The Apocalypse Survival Manual (Three Days Before Doomsday, I Stockpiled Billions) novel Chapter 66

Chapter 66

Nicole might look young, but she was ruthless.

People from the eighth and twelfth floors were her classmates, and she still broke one girl’s ribs and sliced her hair. The guy had it worse. He got bitten by a dog, then stabbed. They carried him to the hospital this morning.

She wasn’t someone you should mess with. Not at all.

Oliver’s group came back around the same time, covered in grime, empty-handed except for some firewood.

Every place worth searching had already been picked clean. Even moldy bread was gone.

They glanced at the 18th floor’s haul and could only sigh.

They lived in the same building, but had totally different lives.

As soon as Nicole stepped onto the 18th floor, Cola burst out of Beatrice’s apartment and threw himself at her, whining nonstop.

He seemed like he was calling Nicole a liar. She said she wouldn’t leave him!

Poppy ran over as well, hugging her around the waist.

“Nicole, Cola and I were really good today!”

Nicole laughed, about to tease Zeph about his sweet little sister abandoning him, when Poppy suddenly ran past her and jumped onto him instead.

“Zeph, I missed you!”

Same routine as always. Everyone gathered in Hughie’s place to divide things up.

When Beatrice heard about the pig, she was thrilled at first, then worried.

“The fridge doesn’t work. How are we supposed to store all this?”

Half a pig was a lot. There was no way they could finish it in a few days.

Zeph spoke up. “I’ve got a car fridge that runs on USB. It should hold the meat, but charging is slow with limited light. It’ll barely keep up.”

A car fridge…

Nicole suddenly remembered she had a few in storage. “I think the landlord had one, too. I’ll check his place later.”

That solved storage for her and Zeph, but Hughie’s group’s share couldn’t just sit there and spoil.

Jeremy scratched his head. “Why don’t you two eat from ours first?”

Nicole didn’t mind, but even then, they couldn’t finish it all.

“Cut off the fat and render it into lard,” she said. “We’ll do camp stew tonight. Whatever’s left, salt it and preserve it.”

With the weather cooling down from the rain, it should last a few days.

Jeremy was already drooling. “What about lunch?”

1/4

+15 Bonus

“You guys go ahead. I need to head out again and see if I can find some dog food or something for Cola.”

Hughie frowned. “Want us to come with you?”

“No. You guys deal with the meat.” She paused, then added, “When you render the fat, don’t mix in the skin. And watch out for splatter.”

Zeph stayed nearby, quietly learning.

Back in her place, Nicole grabbed a quick meal, a simple stir-fried pork over rice, just enough to fill her up. Then/ she treated Cola’s wounds again before getting ready to head out.

Cola grabbed onto her pant leg, accusing her of abandoning him again.

Nicole rubbed his head. “Be good. I’ll be back. I’m going to find us more meat.”

The pig they had caught had drifted down from somewhere upstream. She remembered there was a large pig farm upriver. If that was where the pig came from, there had to be more.

The upstream area had connected hills. The pigs might’ve swum there to escape.

She didn’t have much pork stocked, and now she had Cola to feed, too.

It was worth checking.

She wanted to move fast, but Cola refused to let her leave.

In the end, she took him with her. After all, a dog’s instincts were better than hers when it came to tracking.

Cola didn’t have a raincoat, so she grabbed a plastic bag, cut a few holes in it, and pulled it over his head.

It looked ridiculous. Nicole bit back a laugh and even snapped a photo.

Then they headed out together, riding the motorboat toward Mount Westbridge.

The mountain wasn’t tall. At its base was Westbridge Park, once full of lakes and scenic spots. Now, it was all

underwater.

Nicole found a quiet spot to dock and stored the boat away into her storage space.

Stone steps and paved paths led up the mountain. To save energy, she chose the paved road, keeping an eye on the

sides as she climbed.

In the brush, she spotted pig droppings, not yet washed away by the rain.

Nicole smiled. She had guessed right.

They kept going, when Cola suddenly barked and tried to charge ahead. Nicole quickly covered his mouth.

“Quiet. No noise.”

Cola understood instantly. He lowered his body, tail down and eyes sharp, moving silently forward.

Not far ahead, a pavilion came into view.

Nicole raised her binoculars. She saw 12 pigs huddled inside, taking shelter from the rain.

Pigs were omnivores. They could survive on plants, but these had clearly been here a while. They had lost most of

their fat.

2/4

+15 Bgnus

The pigs noticed her but didn’t panic much.

A few nudged each other, like they considered leaving, but in the end, they stayed.

The storage space couldn’t hold living things, so Nicole pulled out her high-powered stun baton, ready to take them down with a few quick shocks.

She stepped into the pavilion and went for the closest one.

It dropped instantly.

The rest panicked and scattered.

Cola shot forward, cutting them off and driving them back. Any that didn’t listen got bitten.

The whole thing turned into a chaotic chase between a human, a dog, and a bunch of pigs in the rain.

Nicole drove the pigs while Cola blocked them.

The pigs had nowhere to go. In under 15 minutes, all 12 were down. Nicole made sure each one was dead before storing them.

She looked at Cola, impressed.

“Not bad.”

She rewarded him with a chicken drumstick.

“Let’s keep going. Stock up enough pork for a lifetime, then we eat well every day.”

“Woof!”

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