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.

the door, Cooper and Snowflake squared

"Bark! Bark! Bark!"

"Howl... Woo..."

only intensified

these two

ferocity, and she didn't feel confident

you can't beat 'em,

the entire shipping container into

who could last longer, and deal with

no danger in the Arcadia, and everyone,

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

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, with no best plan in mind, they decided to just get some

up the next day, well-rested and fed by 8 AM, they armed themselves to the teeth.

the Arcadia, weapons loaded and even flamethrowers at the ready, it was time to face the gator

was the

it

the lookout, but saw no

to the sea at

nothing, she

place was littered with

They resembled pig dung.

unable to catch their prey, had vented

the trio cleaned up the gator droppings

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

the idea repulsive.

the Arcadia, with no need to burn

the level of the gators' vengeance, it couldn't just be a

the sea with ease, so why bother

figure it out, she

and behold, dozens of gator eggs were buried in the

could tell it

the predators' offspring, it was no wonder the red-eyed gators

called over Snowflake and pointed at her nose, scolding, "Don't

this family, you won't

stashing all sorts of rubbish, see how I

it, it went in

everything, not even a bone spared, turning

had barely reprimanded Snowflake when Cooper came to defend his mate, pushing Stella's hand away with a paw,

No scolding, no hitting.

by the ear. "And you, you

This time,

gators weren't afraid of heat, and a