18 Floors Above the Apocalypse

Stella ignored them. Her eyes were falling on a round stainless steel trinket on the ground that had likely fallen off a body. It seemed to be the pass for Unity Village. Lukas and Cody thought it was useless, so they didn't bother to pick it up. Stella bent down to pick it up, observing the trinket which looked like a backpack charm. It was probably something they found in a factory and distributed to the gangsters.

Back upstairs, Angela immediately opened the door as she heard them. She was surprised at seeing them together. "Why are you back so late? Did you get any information?"

Jasper remained silent, so Stella nodded, "I just left the neighborhood when I spotted a gang gathering food in the name of the protection, so I followed them quietly and found out they entered Unity Village."

Upon hearing her recount, Angela was stunned. "You mean, their hideout is in the neighborhood?"

Unity Village was large, which had over twenty residential buildings. How many people could be hiding there?

Was this gang developed from the residents? Or had it been invaded by outside forces? If it was the latter, were the original residents still alive?

Not only did they collect protection food, but they also used the pretext of gathering supplies to rob survivors' homes directly. This was also why the 18th floor was targeted.

Cody and Lukas felt a buzzing in his head. They had thought it was a gang of just a few dozen people. There were only 5 combat-capable people on the 18th floor; they couldn't fight against them face to face. So, he instinctively looked at Stella and Jasper. "What should we do next?" What should they do? The worst-case scenario would be to get chopped up.

Stella played dumb and followed his gaze to Jasper. Under everyone's concerned gaze, Jasper paused to think. "Let's not be impulsive, I'll go scout the place tomorrow."

While the 18th floor struggled to sleep, the 17th floor was in a state of fear. Amber was terrified. "Mom, I almost stepped on a corpse on the 16th floor when I came back, and the door downstairs is broken. What happened?"

She thought something had happened to her home, but thankfully her mother-in-law was unharmed. It was a close call today, but Katie was still shaken, sighing and saying, "Something serious has happened."

After hearing her mother-in-law's words, Amber was in shock for a while. "Has Korey gone mad? We agreed to face difficulties together. However, not only did he hide, but he also stabbed us in the back?" And there was the Palmer family from the 1702, they felt they shouldn't believe those people in the beginning.

"What should we do now?"

Amber was anxious. Her husband and son were at work, so only she and her mother-in-law were left at home. If the 18th floor really didn't care about them, what would they do?

These two troublemakers had ruined everything.

"You've been busy all day. Wash up and sleep early. We will think about what to do tomorrow."

Katie couldn't sleep. After making sure her daughter-in-law was asleep, she quietly went to the kitchen to boil a pot of hot water. She opened the door and poured it into the gap of the door of room 1702. The weather was extremely cold, so the water quickly turned into ice once it hit the ground.

Katie stood in the hallway, sighing deeply in the darkness. She didn't care if she died. She just couldn't leave any risks to her children.

She had lived long enough. Even the people younger than her had died. But her children were still very young, especially Mikey who had just graduated and found a job, and hadn't even gotten married and had children. When would this disaster end?

After calming down, Katie closed the door and returned to her room, wrapping herself in the blanket and staying awake all night.

...

Stella was drowsy and was awakened by the banging noise from downstairs. Both people and dogs were used to it. As long as it wasn't someone prying open the door to the 18th floor, it was fine. She pulled the blanket over her head and continued to sleep. When she woke up, Stella heard a noise in the hallway and opened the door to find Lukas straining his ears to listen to the noise from downstairs. "What's going on?"

Lukas chuckled, "The Palmer family from 1702, who refused to open their door yesterday, suddenly decided to move today." Stella didn't pay much attention. "They're probably scared that those guys will come back for revenge and involve them." "It's better that they leave. We don't have another backstabber."

Lukas told her what he heard, "I just heard Katie greeting them. It seems like the Palmer family is moving to the shelter."

That was right. In response to the unprecedented cold weather in the south, the government had re-planned the shelter. Houses in the south didn't have heating and could only use the most primitive methods of warming.

A large number of survivors gathered at the shelter. The crowd was warm but filled with various smells. Even stretching out one's limbs was difficult, let alone lying down to sleep or having hot water for a bath.

People would break down without sleep, but once they fell asleep and woke up, they might be left with nothing but themselves.

With the large number of people in the city, the nature of the shelter was to provide temporary relief and transition, with a one-month residency limit for any survivors who entered.

After the time limit, they could only go to the public warming area. The public warming area only heated during the day, and the heating would be turned off at night, which could freeze people into icicles.

So, many people would prefer to go outside to receive relief food and go up the mountain to chop firewood for warmth, rather than go to the shelter. At least they had blankets at home, and they could sleep while burning firewood. Lukas asked Stella, "Now only the Moore family is left on the 17th floor. What should we do?"

"We had a clear understanding with the Moore family before they moved in." Stella showed no emotion. "Everywhere is dangerous now. The Moore family must protect themselves. They shouldn't rely on us."

The people on the 18th floor were humans, not gods. They didn't even know how long they could survive.

While they were talking, Jasper opened the door and walked out. "Stella, are we going to scout the place today?"

Jasper wasn't a native of Griffith, so he didn't even know where Unity Village was. Stella also wanted to scout the base again, so she nodded in agreement.

Scouting needed to be low-key, so Stella put on old clothes. Jasper also tried to keep a low profile, but, well, he was too tall. He had a good body proportion, and a pair of long legs that attracted attention. No matter how low-key he was, he still stood out like a sore thumb. Stella was curious. "How tall are you?"

"189cm."

Stella was a bit worried. "Or should I go alone?"

Jasper's mouth twitched a little. "No, I won't make trouble."

At this point, Stella had nothing more to say. He was very capable. Even if he was discovered, he wouldn't be trapped. So, they took Cooper and Rosie to room 1803.

They were certainly famous now. The survivors of Sunrise Sanctuary had developed an uncanny ability to recognize them. Even if they tried to disguise themselves and keep a low profile, they were still noticed by someone.

No one, absolutely no one, dared to approach them.

The word was out, as though a wildfire that couldn't be contained in a paper bag. The news of their showdown from the day before had spread.

They were still afraid of them, but this time there was an unusual unity among them. They all, without exception, hoped that the 18th floor would triumph, even though such a notion seemed unrealistic.

The inhabitants of the 18th floor were indeed malevolent. However, as long as they weren't provoked, they didn't go around collecting heads or demanding protection money.

If those who were demanding protection money were dealt with, they could consider paying a little to those on the 18th floor. After all, there were only a few people living on the 18th floor. How much could they charge? Unfortunately, Stella was completely unaware of their thoughts. Even if she knew, she wouldn't care. They were just a bunch of folks seeking shelter under other people's power.

Relying on them was just a wishful thinking.