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.

to shake. They might set ambushes

that bridge when

to stir up trouble, but

aimlessly. They broke out

to be napping in her room, but in reality, she was loading rare metals into the

rigs,

loaded, she covered

for a submarine and couldn't afford any mishaps. If they ran into

the timing right and prepared to haul their cargo back to

take the ragtag crew seriously, but couldn't afford to let their guard down either. They'd take a roundabout route just to be

even their own parents wouldn't recognize them, they drove their clunkers back towards base, only to spot something suspicious. The ambush was there, just as they'd

moment, they slipped by the ambushers unnoticed. The ambushers even

about a dozen strong, were spread out on both sides of the road, hunkered down in

confrontation, so they had

beater of a truck stopped out

a silencer to his

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

to bring the previously

for Stella, she crept back to flank the ambushers, finding cover without a

came, Rosie drove one of the trucks into view from the opposite

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

crawled forward, bulging with cargo

have enough supplies to

morale low, the thought of

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

and both Jasper and Stella made

"Thwip! Thwip!"

swallowed the sound of

act, she didn't hold back. One by one, the backs of

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