18 Floors Above the Apocalypse novel Chapter 59

Jasper was paddling the inflatable boat, with Mikey on board, until they reached a spot about thirty yards out on the water. The fishing machine turned on, emitting a faint, buzzing, and harsh sound.

Cooper, was restless, constantly nudging his head here and there.

Cody was scanning the water with binoculars and after a few minutes, he exclaimed excitedly, "Fish, there are really fish. They're jumping out！"

Stella took over the binoculars and, sure enough, she saw fish after fish leaping out of the water, belly-up after a few seconds.

After lingering in one spot for about ten minutes, the inflatable boat moved to another location. Stella inflated a life raft, took a duffle bag, and paddled her way towards the floating fish. The dog, Cooper, was in the lead, tirelessly paddling with his paws.

The belly-up fish were carried away by the current. With their three inflatable boats and four people, they paddled towards the fish, using their oars to scoop the fish into the bags.

The fish were not small; most weighed between six to eleven pounds, with a few heavier ones. The variety of fish in the reservoir was wide, including carp, catfish, and bass.

The reservoir, estimated to be about forty acres, was continuously being filled by the rainwater. As the reservoir overflowed, many fish were carried away by the current. If it weren't for this disaster, they could have caught tens of thousands of dollars' worth of fish. It was a rich harvest indeed.

The fishing machine was a huge drain on the battery, and it probably wouldn't last for many more catches. The fish in the reservoir would eventually be washed away by the overflowing water. What a waste...

While stuffing the fish into the bag, Stella took the opportunity to touch the fish in the water and put them into Arcadia.

Witnessing the fish vanishing from Stella's hands, Cooper, the dog, widened his eyes in astonishment. She was performing her magic trick again!

Under Stella's guidance, Cooper had developed a habit. Whenever she performed her magic trick, he would immediately become alert and start to keep watch around them.

In less than an hour, they had filled one duffle bag, weighing about 180 pounds.

Joey and Amber, who were diligent and not lazy, had already filled two duffle bags.

Cody shouted from a distance, "You two slow down. The fish are getting swept away."

Jasper and Mikey were also collection fish, their catch piled in eight bags under a tree, weighing about 700 to 800 pounds.

With no fish to eat, they were worried, but now that the fish had piled up like a mountain, they wondered how to get them out?

"Why don't we just catch a few hundred pounds each day?"

Mikey expressed his worry. "The fishing machine's battery won't last much longer."

"Can it be charged?"

"Yes, it can. But where can we charge it?"

Jasper suggested, "Let's exchange the fish first, and then ask them if they can charge it."

'Them' referred to the group of people from Monkey.

Stella had no objection, and so they agreed to carry a bag of fish down the hill each to exchange first.

They couldn't carry all the fish, so someone had to stay behind and guard them. Given her age and physique, Stella was the only choice.

Once Jasper's figure disappeared and she made sure there was no one around, she moved the remaining four bags of fish onto the life raft, paddled to the middle of the reservoir, and turned on the fishing machine. A few minutes later, fish began to float to the surface, belly-up.

Stella took out a large net to scoop up the fish on the water surface and store them in Arcadia.

With the large number of fish in the reservoir, and her timely collection, each catch consisted of approximately 200 to 300 fish. After five rounds with the fishing machine, about 2,000 fish were caught, weighing several thousand pounds.

When the fishing machine ran out of power, Stella took out a solar power storage box from Arcadia.

After it was fully charged, she caught another haul. She didn't know exactly how much she had stored, but it was certain to be more than 20,000 pounds.

She charged half of the battery for the fishing machine again, then paddled along the edge of the reservoir, picking up quite a few dead fish that had been washed up by the current, enough to fill three duffle bags.

About half an hour later, Cooper became alert, and soon after, they heard the voices of Cody and the others. They soon arrived at the meeting point and were surprised to see three extra bags of fish. Cody asked in astonishment, "Stella, where did these fish come from?"

"While you guys were gone, I went around the edge of the reservoir and found quite a few more fish." Stella looked up and asked, "Did the trade go well?"

Cody looked both happy and worried when he mentioned this matter. "They want fish, but they can't eat this much. Plus, they're only willing to exchange one pound of rice for every two pounds of fish. They can only give us 200 pounds of fresh rice at most, and the rest has to be bartered with other goods."

Scarcity made things more valuable, and fish meat was cheaper than pork.