The Apocalypse Survival Manual (Three Days Before Doomsday, I Stockpiled Billions) novel Chapter 528

Chapter 528

Beatrice never imagined there was more to her parents’ deaths.

They didn’t die of heatstroke at all. Rather, they starved to death.

She dragged the children over and beat the truth out of them one by one.

Terrified, they told her everything.

Beatrice’s parents owned farmland and stockpiled food. Although the disasters forced both sons to move back home with their families and rely on them, there should have been enough for everyone if they carefully rationed their supplies.

But no one expected the disasters to last so long.

At first, the family managed to get along, but selfishness gradually took over.

The older brother complained that the younger brother’s family ate too much, while the younger brother accused the older one of hoarding warm clothes.

Before long, both families began taking everything they could from their parents.

Eventually, the household had to split up. Even then, both couples played the victims while draining their parents of everything they had. Each accused the elderly couple of being selfish and favoring the other son.

Both brothers guarded their own food and refused to spare anything, leaving their parents to slowly starve to death.

They still cared about appearances, though. Knowing the truth would ruin their reputations, they made up a different cause of death. 1

Beatrice lost control when she learned what really happened. She stormed into her brothers’ homes and beat them nearly to death.

If the soldiers responsible for keeping order hadn’t arrived when they did, someone probably would have died.

In the chaos, Beatrice was shoved around repeatedly. Between the physical trauma and the overwhelming stress and rage, she miscarried and began bleeding heavily.

Fortunately, the base had doctors, and they managed to save her life.

But without enough medicine to treat her properly, she suffered one infection after another, and even her once- strong body eventually gave out.

Worse, because of the severity of the fight, Beatrice was expelled from the base.

With nowhere else to go, the three of them returned to Westbridge and tried to survive however they could.

By then, the earthquake had already struck. Crownview Residences had collapsed and barely resembled the place they remembered. To stay alive, they had no choice but to go back to patrolling.

Nicole couldn’t help feeling sad. They had left with so much hope, only to return battered and scarred.

Hughie still had patrol duty and couldn’t stay in the car much longer. He gave a bitter laugh and climbed out.

After taking only a few steps, he turned back. “I almost forgot to tell you. Jeremy’s seeing someone.”

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+15 Bonus

Nicole blinked. “An older woman?”

“Yeah. We were scavenging when he rescued her. She invited us to dinner to thank him, but she drank too much and ended up sleeping with Jeremy.

“Apparently, she liked him well enough, because it happened several more times. Eventually, they started seeing each other regularly.

“She’s three years older than him and very capable. She used to lead a team, but once it got too large and started attracting all kinds of troublemakers, she decided she was better off on her own.”

“Maybe she had simply grown tired of being alone and wanted some companionship.

“They’ve been together for more than six months, but she still refuses to make any promises. No one knows how long she plans to keep him around.”

Hughie gave Nicole their address and asked her to stop by when she had time.

Nicole remained in the car for a long while, watching him disappear into the distance before finally driving home.

The moment she parked, Cola rushed out and pawed anxiously at her.

Zeph came downstairs. “You’re back late. Did something happen?”

“No. I drove Dr. Chapman back to Grayport.” Nicole paused. “I ran into Hughie on the way home.”

“Hughie?”

Zeph was surprised. He expected her to be happy about seeing Hughie, but something was clearly troubling her.

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