18 Floors Above the Apocalypse novel Chapter 514

Hearing Ivans' question, Stella shook her head and said, "I'm used to my freedom; I don't want to live a restricted life. Maybe one day I'll get tired of the Arctic and head somewhere else."

Ivans clenched his teeth, "The base has a plane on the warship, but they won't agree to let it go."

"If you're willing to help, I'll find a way to save your leg."

"You're sure you can save my leg?"

Stella didn’t make any promises she couldn’t keep. "Medical procedures come with risks; I can't guarantee it one hundred percent, but you know me, Ivans. You know what kind of person I am."

After a long silence, Ivans said, "I want to meet the pilot."

Stella called Peter to come inside while she waited outside the igloo.

Ivans sized up Peter. "Is your base big?"

"Massive. It'll be a city for hundreds of thousands. Right now, they're working on land reclamation."

Ivans was familiar with the concept, akin to the myth of Sisyphus forever pushing his rock, only in this age, it was about building islands from the sea.

"Aussies are lucky survivors, cast adrift to the far Arctic, yet their nation sends a rescue team."

He couldn't help but feel envious, mixing hope with desire, "Does my country have a base?"

Peter spoke diplomatically, "We have one, China has one, and your country is militarily strong, and your people are united. I'm sure you'll have one too."

Ivans informed him of the fighter jet model on the warship. "Can you fly it?"

Peter's eyes lit up. "I can."

The model wasn't the latest, but the Eastern Air Force had trained them on it before the catastrophe struck.

A decade may have passed, but with a touch of the controls, he was confident he could soar into the sky.

Ivans couldn't make promises but said he'd try to negotiate.

Worried that Peter alone wouldn't be persuasive enough, he asked Stella to come along. "Ginger, I need you."

Stella hesitated but agreed.

Jasper wanted to accompany her, but she refused, fearing for his safety.

With Arcadia at her side, Stella could escape danger, while Jasper would guard the home base. "Don't worry, Ivans is counting on me to fix his leg; he shouldn't play any tricks."

She was confident in her decision.

Jasper reminded her, "Be careful."

They revved their snowmobiles and headed towards Union Base with Stella and Peter riding through the biting cold.

After over an hour, they safely arrived at the base.

The Russians lived on the warship, while transport vessels and other ships had been converted into planting zones, with many survivors braving the cold winds to work.

In a short time, a small group of fewer than a hundred had swelled to over four hundred, their ambition growing by the day.