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.

door, Cooper and Snowflake squared off, fierce and

"Bark! Bark! Bark!"

"Howl... Woo..."

noise only intensified the pounding

these two

was inciting the gators' ferocity, and she didn't feel confident about facing them

you can't beat 'em,

retracted the entire shipping container into the

see who could last longer, and deal with

no danger in the Arcadia, and everyone, humans

out, Stella and Jasper discussed how to handle

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 sleep and figure it

armed themselves to the teeth. Even Cooper

flamethrowers at the ready, it was time to

or lose, this was the round that

it was

but saw

they returned to the

nothing, she

place was littered

They resembled pig dung.

catch their prey, had vented their frustration with excrement. Talk about holding a

trio cleaned up the

suggested, "Should we dry it out and use

idea repulsive.

fuel stored in the Arcadia, with no need to burn gator

something still felt off to Stella. Considering the level of the gators' vengeance, it couldn't just be a fleeting encounter

fish in the sea with ease, so why bother coming

out, she checked around the house

were buried in the snow,

a brain could tell

wonder the red-eyed

last night's danger, Stella was furious. She called over Snowflake and pointed at her nose,

family, you won't go

all sorts of rubbish, see how I

matter how many times she said it, it went in one ear

even a bone spared, turning the area around the house into a

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

No scolding, no hitting.

grabbed Cooper by the ear. "And you, you

unleashing her tirade, she picked up the gator eggs that the two had stashed away. This time, instead of tossing them

of heat, and a simple flame