The Apocalypse Survival Manual (Three Days Before Doomsday, I Stockpiled Billions) novel Chapter 911

Chapter 911

“Nicole, you’re the best! Marcus said.

Nicole paused. “Well, you won’t leave me alone no matter what I do. I might as well be nice to you.”

He was good to her, after all. She could be nice to him once in a while.

“Hey, guess who I hung out with last night?” he asked.

Nicole didn’t seem particularly interested. “Some people from the southern base?”

“Yeah. Sawyer was there, too.”

Marcus sounded as relaxed as ever.

“A few guys brought friends and family. Apparently, one of them came over on a transport ship from Larkspur. He said they found a ghost ship out in the middle of nowhere, loaded with food and medicine.”

Nicole kept her face blank, but her heart skipped a beat.

At the time, she never imagined she would settle in Yorwick, Those people were stranded at sea, struggling to survive, and she had more supplies than she could ever use.

She never expected helping them to come back to haunt her.

Marcus went on in the same casual tone. “The guy got a little carried away talking and bit his tongue. Sawyer gave him some herbs to stop the bleeding.”

A chill went through Nicole.

Marcus patted his stomach, which was flat again. “I felt pretty bloated earlier, but walking around helped. I’m good now.”

He held her gaze for a moment, then waved. “Anyway, I’d better get back to hauling bricks. See you, Nicole.”

Nicole watched him walk away, too stunned to move.

She went over his words again and again before leaving to find Zeph.

It was almost lunchtime when she reached him. He looked surprised to see her. “What are you doing here?”

They always kept their work and personal lives separate. Nicole wouldn’t interrupt his workday unless something important came up.

She pulled him into a quiet corner, her expression tense. “Someone knows about my storage space.”

Zeph went still. “What happened?”

Nicole repeated everything Marcus told her about the gathering the night before. She had overlooked something that could put them all at risk.

Chapter OIL..

She could still explain the supplies she gave Sawyer. The trouble was everything she handed over to those two fishing boats.

There was no believable explanation for where that much food and medicine came from.

Plans changed with circumstances. If they hadn’t salvaged those containers from the ocean floor, they might never have considered coming to Yorwick.

Instead, a string of coincidences brought the wrong people together.

The Larkspur ship made it here safely, one of its crew members went to à gathering with some old acquaintances, and Sawyer happened to be there.

So was Marcus, who managed to put the pieces together.

If Marcus figured it out, Sawyer might have, too.

Killing everyone who knew wasn’t an option.

More than 500 people were aboard the Larkspur transport ship, and dozens attended the gathering last night. Nicole had no way of knowing how many of them knew enough to suspect something.

There were far too many.

Sawyer was a capable man, but he was honest to a fault. He might let something slip, or someone might get him talking before he realized what they were after.

A man as shrewd as Dale could probably get it out of him, even if Sawyer meant to keep quiet.

Marcus came to warn her today. That didn’t guarantee he would keep her secret forever.

Once people grew suspicious or decided they wanted what she had, they would start asking questions. They would follow every lead and keep testing her until they got the answers they wanted.

Nicole and Zeph both lived through two lifetimes. They knew what people were capable of.

If someone decided to take what Nicole had, whether it was one person or the base itself, denying it wouldn’t protect her.

They wouldn’t need proof. Believing she had something worth taking would be enough.

Neither of them wanted to imagine what would happen to her then.

Zeph’s expression darkened. He stayed quiet for a long moment before speaking. “We need to leave.”

He couldn’t risk her safety on the chance that everyone would keep quiet.

He had done more than his share for others in his previous life. This time, he would help when he could, but the people he loved came first.

Nicole stared at him, stunned by how quickly he made the decision.