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.

might set ambushes on the way back.

"We'll cross that bridge when

trouble, but if trouble came

aimlessly. They broke out the RV, taking care of

kept Cooper entertained with cartoons, Jasper kept watch, and Stella seemed to be napping in her room, but in reality, she was loading rare

two big rigs,

she covered everything

couldn't afford any mishaps. If they ran into highway robbers, the tarp would give them a chance to pull everything

they judged the timing right and prepared to haul their cargo

their guard down either. They'd

clunkers back

decked out in disguise 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

dozen strong, were spread out on both sides of the road, hunkered

knew they couldn't risk an open confrontation, so they had

out of sight in

quietly attached a silencer to his

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

and Cooper taking a detour to bring the

crept back to flank the ambushers, finding cover without

of the trucks into view from the opposite

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

with cargo that

successful heist and they'd have enough supplies to last for

low, the thought

eyes glued to the approaching vehicle, completely oblivious

of truth arrived, and both Jasper and

"Thwip! Thwip!"

swallowed the sound

didn't hold back. One by one, the backs of heads blossomed with

boss, "Boss, the driver's a young woman