The Apocalypse Survival Manual (Three Days Before Doomsday, I Stockpiled Billions) novel Chapter 677

Nicole looked at the group thoughtfully.

Truthfully, she still hadn't decided where to go. Her first instinct was simply to get as far away from the coast and Mount Graypine as possible.

As long as she stayed with the people she cared about, the destination didn't matter much.

But over the past few years, Sven, Hughie, Jeremy, Marcus, and the other homeowners had all started looking to Villa 50 for direction, whether they admitted it or not.

That was probably why the Robinsons had spent years making an effort to stay on good terms with them. Marcus even made sure Nicole was one of the first people to hear that the satellite cluster had struck Mount Graypine.

That information almost certainly came through official channels. He told her because he wanted to see what she planned to do, then use her decision to help judge what was safest for his own family.

As long as they stayed in the neighborhood, it wasn't much of a problem. Once the gates to Villa 50 closed, no one knew what was hidden inside.

But leaving was different.

No one knew what they were about to run into. And if they faced a disaster no one could possibly fight against, what were they supposed to do then?

Nicole had worried about this in the back of her mind for years. She and Zeph had done everything they could to raise and train Poppy, but human nature was impossible to predict.

Poppy would grow up. One day, she might get married and have children of her own, with a partner and family she loved deeply.

If she were ever pushed into a situation she couldn't bear, would desperation turn into selfishness?

And now so many people were looking to Nicole for direction, all of them desperate to survive.

As long as no one was pushed too far, everyone could get along. They could help each other through hard times and share what they had.

But what would happen when it came down to who lived and who died?

During the smog disaster, Sven was willing to test medicine on himself for Brandon's sake. Maybe he wasn't afraid of dying, but there was no way he'd willingly let his son die.

Nicole trusted Jeremy and Hughie not to hurt her, but what if Beatrice or Diana's life was on the line? Would she really matter more to them than those women did?

When she first met Zeph, Jeremy and Hughie might've meant more to her than Zeph did.

But after years of surviving side by side, depending on each other through life-and-death situations, and building a life together, everything had changed.

If Nicole had to choose now, she knew exactly who she would choose.

So if she couldn't make that kind of sacrifice herself, she had no right to expect anyone else to.

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