The Apocalypse Survival Manual (Three Days Before Doomsday, I Stockpiled Billions) novel Chapter 810

Chapter 810

+15 Bonus

Luckily, Zeph hadn’t taught Poppy much about natural disasters. Still, he cringed at his own explanation.

“The currents around here are complicated. Another one probably pushed the storm away. We still need to be careful, though. It could come back, so we’re staying in the escape capsule today.”

Nicole pulled some boxed meals from her bag. “Let’s eat first. We need to keep our strength up.”

Poppy was smart, but she had led a sheltered life. Watching so many people go down with their ship, helpless against the storm, shook her so badly that she could barely eat.

Natural disasters were merciless, and she had to learn to live with them.

Zeph handed Poppy a cup of warm chamomile tea. “Try to get some rest.”

She drank it and closed her eyes, still holding tight to Zeph’s hand.

Late that night, she seemed to have a nightmare. She mumbled in her sleep, her body twitching as sweat beaded

on her forehead.

Nicole put the escape capsule away and moved everyone, including Poppy and Cola, into the submarine.

There wasn’t much room to move around, but at least they were relatively safe.

Zeph laid Poppy on a metal bunk and fastened the safety straps in case the storm was still raging when they left the storage space.

Nicole wasn’t about to risk their lives. “Storms at sea usually pass pretty quickly, but there’s no telling what we’ll find out there. We’ve only got one submarine. Let’s wait until morning.”

The storage space was hers, and Zeph had no objections.

Poppy wasn’t the only one shaken. Even with two lifetimes behind them, Nicole and Zeph had never faced anything at sea so sudden or terrifying.

They just had more experience getting themselves under control.

Once Poppy and Cola were settled, they went into the next cabin to sleep.

Worn out, they both fell into a deep sleep.

Inside the storage space, everything was calm and safe. Outside, wind and rain howled, lightning flashed, and thunder cracked overhead. Huge waves churned across the ocean as though they could tear the world apart.

Zeph set an alarm for 5 a.m.

Afraid the storm might still be raging, Nicole checked that her safety straps were tight.

The submarine returned to the ocean, where the storm had finally died down.

After all that fury last night, the sea was calm again, as if nothing had happened. Nicole could hardly believe it was the same ocean.

1/3

Chapter 810

+15 Bonus

She climbed the ladder, opened the hatch, and stepped out onto the deck.

At 5 a.m., the sky was just beginning to lighten.

The water lay smooth as glass, reflecting the first pink streaks along the horizon. The glow deepened as the sun

rose.

Nicole sat with her arms wrapped around her knees, watching the sunrise, her thoughts drifting.

The sunrise was as breathtaking as yesterday’s storm was terrifying. Nature could scare her speechless one moment and leave her unable to look away the next.

The morning air was damp, and Zeph worried she would get cold. He slipped off his jacket and draped it over her shoulders.

“What’s on your mind?”

“Do you think all the land is really gone?”

Nicole turned to him and rested her head on his shoulder. “Maybe a few places made it through, and no one’s found them yet.”

The ocean had a dangerous beauty, drawing people in with its mysteries even as it gave them every reason to keep their distance.

Nicole still preferred the reassurance of solid ground beneath her feet.

“Maybe some places are still out there.” Zeph sat beside her. “Even if they aren’t, we have those coordinates. We’ll set foot on land again someday.”

The thought of those coordinates gave Nicole a flicker of hope.

No one built artificial islands better than their country.

I

They might not be able to do it yet, but as long as the expertise and equipment survived, a return to land could still be possible.

P

Comments

Support

+2

Share

2/3