The Apocalypse Survival Manual (Three Days Before Doomsday, I Stockpiled Billions) novel Chapter 629

Chapter 629

Zeph tried to calm Nicole down. “It might not be an infection.”

“His throat is red and swollen with white spots, and his eyes have that same yellowish, bluish tint. You had those symptoms when you got sick.”

“Dogs’ eyes naturally look more yellow than ours, Zeph said. “And Cola’s been sneaking fried fish bites the past few days. Maybe his throat is just irritated. Why don’t we try some medicine first?”

Nicole stared at him.

“If it were Poppy, would you still be this calm?”

Her tone came out harsher than she meant.

She regretted it the second the words left her mouth. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean if like that, but you know what Cola means to me.

Zeph didn’t say anything. He looked at her for a moment, then started helping her pack. “I’ll go with you.”

“No. Stay here and take care of Poppy.”

He was right about one thing. The research institute was probably the most dangerous place they could go right now.

There was no reason to put the whole family at risk. Nicole could take Cola herself. If something went wrong, at least Zeph and Poppy would still be safe.

Zeph refused. “If this smog-related virus really is that contagious and Cola’s infected, then we’ve probably already been

exposed anyway.”

“No. You and Poppy are both healthy. Cola’s a dog. His respiratory system works differently from ours.”

“Jocelyn died this morning.”

Nicole froze.

“It only took a few days,” Zeph continued. “She went from showing symptoms to dying incredibly fast. And now her whole family is sick.

“If you insist on taking Cola to Grayport alone and one of us gets sick while we’re apart, we might not even get the chance to see

each other again.

“Calm down. Whatever happens, we’ll deal with it together.”

Nicole hesitated. “But…”

Zeph stepped forward and pulled her into his arms. “If something happens to you in Grayport, I’ll regret letting you go alone for the rest of my life.”

Her breathing slowly steadied.

He was right. Once one person in a household got infected, the chances of everyone else catching it went up dramatically.

They held each other tightly.

Their voices had gotten loud enough to bring Poppy to the doorway. She stood there looking scared and confused.

“Zeph? Nicole?”

Nicole quickly stepped out of Zeph’s arms and turned toward her. Before she could say anything, a thin stream of clear mucus ran from Poppy’s nose.

+15 Bonus

They were screwed.

Nicole immediately put on a mask and protective gear before checking Poppy over. Her temperature was 100.2°F. She already had a low-grade fever.

Her throat looked slightly red and swollen, though there were no white spots yet. Nicole also noticed a faint yellowish tint

beneath her eyes.

“When did this start?”

Poppy looked confused. She hadn’t noticed anything wrong at all. Her nose had only started running a moment ago.

The virus was worse than Nicole expected. Poppy and Cola were both stronger and healthier than tnost people, yet even they got sick.

Whatever this was, it didn’t seem to care how healthy someone was.

The thought of Jocelyn going from her first symptoms to death in just a few days made Nicole’s stomach knot.

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