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.

more times, ending

protective rain suits to avoid any cuts

brought the haul back to Arcadia, spreading the fish on the beach to dry

with a stick, whispering to Jasper, "Do these seem less deformed than the ones we found when we first started

be the different parts of the sea, or maybe, as Rosie said, the ancient

dare eat

want to quash his sister's enthusiasm. "We can let the poultry

more, then feed them

had plenty of supplies; they could wait to

a knowing look, "Sly, aren't

"What about

was smooth as silk, "I'll follow your

grin, then got

they had dried over two thousand pounds of salted fish and decided to dock the

landmark boulder was already a

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

time to water them

withered, others stood

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

the pungent

few days,

them daily, feeding them to

fertilized eggs, a legacy of former

chicks and

had built the coops back when the new villa district was still intact,

chilly winds at

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

from the Union Base, so abundant they

the area around the tent, allowing them

fields, Stella busied

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

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

was poor, and the planting season was off, resulting in sparse and weak wheat stalks,

to fill their bellies; just seeing

didn't worry about Rosie. It

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