18 Floors Above the Apocalypse

Chapter 489

Jasper and Cooper took off like a shot.

As they bolted, the distant red dots started closing in faster, like they had rockets strapped to them.

Inside the house, Snowflake sensed something was off and bared her teeth, ready to charge out the door. Stella and Rosie instinctively grabbed their guns.

The two women and the wolf reached the door just as Jasper and Cooper came barreling back in.

"What's going on?" Stella asked.

Jasper quickly deadbolted the door, securing all three locks. "A pack of gators."

No sooner had he spoken than a series of thuds hit the door.

Bang! Bang! Bang! The impacts were rapid and fierce, shaking the entire shipping container like a tin can in a storm.

Stella was baffled. The gators hadn't bothered them last night when they came ashore to lay eggs. Why were they attacking now?

The banging didn't let up; it only got more intense.

Front, sides...

Even through the container and layers of ice, Stella could imagine the swarming chaos outside.

She approached the lookout point with her gun, trying to get a glimpse.

In the gloomy watchpoint, a pair of red eyes suddenly appeared.

Cold and bloodthirsty.

Holy smokes, red-eyed gators.

If it weren't for the lookout point being just 20cm wide, trapping the gator's head, they'd be flooding in.

Even so, the trapped gator kept wriggling, trying to get inside and devour them.

Could it be because she threw their eggs into the sea?

After a whole day, any traces or scents should have been scattered by the wind and snow by now.

Stella was puzzled, but the eerie red eyes made her quickly close the lookout.

She put on night-vision goggles and peered through a higher watchpoint, spotting a mass of gators outside, easily a few hundred.

If they broke through the container, the three humans and five dogs wouldn't even be enough to pick their teeth with.

and Snowflake squared off,

"Bark! Bark! Bark!"

"Howl... Woo..."

only intensified

exasperated; these two

of humans was inciting the gators' ferocity, and she didn't feel

you can't beat 'em,

the entire shipping container into

could last

no danger in the Arcadia, and everyone, humans and

after a shower and lights out, Stella and Jasper discussed how to handle

were vicious by nature, quick on land, and their skulls were incredibly tough. Darting through the snow made them hard to target, a much tougher fight than dealing with Union Base's troops. After much thought,

AM, they armed themselves to the teeth. Even Cooper and Snowflake had bulletproof

flamethrowers at the ready, it

or lose, this was the round

it was

the lookout, but saw

they returned to the sea

and finding nothing, she

place was

They resembled pig dung.

damn creatures, unable to catch their prey, had vented their frustration with

trio cleaned up the gator droppings around

ever thrifty and handy, suggested, "Should we dry it out and use it

idea repulsive.

plenty of fuel stored in the Arcadia, with no

gators' vengeance,

in the sea with ease,

out, she

were buried

could tell it was Snowflake and

wonder the red-eyed gators had

called over Snowflake and pointed at her nose, scolding, "Don't think just because you're

you won't go

sorts of rubbish,

said it, it went in one ear

spared, turning the area around the house into a

Cooper came to defend his mate, pushing Stella's hand away with a paw,

No scolding, no hitting.

grabbed Cooper by the ear. "And you,

This time, instead

afraid of heat, and a simple flame probably wouldn't scare them