18 Floors Above the Apocalypse novel Chapter 523

Rosie wasn't one for idle talk; she always had a plan in her head.

"We could go fishing, dry the fish in the sun to kill off any lingering viruses, and then bury the salted fish in a pit. Before long, we'll have maggots."

That's how they did it at Ocean Point Naval Station, and Rosie had learned the ropes long ago.

Once the maggots hatched, they could use them to feed the poultry, which would then breed and multiply.

A decade of hard work was finally paying off. Rosie wasn't about to just sit back and rely on Arcadia.

Stella was all in.

They started with chickens, ducks, geese, and quail—ten of each, all nestled into the incubators.

After some discussion, Stella and Jasper decided to take to the sea and fish.

With no overfishing to worry about, the ocean was teeming with life.

They rose at the crack of dawn, rowing their dinghy out to deeper waters before bringing out the fishing nets.

Neither had much fishing experience; even casting the nets was a challenge.

They watched instructional videos over and over, and after several tries, they finally got the hang of it.

They cast the net and slowly circled with their boat.

When it was time to haul it in, they were stunned to find hundreds of pounds of fish in their catch.

Several species were represented, some normal, others deformed.

Stella voiced her concern, "Rosie, are these deformed fish okay to use?"

"They're fine," Rosie assured her confidently. "At Ocean Point Naval Station, the fish that looked fine went to the cannery, while the deformed ones were used for maggot fermentation."

She took the opportunity to educate her siblings, "Experts in maggot farming say most viruses weaken over generations of replication. Plus, many infected hosts develop antibodies."

Stella scratched her nose thoughtfully, sensing some logic in Rosie's words.

Whether right or wrong, they would see the results in practice. She couldn’t let doubts undermine Rosie’s confidence.

They cast their nets several more times, ending up with over a thousand pounds of fish.

Heading back, they donned protective rain suits to avoid any cuts from the fish that could lead to infection.

They brought the haul back to Arcadia, spreading the fish on the beach to dry under the harsh glare of the sun.

Once that was done, Stella held her nose and flipped the fish with a stick, whispering to Jasper, "Do these seem less deformed than the ones we found when we first started wandering?"

Jasper nodded, "Could be the different parts of the sea, or maybe, as Rosie said, the ancient viruses are weakening."

Stella whispered back, "Would you dare eat poultry raised on maggots?"

Jasper didn't want to quash his sister’s enthusiasm. "We can let the poultry fatten up a bit more, then feed them to the wolf pups first."

Arcadia had plenty of supplies; they could wait to eat the poultry if need be.

Stella gave him a knowing look, "Sly, aren't we?"

Jasper shot back with a smirk, "What about you? Will you eat it?"

Stella was smooth as silk, "I'll follow your lead."

They shared a conspiratorial grin, then got back to work.

After two weeks of labor, they had dried over two thousand pounds of salted fish and decided to dock the boat.

When the poultry hatched, the landmark boulder was already a good hundred meters above sea level.

During a few days of drizzling rain, the barren, brown earth sprouted some frail weeds, yet they showed a surprising resilience.

Stella always took the time to water them as she passed by.

Some withered, others stood tall.

Rosie dug a pit, lined it with a tarp, and dumped in dozens of pounds of salted fish, mixed with chopped potato shoots, stirring and adding just enough water to ferment the concoction.