The Apocalypse Survival Manual (Three Days Before Doomsday, I Stockpiled Billions) novel Chapter 638

Chapter 638

Several more patients volunteered for the trials.

Aside from those who were already critically ill and didn’t survive, the treatment cleared the virus in everyone else. The main difference was how badly the side effects lingered afterward.

That left the research institute with an impossible choice. After several rounds of discussion, they documented the results exactly as they were and submitted the report to the authorities.

They still didn’t have enough medicine. Every city had sent teams out to search for more of the two key herbs, but so far, no one had come back with anything useful.

Whether to use the safer treatment or stretch their limited supply far enough to treat more people wasn’t a decision the research institute could make alone. If there had been another option, no one would’ve chosen to leave anyone untreated.

Wesley didn’t sleep at all the night they submitted the report. By morning, he somehow looked older, and there seemed to be even more gray in his hair.

Nicole sat in their room, torn over what to do.

Zeph seemed to know exactly what was on her mind. He sat down beside her.

“We’re cured now. What are you going to do with the herbs you still have?”

When Nicole anonymously donated the herbs before, she had intentionally kept some in reserve instead of turning over everything she had.

It wasn’t because she distrusted Jasper or the research institute. Before they found a treatment that actually worked, there were bound to be plenty of failed experiments. Every failed batch could burn through more of those irreplaceable herbs.

Once those herbs were gone, there would be nothing left to do but wait to die.

That was exactly what happened in Zeph’s previous life. Wesley’s team went through one failed treatment after another until they ran out of options and had to venture out in search of more medicinal herbs.

Somehow, they got lucky. In the end, they found what they needed and finally developed an effective treatment.

But Nicole had never been able to forget how that life ended, especially the way Zeph died.

That was why she couldn’t make up her mind now.

She looked at him. “Do you think I should give them the rest, or keep some for ourselves?”

Zeph didn’t answer right away. After a moment, he said, “You grew those herbs yourself. If you give them away, that’s your choice. If you keep them, that’s your choice, too. Neither one is wrong.”

Then he continued, “But say the disasters eventually stop and life goes back to normal. What if we have kids someday? Who’s going to teach them? Who’s going to take care of them when they’re sick?

“You could teach them to read, practice medicine, and survive. But what if things keep getting worse and the population keeps shrinking?

“Entire fields of knowledge could disappear. A few generations from now, people might grow up without schools, books, or doctors and know little beyond basic survival. What kind of future would our children have in a world like that?”

1/2

+15 Bonus

Nicole immediately zeroed in on one thing. “You want kids?”

was just giving an example. If we make it through all this and you want kids someday, I’m fine with that. If you don’t, that’s fine, too. But we’re gonna get old eventually, and Poppy’s a lot younger than we are.

“If the disasters ever end, don’t you want to see the world rebuild? We could travel, see what survived, and figure out where we want to spend the rest of our lives.”

Nicole stayed quiet for a long time.

Finally, she nodded. “Let’s go back to Westbridge.”

There was no reason to leave the extra herbs sitting in her storage space, especially when she still had more growing.

They drove back to Westbridge that same night.

After more than a month, the smog had grown even thicker. They could barely see more than 30 feet ahead.

Once Nicole made sure no one was around, she covered her face completely and unloaded the herbs near the police station. Then, she held down the horn.

By the time officers rushed outside, the Hummer had already vanished into the haze.

The officers froze when they saw the huge piles of herbs, then hurried back inside.

“Chief Anderson, someone dropped off another shipment! The bags and the quality look just like the last batch. It might be the same donor. Should we send everything to Grayport right away?”

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