18 Floors Above the Apocalypse

Chapter 523

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

donned protective rain suits to avoid any cuts from the fish that

to Arcadia, spreading the fish on the beach to dry under the harsh

the fish with a stick, whispering to Jasper,

sea, or maybe, as Rosie said,

dare

didn't want to quash his sister's enthusiasm.

then feed them to

of supplies; they could wait to

knowing look,

smirk, "What about you?

was smooth as silk, "I'll

a conspiratorial grin, then got back

had dried over two thousand pounds of salted

was already a

the barren, brown earth sprouted some frail weeds, yet they showed

to water

others stood

dozens of pounds of salted fish, mixed with chopped

carried the pungent scent of the

just a few days, the maggots indeed

them to

of former disasters, yielded impressively

chicks and

back when the new villa district was still

winds at night, the coops alone were not

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

surplus from the Union Base, so abundant they would

grew bigger, Jasper fenced the area around the tent, allowing

tended the fields, Stella busied herself mostly with tasks aboard

heat, and as the cooler autumn arrived, the dandelions, though scraggly, blossomed, their fluffy white heads dancing in

hints of green to the landscape. Having served as maggot feed, the thoroughly decomposed fish made excellent fertilizer, which Rosie

the planting season was off, resulting in sparse and weak wheat stalks, but some managed

had never really counted on the wheat to fill their bellies;

Jasper's support, she didn't worry about Rosie. It was Snowflake that was

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