The Apocalypse Survival Manual (Three Days Before Doomsday, I Stockpiled Billions) novel Chapter 583

Chapter 583

The kidnappers demanded ten thousand pounds of grain, five thousand pounds of meat, every medication the Robinson family had, and fifty guns. If their demands weren’t met, they would kill Marcus.

Nicole was resting at home when Sven brought her the news.

“He was asking for trouble. He left the neighborhood for no good reason, and only one of them made it back.”

That was when Nicole learned that Marcus, who was on patrol, suddenly drove out with Jason for reasons no one understood.

Jason was the only one who returned. He had several deep cuts across his body, and one of his arms was broken He also brought back a ransom note warning them that Marcus would be killed if they contacted the police.

Eric had spent his entire life in business. He knew better than to believe that quietly paying the ransom would guarantee his son’s safe return.

No one knew exactly why Marcus and Jason had gone out, but Jasper had already arrived with several police officers.

There was no keeping something like this quiet, and word quickly spread through the neighborhood.

As it turned out, Marcus only got caught up in the mess because of Jason.

Jason suddenly got word about Valerie, and his obsession with her took over. He insisted on going out to find her. Marcus knew it would be too dangerous for him to go alone, and so went with him.

They knew Eric would stop them if he found out, so they didn’t tell the bodyguards. They quietly took a car and slipped out on their own.

Sven kept shaking his head. “What were those two thinking? This is the apocalypse, not some game. Did they really think they were too lucky to get themselves killed?”

With the military, police, and civilians working together to maintain order, ordinary raiders had fewer and fewer places to hide. The polar night had already lasted a year, and even people who had once stockpiled food were starting to run out.

At this point, going out to rob people meant risking your life for increasingly little reward. Most small-time raiders had already given up.

The organized gangs were a different story. They had started targeting the wealthiest survivors instead.

One successful score against the Robinson family could set them up for years.

Nicole was speechless. As long as rich CEOs like Jason were around, there was always going to be trouble.

“Ten thousand pounds of grain and five thousand pounds of meat aren’t the issue. The Robinson family can easily afford that. What doesn’t make sense is the fifty guns.”

This was a country with strict gun laws.

Under normal circumstances, it was nearly impossible for an ordinary person to get their hands on even one firearm. Even after society collapsed, wealthy families with the right connections still couldn’t stockpile many.

For most families, having one or two guns would already be a lot. Even though the Robinsons were the richest family in the country, most outsiders would probably assume they had no more than ten or twenty.

Yet the kidnappers had demanded 50. That didn’t add up.

Nicole thought it over. “Maybe they deliberately asked for way too much so they’d have room to negotiate.”

“If they just wanted to make an outrageous demand, they could’ve asked for tens of thousands of pounds of grain. Eric could probably come up with it, but moving that much food would be difficult and make them much easier to track down. Guns are a lot more useful.

Zeph continued to explain.

“And don’t forget, the woman Jason was in love with was swept away in a hurricane five years ago. Keeping someone captive is a crime. Unless the kidnappers knew him extremely well, there was no way they’d know he still cared enough about her to walk straight into a trap.”