The Apocalypse Survival Manual (Three Days Before Doomsday, I Stockpiled Billions) novel Chapter 914

Chapter 914

Nicole emptied the cruise ship of supplies, then used her storage space to move the containers they had salvaged from the seafloor onto its deck.

With plenty of time to spare, they settled in for a barbecue. Nicole, Zeph, and Poppy piled on the hot sauce, while Cola got his own share of plain meat.

The sauce was so hot that the three of them soon broke into a sweat.

Still, they kept eating. Even after everything that happened, they had no trouble putting away a good meal. By the time everyone was full, some of the weight of leaving lifted.

They could make a home somewhere else. Starting over was still possible.

Before they knew it, it was 7:30 p.m. Submarine 2688 slowly rose toward the surface as they checked the surrounding water through the periscope.

Around 7:40 p.m., once they were sure no one was nearby, they surfaced and opened the hatch. Nicole and Zeph put on their diving gear and slipped into the water.

They swam well clear of the submarine before Nicole brought the cruise ship out of her storage space.

The huge vessel displaced a wall of water, sending waves surging outward and sweeping them both away.

Zeph caught hold of Nicole and helped her out of the churning water. Once the waves subsided, they swam back to the submarine, where Poppy threw them a rope and helped them aboard.

They descended to periscope depth and watched the cruise ship from a distance.

Around 8 p.m., powerful searchlights swept across the water.

Nicole watched through the periscope until she confirmed the approaching boat belonged to Yorwick, patrol. Only then did she relax.

There was nothing left to keep them here.

“Captain, unidentified cruise ship ahead.”

“Signal them.”

“Three attempts, sir. No response.”

“Sound the horn. Let’s get a closer look.”

As the patrol boat approached, the crew spotted shipping containers on the cruise ship’s deck through their binoculars. Their size and markings looked familiar.

“Captain, I think those containers are ours.”

The captain frowned. The base hadn’t sent out any cargo shipments lately, and certainly wouldn’t have

Chapter 914

scheduled one at night.

They kept hailing the cruise ship and warning anyone aboard to respond. Nothing came back.

The soldiers boarded with their weapons ready, moving swiftly but carefully as they searched the ship.

“Captain, the containers are ours. We’ve checked the whole ship. No one’s aboard.”

The captain stared at the vessel for a moment, then went aboard himself.

He swept his flashlight over the containers and stopped at the identification numbers stenciled on their sides. His eyes widened.

He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. These were the containers that sank months ago.

Senior officers had met to discuss recovering them, but the base lacked the equipment for a salvage operation that deep. In the end, they abandoned the idea.

Now the missing containers sat on the deck of a cruise ship.

Recovering cargo from that depth was far beyond anything an ordinary survivor could manage.

The ship itself was spotless, with none of the wear he had expected after months at sea.

He couldn’t account for any of it. A ship full of lost cargo seemed to materialize out of nowhere, and for a moment, he wondered if he was dreaming.

He slapped his own face three times before anyone could stop him, hard enough to leave his cheek red and swelling.

His men hurried over and caught his arm. “Captain! What are you doing?”

His cheek stung fiercely. He was definitely awake.

He wasn’t dreaming. Somehow, a cruise ship had appeared out of nowhere with the containers they lost to the ocean months ago.