18 Floors Above the Apocalypse
Chapter 104

Having successfully evaded the soldier, Jasper provided Stella with a moment to catch her breath. Running in the biting cold, it felt like their lungs would burst.

After leaving Unity Village behind, they used the cover of night to return to Sunrise Sanctuary.

The night was as dark as ink, and danger lurked everywhere. They encountered several groups of robbers along the way. Stella, too tired to even speak, simply brandished her samurai sword.

"Sorry for bothering you guys." Recognizing the pair as formidable opponents, the robbers wisely stepped aside.

Just as they reached the entrance of their apartment complex, a figure rushed forward. "Stella?"

It was Angela's voice, accompanied by a visibly anxious Lukas. "Why are you guys just getting back?"

Relieved to see them both in one piece, Lukas sighed in relief. "We were waiting for you at Unity Village, but the military has it under lockdown. They have detained hundreds of people, and they couldn't fit them all in a dozen vans." It was not safe to talk outside, so they decided to continue the conversation indoors.

Back at their 18th-floor apartment, Stella, sipping hot water, explained, "We sneaked in, but we ran into military law enforcement. We had to replace a place to hide to avoid being mistaken for looters. We didn't manage to slip away until nightfall." They both remained silent about the bikini party. That was one memory they'd rather forget.

Cody pondered, "So, we lucked out this time, stumbling upon a joint operation by three departments to round up The Chaos?"

Stella nodded. "Yes, we sure had a lucky escape."

Lukas was overjoyed. "That's great. Those guys are finally out of the picture."

With The Chaos out of the way, the 18th floor of Sunrise Sanctuary was now invincible. It was unlikely anyone would dare to challenge their authority any time soon.

The day's events had been nerve-wracking. They each retreated to their rooms for some well-deserved rest.

As they left 1803, Stella whispered, "Should I give you the stuff now?"

"No rush, leave it with you for now."

Stella was taken aback. "Are you sure?"

This was a life-saving weapon, worth more than any amount of supplies. Was he out of his mind?

"It isn't safe with me." Jasper was nonchalant. "You keep it for me."

She stared at him in disbelief. Wasn't he afraid she'd keep it for herself?

His hawk-like eyes seemed to see right through her. Jasper, who was always so stern, suddenly chuckled. "Would you?"

Blinded by his smile, Stella replied, "No." She didn't have a death wish.

"There you go." Jasper breezily opened the door.

Stella was a little annoyed. "I'm charging a storage fee."

"Sure."

As she entered her apartment, Stella felt a sudden sense of disorientation. Jasper was becoming more and more inscrutable.

Cooper rushed forward, whimpering and pawing at her.

"Hey, did someone upset my little darling?" Cooper was not to be trifled with. Stella quickly apologized and offered him a piece of crispy fried fish. "Cooper is the best. Not only do you earn your keep, but you also protect the house." After pacifying Cooper, she turned on the heater and took a relaxing hot bath.

With the weapon in their possession, they could finally rest easy. Stella was determined to lay low and fatten up for winter.

But despite the sense of security, Stella found herself unable to sleep. She dreamed of Jasper, clad only in swim trunks, his muscular chest and abs, and long legs on full display.

In the dream, he smiled at her, then suddenly thrust a knife towards her, "Your Arcadia is mine now."

Startled awake by the nightmare, Stella was panting heavily. Cooper nuzzled his head against her, 'Woof, what happened?'

She quickly checked on Arcadia to calm herself down. Not only was Arcadia still there, but so were his weapon and two bunches of red grapes.

She took a melatonin tablet and finally managed to fall back asleep without any more dreams.

When she woke up around noon, the hallway outside was bustling. Angela was practicing boxing, Cody was practicing archery, and Lukas was pedaling the bike to generate electricity.

The people from 1803 all agreed that they should be in charge of electricity generation. Considering their contributions to the team, both in terms of defending against the protection fee collectors and in replaceing supplies, Stella and Jasper had done more. So the people from 1803 decided to take on additional responsibilities in daily life.

Stella didn't object. After all, in a team, the strong couldn't always wait for the weak. Just because she didn't have a problem with it didn't mean others didn't.

If everyone in 1803 could be understanding, they would be able to avoid conflicts with others, no matter where they went.

After their workout, they prepared a feast. It had been a while since the residents of the 18th floor had a gathering, and everyone was eager to eat good food.

Cooking in the extreme cold was a challenge. With temperatures below negative 40 degrees, food would freeze into blocks as soon as it was removed from the stove.

Stella suggested, "How about a stew? I still have some ingredients."

Everyone agreed. Jasper provided ribs, and the people from 1803 provided lean meat, and dried mushrooms.

Worried there wouldn't be enough food, Stella added, "I still have a fish from our last trip to the reservoir. I'll contribute a big grass carp." Might as well make the meal as lavish as possible. Cody was surprised. "Stella, you still have fish?"

"I got tired of eating fish during that time. The leftovers are in the car's refrigerated compartment."

Alright, everyone got to work preparing the lavish meal.

Stella went back to her apartment and picked a six pound grass carp from Arcadia. She gutted and sliced it, then marinated the slices in cornstarch and soy sauce.

The fish guts were a hassle to clean, so she gave them to Cooper to eat. But to her surprise, Smoky suddenly ran over to compete with Cooper.

A rabbit eating fish guts? Stella was stunned.

Since when did Smoky have the guts to challenge the top dog, Cooper? But what shocked Stella even more was that Snowy also ran over to help her husband fight against Cooper. The rabbits were revolting!

Cooper instantly became aggressive, pressing the couple to the ground and growling at them fiercely: 'I say, are you two tired of living? You dare to stir up trouble under my watch. Speak up!' The two rabbits were beaten badly and quickly submitted. Stella chased the two off and picked up Cooper to check his paw. There were actual bite marks.

Stella was instantly furious. "Cooper, if they dare to bite you again, don't hold back."

She was raising these rabbits for meat, but now they were turning violent against their owner. If it wasn't for their bond, Cooper would have bitten them to death with his fierce temper.

Cooper bared his teeth, willing to give them one more chance to reform.

She took out a tape measure, measured Cooper's size and weight. Even if the daily changes were not noticeable, the data over a longer period was quite impressive.

After registering his data, Stella put on rubber gloves to check and weigh Smoky and Snowy. Fortunately, the two rabbits still recognized Stella as their provider and didn't dare to bite her. Otherwise, the dinner table might have had two additional dishes - braised rabbit and fried rabbit. She pried open their jaws, snapped a few photos of their teeth, and compared them to the previous ones. They seemed to have gotten sharper.

Out of the twelve pups, only six had survived. They seemed to have gotten over the worst part and were much more lively than before.