The Apocalypse Survival Manual (Three Days Before Doomsday, I Stockpiled Billions) novel Chapter 649

Chapter 649

The moment Nicole pushed open Howard’s door, she nearly did a double take.

“What happened to you?”

The chubby man she remembered was gone. He had lost so much weight that he was practically skin and bones, and his face was covered in bruises.

Nicole could only conclude that Howard really wasn’t cut out for chasing another man’s woman.

This went way beyond heartbreak. The guy looked like he’d had the life sucked out of him.

When Howard just sat there without moving, Nicole almost reached over to check his pulse. “If you’re still alive, say something.”

Howard took a deep breath. “Thanks. Still alive.”

Since they needed to talk in private, Nicole gave Zeph a look, and he stepped outside.

She pulled over a chair and sat across from Howard. “Cigarette or whiskey?”

Howard blinked. “C-Cigarette.”

Nicole pulled an old pack from her bag and lit one for him. She gave him a helpless look.

“You can barely keep yourself fed, and you’re already worrying about romance?”

Unrequited romance, at that.

Howard let out a bitter laugh. “I didn’t expect to fall for someone in the middle of the apocalypse either.”

“Forget her. Focus on staying alive first.” Nicole had never been good at comforting people. “If she had feelings for you, she wouldn’t have made it clear she only saw you as a brother.”

Howard smoked three cigarettes in a row. “Yeah.”

“You can barely feed yourself. Even if she wanted to be with you, how were you supposed to support her and her kid?”

Howard sucked in a sharp breath. “I’m still your teacher, you know. Do you have to keep twisting the knife?”

It wasn’t until Nicole came to the research institute that she learned they had finally solved the shortage of medicinal ingredients.

Despite his age, Wesley kept working on the formula and eventually developed a new version. By adding several other herbs, they could use far less wyrmleaf and catalyne without making the medicine any less effective.

That was one of the strengths of herbal medicine. Even for the same illness, there were countless ways to combine different herbs. One change to the formula suddenly stretched their limited supply into enough medicine to save far more people.

Nicole’s respect for Wesley grew even deeper. There was no telling how many people were still alive because of him.

Since getting there hadn’t been easy, Nicole decided to make the most of the trip. With Mitchell’s introduction, she spent some time learning from the institute’s herbal medicine preparation team.

She didn’t want to leave Cola home alone for too long, so they still had to head back that day.

By the time they returned to the neighborhood, it was already evening. The second Nicole saw what was happening outside the gate, she nearly lost it.

Did those two damn dogs think they were human, or did they just not think humans counted as people?

They had ripped the thief’s clothes into strips and were having the time of their lives messing with him, like two cats playing with a mouse.

Killing someone was one thing. Toying with him like this was something else entirely. Those two were completely out of control.