The Apocalypse Survival Manual (Three Days Before Doomsday, I Stockpiled Billions) novel Chapter 634

Chapter 634

Grannyvine was a name Nicole had made up on the spot. She described what the herb looked like.

“I don’t know what it’s actually called. Someone in my family paid a lot for it outside. They were told it was used in an old folk remedy.”

Wesley chuckled.

“That’s not grannyvine. It’s called catalyne. It has antiviral and anti-inflammatory properties that can help with respiratory infections, but it’s extremely picky about where it grows. You usually find it along high mountain cliffs.

“The climate at those elevations is harsh and unpredictable, and that may be part of what gives the plant its medicinal properties. Cultivated varieties retain barely a fraction of that potency, so there was never much point in growing it commercially.

“Then industrial pollution nearly wiped the wild plant out altogether. Over time, it disappeared from most modern textbooks, so it’s no surprise younger people don’t recognize it.”

Nicole nodded in understanding.

The herb was nearly impossible to cultivate because of its demanding growing conditions, yet she managed to grow it inside her storage space.

Was that simply another unusual feature of the space, or had she somehow stumbled into an extraordinary coincidence?

Nicole and Zeph’s recovery made Wesley even more confident that his research was moving in the right direction. They were desperately short-staffed, so he kept both of them on the team.

Nicole went back to performing autopsies.

Zeph hadn’t been idle over the years, either. He had picked up a fair amount of medical knowledge from Nicole, so Wesley assigned him to assist with the research.

Nicole couldn’t handle all the autopsies by herself, so she took on an assistant from the institute’s logistics staff.

The woman looked to be in her late twenties. She was slender and delicate, with a slight limp when she walked. ” Hello, Dr. Floyd. I’m Valerie Hudson. I’ll be assisting you from now on.”

Nicole stared at her.

No way.

Even through the protective suit, she couldn’t hide her sudden curiosity. Her gaze swept over Valerie from head to

toe.

“You broke both your legs?”

Valerie stiffened. “Yes.”

That confirmed it. She really was the tragic heroine from Jason’s over-the-top melodrama. Both legs broken, swept away by a typhoon, and somehow still alive.

More importantly, this was the seventh year of the apocalypse. Every doctor Nicole had seen looked pale, gaunt, and exhausted. Valerie was thin as well, but somehow, her complexion was still fair and almost glowing.

1/2

+15 Bonus

Jason certainly knew how to pick them.

Bough gossip. They had work to do.

Surprisingly, Valerie handled the autopsies remarkably well. Even when Nicole opened the chest cavity, a sight, that had nearly made her throw up the first time, Valerie only looked slightly queasy. Otherwise, she remained calm, with an almost professional air about her.

Then again, anyone who could survive being nearly tortured to death by Jason and come back stronger was probably no ordinary person.

They autopsied several critically ill patients who had received treatment. The damage to their livers and lungs was noticeably less severe than in patients who hadn’t received any medication.

Nicole took the detailed autopsy reports to Wesley, then went to check on Mitchell and Howard.

Mitchell was extremely weak. His coughing fits were so violent that it sounded as though he might cough up a lung at any moment.

Nicole handed him a jar of homemade cough syrup she had stored in an old sauce jar. “My family made this. It seems to work pretty well. Give it a try.”

Mitchell had no idea exactly how well-off the Floyds were, but families involved in growing and supplying medicinal herbs had done extremely well over the past few years.

He accepted it without hesitation. Privately, he couldn’t help thinking he got lucky taking on such a well-off student.

After leaving Mitchell’s room, Nicole planned to bring Howard a jar as well.

A little boy of about five or six opened the door and looked up at her. “Who are you looking for?”

Nicole nearly dropped the jar.

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