18 Floors Above the Apocalypse novel Chapter 500

"Why even ask why?" Little Joe ditched his usual dopey strongman act, his eyes now ice-cold and menacing. "A Little Joe who doesn't want to be the Big Man ain't a good Little Joe at all."

Mikey had been leaning on Big Bro for decades, even relying on him to defend their turf. Without Big Bro's connections, where would he get any military might?

The chance to strike had been elusive, but as fate would have it, a formidable foe barged in, and Big Bro had already taken out the fourth and fifth in line.

If he didn't make his move now, he'd be the next to bite the dust.

Special abilities? He wasn't dumb enough to expose his mind.

What good were special abilities if you could just crush them? Then the Arctic would be his for the taking.

Mikey hit the floor, his dying gaze fixed on Little Joe. So, he had been using him all along!

Little Joe didn't care for that look in his eyes. He squatted down with a smirk and said, "You got nothing, so what makes you think you could be the Big Man?"

The allies he had secretly bought were all his own plants.

Little Joe wasn't much for talking; a bullet sent Mikey to the great beyond.

Blood splattered across his face, and as he wiped it off and tasted it, a gruesome smile crept over his lips. Then his eyes turned to Stella, lying there, badly injured and unconscious.

Kill her, and it would all be over.

Sure, a lot of people had died at the base, but none of them were his people. Their deaths only made things easier for him.

With weapons in hand, starting over would be a breeze.

He stood up slowly, ready to finish Stella off.

But out of nowhere, Snowflake, lying in a pool of blood, sprang to life.

Not only was its movement swift, but it also bit into Little Joe's throat with the precision and ferocity of a lightning bolt.

"Ahh..."

Armed soldiers rushed over, but no one dared to shoot recklessly. What if they hit the Big Man?

The incident was so sudden that everyone's attention had been elsewhere, never expecting the seemingly dying Snowflake to be faking it.

The wolf is the craftiest of them all.

"Bang!"

A gunshot sounded, hitting Little Joe square in the head.

The soldiers swung their guns around, only to see Jasper, who was thought to be dead, leap into action.

Before they could fire, a deluge of snow fell from above, instantly burying them.

Then came several cargo containers, smashing down on top of the snowy grave.

Stella cut herself free and stood up.

She didn't speak, fighting through the pain as she ran to Jasper, pulling both man and wolf into Arcadia.

Inside Arcadia, the two, covered in pig's blood, clung to each other, too tense to even breathe heavily.

"Are you okay?"

"Are you okay?"

They spoke at the same time, hearts pounding with unease.

They had gambled big, and a slight misstep could have cost them their lives.

Winning was partly luck, and the mere thought of it sent shivers down their spines!

Stella knew that surveillance was everywhere and that there were eyes watching from the shadows.

Arcadia's exposure was both a danger and an opportunity.

Greed is a part of human nature, especially for the rulers of a post-apocalyptic world. They were all too aware of their own ambitions and the envy of others.

So Stella used Arcadia to keep luring them in.

At the same time, she exposed the regrettable side effects of using Arcadia, making them think they had an opportunity to exploit.

Then she set them against each other.

Power is complex, especially in the Union Base, where all sorts of characters could be found. Faced with such temptation and the collapse of power, any ambitious and daring individual wouldn't want to miss the chance.

That's why Stella dared to take the risk.

Surviving that ordeal was chilling to the bone.

They held each other tightly, unable to control the trembling of their bodies.