18 Floors Above the Apocalypse novel Chapter 502

After a while, faint sounds began trickling from inside the house.

"Rosie, Cooper?" Jasper and Stella called out frantically, their voices echoing in the cold air.

Snowflake, their loyal dog, was just as anxious, whimpering pitifully.

The door creaked open, revealing a pale-faced Rosie clutching a gun. Her eyes lit up at the sight of her brother and sister-in-law. "Bro, Sis?"

The tension in her body melted away, and she crumpled to the floor. Jasper's quick reflexes caught her just in time. "Rosie, what's going on? Are you okay?"

Rosie was a mess of injuries, her clothes stained with blood. She forced a weak smile. "Bro, I kept the house safe. You finally made it back."

Fear had gnawed at her, worried they wouldn't return in time.

Too exhausted to keep talking, her heavy eyelids fluttered shut.

"Rosie," Jasper's voice cracked, his face ashen. "Rosie, stay with me. Don't sleep. I'm here now."

Stella, panicked, urged, "Let's get her inside. Quickly."

Jasper, hands shaking, felt for her breath and nearly collapsed in relief when he found it.

Inside, Stella wasted no time checking Rosie's wounds.

Rosie had taken bullets to her thigh and arm, and her body bore numerous other wounds, evidence of a brutal battle.

Though none of the injuries were fatal, the bleeding hadn't been stopped in time.

Exhausted from the fight, Stella couldn't rest yet. She prepped for surgery to remove the bullets.

It took over an hour to extract the bullets, disinfect, and bandage the wounds.

After giving Rosie antibiotics and anti-inflammatory meds, Stella turned her attention to Cooper.

The dog had also been injured, with a deep wound exposing bone. But Rosie had managed a makeshift bandage.

Cooper was a trooper, enduring the stitches with stoic patience while exchanging playful banter and tender moments with Snowflake.

Caring and scolding all at once.

With Rosie unconscious from blood loss, Jasper kept a worried vigil by her side.

"I want to give her a blood transfusion. We're siblings; it should work," he insisted.

Stella shook her head. "Her blood loss isn't critical enough for that. Let's monitor her first. Transfusions between relatives can cause immune reactions. Rosie's unconscious mostly from delayed blood clotting and the stress of the battle."

Jasper was still anxious, but Stella reassured him before heading off for a hot shower and some pain relief.

After treating her own bruises and swallowing more meds, she returned to check on Rosie.

"She's stable now. Go clean up and get some rest," she advised Jasper.

He finally agreed, returning refreshed a while later.

Stella, barely able to keep her eyes open, muttered, "Cooper and Snowflake are on guard. They'll alert us if anything happens."

They couldn't linger in Arcadia for too long, not with the constant threat outside.

They moved Rosie to a room warmed by a crackling fire, turning on both the space heater and the electric blanket.

Jasper wrapped his arms around Stella, and they both fell into a deep, much-needed sleep.

When they woke in the afternoon, Rosie was still unconscious but stable.

Despite her own exhaustion, Stella forced herself up to clean the mess outside.

Rosie and Cooper had taken down thirty base members. The battlefield outside was a testament to the fierce fight they'd endured.

Stella felt a pang of guilt and heartache, but this was the harsh reality of their world.

She could protect Rosie now, but not forever. Rosie had to toughen up in this brutal reality.