The Apocalypse Survival Manual (Three Days Before Doomsday, I Stockpiled Billions) novel Chapter 826

Chapter 826

Zeph was already outside: Yelling at him wouldn’t help, so Nicole focused on getting them both through

this.

Then she remembered the tear gas.

She never collected any herself, but Zeph had a few canisters. He scavenged all sorts of supplies over the years. Nicole gave them a quick once-over before storing them in a corner of her space.

Since she wasn’t the one who gathered them, she barely remembered what was there. After nine years, the tear gas slipped her mind entirely.

She pulled out the canisters and handed two to Zeph. With two apiece, they sprayed frantically at the advancing swarm.

If this failed, they were out of options.

White clouds spread across the deck, and the bugs backed away. As soon as they retreated beyond the cloud, Zeph grabbed Nicole and rushed her toward the capsule.

She barely made it through the hatch before the swarm advanced again.

Before closing the hatch, Nicole reached out and pressed her palm against the yacht, pulling it into her

storage space.

As long as she remained outside the space, no other living creature could stay inside it.

The yacht vanished, and the bugs were immediately expelled. Thousands upon thousands fell into the ocean.

Without the deck beneath it, the escape capsule dropped toward the water. Nicole slammed the hatch shut just in time.

No one had time to buckle in. The capsule struck the surface with a heavy thud, tossing all four of them off their feet and leaving them dazed from the impact.

Nicole struggled to get up, aching all over. Then Poppy lunged toward her. “Nicole, watch out!”

A black bug crawled along Nicole’s arm, searching for a way under her clothes. Poppy grabbed it and crushed it in her hand.

Nicole’s stomach lurched. Even after watching the swarm race across the deck, she underestimated how quickly one could slip past them.

They checked their clothes, their bodies, and every corner of the capsule. They found no more bugs, but the close call left them shaken.

Out here, a single moment could cost them their lives.

Nicole took a bottle of iodine antiseptic from a storage compartment. “Poppy, let me clean your hand.”

Only then did she notice the blood.

“You’re hurt?” Nicole’s heart lurched as she took Poppy’s hand. The bug bit her when she crushed it.

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It was no bigger than a beetle, but its jaws were sharp enough to break the skin.

Zeph remembered what the creatures fed on, and his chest tightened He took his sister’s hand and squeezed around the bite, pressing blood from the wound.

Nicole cleaned and disinfected it, then applied a bandage.

Poppy’s face was pale. She clung to Zeph’s hand, her lips moving as though she wanted to say something, but no words came out.

Zeph pulled her close and gently stroked her hair.

Nicole felt sick at the sight. She never imagined the bugs would be this vicious, much less that Poppy would grab one with her bare hand.

“Poppy, tell me right away if you feel sick or anything starts to hurt.”

Poppy managed a small smile, trying to comfort her. “I’m okay, Nicole.”

The sailor from Sawyer’s submarine suffered no ill effects after a pirate’s sword cut him. Though the injuries were different, the memory gave Nicole a little reassurance.

The capsule bobbed on the water. Nicole looked through the window, but a seething layer of black insects blocked the view. They covered the glass and every inch of the outer shell.

She pulled on gloves and used tweezers to pick up the crushed insect.

It looked much like a beetle, except for the backward-facing hooks lining its mouth and wing casings that

seemed as hard as steel.