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."

knew this was the furthest he could bend the rules,

but the base was in dire need of it, "We got our hands on a

world, medicine was

illnesses went untreated, serious ones were a death

hospital will have its own terms. What are you looking

at least a thousand square feet, with a fence no shorter than six feet.

her foresight and high standards; she wasn't one to sell

they wrapped up their negotiations, Vanessa had

smile, Vanessa knew Stella

years since Vanessa had seen

so serious, like a machine that never needed rest, working himself to

he was clocking

day and went back to their

or cause for concern, volunteered to stay

some bland, non-perishable foods, not forgetting to give

rose early, following the sounds

breakfast, they shouldered their

them,

she'd be leaning on

to accept his concern.

felt strange,

suddenly turned to look back and saw Daniel, who should have been rushing off to work, still standing at the

glanced back, he waved goodbye

emotions

where travel was on foot was inconvenient, to say the least. Even

their stored weapons and, under the watchful eyes of other survivors,

an old, rusty bicycle and had Jasper pedal them along

sun hats, and sun-protective clothing - Jasper's stamina

cling to Jasper's waist before playfully punching

only teased because she was in good

show-off or not, he knew how

they found a dune to shelter from the sandstorm. Stella brought out