18 Floors Above the Apocalypse

Chapter 535

Daniel's face was unreadable as he simply replied, "No."

Stella's expression softened as she began to recount her story. "With Russia and China both setting up bases in the Arctic, clashes were frequent, and casualties were a regular occurrence.

We ended up in the Arctic by chance and saved a few injured Russians. Little did we know, we'd ticked off China, who then kept trying to corner us.

We got lucky and teamed up with the Russians, managing to capture China's base, which scored us a share of the supplies. We've been doing alright for the past few years.

As the land started to re-emerge, we set out to find a new place to settle. We landed here a few times but didn't find a suitable base, just a lot of danger.

After wandering for a while, we ran into some bounty hunters who helped us find our way here. We've got more supplies than we can carry ashore, so we stashed our submarine and fishing boat in a hidden cove a few hundred kilometers away. We need to retrieve them quickly."

Stella chose her words carefully, not wanting to give too much away and risk slipping up near the base.

Arcadia wasn't lacking in resources, but now that they'd decided to stay, they had to go about things the right way.

Daniel's desire to make up for lost family time was genuine, but his life had always been country first, family second, and now he had a new family to consider.

He was the type to lay down his life for his country, an admirable trait for sure.

But who could guarantee he wouldn't sacrifice his daughter for the same cause?

Stella wasn't about to make a rash bet based on a brief encounter.

She was willing to share her past with him and had decided to stay in Griffith. Daniel couldn't hide his delight, "Do you need me to arrange protection for you all?"

"No need, we'll be quick. But..."

Stella hesitated, testing the waters, "We've got a fair amount of medicine and weapons. Would it be alright to bring those back?"

Medicine would be welcomed, but there were strict policies about confiscating weapons for the safety of the base.

But there were always exceptions for special circumstances.

Daniel wasn't sure how many weapons she had, but after a moment's thought, he said, "You can have gun permits, but no more than six weapons and no more than a hundred rounds of ammo. You'll need to register the specific models with the military."

this was the furthest he

dire need of it, "We got our hands on a good amount of

post-disaster world, medicine was

untreated, serious ones were a death sentence,

own

thousand square feet, with a fence no shorter than six

foresight and high standards; she

wrapped up their

Daniel's relaxed smile, Vanessa knew Stella had agreed to

been years since Vanessa had seen him

like a machine that never

Stella, he was clocking

day and went back to

volunteered to stay behind

non-perishable foods, not

and Jasper rose early, following the sounds of the

shouldered their packs and headed

them,

Stella knew she'd be leaning on his strength,

to accept his concern.

strange, but

road, but Stella suddenly turned to look back and saw

she glanced back, he waved goodbye with a

of emotions

a world where travel was on foot was inconvenient, to say the least. Even hurrying, it took two hours to reach the

retrieved their stored weapons and, under the watchful eyes of other survivors, made their way swiftly along the coast until they

sight, Stella pulled out an old, rusty bicycle and had Jasper pedal them

sun hats, and sun-protective clothing - Jasper's stamina was impressive, unfazed

few times, forcing her to cling to Jasper's

because she

knew how

shelter