The Apocalypse Survival Manual (Three Days Before Doomsday, I Stockpiled Billions) novel Chapter 909

Chapter

Chapter 909

Zeph stared at Nicole, too flustered to answer.

They fell asleep in each other’s arms. That night, Nicole dreamed of the world before the disasters. Across a crowd, she and Zeph spotted each other at the same moment.

They smiled and began making their way toward each other.

Then the alarm ruined it.

Nicole sat up, groggy but still smiling from the dream. A moment later, she hurried out of bed to get ready.

They dropped Poppy off at work, then caught the ferry to Platform A.

During the ride, Nicole grew restless, unable to shake a creeping sense of unease.

Zeph noticed. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m not sure.” She shook her head. “I just have a bad feeling.”

She couldn’t shake the feeling that something was about to go wrong.

Ten years of disasters had exposed her to more violence and death than she cared to remember, but this unease felt different.

She tried to explain, then stopped. She had no idea how to put it into words.

When they got off the ferry, another ship was unloading at the dock. Survivors stepped into the bitter cold, wrapped in thin, worn-out clothes.

Despite the weather, their faces held a cautious hope. At last, they could get off the ship and stand on something solid.

They hoped Yorwick would give them a home and an end to years of wandering.

Nicole and Zeph said goodbye and headed to work.

The hospital was quiet that morning. Once Nicole finished her rounds, she went to help in the herb- growing area,

Around 10 a.m., a nurse rushed over.

“Dr. Floyd! Emergency from Platform F. She’s in critical condition!”

Platform F housed survivors with severe mental illnesses, physical abnormalities, or both.

Effective treatments were still a distant prospect, but Mitchell kept working on his research. He hoped they would eventually find medicine that could help.

An administrator from the platform accompanied the patient.

1/2

The patient was soaked in blood, with stab wounds across her body and her intestines exposed through a wound in her abdomen. She was barely alive.

Even with so little time to spare, Nicole put on her protective suit before going near her.

The woman was little more than skin and bones, Starvation left her almost unrecognizable, buckner patient attacked her during recreation time, suddenly turning violent and stabbing her more than a dozen times.

Deep wounds covered her arms, legs, and abdomen. The attack was relentless, clearly intended to Kill.

Nicole examined her, then shook her head,

“She’s lost too much blood. Her intestines are perforated, and there’s a severe infection in her abdomen. She needed treatment sooner. With what we have here, we can’t safe her.”

They couldn’t give her a transfusion, and they lacked the equipment she needed.

“N-Nicole…”

The woman stirred, barely conscious, and turned her eyes toward Nicole.

“Help… Help me. 1-I’m…”

Nicole recognized the voice, Irene.

Without it, she never would’ve known who lay on the bed.

“I’m sorry. She’s not well mentally,”

The administrator sounded irritated, unaware of the connection between them.