18 Floors Above the Apocalypse novel Chapter 426

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.

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.