Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 291 - Chapitre 300

As the heat dragged on, the floodwaters dropped faster by the day. Survivors who had spent months hiding indoors finally started coming out around dawn and dusk.To protect their secret, Nicole stopped going out altogether.After days of leaving before dawn and returning late at night, the exhaustion finally caught up with her. She rested for several days before she started feeling human again.Sitting in front of the cooling fan and eating frozen watermelon, Nicole started thinking about Hughie's group and how to get them safely to Halloway.Eventually, she pulled out a large batch of fresh vegetables from the storage space and handed them over to Hughie and Jeremy."Spread these out on the balcony and dry them," she said. "I just harvested them. Once they're done, seal them up tight and save them for later."Hughie stared at the vegetables, visibly touched. "You're giving us all this? What about you and Zeph?""The seeds belonged to all of us in the first place," she replied c

Fortunately, Hughie's group could handle themselves, and they weren't walking around unarmed. Nobody managed to take advantage of them.As the floodwaters dropped to knee level, Zeph finally stopped sitting on the sidelines and started going out with Hughie's group to look for vehicles. If they waited much longer, most of the remaining cars would be stripped for parts or damaged beyond repair.They weren't the only ones moving quickly.City crews had already begun large-scale recovery work. Excavators and drilling rigs appeared throughout the area. Some teams were digging wells, while others started building public restroom facilities. Everything moved with surprising efficiency, as if the entire recovery process had already been planned long ago.Under the relentless heat, water evaporated at an unbelievable speed. The thick layers of sludge covering Crownview Residences dried and cracked apart within a single day.At noon, temperatures climbed to 127 degrees. Standing outsid

Weasel crossed out several items on the list immediately. "The rest I can get, but it'll take time.""How long?" Nicole asked."About five days." He paused before adding shamelessly, "The deep freeze and this extreme heat, nothing’s easy to find anymore. Prices are insane right now. At least 1,000 pounds of potatoes.”Nicole almost laughed in his face.The two of them haggled back and forth for ages. By the time they finished, Nicole was sweaty, irritated, and thoroughly over it.They finally settled on 500 pounds of potatoes.Once they agreed on a meeting spot, Nicole jumped on the mountain bike she had gotten from Victor and hurried home before the heat could cook her alive.That night, Zeph contacted her over the radio and told her to come downstairs to the parking garage.The armored Hummer was finally fixed.After he reinstalled the stripped components and replaced several damaged parts with pieces salvaged from the luxury car club, the vehicle looked whole again.Honest

Nicole stood there in a daze, watching Hughie's group carry their things off the 18th floor and disappear down the stairwell step by step.She hesitated for a moment, then finally lost the fight with herself and hurried to the stairs."Jeremy!"The three of them stopped and turned back."If things don't work out in Halloway, come back."Hughie and Jeremy both nodded. "No matter where we end up, you'll always be our friend."She didn't walk them out after that. She simply stood there watching until they finally disappeared from the 18th floor and even their faint footsteps faded away.Cola let out soft whines, brushing against Nicole from time to time.An hour later, Zeph returned. Seeing Nicole sitting quietly on the couch, staring off into space, he walked over and sat beside her. "You don't need to worry so much. They can handle themselves. I already warned them to stay alert on the road."The two vehicles were supposed to keep about fifty yards between them at all times.

Besides food, the thing people lacked most during the extreme heat was water.Water happened to be the one thing Nicole never worried about, as her storage space came with running water and electricity.Drilling rigs worked nonstop across the city, moving from district to district, trying to dig new wells. At first, they managed to hit water. Sometimes, the crews hadn't even packed up before the water source dried out again.Surface water was disappearing fast enough to be seen with the naked eye.The street where Crownview Residences stood had gotten lucky. Their turn for drilling came relatively early, and residents were initially allowed one bucket of water per day with ID verification.As groundwater levels kept dropping, the ration fell to half a bucket.Now, even that was gone.At first, Nicole still carried empty buckets downstairs now and then for appearances' sake. Lately, she couldn't even bother pretending anymore.The available water barely covered basic human sur