The Apocalypse Survival Manual (Three Days Before Doomsday, I Stockpiled Billions) novel Chapter 910

Chapter 910

The administrator sighed when Nicole asked about Irene’s injuries.

“Everyone on Platform F has both physical and mental health problems. None of them are entirely stable. More keep arriving, and we still haven’t found a better way to care for them.”

Even with their illnesses, some residents knew how to single out people who couldn’t defend themselves. The more aggressive ones often went after women or anyone frail.

The staff tried to keep watch, but they couldn’t be everywhere or see every attack coming. Rules, counseling, and efforts to teach residents how to manage their behavior did little to prevent the violence.

There was a disciplinary unit, but punishment accomplished little when someone couldn’t control their

actions.

Irene was among the worst affected.

Men and women alike targeted her, and the staff stepped in countless times. Once lucid, her attackers often apologized, only to lash out again during another episode.

The administrator found Irene’s passivity frustrating. Aside from repeating Nicole’s name, she mostly endured the abuse without protest.

After several conversations with her, he suspected her mental health problems were less severe than they first appeared. If she cooperated with treatment, he believed she might improve enough to move to

Platform E.

Residents there mainly needed care for physical illnesses. Their psychiatric symptoms were milder, and they were expected to work for their food.

With Irene, though, nothing was that simple.

Even at the base, vulnerable people became targets. The administrator couldn’t imagine accepting repeated abuse without fighting back. In her place, he felt he would’ve resisted, even at the risk of his own life.

With so little left to lose, he doubted fear would’ve stopped him.

Irene had spent her life avoiding problems and waiting for someone else to solve them. She considered herself clever, but repeatedly made poor choices and placed her hopes in other people.

She wouldn’t take responsibility for herself, yet expected someone to step in and save her without wanting anything in return. The administrator believed that dependence was part of what brought her to this point.

He kept those judgments to himself. They weren’t things he could say in his professional capacity.

Nicole listened, her expression unchanged.

The gaunt woman on the bed looked nothing like the pampered Irene she remembered.

Irene had spent her whole life searching for someone to lean on.

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Chapter 910-

Nicole couldn’t make sense of her.

Irene never wanted Nicole. She left her at an orphanage soon after birth, ignored her for more than a decade, and later tried to kill Nicole to protect herself.

Yet Nicole was the one she kept calling for.

Camila was the daughter she cherished. Arthur was the man she loved. Nicole couldn’t understand why she wasn’t asking for them instead.

She watched in silence as Irene struggled for each breath.

Irene reached toward her, straining to close the distance, but her hand never touched Nicole. Through the blood on her face, she tried to smile.

“N-Nicole… I’m sorry. I-I hurt you.

Her arm dropped. Her eyes stayed open, but she was gone.

In those last moments, memories of her life gave way to a vision of what it might have been.

It unfolded like a beautiful dream. She kept her baby and held on to the hope that the man she loved would

come back.

And he did.

They welcomed their daughter, got married, and built a happy life together, just the three of them.

Her last regrets were for Nicole and Arthur. She wished she could tell them both how sorry she was.

She was brave enough to fall in love, but when loving him became difficult, she couldn’t hold on.

She wanted everything and ended up with nothing.

Even the things she gained along the way never gave her what she truly wanted.

The hospital staff knew what to do when a patient died. Nicole looked at Irene one last time, then turned

away.