The Apocalypse Survival Manual (Three Days Before Doomsday, I Stockpiled Billions) novel Chapter 704

Nicole had finally found Zeph.

There was no time to fall apart. She took both Zeph and Cola into her storage space.

The darkness disappeared, replaced by light so bright that it almost hurt her eyes.

Only then did Nicole get a clear look at Zeph. His sharp, handsome features were gone, replaced by a pale, gaunt face and skeletal frame. He was so thin that he barely looked like himself, and each breath came weak and uneven.

Nicole's hands shook as she examined him. His lower back was badly injured, and a deep wound on his leg had started to rot. Maggots crawled inside it.

He was covered in injuries, yet he had used the medicine on Cola instead. He stitched Cola's wound and gave Cola the better chance of surviving.

Even with his back so badly injured that he could barely move, he had still fought off people who tried to kill Cola for food.

Nicole couldn't imagine how he had survived the past two weeks.

She gave him glucose water, medicine, and an injection, then pulled out her medical kit and started cleaning the wound on his thigh.

After numbing the area, she carefully cut away the dead tissue, cleaned the wound, and stitched it closed.

She might not have thought twice about cutting away dead tissue from anyone else, but this was Zeph. The infection could kill him at any moment, and the hand holding the scalpel wouldn't stop shaking.

He had survived like this for more than ten days. That alone was a miracle. Most people would've died long ago.

Maybe he held on because he wanted to bring Cola back to her himself.

Nicole's eyes burned, and she forced herself to take several deep breaths. Once she finished treating his external injuries, she turned her attention to his badly injured back.

Outside the room, Cola kept whining, the sound full of guilt and distress.

It took Nicole several hours to clean and treat all of Zeph's injuries. His fever kept rising and falling, and at one point, even his heartbeat became unstable.

She immediately started emergency treatment and gave him an epinephrine injection.

Her hand hesitated before she did it.

She wasn't a trained doctor. She had learned a lot from Wesley and Mitchell, but most of her training was in alternative medicine.

Still, if she did nothing, Zeph wouldn't make it. She had no other choice.

"Zeph, you have to hold on. You have me, Poppy, and Cola. You can't leave us."

She gripped his hand and kept calling to him.

Cola had gotten so used to pain that it barely seemed to bother him anymore. His bright eyes kept shifting between Zeph and Nicole.

Nicole stroked his head. "Cola, thank you for staying with him."

When Zeph still didn't wake up, Cola let out another mournful whine and stayed beside Nicole to keep watch.

Thinking about everything Cola had been through made Nicole's heart ache. She gently rubbed his head.

"Go to sleep. I'll watch over both of you this time."

Cola understood. He finally closed his eyes and rested.

By the middle of the night, Zeph's condition had finally stabilized, and Cola still hadn't developed a fever. Only then did Nicole let her heavy eyes close.

She had no idea how long she had been asleep when something nudged her awake.

"Woof!"

It was Cola. He sounded urgent, and his tail wagged wildly.