Apocalypse Queen: My Space, My Rules Chapter 95: The Cliff Gambit

The girl who'd killed the crocodile didn't even look back. She'd just left it for them.

Grab it!

First come, first served!

Mariella had no interest in crocodile meat. She had bigger things to do, so she didn't bother having Chandler stop the boat.

They pushed forward. Every time a crocodile got close, she met it with the chainsaw.

Eventually, the crocs stopped approaching altogether. Soon, the two of them found a flat rooftop suitable for a helicopter takeoff.

They climbed up. Mariella pulled the small helicopter out of her storage space.

Chandler flew. Low altitude, northwest heading.

Mariella had the binoculars out, scanning the ground below.

Liraelith sat on hilly terrain. Every few dozen miles, a chain of low hills appeared.

The hills had no game on them, and the constant heavy rain was triggering landslides. Almost no one dared climb up to scavenge.

But Mariella remembered that northwest of the city, there was an officially designated livestock zone—cattle, sheep, pigs.

The floods had hit fast and drowned the farms.

But animals had survival instincts far beyond humans. Their ability to swim was far superior, too. She was betting most of them had made it to the nearby hills.

In her past life, several of those hills had collapsed in the flash floods, and survivors had found livestock carcasses floating in the water.

This time around, the government warehouse that should have survived had been destroyed, which meant the flash floods had shifted direction.

Which meant the hills that had collapsed last time might still be standing.

But going out there was extremely dangerous. The only reason Mariella dared was her storage space—she could retreat into it if things went sideways.

Twenty minutes of flight time brought them to the chain of hills northwest of the city.

Floodwater was battering every hillside. Loose sections of slope kept crumbling away, vanishing into the current in an instant.

These hills were like quicksand that could swallow you whole. Without real nerve and real skill, no one would set foot on them.

"You know the terrain better than I do. I'm not going to tell the expert how to do his job." Mariella was direct.

Chandler took in the eroded, flood-eaten hillsides without a flicker of expression. No questions. No hesitation.

The moment Mariella gave the word, he adjusted the helicopter and began looking for a safe landing spot.

"Wait!" Mariella spotted something through the binoculars. "That hilltop ahead. I think I see sheep!"

...

Sheep were built for hills.

Their hooves had a strange, rubbery grip that let them cling to steep slopes without slipping.

The helicopter engine spooked the flock, and they bolted.

Their panicked run was exactly what gave them away. Mariella's guess had been dead right—livestock from the flooded farms had swum to these hills.

She pulled a sniper rifle from her storage space and chambered a round in one motion.

Chandler matched her seamlessly. The helicopter stayed tight on the fleeing flock, dropping altitude.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Three shots from the open cabin window.

Three sheep dropped. The rest scattered like arrows.

The helicopter banked hard and reversed direction.

Mariella squeezed off two more shots. Two more sheep down.

But the flock was too fast. They vanished into a ravine, out of range.

Chandler brought the helicopter down, but there was nowhere safe to land nearby. He held a hover at about six feet.

Not many pilots could do that.

"Stay in the chopper." Mariella stopped Chandler from getting out. "If anything goes wrong, go up. Don't wait for me. I can get into my storage space."

Chandler looked at her for a moment, then said, "We could both go into the storage space."

"Absolutely not." Mariella shut it down. "We are not losing this helicopter. If we do, I'm twisting your head off. Try me."

Chandler was speechless.

Never mind. Forget he said anything.

...

Mariella fast-roped down cleanly.

At six feet, she didn't technically need a rope at all.

But to be safe, she used it anyway.

If the ground gave way or something went wrong, the rope was her ticket back up.

She tested the ground with her weight, confirmed it was solid, and went to collect the kills.

She had bagged five sheep, but they were scattered.

From his vantage point, Chandler helped her locate each one accurately.

As she walked to each carcass, he followed with the helicopter.

Mariella had just finished collecting the five sheep when, before she could even turn around, Chandler's urgent warning came over the walkie-talkie. "A herd of cattle is charging your way!"