All Chapters of The Apocalypse Survival Manual: Chapter 411 - Chapter 420

Ethan had traded several pounds of sweet potatoes for the squid. Isaac had scolded him for wasting food, but all he wanted was to give his dad a taste of meat on his birthday.Afraid of wasting anything, he hadn't even peeled off the outer purple skin, just rinsed it a few more times. He even held back when serving, hoping his dad would eat more.Nicole studied the stir-fried squid, turning the tentacles over. "Dried squid?""Yeah. It was big. About a pound for the whole thing. I only used a quarter."A pound?Nicole's eyes narrowed.Farmed squid, once dried, usually weighed only a few ounces. Even wild ones rarely got that large.Flooding had wiped out aquaculture farms. Wild squid from the ocean wouldn't grow that big, and even if they did, they wouldn't make it into ordinary hands. Anything that valuable would've been taken and sorted long before it reached survivors.Ethan shook his head. "No, the ones they were selling were all big. Some were over two pounds."Nicole's ch

If the disasters hadn't happened, Alex and Isaac could've gone to the food safety office or the health department. But those were gone now. The community center could barely keep up with its own workload. There was no way it could handle something like this.They were still talking it through when Ethan spoke up. "What about the police? They took down the Drakebane Guild, then shut down two private bases, and even returned confiscated supplies to the public. That kind of operation takes coordination across departments."Even if this isn't their jurisdiction, they can at least point us in the right direction or pass it along. That's better than us running around blind."They both nodded. It made sense."Smart kid," Isaac said.Alex added, "Isaac, how about we go tomorrow? If this is real, it could save a lot of people. We've lived through better days, and we were still getting relief supplies from the city not that long ago. If we keep quiet about something like this, I'd have

Weasel hadn't expected Nicole to trade wheat seeds. They looked fresh, carefully stored.Wheat was valuable. It needed far less water than rice and was much easier to grow.Weasel was thrilled. He could flip this for a solid profit.After storing the seeds in her storage space, Nicole rode home.Once back, she told Zeph what Weasel had said. "Looks like the seafood mutation isn't just something middlemen know about. Some of the rich know, too. They're just keeping quiet for their own interests and safety."Zeph nodded. "In a disaster like this, most people focus on protecting themselves."Nicole leaned against his shoulder. "We stocked so much seafood. Should we still eat it?"Zeph pulled her closer. "Haven't we been eating it already?"True. They had been, for months.Still, better to be careful going forward. Anything that looked off was out.The extreme heat dragged on, but under the canopy and with careful watering morning and evening, the sweet potatoes on the terrace

Zeph kept it brief and laid out his suspicion.Alex thought it over and realized something was indeed off. "Don't worry. There's a retired geologist in Building 2. I'll contact him. You two start packing."Zeph hung up and moved immediately. "Poppy, grab the first aid kit."She tried to help gather supplies, but he stopped her. "Stay in the room. Don't move."They worked fast. Furniture disappeared into storage within minutes. Zeph handled the AC.They were almost done when the radio crackled again."Zeph, Nicole, pack up and assemble outside immediately. There's a high probability of an earthquake."The moment the call ended, Alex found Ethan. "Take my bike and go to the community center. Tell them an earthquake might be coming. They'll notify the city."Oakhaven Gardens had a well and animals, which gave them a chance to spot the warning signs early. Other people might not be so lucky.Isaac ran out after them. "Be careful. Go!"Alex switched on the broadcast system. "Eme

A sharp bang echoed through the pod, followed by a heavy thud.The escape pod flipped over, sending Nicole and the others tumbling until they were left hanging upside down, heads low and feet braced above them. At least it wasn't completely vertical. It had a slight tilt.Loose soil shifted under the impact, and the stabilization system slowly worked to correct the balance, dragging the center of gravity back into place. It took a while before everything settled.Over the next two hours, several more tremors rolled through. The pod had come to rest against a massive rock and no longer dropped, and the shaking gradually eased compared to before.Most likely, aftershocks.The pod had been designed for earthquakes and tsunamis, with shock absorption as a key feature. The seating, in particular, protected vital areas of the body. Even so, Nicole still felt each tremor run through the structure.If something this reinforced could be tossed around, she could only imagine what it lo