The Apocalypse Survival Manual (Three Days Before Doomsday, I Stockpiled Billions) novel Chapter 87

Chapter 87

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Chapter 87

It took two days, but all seven water tanks were finally installed.

Hughie and Jeremy got three, while Nicole and Zeph each took two. Turn the faucet, and water came right out.

Nicole still used water from her storage space, but she made a show of using the tanks every day.

Before they knew it, the flooding had lasted two months.

The second batch of hydroponic vegetables had already been planted. Snowy looked like she was pregnant again, and the first litter of rabbits had grown to over a pound each.

Beatrice couldn’t sit still. As soon as her injury improved, she started heading out again.

Nicole, on the other hand, got lazier by the day. She turned down every outing and fully settled into staying in.

Even Zeph, who used to run nonstop, slowed down. Aside from daily dog training, he spent about two hours sparring with Nicole, then moved on to cooking.

He was excellent at almost everything. Cooking just wasn’t one of them. With Nicole guiding him, his food improved, but “good” was about as far as it went.

“Not bad,” Nicole said. “Congrats, you’ve graduated.”

It felt a little dishonest, but she really wanted to keep the good stuff to herself. She had plenty of great food in her storage space, but she couldn’t exactly pull it out in front of Zeph.

Zeph didn’t say much, just handed her a walkie-talkie. “If anything comes up, use this.”

Nicole blinked, surprised. She hadn’t even thought to stock something like that. Maybe she had never expected to actually team up with anyone.

“Thanks.”

This made things a lot easier. No more knocking on doors and waiting around.

After that, Zeph didn’t come by.

Nicole and Cola went all out on a barbecue feast, washing it down with soda. It felt incredible.

The next morning, the walkie-talkie crackled to life.

“Nicole.” Zeph’s voice came through. “Are you teaching Poppy today?”

“Yeah. Around ten.”

“Why not come over?” he said. “While Poppy’s working on her assignments, I can teach you some infiltration techniques.”

Nicole’s interest spiked immediately.

This was serious combat stuff, built for silent takedowns, whether it was slipping in from behind to cut a throat, striking the windpipe with a sharp blow, snapping a neck, or rushing in to pin someone down and finish them before they could make a sound.

The kind of skills that decided life or death.

Her living room wasn’t really big enough for that, anyway.

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Chooter 87

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“Alright,” she said without hesitation.

Infiltration training meant close contact, involving direct contact and takedowns.

Zeph spread out a crash mat on the floor and started with the first move Nicole had seen the other day, a neck twist.

He stepped in behind her, closing the distance in a flash. One hand reached for her slender neck, the other settling along the side of her jaw.

A sharp, overwhelming presence hit her, and Nicole reacted on instinct, ready to fight back. But he was already close, sweeping the back of her knee as he stepped in. One hand locked onto her neck, the other braced along her jaw. With the slightest twist, he could have snapped it.

The sudden sense of danger dragged her straight back to the edge of death in her past life.

She couldn’t die, not like that. Not at the hands of those cannibals.

Nicole was just about to strike when a voice came from above her.

“Don’t be scared. I’m not going to hurt you.”

It was calm, steady, and certain.

She forced herself to breathe, pushing those memories away.

When she came back to herself, Zeph was pointing out the structure of her neck, guiding her attention.

“Focus. Don’t drift.”

The past still clung to her. Even now, she couldn’t fully shake her discomfort with physical contact.

Nicole took a few slow breaths, grounding herself.

This wasn’t then. This was training. The stronger she became, the less anyone could ever push her around again.

Zeph had noticed something was off the last time, too. He pulled his hands back.

“I didn’t mean to overstep.’

“It’s not you,” Nicole said. “That’s on me.”

She steadied herself, forcing a small, stiff smile. “Again.”

Everything had changed. She had a second chance.

This time, Zeph walked her through it more slowly, showing her where to place her hands and how to apply force. He demonstrated the motion, just enough pressure to make the point without actually hurting her.

Then, they switched roles.

Nicole tried to mirror the move, but Zeph was too tall. Reaching his neck properly felt impossible.

She was about five-foot-five, not short by any means, but he had at least a head on her.

Zeph grabbed a folding stool and sat down. “Try now.”

It was the first time Nicole had touched a man so carefully and deliberately. Her fingers traced along the bones of his neck as she tried to find the right spot.

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