The Apocalypse Survival Manual (Three Days Before Doomsday, I Stockpiled Billions) novel Chapter 804

Chapter 804

Chapter 804

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As the wind picked up, Poppy and Cola stretched and exercised on deck. Neither forgot how cramped the escape pod felt, and they made the most of the chance to move around.

“A bat!” Poppy cried as an enormous creature burst out of the water.

Zeph looked over. A sea creature with a white belly and black back glided just above the distant waves.

“That’s a manta ray,” he told her. “The big ones can weigh several thousand pounds. Their ancestors go back millions of years…”

Poppy quickly pulled out her phone to take pictures.

Nicole scanned the ocean through her binoculars and spotted a fleet of sailboats about three nautical miles away.

Sailboat was a generous description. Each was a raft made from a dozen or so huge logs lashed together, with a wooden mast and a cloth sail. Makeshift shelters stood among piles of supplies. (1)

The men aboard had very dark skin, but they were too far away for Nicole to make out much else or guess where they came from.

There were several dozen of them. Judging by the sunburn peeling from their faces and limbs, they spent a long time out at sea.

Nicole watched carefully. She saw no women or children, only young and middle-aged men, all armed.

They carried knives, guns, axes, pitchforks, and long-bladed spears. They didn’t look like a group anyone would

want to cross.

Trusting strangers these days could get you killed.

Nicole passed Zeph the binoculars. “Looks like we’re headed their way.”

He took a look. “Wanna steer clear?”

With the land underwater, borders didn’t mean much anymore. Everyone shared the same ocean.

Nicole wasn’t looking for a fight. “Yeah. Let’s go around.”

With Zeph talking her through it, novice captain Nicole turned the yacht 90 degrees and took them a little over 10 nautical miles off course. She only stopped after scanning the ocean through her binoculars and finding no sign of trouble.

By nightfall, the wind and waves grew stronger, rocking the yacht like a cradle with all four of them inside. 1

It did nothing to lull them to sleep. If anything, it kept them wide awake.

A huge wave could crash over them in the middle of the night.

Nicole wasted no time swapping the yacht for a cruise ship. The much larger vessel rode so steadily that they barely felt the waves.

Poppy woke from a nap to find herself on a cruise ship. It was enormous, bigger even than the ones she saw on

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She didn’t know what to make of it, but she wasn’t asking. No way. (19

Cola took it in stride. Nicole had brought him aboard to play before. There was even a pool on deck. A few laps would be just the thing after a meal.

Nicole wasn’t indulging him. Filling a pool that size would use far too much fresh water.

Instead, she brought out plenty of planters to give him and Poppy something to do.

Over the years, Poppy became a pretty good cook, and she developed quite a knack for gardening as well. With Cola beside her, she happily dug into the soil, planted seeds, and watered them.

Having something to do made all the difference. Both perked right up.

Cola also raced and leaped around the ship, pestering Zeph until he hung up his rope. He could jump ten feet, grab it in his teeth, and hang there swaying in the sea breeze. 1

Poppy wanted to raise poultry along with her vegetables, but Zeph shut that down.

“It’s too dangerous out here. What if you hatch them and the fish get them?”

The fish weren’t the real problem. Nicole vetoed the idea.

She had plenty of fertilized eggs in her storage space, but life at sea was too unpredictable. If trouble came, they wouldn’t have time to round up a flock of birds.

They might have to switch vessels without warning, and there was no way they could squeeze chickens, ducks, and geese into the escape pod with them. 1

Nicole winced just thinking about the smell.

One day, she was heading back to her room after sunbathing when the roar of a plane sounded overhead.

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