The Apocalypse Survival Manual (Three Days Before Doomsday, I Stockpiled Billions) novel Chapter 688

"Don't kill you?"

Nicole pressed the tip of her sword against Gavin's gunshot wound and slowly pushed it in.

"After all these years in the apocalypse, hasn't anyone taught you not to mess with a woman who still looks this good?"

The blade sank deeper. Gavin screamed, then quickly went still before he could say anything else.

Nicole glanced toward the blurry figure disappearing into the blowing sand, pulled on a pair of windproof goggles, and went after him.

Blood poured from Steven's wound. He stumbled, collapsed, and watched helplessly as Nicole closed in. He was standing right behind her earlier and saw her pull something out of thin air with his own eyes.

He scrambled backward in terror. "Don't come any closer!"

"Scared now?" Nicole smiled and raised her bloodstained sword. "You didn't seem scared a minute ago."

In his panic, Steven blurted out without thinking, "Y-You have a storage space!"

The thought filled him with bitter resentment. He had spent the past few years living worse than a rat, while someone else got lucky enough to have a storage space. If he had that kind of advantage, the situation would have been completely reversed.

Nicole smiled, her voice almost gentle. "I was going to finish you off with one strike, but now I don't think that's enough."

With that, she drove the blade into his chest, then stabbed him several more times.

If someone was that determined to get themselves killed, Nicole had no reason to hold back.

Steven was dead, his eyes still wide open.

The encounter taught Nicole a lesson. The wind and sand were finally starting to ease, which meant she was much more likely to run into other people from now on.

She couldn't keep waiting. At least, not out in the open. Otherwise, Zeph might not be the one who found her.

Another group like these men might get to her first.

Even ordinary survivors couldn't be trusted blindly. After days trapped in a sandstorm with barely any food or water, anyone pushed far enough could become dangerous.

Still, she needed some way to let Zeph know she was here.

The cave looked almost like a makeshift prison. About seven women in torn, filthy clothes sat or lay nearby, all of them painfully thin and exhausted.

They weren't tied up, but their bodies were covered in injuries, and there was barely any life in their eyes.

Poppy tried to remember what had happened over the past few days and frowned. Worry crept into her eyes.

She had no idea what happened to Zeph, Nicole, or Cola.

Zeph had grabbed her hand, but the wall of wind hit them so hard that it tore her away.

Poppy was swept into the storm, spinning higher and higher before the wind hurled her through the air and slammed her back to the ground.

When she woke up, yellow sand had almost buried her completely.

Her whole body hurt. She had injuries everywhere, and the pain in her ribs was so sharp that she could barely breathe.

Worst of all, she couldn't see.