18 Floors Above the Apocalypse

Chapter 374

Freedom-loving and averse to being tied down, Stella, Cody, Lukas, and Jasper were far from the picture-perfect soldiers. Military life, with its ironclad discipline and stringent demands, seemed like an odd fit for them. Stella was skeptical that they could ever truly acclimate.

But it was Cody who floated the idea of enlisting. Around the campfire, he laid out his reasoning, "Stella, these natural disasters are getting worse every day. We were lucky to survive that last dust storm, but what about next time?" They couldn't face Mother Nature alone; they needed to lean on Uncle Sam.

The military wasn't just about firepower; it was about having the right gear to withstand the elements. Following orders could mean the difference between life and death.

Only a salesman would think of every angle.

Stella was relieved to hear they had a plan; she hoped they'd all come through this okay.

Curious, she asked, "So, do you get to pick your branch?"

"Yeah, the base is split between the Army and the Navy. We're with the submarine unit," Cody replied.

"Submarines, huh?" Stella feigned surprise. "Those things aren't easy to handle. We had just a few before everything went to hell. And now they're as common as cabbages?"

"I saw a notice in the main hall last night. Are we really trading subs now, or is that a joke?"

The friends exchanged knowing glances before Cody explained with a grin, "These aren't your granddaddy's subs. They're designed to handle tectonic shifts."

Stella's jaw dropped. "Tectonic shifts?"

The group had only learned about the threat upon arriving at the base. Just the thought sent shivers down their spine it was an existential threat to humanity.

lucky ones, having passed all the tests to enlist. From now on, they were in the hands of the nation. If the combined might of the

prepping for

information, perked up. "What's the plan? Can

secret within

has a port and a shipyard. They're working full

happen, the seas

damage to the parts could

"They're not just subs; they're like hibernation

disasters. When faced with such a threat,

rocks or attacks from sea creatures, the subs were virtually indestructible. Stella pondered, "If the new subs are that powerful, why not have everyone

base houses over 200,000. Even ignoring the

pooling national resources couldn't

merchant vessels, aircraft,

contributions to the base's current state. Risking their lives,

by. Scavengers were coming up empty-handed, and even military efforts yielded little. Stella

the stops in their search. Otherwise, the points for the rare

off, "Building a sub takes a lot of resources and manpower, and in the end, it only saves

wouldn't invest so much

life but also the preservation of culture and technology. Imagine the sub

likened it to a tractor-trailer hauling

seeds, clothing, medical equipment, precision machinery-essentially, the

disaster ended, these caches could help humanity rapidly

would be moored to the subs, detachable in case of