in high spirits, bragging about the decapitation and the chain explosions.

“Damn, that was insane! Like something out of a movie.”

They might have been brutal, but they had their own rules. They used to look down on Zeph, but after today, they were impressed, ready to treat him like a boss.

With their biggest enemy gone, they were already talking about setting up roadblocks again and collecting protection rations. The excitement had them shouting at the top of their lungs.

The base buzzed as supplies were hauled in. It almost felt like a celebration. By evening, they were even butchering livestock. 1

Inside, Zeph, Nicole, and Poppy played cards, shutting out the noise.

A knock came at the door.

It was Anthony. He stayed outside, chatting like nothing was wrong.

“Zeph, you were incredible today. If you hadn’t stepped in, we might not have pulled it off. The boss is throwing a celebration later. There’ll be rewards. You all need to show up.”

He clapped Zeph on the shoulder, shook his hand, and laughed loudly.

Zeph stayed calm. “We’ll be there.”

After closing the door, Zeph opened his hand.

There was an extra slip of paper in his palm.

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