18 Floors Above the Apocalypse

Chapter 523

Rosie wasn't one for idle talk; she always had a plan in her head.

"We could go fishing, dry the fish in the sun to kill off any lingering viruses, and then bury the salted fish in a pit. Before long, we'll have maggots."

That's how they did it at Ocean Point Naval Station, and Rosie had learned the ropes long ago.

Once the maggots hatched, they could use them to feed the poultry, which would then breed and multiply.

A decade of hard work was finally paying off. Rosie wasn't about to just sit back and rely on Arcadia.

Stella was all in.

They started with chickens, ducks, geese, and quail-ten of each, all nestled into the incubators.

After some discussion, Stella and Jasper decided to take to the sea and fish.

With no overfishing to worry about, the ocean was teeming with life.

They rose at the crack of dawn, rowing their dinghy out to deeper waters before bringing out the fishing nets.

Neither had much fishing experience; even casting the nets was a challenge.

They watched instructional videos over and over, and after several tries, they finally got the hang of it.

They cast the net and slowly circled with their boat.

When it was time to haul it in, they were stunned to find hundreds of pounds of fish in their catch.

Several species were represented, some normal, others deformed.

Stella voiced her concern, "Rosie, are these deformed fish okay to use?"

"They're fine," Rosie assured her confidently. "At Ocean Point Naval Station, the fish that looked fine went to the cannery, while the deformed ones were used for maggot fermentation."

She took the opportunity to educate her siblings, "Experts in maggot farming say most viruses weaken over generations of replication. Plus, many infected hosts develop antibodies."

Stella scratched her nose thoughtfully, sensing some logic in Rosie's words.

Whether right or wrong, they would see the results in practice. She couldn't let doubts undermine Rosie's confidence.

nets several more times, ending up with over

any cuts from the fish that

the fish on the beach to dry under the harsh glare

that was done, Stella held her nose and flipped the fish with a stick, whispering to Jasper, "Do these seem less deformed than the ones we found

nodded, "Could be the different parts of the sea, or maybe, as Rosie said, the ancient viruses are

whispered back, "Would you dare eat poultry raised

quash his sister's enthusiasm. "We can let

then feed them to the wolf

could wait

gave him a knowing look, "Sly, aren't

a smirk, "What about you? Will you eat

as silk, "I'll

a conspiratorial grin, then got back to

dried over two thousand pounds of salted fish and

hatched, the landmark boulder was already a good

barren, brown earth sprouted some frail weeds,

the time to water them as she

others stood

and dumped in dozens of pounds of salted fish, mixed with chopped potato shoots, stirring and adding just enough water

carried the pungent scent

a few days, the maggots indeed

daily, feeding them to the

a legacy of former disasters, yielded impressively resilient

chicks and ducklings

the coops back when the new villa

day and chilly winds at night, the coops alone were not

shelter, but Stella, ever the pragmatist, fetched a military tent from

Base, so abundant they would last for generations

bigger, Jasper fenced the area around the tent, allowing

siblings tended the fields, Stella busied herself mostly with tasks aboard

cooler autumn arrived, the dandelions, though scraggly, blossomed, their fluffy

nearby, slowly bringing hints of green to the landscape. Having served as maggot feed, the thoroughly decomposed fish

season was off, resulting in sparse and weak wheat

to fill their bellies; just

Rosie. It was Snowflake