The Apocalypse Survival Manual (Three Days Before Doomsday, I Stockpiled Billions) novel Chapter 404

Chapter 404

Zeph turned on the AC and laid Poppy on the bed.

Cola paced beside her, whining under his breath, clearly uneasy.

“Poppy’s hurt. Starting today, you’re on watch. If anything’s wrong, come get us.”

Cola immediately dragged his dog bed in from the living room and settled down next to her, refusing to leave.

Poppy still needed close monitoring.

Zeph stayed tense, forcing down a quick meal just to keep going. “Nicole, how bad are you hurt?”

“I’m fine,” Nicole said. “Nothing’s broken.”

a patch

She most likely only suffered soft tissue damage. The icing had already helped. A rub with liniment and a tomorrow would take care of the rest.

Zeph frowned. “Let me see.”

They were already sharing a bed. Nicole didn’t make a big deal out of it and pulled her shirt aside to show her shoulder. 1

“It’s nothing. If anything, we should be glad we made it through another one.”

A tsunami, and now hail. What was next?

It was late. Fatigue caught up with them. They took quick showers, set the AC to sleep mode, and were out almost immediately.

Zeph woke early. The first thing he did was check on Poppy.

She was still asleep, breathing even.

More than 24 hours had passed. If there had been bleeding or fluid buildup, it likely wasn’t severe.

He let out a quiet breath and smoothed her hair.

Cola padded over, nudging at him for attention.

When Poppy woke, her vision was a little clearer. She went to the bathroom, then sat on the couch, staring off.” Nicole… I think I had a dream yesterday. The couch wasn’t like this.”

“What was it like?” Nicole asked.

Poppy couldn’t explain. The memory felt out of reach.

Thinking too hard made her head ache.

That was typical with a concussion. Some people would experience memory lapses or even confusion.

Nicole took the chance to explain, keeping it easy. “Don’t push it. We made it through. The worst is over. Just focus on getting better.”

Cola jumped onto the couch and leaned against her, pressing his head into her arm.

Poppy hugged him, her mood lifting. “I dreamed that Mom and Dad took me to the beach. I didn’t want to come back even after it got dark. I think I heard you and Zeph calling me, over and over. Then Mom and Dad brought me

1/2

back.”

+15 Benus

Nicole paused. “Did they say anything?”

“…don’t remember.” Poppy went blank for a second, then brightened. “But I told them about you. I said you’re really nice, that you’ve been taking care of me.”

“Did they like me?”

“They did. They said Zeph has good taste.”

That caught Nicole off guard.

Poppy managed a few bites of food, but not long after, she threw up again.

Nicole gave her medicine and handed her a stuffed doll to distract her. Soon, Poppy drifted back to sleep.

Zeph called Nicole into the bedroom. “Let me put some liniment on that.”

After a day of icing and anti-inflammatory meds, her shoulder had improved.

Nicole took out the herbal liniment and let him work it in.

He asked while rubbing, “Remember when you treated my injuries back during that deep freeze?”

Nicole gave a small, self-aware smile. “Didn’t expect it to come back around like this.”

Guilt edged his voice. “I didn’t protect you and Poppy.”

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