18 Floors Above the Apocalypse
Chapter 147

hallucination, making them sluggish and unable to snap out of it for about two hours.

Mikey had brought a new contraption home-a mousetrap. This was a project that had consumed him for months. It worked similarly to an ultrasonic fish trap, emitting sound waves that stimulated the brains of the mice, tricking their nervous system into a state of Stella mused, "Like how cats are attracted to catnip?"

Exactly, Mikey's inspiration had come from catnip.

The apartment had been under a plague of mice, causing much distress. Outside, many survivors had been bitten by these rodents. Although the hospital and health departments were prepared, restoring drug production was not an easy task. Therefore, the situation remained bleak.

Mikey suggested, "Let's continue working together, to wipe out these mice."

Stella had no objections. Even though they had Cooper, he also got tired. Cooper had lost weight and was so exhausted, it snored in its sleep, dreaming of battling red-eyed mice.

The sweltering heat was a disaster for the dog, which could only cool down by panting. Excessive water consumption could also lead to water intoxication. Neither was a sight she wanted to see.

So they decided to test the mousetrap.

They opened the hallway window on the 17th floor, along with the doors and windows of the other two apartments. The mousetrap, once plugged in, emitted a faint hum.

About ten minutes later, a large-eyed mouse crawled up from the sewer.

It circled the mousetrap, squeaking, its movements gradually slowing down, its red eyes full of ecstasy. Uh, like it was high on drugs. A few minutes later, the mouse staggered and fell. More and more mice began to appear, climbing up one after another. In less than half an hour, there were over a dozen.

Cody and the others were awestruck. This was the power of technology.

The agreement was reached, the 18th floor would be responsible for catching and killing the mice full-time, the Moore family would provide the mousetraps, and both households would take turns to deliver the dead mice to the community committee for registration. The canned food obtained in exchange would be split equally.

The 18th floor was not interested in the canned food, but they were living in constant fear of the mice. They agreed to the plan in order to improve their living conditions.

Thus, the mousetrap was taken to the 18th floor, and the doors and windows of the hallway were opened.

Each person took turns, working in shifts.

By the room number, Jasper was the first. He came out every two hours to kill the hallucinating red-eyed mice and threw them into a sack.

By the next morning, they had killed 106 mice. Over 100 pounds of mice, not something anyone could easily lift.

When it was Stella's turn, she didn't have to do anything, the dog handled everything.

During the day, there were fewer mice, they caught and killed over 70.

Jasper went downstairs with a raft, while Stella carried a sack full of mice. They were both wearing thermal underwear, medical grade protective suits on top, masks tightly secured, and they went to the community committee to hand over the mice.

There was still a lot of floating garbage in the water, but thanks to the efforts of the relevant departments, the environment was much better than in the past. For now, there were no reports of any outbreaks.

At this time in her last lives, an outbreak had already occurred.

There were many people handing over mice at the community committee, but most only had a few, those with a dozen were considered impressive.

When the staff learned that these were from the Sunrise Sanctuary Unit 1, they were amazed, "Are the mice in your area very rampant? This morning, a family from your building came and handed in over 100 pounds."

Stella nodded, "Yes, our area is infested with mice. We can barely set foot on the ground."

Canned food could be exchanged once every half month, so after handing over their goods, they left.

By this time, the sun had set and the heat had slightly dissipated. The survivors started to come out.

After the extreme cold, the number of rubber boats and rafts had drastically reduced. When they encountered others, they would go around to avoid being robbed on the water.

Even in the evening, the temperature reached 50 degrees. Although they were wearing thermal underwear, the perceived temperature was not low, especially since the protective suits were not breathable. When they returned to the 18th floor, their clothes were soaked. Stella went into Arcadia to take a shower, then took the dog to 1801 for dinner. Rosie and Cooper had been cooped up inside all day, and even with the fan on, they were listless and had no appetite.

Similarly, Stella was low-spirited. She whispered to Jasper, "Shall we have salad?"

She had stocked up on the ingredients, so he had no objections, "Sure."

She took out a dozen cucumbers from Arcadia and taught Jasper how to crush them. They made a lot, after crushing, they had to mix it in a large bowl. They left enough for three people, the rest was stored in Arcadia.

The sour and spicy taste was refreshing, instantly whetting their appetites. Dogs couldn't eat spicy food, so they mixed dog food with some goat milk and added a piece of chicken breast.

For several days, the 18th floor was able to collect over 100 pounds of mice each day.

People on the lower floors started to wonder, "Why are there fewer mice?"

The range of the mousetrap was a radius of 30 meters, and the mice affected by the sound waves ran to the higher floors.

Mice could swim, and they moved around. If there were fewer mice in Unit 1, they would be replaced by mice from other areas. So the people from other units also started to wonder. Red-eyed mice were ferocious, true, but as long as they were careful not to get bitten, they had a chance to catch them and fill their bellies.

Thus, a ridiculous scene unfolded.

Many survivors blocked the entrance to the community, not letting the workers enter. They didn't care if others died, but if all the mice were caught, how would they survive?

Even when the community committee came to talk to them, they wouldn't budge.

Blocking the entrance was useless, as the workers brought large mousetraps, with a working radius of up to 100 meters.

They pretended to leave, but actually went around and started working outside the community. Then, a shocking scene unfolded, many drunk mice appeared in the water, swaying as they swam.

The workers simply scooped them up with a net and threw them into iron cages.

However, they were still discovered by the survivors, and some bold ones actually paddled over in their rafts, demanding mice from the workers, their tone extremely agitated, "If you take all of them, how are we supposed to survive?"

The workers couldn't give them, as eating mouse meat had caused a number of deaths. It had to go through a high-temperature sterilization special process.

Of course, they also understood the difficulties of the survivors, and tried to avoid conflict by speaking as gently as possible. If it didn't work, they would retreat.

After more than half a month of mouse-catching operations, the number of red-eyed mice in Griffith had drastically decreased. Even with the mousetrap on, they could only catch about twenty mice in a day.

At the same time, the community committee distributed effective cockroach medicine. Stella picked up a few doses when she went to hand over the mice, and it was indeed very effective. At last, the large cockroaches were eradicated. The 18th floor celebrated; the only ones not happy were the rabbits. They had to eat grass again.

The extreme heat continued, Griffith was like a pot on the stove every day. The survivors were like half-cooked, spending each day in agony.

Extreme heat, lack of water, lack of food, and hunger... For them, the only silver lining was that they had filtered water.

No one cared about the origin of the water, nor dared to ponder over it. The conundrum was how to get the water back?

They hadn't bathed in a month, their bodies slick with sweat and grime. They couldn't even bear to look at themselves in the mirror.

Life's miseries were manifold, and the cries of despair were incessant.

One day, Stella and Jasper were on rodent duty. As they rounded the corner on the fifth floor, they spotted a snake emerging from the water, slithering its way up the stairs.