The Apocalypse Survival Manual (Three Days Before Doomsday, I Stockpiled Billions) novel Chapter 455

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Chapter 455

+15 8ghus

Plant mutation?

After everything the environment had been through, it made sense. Survival meant adaptation, and adaptation meant change.

There was no point in dwelling on it. Nicole stored the plant and decided to let it grow.

They searched the area again, combing through it carefully, but found nothing else.

So they went back to cutting wood. When Nicole got tired, she returned to searching for herbs.

They stayed in the mountains for about six days. By then, they had cleared several sections of forest. They kept six truckloads of timber for themselves and could easily contribute more than a dozen loads.

They didn’t rush to leave. Instead, they spent extra time searching for medicinal plants.

Over the next few days, Nicole gathered about 60 varieties. Most were common, but there were a few rare finds. A young valeris, several ironbloom plants, along with rubecor and emberberry.

Nicole nearly went cross-eyed looking for them. The job demanded way too much staring. She needed rest.

They wrapped up and started heading back, Cola leading the way, the rabbits following behind.

Then a sharp scream cut through the forest.

“Ahh!”

Cola’s fur stood on end, his expression turning vicious in an instant.

Zeph listened, his gaze narrowing. “Sounds like it’s coming from another ridge.”

Nicole knew that scream all too well, even after three years. It carried a kind of desperation that went far beyond an ordinary cry for help.

Over the past three years, Zeph, Cola, Poppy, and Hughie’s group had slowly helped her heal.

But the moment that scream rang out again, every muscle in Nicole’s body tensed. Blood rushed to her head as she drew her pistol and chambered a round in one smooth motion.

Zeph noticed immediately. “Don’t rush. Let’s take a look first.”

Nicole nodded, forcing herself to steady her breathing.

Cola moved ahead, cutting through the terrain toward the sound.

“Stay quiet. Watch your step,” Zeph said to Poppy.

The little girl stayed calm, her guard up even more than Cola’s. But with Zeph fussing over her, she nodded obediently. “Got it.”

Cola stayed on high alert, ears pricked and eyes constantly scanning the woods as he led the humans and his little sidekicks on the trail.

They crossed a small ravine and came to a narrow path winding through the mountains.

Calling it a path was generous. Zeph, an experienced tracker, could tell it was nothing more than a route people had worn into the ground by passing through often.

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He crouched to study the tracks. “There are more than ten people.”

+15 Bgnus

Following the faint trail, they quickened their pace. After climbing over another ridge, they finally spotted a group in the distance.

There were four men with knives. Six others were tied together with a single rope, their hands bound behind their

backs.

Nicole lifted her binoculars.

Two of the captives were painfully thin young women. The other four were children, all around ten years old.

One of the children was so weak from hunger that he could barely stand. He stumbled a couple of times before collapsing.

Since they were all tied to the same rope, the rest were yanked down with him.

The men immediately lost their tempers. They rushed over, kicking and punching the children.

“Are you trying to get yourself killed?” one of them cursed. “When we get back, you’re the first one I’m gutting!”

One of the girls threw herself over a little boy, shielding him with her body.

“Don’t hurt my brother!”

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