The Apocalypse Survival Manual (Three Days Before Doomsday, I Stockpiled Billions) novel Chapter 88

Chapter 88

Nicole missed the spot.

Zeph caught her wrist and shifted it slightly. “Here.”

His jawline was sharp and easy to get a grip on. Both hands had to work together.

Nicole had studied anatomy. Once she pushed past the mental block, she focused completely, working over Zeph’s neck for nearly half an hour.

Poppy finished her homework and opened the door. Cola darted out right behind her.

Seeing Nicole grabbing and twisting Zeph’s neck, the dog instantly got excited. “Woof!”

He lunged forward and bumped into Zeph, as if saying, “Me next! Twist mine!”

“Can you even do that to a dog?” Nicole asked.

“Yeah,” Zeph said.

With Cola constantly interrupting, there was no way to continue. Zeph crouched down and reached for Cola’s neck.

Cola’s instincts kicked in immediately. He bared his teeth, sensing something off.

Zeph’s tone turned firm. “Attention.”

Cola snapped into position, following the command, but his body was tense.

The second Nicole touched him, though, he melted. He went as limp as water, his tongue hanging out, leaning all over her. He seemed to be begging her to keep going.

Something about this dog was off.

Nicole picked him up and carried him to Beatrice’s place, shutting him in there for now.

Cola mattered, but so did time. She needed to get stronger, fast.

This was the apocalypse. People in the building and outside, more and more of them were breaking under

pressure.

If she wanted to survive, she had to stay ahead of that.

Training resumed.

Nicole picked up the different neck control techniques quickly, adapting to each variation. She learned fast, building off each move.

Afterward, she brought Cola back. She ate a quick plate of fried rice, then sat on the couch with a diagram of the human skeleton spread out in front of her.

Where to strike for a clean kill.

Which points would shut down the body instantly.

Which spots would leave someone weak and unable to fight back.

These were the moves that decided everything.

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hapter 56

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“Woof!”

Nicole snapped out of it.

Cola was sulking. He refused to eat his kibble and had his back turned to her.

“Hey, who pissed you off?” Nicole set the diagram aside and pulled the dog into her arms. “You’re the cutest dog in the world!”

Cola huffed and turned his head away, acting offended.

Nicole rubbed his head for a while, then brought out a drumstick to coax him. Only then did Cola forgive her, leaning his neck toward her again, inviting her to twist it.

That was when Nicole realized what he was upset about.

What a jealous dog!

“Cola, no matter who I’m with or what I’m doing, you’ll always be the most important one to me.”

Dogs like this needed reassurance.

Nicole hugged him tighter. “Things are only going to get harder. The 18th floor isn’t some safe haven. I know you want to get stronger to protect me, but I wanna get stronger to protect you, too. Let’s both get stronger, okay? We look out for each other.”

Cola tilted his head, not fully understanding.

Then he blinked and placed a paw on her hand.

Good dog.

Nicole rewarded him with a sausage.

That afternoon, Zeph trained Cola for four hours straight. Biting drills, tackles, climbing the stairs back and forth, 80 laps in total.

By the end, Cola collapsed in his bed, his tongue hanging out, completely spent.

With her understanding of the human body and pressure points, learning infiltration techniques became second nature to Nicole.

Even Zeph was surprised. He had never seen someone pick things up this fast.

In just a few days, she had everything down. During sparring, she would even slip the techniques in unexpectedly, forcing him to stay sharp the whole time.

Zeph didn’t hold anything back. Along with infiltration, he taught her striking and close combat.

Especially close combat.

They grappled on the mats, twisting into each other, neither willing to give ground.

It was a fight.

Both of them were competitive, both pushing hard.

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