The Apocalypse Survival Manual (Three Days Before Doomsday, I Stockpiled Billions) novel Chapter 789

Chapter 789

Once everyone was full, Nicole and the rest headed back to the escape pod to sleep.

The next morning, they brushed their teeth, washed up, and set out a folding table for breakfast.

Nicole brought out a coffee pot and a small camp stove. Soon, the smell of fresh coffee drifted through the air.

She poured herself a cup. It was smooth and rich, with barely a hint of bitterness. ́

They took their time over breakfast. If it weren’t for the collapsed mountains and wreckage around them, they could almost pretend they were on vacation. The quiet made the ongoing disaster feel strangely distant.

As the aftershocks eased, Nicole set up a tent and saved the escape pod for emergencies.

Five days passed that way. They were comfortable enough, but they couldn’t let their guard down.

They were far from any city, with nothing but destruction around them and no way to know what was happening elsewhere.

Landslides and deep cracks cut across the terrain. Even with a vehicle, they couldn’t get anywhere.

Nicole always prepared for the worst. She wanted to see what was happening beyond their campsite so they could act fast if things changed.

She and Zeph talked it over and decided to take the helicopter. They called Poppy and Cola over from nearby.

Under the circumstances, neither wanted them out of sight.

They flew straight toward the coast to save time and fuel. The trip should’ve taken two hours, but they reached open water after only an hour and a half.

They weren’t flying any faster. The sea swallowed the coastal cities and pushed farther inland.

The tsunami was over, but the water kept rising.

Nicole couldn’t pinpoint their location, but judging by their speed and flight time, the sea now reached more than 60 miles inland.

Neither she nor Zeph expected it to happen so quickly. They barely spoke as they took it in.

For now, they could only deal with things as they came.

They turned the helicopter around and flew back to camp.

Both stayed quiet after they landed. It took the rest of the day for the dread to ease.

They still had to live, one day at a time. Being miserable wouldn’t give them any more time, and when the end finally came, they didn’t want to look back with regret.

So they ate well and enjoyed what they could.

Eventually, the aftershocks stopped. Nicole put the escape pod into the storage space and started checking the area around camp every day.

She wanted to watch for strangers and any changes in the terrain.

The four of them climbed to higher ground and surveyed the distance through binoculars.

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Chapter 789

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The elevation here gave them some time. Even if the sea kept swallowing land, it would take longer to reach them.

Then Nicole spotted a large group on the move.

Several thousand people trudged along with their heads down. Their clothes were ragged and caked with dirt, and many were injured. They barely seemed to have the strength to keep going.

From the direction they were taking, they seemed to be heading straight toward the campsite.

It made sense. The ground here was higher and still relatively stable.

Only the five major military regions had Ark Bases, but every state had government shelters. Nicole guessed these people were fleeing inland from the southeast.

There was no telling how far they walked already or how much farther they would have to go before finding somewhere to stay.

Maybe they would spend the rest of their lives searching and never find a place to call home.

Nicole watched from a distance, but she knew what they were going through.

Twelve years of disasters across two lifetimes left her numb. After everything she witnessed, she had little sympathy left to give. 1

Even with the storage space, she had no way of knowing if the disasters would ever end.

She kept her binoculars on the group three or four miles away. After a long silence, she said, “Maybe we should find somewhere else.”

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