The Apocalypse Survival Manual (Three Days Before Doomsday, I Stockpiled Billions) novel Chapter 512

Chapter 512

Nicole couldn’t understand it. All she had done was buy a house. How had that made her a target for so many people?

Still, she knew when to quit while she was ahead. In the end, she backed off. “Since this was a misunderstanding, I’ll let it go. But next time, you won’t get off this easily.”

With that, she hit the gas, and the Hummer roared away.

Marcus stood there in a cloud of exhaust, furious enough to explode. His last high-end off-road vehicle had just been reduced to scrap.

Damn it!

Once they were out of the neighborhood, Nicole asked, “What do you think Marcus is up to?”

Zeph had no idea how spoiled rich kids thought.

After a long pause, he said, “Last time, he took your side even though it meant embarrassing his friends. This time, he deliberately crashed into us. Maybe he was just looking for an excuse to approach you.”

Nicole couldn’t make sense of it either. There was no telling what went on in Marcus’s head.

“Do you think he found out something and is trying to get close to us on purpose?”

She was referring to the three vehicles, or possibly the secret behind her storage space.

Maybe Ethan had told Marcus what happened at Oakhaven Gardens, and Marcus had started looking into them.

The Robinsons managed to live comfortably through three years of the apocalypse because of their wealth and influence. Westbridge officials even invited them back to help rebuild the local economy. They were clearly no ordinary family.

Nicole could also tell that Marcus had changed since the last time she saw him.

Zeph’s expression turned serious.

“Whatever he wants, we just need to stay on our guard.”

The new school had not opened yet. After reaching an agreement with local officials, the alternative medicine research institute was allowed to use the campus temporarily as a recruiting center and a satellite site for growing and processing medicinal herbs.

By the time Nicole arrived, a large crowd had already gathered for interviews or to ask questions.

Many survivors could not afford medicine, so the chance to learn basic medical skills or how to grow medicinal herbs seemed valuable.

Unfortunately, applicants needed some prior knowledge, and the institute offered only one meal on the days they worked. There was no pay and no additional food allowance.

They were essentially being asked to work for free when most people were already struggling to feed themselves.

Once they heard the terms, many left disappointed.

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The institute’s staff were just as frustrated. Without funding, it was nearly impossible to get the program up and running. They wanted to hire people and pay them, but the extreme swings in temperature made growing medicinal herbs prohibitively expensive.

Keeping the indoor growing facility climate-controlled had already eaten through their entire budget. Even the staff were working without pay, determined to preserve medical knowledge that had been passed down for generations.

“Dr. Chapman, do you think we’re going to come back empty-handed again?”

One of Mitchell’s students sighed.

“We did everything we could to keep the herbs we brought back alive, but we still lost half of thein. The rest are barely hanging on.”

Mitchell felt the same crushing disappointment, but he still tried to reassure them. “Give it time. Things will get

better.”

The Hummer was impossible to miss, and every head turned as soon as it pulled onto the school grounds.

Mitchell thought the vehicle looked familiar. When Zeph and Nicole stepped out, his face lit up.

“It’s you guys. What brings you here?”

“We live nearby, and we’re interested in growing medicinal herbs, so we thought we’d stop by and learn more.”

Mitchell remembered talking with them during the last herb-gathering trip. He also remembered that Nicole studied medicine, and she left a strong impression on him.

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