The Apocalypse Survival Manual (Three Days Before Doomsday, I Stockpiled Billions) novel Chapter 691

The women were taken to another room and given half a bowl of water and one bun each.

They had gone days with barely any food or water, and their eyes lit up at the sight.

They rushed for it like starving animals, gulping down the water and shoving the cold, hard buns into their mouths. Whatever composure they once had was gone.

They ate too fast, forcing down bite after bite until some of them started coughing.

Poppy was still unconscious. When one woman noticed her untouched portion on the table, she immediately reached for it.

The woman who had been looking after Poppy shoved her back.

"Come on. We're all in the same situation."

The other woman muttered bitterly, "It's not like she's your daughter. You don't even know if you're gonna survive, and you're still worrying about her? Mind your own damn business."

The woman's expression turned cold. "You wanna find out how far I'll go?"

The others still looked unhappy, but something in her eyes shut them up. No one argued.

After getting some food and water, they slowly started to recover.

One woman asked nervously, "Why did they bring us here?"

No one answered.

The woman gave Poppy some water, then tore the bun into small pieces and fed them to her one at a time.

After letting them rest for about half an hour, the men took them to a bathing area.

"Clean yourselves up. If you behave later, you'll get plenty to eat and drink."

They shoved the women in one by one.

Water was water. The women barely had time to react before they started scooping it up with both hands and drinking desperately.

The men looked vicious, but so far, she hadn't seen any guns.

The cave system wasn't large. Before long, they were led into a chamber that looked almost like a living room. About eight men sat inside, tearing into bread, rice, cured meat, and sausage, with bottles of whiskey scattered across the table.

They ate like starving animals.

Zeph and Nicole had protected Poppy well, so she hadn't encountered many people like this before. Even so, one look was enough to tell her exactly what kind of men they were.

They might have looked human, but there was nothing human about them. They were cannibals.

As conditions got worse year after year, even robbing travelers stopped bringing in enough supplies. Eventually, these men turned to eating people just to survive.

The skeletal women locked in the cave were proof of what they had done.

The only reason they had meat and whiskey now was the sandstorm. They took advantage of the chaos to rob and abduct people, coming away with plenty of valuable supplies.

Poppy wasn't the only one who sensed the danger. The other women clearly did, too. No matter how tempting the food smelled, they trembled and pressed themselves as far back as they could.