The Apocalypse Survival Manual (Three Days Before Doomsday, I Stockpiled Billions) novel Chapter 53

Chapter 53

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Chapter 53

Nicole slammed the throttle forward, cutting hard into a drifting turn.

The boat rocked violently, nearly throwing her overboard.

She steadied herself just in time, gripping tight and adjusting her balance. After a wide arc through the current, she finally made it to the convention center.

It was only twelve floors, but each level was tall, giving the whole structure a massive, imposing presence.

Nicole circled it once. There were no signs of people and no broken glass.

Fairfield was built around furniture manufacturing. Most of the surrounding area was factories. Residential and commercial zones were across the river, completely swallowed by the storm.

All she could see was water. The convention center stood alone in it.

The glass walls were thick. A hammer barely made a dent.

Nicole switched tools, using a window breaker. After several strikes, the glass finally gave way.

The place was huge. The once grand hall was already flooded, but looking up, its scale still showed.

Darkness had swallowed everything. Only her flashlight cut through it, sweeping over rows of furniture.

The tangled waterways had protected the place. Or maybe there just wasn’t anything here that people thought was

worth taking.

Either way, no one had been here before her.

Furniture filled every corner. Classic designs, modern pieces, luxury builds, minimalist styles, futuristic concepts … Furniture from around the world filled the space, designs bold and wildly varied. If you could imagine it, they

could build it.

Nicole didn’t stop to pick anything up. She headed straight for the top-floor furniture museum.

The power was out. Darkness swallowed everything, leaving only the echo of her footsteps in the vast, empty hall.

The elevators weren’t working, so Nicole wound her way up the stairs, step after step. When she finally reached the top floor, her legs were aching.

The entire level was a historical exhibit, with photos, artifacts, all kinds of wood, and ancient furniture ranging from broken to perfectly preserved.

With a flashlight in hand, she moved through the exhibits. After nearly half an hour, she reached the centerpiece.

A 13-foot-long slab of wood stood before her, dark brown-black, its surface uneven and mottled.

Ebony.

Buried underground for thousands, sometimes tens of thousands of years, it had transformed into something between wood and stone, a kind of botanical fossil.

Ebony was regarded as one of the most prized hardwoods in the world. People said an ounce of ebony was worth its weight in gold.

Nicole couldn’t judge its value. No matter how rare, it wouldn’t fill an empty stomach. To survivors, that made it

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Chapter 53

worthless.

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It sat sealed behind a shatterproof glass case. There was no way she was breaking it with a hammer.

She pulled on a mask and took a chainsaw out of her storage space. The harsh buzz tore through the silence. After some effort, she cut through the glass.

A faint fragrance drifted out.

Surprisingly, it smelled good.

Still, there was no time to linger. She quickly stored the ebony.

Nicole kept going. Agarwood, rosewood, and all kinds of rare timber. The most valuable pieces were sealed in glass, the rest roped off, off-limits to visitors.

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