The Apocalypse Survival Manual (Three Days Before Doomsday, I Stockpiled Billions) novel Chapter 565

Chapter 565

Poppy nodded obediently. “Zeph, I’m not scared.”

Cola had a habit of wandering off, so Zeph fastened his bulletproof vest around him and gave a firm command.” Protect Poppy.”

Cola dragged his bed into her room and settled beside her to keep watch.

The villa was well insulated, muffling most of the noise outside, whether it was screaming or cheering.

Nicole tossed and turned, unable to sleep. “How did you survive this the first time?”

Zeph rarely spoke about what had happened more than a decade ago, especially now that history was repeating itself. Still, he knew she needed to understand.

“The earthquake killed a lot of people, including police officers and soldiers. The country was devastated, but supplies weren’t nearly as scarce as they are now. Once polar night began, everything fell apart. There was looting, violence, and arson everywhere. More police officers and soldiers were killed, and eventually…”

The authorities had no choice but to use force to bring the riots under control.

But the rioters were like animals released from their cages, and the darkness gave them perfect cover.

At first, the crackdown worked.

Over time, however, the rioters became skilled at blending in with ordinary people. One moment, they were attacking people with knives. Next, they would disappear into an apartment building and pretend to be helpless

victims.

Police officers and soldiers didn’t hesitate when the criminals were obvious. But when innocent-looking civilians stood before them, their fingers sometimes froze on the trigger.

That brief hesitation was often enough to get them killed. One moment of distraction was all it took for a knife to reach the heart.

After enduring disaster after disaster, many of the rioters had become completely twisted.

At first, they killed quickly. Later, they began taking pleasure in torturing police officers and soldiers.

Nicole’s chest tightened, and she instinctively gripped Zeph’s cold hand. “Were you ever captured?”

“No.”

The memories were too brutal, and Zeph didn’t want her to know the details.

He and several teammates had chased a group of rioters into an alley.

With visibility so poor during polar night, the rioters tore off their masks and split into two groups. One group pretended to be the attackers, while the other posed as victims, holding a bloodstained knife to a child’s throat.

The girl was about Poppy’s age.

Zeph couldn’t bring himself to risk her life, so he agreed to let them go. But the moment he and his teammates lowered their guard, the little girl spun around and plunged a dagger into him.

He and several others escaped with serious injuries, but some of his teammates never made it out.

1/2

+15

After sharing a bed with Zeph for years, Nicole knew him too well to miss the tension in his body. There was clearly more he wasn’t telling her.

He must have witnessed countless horrors to remain so calm now.

Nicole rolled toward him and wrapped her arms around his neck, then let out a long sigh.

“We’re not heroes. The best we can do is avoid becoming another problem for the authorities. Get some sleep.

They said they were going to sleep, but neither of them actually did.

Eventually, a rapid burst of gunfire rang out outside. Nicole counted 16 shots in all.

Unless she was mistaken, the Robinsons had opened fire.

Their villa stood four stories tall, with firing positions built into every level.

They had police officers and bodyguards inside, along with plenty of weapons. They wouldn’t even need to step outside to take down a few dozen rogue guards.

Marcus might have acted careless and unserious most of the time, but he was an excellent shot. Before the apocalypse, he often went skeet shooting with his wealthy friends and held a premium membership at a private shooting club.

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