18 Floors Above the Apocalypse

Chapter 502

After a while, faint sounds began trickling from inside the house.

"Rosie, Cooper?" Jasper and Stella called out frantically, their voices echoing in the cold air.

Snowflake, their loyal dog, was just as anxious, whimpering pitifully.

The door creaked open, revealing a pale-faced Rosie clutching a gun. Her eyes lit up at the sight of her brother and sister-in-law. "Bro, Sis?"

The tension in her body melted away, and she crumpled to the floor. Jasper's quick reflexes caught her just in time. "Rosie, what's going on? Are you okay?"

Rosie was a mess of injuries, her clothes stained with blood. She forced a weak smile. "Bro, I kept the house safe. You finally made it back."

Fear had gnawed at her, worried they wouldn't return in time.

Too exhausted to keep talking, her heavy eyelids fluttered shut.

"Rosie," Jasper's voice cracked, his face ashen. "Rosie, stay with me. Don't sleep. I'm here now."

Stella, panicked, urged, "Let's get her inside. Quickly."

Jasper, hands shaking, felt for her breath and nearly collapsed in relief when he found it.

Inside, Stella wasted no time checking Rosie's wounds.

Rosie had taken bullets to her thigh and arm, and her body bore numerous other wounds, evidence of a brutal battle.

Though none of the injuries were fatal, the bleeding hadn't been stopped in time.

Exhausted from the fight, Stella couldn't rest yet. She prepped for surgery to remove the bullets.

It took over an hour to extract the bullets, disinfect, and bandage the wounds.

After giving Rosie antibiotics and anti-inflammatory meds, Stella turned her attention to Cooper.

The dog had also been injured, with a deep wound exposing bone. But Rosie had managed a makeshift bandage.

Cooper was a trooper, enduring the stitches with stoic patience while exchanging playful banter and tender moments with Snowflake.

Caring and scolding all at once.

to give her a blood transfusion. We're siblings; it should work," he insisted. Stella shook her head. "Her blood loss isn't critical enough for that. Let's

before heading off for a hot shower

treating her own bruises and swallowing more meds, she returned to check on

and get some rest," she

agreed, returning

eyes open, muttered, "Cooper and Snowflake

for too long, not with the constant

moved Rosie to a room warmed by a crackling fire,

they both fell into a deep, much- needed

in the afternoon, Rosie was still unconscious but stable. Despite her own exhaustion, Stella forced herself up to clean the mess outside. Rosie and Cooper had taken down thirty base members. The

heartache, but this

now, but not forever. Rosie had to toughen up in

Stella

helped clean up the bloodstains, erasing the evidence of

finished, Rosie had woken

weak, Stella didn't press her for details. Instead, she fed her

drifted back

in this harsh world was tough, and everyone bore their

herself with a hearty dinner and a good night's

next morning, feeling somewhat rejuvenated, she and Jasper helped each other with medicated massages to ease

stick to light meals due

was no need to rehash the previous

them into a trap

waited until dark to

sensed something was off during the day and

the openings in the

scared before it happened. But once the fight started, fear

for her life, but

After that night, Rosieered

steely and

grown up. don'Dneed to

In

returned from patrol, joining Stella in Arcadia

the bodies.

corpses had been in The