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.

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 monitor her first. Transfusions

heading off for a hot shower and some pain

own bruises and swallowing more meds, she returned

up and get

agreed, returning refreshed

"Cooper and Snowflake are

couldn't linger in Arcadia for too

Rosie to a room warmed by a crackling fire, turning

wrapped his arms around Stella, and they both fell into

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 battlefield

but this was the

Rosie had to toughen up in this brutal

was clear, Stella

clean up the bloodstains, erasing the evidence

the time they finished, Rosie

for details.

drifted back to

in this harsh world was tough, and everyone

herself with a hearty dinner and a good

next morning, feeling somewhat rejuvenated, she and Jasper helped each other

to stick

need to rehash the

only lured them into a trap but also tried to take

they waited until dark to make their

had sensed something was off during the

openings in the shipping

But once the fight started, fear

life, but in fear

After that night, Rosieered

steely and

I've grown up. don'Dneed to worry

In

breakfast, Jasper returned from patrol, joining

the bodies.

corpses had been in