18 Floors Above the Apocalypse

Chapter 500

"Why even ask why?" Little Joe ditched his usual dopey strongman act, his eyes

now ice-cold and menacing. "A Little Joe who doesn't want to be the Big Man ain't a good Little Joe at all."

Mikey had been leaning on Big Bro for decades, even relying on him to defend their turf. Without Big Bro's connections, where would he get any military might?

The chance to strike had been elusive, but as fate would have it, a formidable foe barged in, and Big Bro had already taken out the fourth and fifth in line.

If he didn't make his move now, he'd be the next to bite the dust.

Special abilities? He wasn't dumb enough to expose his mind.

What good were special abilities if you could just crush them? Then the Arctic would be his for the taking.

Mikey hit the floor, his dying gaze fixed on Little Joe. So, he had been using him all along!

Little Joe didn't care for that look in his eyes. He squatted down with a smirk and said, "You got nothing, so what makes you think you could be the Big Man?"

The allies he had secretly bought were all his own plants.

Little Joe wasn't much for talking; a bullet sent Mikey to the great beyond.

Blood splattered across his face, and as he wiped it off and tasted it, a gruesome smile crept over his lips. Then his eyes turned to Stella, lying there, badly injured and unconscious.

Kill her, and it would all be over.

Sure, a lot of people had died at the base, but none of them were his people. Their deaths only made things easier for him.

With weapons in hand, starting over would be a breeze.

He stood up slowly, ready to finish Stella off.

But out of nowhere, Snowflake, lying in a pool of blood, sprang to life.

Not only was its movement swift, but it also bit into Little Joe's throat with the precision and ferocity of a lightning bolt.

"Ahh..."

Armed soldiers rushed over, but no one dared to shoot recklessly. What if they hit the Big Man?

The incident was so sudden that everyone's attention had been elsewhere, never expecting the seemingly dying Snowflake to be faking it.

The wolf is the craftiest of them all.

"Bang!"

A gunshot sounded, hitting Little Joe square in the head.

their guns around, only to see Jasper, who was thought

above, instantly burying them. Then came several cargo containers, smashing down

as she ran to Jasper,

in pig's blood, clung to each other, too tense to even

"Are you okay?"

"Are you okay?"

the same time, hearts

luck, and the mere thought of it sent

was both a danger and

is a part of human nature, especially for the rulers of a post-apocalyptic world. They were all too aware

Arcadia to keep luring them

the same time, she exposed the regrettable side effects of using Arcadia, making them think they had an

she set them against

all sorts of characters could be found. Faced with such temptation and the collapse of power, any ambitious and daring individual

why Stella dared to

that ordeal was chilling to the

unable to

never wanted to go through

the midst of their embrace, Snowflake, lying on the ground,

and crouched

causing a lot of blood

quickly tended to the wolf, stopping the bleeding, stitching the wound, and

stripped off their bloodstained clothes,

swellings all over

thankfully,

changed into fresh gear and ate some

situation outside

didn't linger in Arcadia. Fully equipped, they emerged from

but the third sub-level was eerily quiet. Stella collected the snow, the cargo containers, and the buried soldiers

several containers on top, there were

of Big Man, Mikey, and

still be lurking in the shadows, and Russian forces could storm

at any moment.

long, instead searching for the control

along, keeping close

to find the

lay there, their attire indicating high

the equipment but instead packed it

could

even the power supplies

the commotion above grew

likely breached the perimeter.

lead to

she and Jasper, along with Snowflake, were