18 Floors Above the Apocalypse

Chapter 379

Stella was behind the wheel of her eighteen-wheeler, and Jasper was tearing up the road in his rugged SUV. They hadn't even left the base when they realized someone was tailing them. But they played it cool. Grabbing their walkie-talkies, they coordinated a plan and split in different directions.

Duke, the ringleader, was flabbergasted. "Split up! Chase 'em down! They can't get away," he barked.

Don't let the mud and grime fool you; those vehicles were beasts under the hood.

Stella, now decked out in a bulletproof vest and a steel helmet, floored it. She handled the big rig like a pro, quickly leaving their pursuers in the dust.

Taking a hidden detour through a ravine, she slipped her truck into the safety of Arcadia.

The ragtag pursuers, pushing their beat-up jalopies to the limit, arrived only to be left scratching their heads.

Where'd the trucks go?

Before they knew it, a loud bang echoed, sending them diving for cover.

Turned out, one of their tires had blown out.

"Damnation!" they cursed, scared out of their wits.

With no trace of their quarry, they had to slink back to base, tails between their legs.

Stella arrived at the base of Mount Murray to find Jasper and their canine companions already waiting. "Everything good?" he asked.

"Just a bunch of riff-raff," she replied.

Those who made it into the Kindle Society were usually tough, but this lot? They were smooth-talking slackers. Any edge they had was dulled by life's grind, reduced to conning newcomers into doing their dirty work. If real trouble came knocking, they'd probably run faster than anyone.

"And you?" Stella shot back at Jasper. "Any close calls?"

"None. Lost 'em easy," Jasper replied. His SUV was a beast and had left the pursuers in the dust.

Jasper frowned, "These guys will be tough to shake. They might set ambushes on the way back.

cross that bridge when we come

one to stir up trouble, but if trouble

four-legged friend didn't wander aimlessly. They broke out the RV, taking care

Cooper entertained with cartoons, Jasper kept watch, and Stella seemed to be napping in

enough to fill two big rigs, but

loaded, she covered everything with

they ran into highway robbers, the tarp would give them a chance to pull everything back

days, they judged the timing right and prepared to haul

couldn't afford to let their guard down either. They'd take a roundabout

them, they drove their clunkers back towards base,

and driving vehicles that looked ready to fall apart at any moment, they slipped by the ambushers unnoticed. The ambushers even thought the dilapidated vehicles

were spread out on both sides of the road, hunkered down in a no man's land just outside Kindle Society's

open confrontation, so they had to deal with these goons

stopped out of

a silencer to his

have helped, but Stella wanted to make it clean, and having Rosie around

split up, Rosie and Cooper taking a detour to bring the previously hidden trucks to the rendezvous point when the time

to flank the ambushers, finding

Rosie drove one of the trucks into view from

instantly on high alert. "Boss, that's the

truck crawled forward, bulging with

one successful heist and they'd have enough supplies to

the thought of imminent spoils had them chomping at the

glued to the approaching vehicle, completely oblivious to the imminent danger

both Jasper and Stella

"Thwip! Thwip!"

silencers swallowed the

she didn't hold back. One

was amiss, started to warn his boss, "Boss, the driver's a young woman with a mask, and there's a