All Chapters of The Apocalypse Survival Manual: Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

Cola understood people. The way he stared at Jeremy and Hughie sent chills down their spines."We're all animal lovers here. No way we'd eat a dog," Jeremy said quickly, backing down first. "Nicole, can you get him to stop looking at me like that?"That look was seriously unsettling.Beatrice understood how Nicole felt, but she still spoke up."Nicole, under normal circumstances, I'd support you. But things are different now. Most of the food's been ruined in the flood."We reacted fast and stocked up, sure, but your share will only last six or seven months at most. After that, who knows what things will look like? And a dog this size eats a lot. You really need to think this through."It was better to think ahead now than regret it later when there was nothing left."To me, he's not a dog. He's family." Nicole gently soothed Cola, who was still tense. "If I run out of supplies, I'll find more. I'm not abandoning him."Beatrice and the rest didn't push it further. It wasn't the

Nicole had just finished tidying up when Hughie came knocking.Time to head out and complete today's mission: spend the 200 grand.Beatrice stayed behind, juggling childcare and now dog duty.There was a new punching bag hanging in the hallway. Hughie and Jeremy had dragged it back for her so she could train instead of using them as practice targets.They reached the department store around 9 a.m. The place was still packed, lines stretching everywhere.The loudspeakers crackled. "Today's food supply is sold out. Please come earlier tomorrow.""What? I've been here since midnight!""I got here at nine last night and still didn't get anything!"Complaints erupted instantly, frustration, anger, and desperation bubbling up all at once.But what could they do? Armed soldiers stood guard. Even if they rushed in, they wouldn't get a thing.Faces worn down by exhaustion lingered, unwilling to give up.In the end, one by one, they left.Almost everyone who came here was after food.

The pig lay sprawled across the assault boat, mouth open and gasping hard.Nicole suddenly pulled out a stun baton from her bag. Two sharp squeals, and the pig went limp.Hughie and Jeremy just stared.Zeph spoke first. "We need to butcher it somewhere else."There was no way they could bring it back like this. If anyone saw, it would turn into a problem fast.Jeremy snapped out of it. "What about that construction site we checked before? No one's around, and it's not too far."They turned the boat and headed in that direction. About four miles out, they came across several half-built apartment blocks that sat half-submerged in water.They docked. The three men hauled the pig onto higher ground, while Nicole gave them a butcher's knife.She didn't join in. While they worked, she headed upstairs. The higher she went, the more construction materials she found stacked up. Cement blocks and steel rebar, plenty of it.Nicole didn't hesitate.Her garden space could hold over 63 tho

Nicole scanned the area and spotted rabbit droppings.Cola really didn't waste anything. Starving all the time had made him even more serious about food than she was. Even wild rabbits weren't safe.Rabbits had multiple burrows.Nicole searched nearby and quickly found one of the openings. She packed it shut with mud.Not long after, a gray blur shot out from another hole and bolted.Cola took off like lightning. He caught the wild rabbit by the neck and slammed it to the ground. A few shakes later, it stopped moving.He trotted back, carrying it proudly.Look! Meat!After enjoying a quick head rub, he went right back, digging again.Another rabbit came out, but he didn't stop. Then three more appeared, all medium-sized. A whole family, all together.Wild rabbits weren't like farm ones. There was no point raising them. And with all the meat Nicole had now, she didn't need them alive anyway.She killed them and stored them away.On the way back, she made a detour to the cons

After dinner, they didn't dump the leftover stew.They would use the broth again tomorrow, toss in some pasta, and keep it going. In times like this, if it had some kind of taste, that was enough. No one cared about anything else.The pork fat had already been rendered. The crispy bits came out golden and crunchy, a good five pounds of them. Enough to last a while.Beatrice brought over the remaining pork to Nicole."How much salt should we use?"They didn't have much salt. Stretching it for a year would already be tight.Use too much, and it would be wasteful. Too little, and the meat would spoil.Finding that pig had been pure luck. Without it, they might not have tasted fresh meat at all. Still, they couldn't just eat everything now and worry later.Seeing how serious they were about preserving it, Nicole finally spoke up."The landlord's car fridge is pretty big. I'll render more fat when I get back. We might be able to fit your share in, too."She had thought about takin