18 Floors Above the Apocalypse

Because of Stella's firm refusal, everyone at 1803 decided to keep a share for themselves, while the rest was given to her for safekeeping, to be exchanged for supplies when the opportunity arose.

"What about those two households downstairs?"

Angela, known for her fiery temper, retorted, "Let's get down there. Break their doors down, and kick them all out. They make me sick to my stomach."

Cody, lost in thought, asked, "What about the Moores?"

The Moores were not bad. It was the other two households that were a headache. They were always scheming.

"We can't worry about everyone else. We just need to hold down the fort at the 18th floor."

Being greedy? There was no such thing as a free lunch in this world.

Today's events served as a lesson for everyone at the 18th floor. They had to be careful not to draw attention to themselves.

Angela spoke up, "When my bad luck comes, don't do anything foolish like trying to save me."

"Same goes for me," Cody said solemnly. "I'm a lone wolf. If I die, no one would miss me. Don't fall into a trap trying to save me."

Lukas, holding Angela in his arms, declared, "Baby, if I'm going to die, I want to die with you."

Stella pushed them away. "Are you all trying to jinx yourselves? Do you want to die?"

"Right, let's not tempt fate. We need to stay alive till the end of time, to see the end of this disaster and the world returning to civilization."

When Stella and Jasper left, Angela suddenly remembered something important. "Where's our firewood?" They rushed downstairs, only to find that the firewood was gone.

Angela, with hands on her hips, shouted at the other survivors in the building, "Who took my firewood? If you don't want to die, return it within half an hour, and I'll pretend this never happened. Otherwise, don't blame me for dealing with you one by one!" This was firewood they had risked their lives to chop. They couldn't just let others take it.

After shouting, she returned upstairs to rest.

Lukas kept track of the time and went downstairs to collect the firewood as soon as half an hour was up. To their surprise, the firewood was returned, just tossed in the hallway of the building. After a few trips, they managed to retrieve all the firewood they had chopped. Stella sighed, "We really have a bad reputation around here."

The firewood was a minor issue. The real problem was how to deal with these gangsters.

Stella knew where their stronghold was. If they were going to strike, they had to make sure I was a fatal blow.

These people were part of a gang, called The Chaos. Stella remembered it clearly because she had seen them publicly tried and executed in her previous life. But that was months later, far from now.

In her previous life, they not only extorted food from the survivors but also abused innocent women and harmed public servants. They were evil personified.

The survivors were in despair. The police and security teams investigated but to no avail. Later, the government mobilized special forces and even the army to eradicate The Chaos.

Apart from those who were eliminated on the spot, hundreds were publicly tried for their crimes. Their long list of crimes was so extensive that it took half an hour to read it all. They deserved to die a thousand times over.

As Stella recalled these events, important details surfaced in her mind.

In the evening, she dressed in worn-out clothes and told Angela, "I'm going out for a bit."

Angela was concerned. "What are you going to do?"

"We can't just sit and wait. I want to gather some information. Knowledge is power."

"I'll come with you."

"Two people would attract too much attention. I'll go first and we can figure out what to do later."

"Okay, just be careful."

Bundled up, Stella headed towards Unity Village.

Dressed in ragged clothes and carrying nothing of value, she was ignored by the thieves and robbers on the streets. Why would they waste energy on someone who had nothing valuable?

By the time she reached Unity Village, it was almost dark. Stella found a wind-shielded spot and observed the area with her binoculars.

There were guards at the gate checking everyone's identities. It seemed they needed a round object and a password to enter.

It had been a long time, and Stella couldn't remember everything. She only remembered the pass and password from their action.

By watching their mouth movements, Stella quickly figured out the password.

Unity Village had four entrances and exits. The passwords cycled and the pass for each entrance was different.

Under the cover of darkness, Stella checked each entrance and exit. She watched as they carried the extorted goods into the village. She saw people leaving the village drunk. All of them were nourished with the stolen supplies from the survivors.

Just as she was about to leave, she saw a group of men forcefully dragging several girls into the village. Once they stepped into such a place, there was no chance of getting out.

Stella felt heavy-hearted and quickly slipped into Arcadia. She spent half an hour writing a letter, put on her night-vision goggles, and skated through the icy winds.

She arrived at the new police station, which was dark and deserted. Originally understaffed, the police station was now a target for criminals.

It was dangerous enough in the daytime, let alone at night. There was no one on duty. Efforts had been made to establish a security patrol team, but with the swift breakdown of law and order, accompanied by the explosive increase in crime rates, resources were stretched thin. Even as the body collection team found themselves overwhelmed with requests, the security team was yet to be adequately staffed. Compared to starving, they were more afraid of losing their lives.

The government later deployed heavy forces and eliminated many criminals, gradually improving the security situation.

Stella dropped the letter into the mailbox. It contained all the information she had about the Dragon Slayers. If the police believed her and seized the opportunity to strike, they could not only protect many survivors but also reduce their own sacrifices. Now, their illegal operations were just beginning.

Stella was only human. She lived another life, but she just wanted to live longer. This was all she could do.

When she returned to Sunrise Sanctuary, she saw a tall figure in front of her. Stella quickened her pace. "Jasper?"

The figure stopped. "Stella?"

Stella was taken aback. "Why did you go out?"

"I was feeling cooped up, so I went out for some fresh air," Jasper replied. "What about you?"

Stella nodded, "Same here."

The two of them shared a look and a laugh. Without further questions, they headed upstairs in unison.

The bodies from the day had been on the 16th floor for a while, frozen stiff. No one had come to collect them. The residents complained about the lack of decency of those living at the 18th floor, grumbling as they teamed up to toss the bodies out of the window. Just as they turned around, they saw Stella and Jasper standing silently at the stairway exit.

"Ah!" The lady from the 16th floor shrieked. Her face was as pale as a sheet. "We... we didn't say anything bad about you!" After saying that, she retreated to her room, slamming and bolting the door behind her.

The folks on the 18th floor were as spooky as ghosts, truly frightening. They were just casually chatting, without any ill intent. They really didn't dare to cross paths with them!