18 Floors Above the Apocalypse



Nope, she didn't stock up, but Jasper had a few cans stashed away.

He had a random collection of stuff he got for free. When Stella sorted through it and stored everything in Arcadia, she just piled it all in a corner. Since it wasn't her own stash, she didn't remember much about it, and after nine years, Stella had long since forgotten.

She immediately pulled out pepper spray from Arcadia, two cans in each hand, and sprayed furiously at the swarm of black bugs. If the pepper spray didn't work, they would be at the mercy of fate.

As the white cloud of spray spread, the swarm began to retreat. Seizing the moment, Jasper grabbed Stella and they bolted for the lifeboat. Just as she clambered in and turned to shut the door, the black bugs surged forward again. Stella slapped the yacht, and it disappeared into Arcadia. As long as she wasn't in Arcadia, living things couldn't stay there. In the instant the yacht vanished, thousands upon thousands of black bugs were kicked out by Arcadia and fell into the ocean...

With the yacht gone, the lifeboat began to sink. Stella, quick as a flash, slammed the cabin door shut. Without seatbelts, they were all jolted as the lifeboat hit the water, stars exploding in their vision from the impact. Thrown into disarray, a disheveled Stella was just getting up when Rosie suddenly lunged at her, "Watch out, sis!" A black bug was crawling up Stella's arm, trying to burrow into her clothes. Rosie's quick reflexes snatched the bug and squished it dead.

Damn, she hadn't realized those critters were so fast. They all hurried to check themselves, not sparing any nook or cranny, but found no more signs of the black bugs. The ocean was terrifying, claiming lives in a heartbeat.

"Rosie, disinfect that wound," Stella said as she reached for the first aid kit. She saw Rosie's hand bleeding. "Are you hurt?" Stella's heart skipped a beat as she grabbed Rosie's hand to inspect it, only to find the bug had bitten her while she squashed it. The creature was the size of a beetle, but its mouth was razor-sharp, piercing Rosie's skin.

Thinking of what they had just fed on, Jasper's heart clenched. He grabbed his sister's hand and squeezed the wound to force out any contaminated blood. Stella cleaned the wound, disinfected it, and then bandaged it. Rosie's face turned pale, and she instinctively held her brother's hand, her lips moving silently. Jasper sensed something was off, pulled his sister into his embrace, and gently stroked her head for comfort.

Stella was choked up; she hadn't expected the black bugs to be so vicious, nor had she expected Rosie to grab one with her bare hands. "Rosie, if you feel off at all, you have to tell me," she insisted. Rosie managed a reassuring smile, "Don't worry about me, sis. I'm fine." Remembering how a soldier from 1926 had survived a samurai sword cut, Stella finally relaxed a bit.novelbin

The lifeboat floated on the sea as Stella gazed out the window, swarmed with black bugs. Every inch of the lifeboat's exterior was covered. Putting on gloves, Stella picked up the dead bug with tweezers. It indeed resembled a beetle, but its mouth was full of barbs, and its wings were as hard as steel.

She recalled Hans mentioning a sea creature more fearsome than sharks or other predatory ocean dwellers. The tide bugs. They could unfold their wings and swim at high speeds. Despite their small size, when they moved in swarms, they could shred a great white shark in no time. Hans and his crew had seen them from afar, too distant to make out clearly, only knowing they were vast in number and moved like a tide, hence the name tide bugs. Stella never imagined she would be so unlucky to encounter them. They were probably attracted by the stench of decaying bodies on the Thai fishing boat. One bite was enough to rip flesh from bone. Tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands moving in unison, could turn a living person into a skeleton in an instant.

Watching the tide bugs swarm outside the lifeboat, Stella's scalp tingled. The world was becoming increasingly eerie. Could humanity truly survive?

After about fifteen minutes, the tide bugs left, possibly uninterested in the spacecraft material or maybe their teeth had been damaged by its hardness. Eventually, they dispersed. As they departed, the view cleared. The lifeboat wasn't far from the fishing boat, and as the tide bugs swarmed and then retreated like the tide, they crowded off the vessel and disappeared into the sea.

Stella waited another fifteen minutes to ensure there were no more tide bugs before opening the hatch. In just a short time, the stench of decay had almost dissipated in the sea breeze. Considering the numerous bodies on the fishing boat, they must have been devoured incredibly fast. Stella's stomach churned. With the fishing boat so close, she remembered the radiation suits Bran Porras had hoarded in the villa district.

After securing the suits, they also got a set of detection equipment from Austin. Pretending to open the storage box, Stella took the detector out of Arcadia and aimed it at the fishing boat. False alarm, the fishing boat showed no harmful radioactive elements. Curious about the boat, they decided to board and investigate further. The three of them and their dog put on protective gear and managed to climb aboard. The deck was clear of bodies, leaving only tiny bone fragments. How sharp must their teeth be to have gnawed even the bones?

Suppressing their nausea, they swept the detector all over the inside and outside of the boat, still no radiation. But Stella's worries didn't subside. She swept the bone fragments into a pile. Damn, now it showed up. Iran had really been drinking nuclear wastewater. Thankfully, the radiation levels were low; as long as they didn't linger, there was no danger to their health.

Jasper checked the cockpit and confirmed the fishing boat was still operational. “Should we clean it up and keep it?" They couldn't pilot a cruise ship, and they only had one yacht. What if it broke down? Jasper knew how to operate a fishing boat. In an ever-worsening survival environment, having extra tools for survival was a non-renewable luxury - better safe than sorry.

Stella was somewhat repulsed, "It needs a thorough cleaning." They started sanitizing, rinsing with water, and then scrubbing several times with disinfectant. Jasper had no objections and set to work. Recalling the tide bugs feasting on the dead, Stella was anxious. She pulled out immunoglobulin from her bag and injected Rosie. Better safe than sorry; boost the immune system first. Stella felt guilty, "Rosie, don't be reckless next time. Remember to hide if there's danger." She was Jasper's sister; if anything happened to her, he would be devastated.

Rosie tried to ease Stella's worry, "Don't be nervous, sis. It's just a scratch. I'll be okay." Rosie was the eternal optimist, and this time, she flipped the script to console Stella. "You've looked out for me for so many years, and you've saved my bacon more than once. What's catching a bug for you?"

Stella was swamped with mixed emotions. "Silly kid." Rosie wrapped her arms around her. "Sis, I love you. You're just like a mom to me." Well, talk about a generation gap, huh? Stella pinched Rosie's cheek. "You, with your honeyed words." She popped a few candies into Rosie's mouth and got on with the task of disinfecting and cleaning.

Rosie wanted to pitch in, but Stella wouldn't have it. She made sure both Rosie and Cooper were scrubbed clean before tucking them into the escape pod. It took a whole day to scrub the fishing boat inside and out until it shone like a mirror. Stella was bent over with fatigue, but she still managed to haul out the yacht, give it a thorough cleanse, stow the fishing boat back into Arcadia, and finally let the two escapees out of the pod.

The sun dipped low in the west. The trio and their canine companion had dinner on the yacht before returning to the submarine to spend the night beneath the waves. Exhausted from the day's toil, Stella washed up and was out like a light as soon as her head hit the pillow. She didn't know how long she'd been asleep when Cooper started scratching frantically at the door, barking urgently...