18 Floors Above the Apocalypse
Chapter 242

Before going to bed, Stella pulled out her blanket, "Rosie, if you feel cold at night, you can use this."

The radio had timely notifications, but there was no sound from Mark's loudspeaker. It might be because the radio was out of battery. Jasper relayed the message, "The Weather Bureau has issued a warning: the Polar Day is here, and there will be a significant temperature difference between day and night."

So, the loudspeaker echoed once more, reminding everyone to dress warmly and prevent the cold. It was not a matter to be taken lightly. Once you fell sick and couldn't recover, death was the next stop. Waking up the next morning, Stella found a blanket on her. She glanced at the thermometer on the wall, 20 degrees Celsius.

The spot next to her was empty. Jasper was nowhere to be seen.

Pulling the curtain aside, she saw him exercising on the terrace with the dog, even Rosie was there. Uh, seemed like she had been slacking off.

20 degrees in the morning, 37 at noon, and 18 at night, the temperature was like a rollercoaster.

The darkness was postponed again, till 9 pm.

Day by day, eating was the only routine. They had become tired of watching TV. They could only study for two hours a day, and reading had become daunting. Living such a life was not as easy as it seemed. Sensing her boredom, Jasper suggested, "How about we cook something?"

Now that they were living far away from everyone else, they could cook without the smell spreading around. In the future, when they moved to Newtown, the villas wouldn't have such a wide gap between the buildings. Stella liked this idea, "How about some cookies and bread?"

They were not in a hurry this time; they only cooked when they felt like it. They strived for perfection, every dish looking like a piece of art.

A month later, they had stored a lot of food.

Now, it only got dark at 1 am and the sun rose at 5 am. The daytime temperature was 30 degrees Celsius while the night was only 10 degrees.

Thanks to the Polar Day, the survivors had to change their clothes every two hours. If you had to go out, you didn't need to bring anything else other than clothes for all four seasons. A minor negligence could lead to a cold.

The erratic weather was troubling for Cooper as he didn't know whether to grow his fur or shed it.

Stella put on a thermal coat for him.

Despite the Polar Day, the three of them maintained their routine. If the sun was too bright, they would draw the curtains; they wouldn't easily mess with their biological clock.

If there was any advantage to the Polar Day, it was that the longer sunlight accelerated the growth of crops, and the shortened night relatively reduced crime rate. However, it had nothing to do with Stella, who was leading a laid-back lifestyle. On the contrary, Rosie seemed happy, "Stella, the peanuts I planted have sprouted."

The little girl had developed a love for planting, not just peanuts but also vegetables.

Cooper was helping by digging the soil, no matter how Luna, from the floor below, called out to him passionately, he didn't pay any attention. Stella realized that it was a classic case of unrequited love.

Standing on the terrace, she saw the carpenter from building no.3 making furniture.

Stella was curious, so she walked over in the evening while fetching water, "Patrick, do you know how to make a boat?"

"A boat?" Patrick, a local, had been an apprentice in a boat factory when he was young, "I can make a small one."

Griffith was a land of abundance, with a complex network of water bodies. The older generation of locals all had wooden boats which they used to navigate through the water bodies.

Patrick was curious, "You want a boat?"

Stella nodded, "My rubber boat hardened during the extreme cold. With this erratic weather, in case there's a flood, I'd have nowhere to hide. Could you make me two?"

"You need old fir for making a boat, and it needs to be coated with teak oil."

Patrick had some teak oil but arranging for the wood was an issue. With the limited tools he had, the wooden boat could be at most 1.8 meters wide and 3 meters long, and anything bigger could cause problems. Stella thought it was okay. If they ever had to drift in the sea, rubber boats and assault boats were more prone to damage. A wooden boat was sturdier.

Although they had yachts and cruise ships, who would mind having more resources?

After chatting with Patrick for a while, she found out he also made bath barrels and wooden barrels. Stella promptly ordered eight sets.

Woodworking took time, and considering the cost of teak oil, Patrick asked for 80 kg of sweet potatoes as compensation. Stella pretended to hesitate before agreeing the deal.

Two days later, she drove a truck back and unloaded the required wood at the entrance of building no.3, "My friend also wants a boat, along with barrels and basins."

Towards the end, many high-tech products couldn't be used, and they needed old items for presentation.

Being able to earn 160 pounds of sweet potatoes made Patrick ecstatic; he even called his son to help.

The delivery was made in two batches. The first batch was delivered half a month later, and the second batch, a month later.

There was no denying that the wooden boat was sturdy and also polished smooth. Even the oars were coated with teak oil.

Stella tested it in Arcadia, and it indeed didn't leak. So, she went to Patrick again, "My friend has sold the wooden boats and wants to place another order for six with you. Ensure the quality, and there might be more business in the future." Getting new business made Patrick's family overjoyed, they were one step closer to their goal of buying a house.

By now, the night had completely vanished. After adjusting their biological clock, the people of Eastwood Eden had adapted. The patrol team worked in shifts; their main task was to look after the crops.

The herbs planted in The Garden were growing well. Stella had propagated them several times, planted over several square meters. In a while, they would be ready for harvesting and drying.

Dragonlily was growing slightly slower, but it had already started branching and sprouting new buds in the soil.

Stella took its pictures every now and then, recording its growth. She repeatedly compared the pictures with the ones in medical books.

Hmm, it was becoming more and more similar, but there were differences.

Jasper was certain, "It's the one, no doubt."

Alright, if he said so, it must be so. After all, he was always steady and not the kind to blabber.

Since they had figured out one herb, what about the other one?

Stella asked, "Where did you replace the medicine?"

"Mount Murray."

Mount Murray was one of the four famous mountains of the area. With a high altitude and steep terrain, the mountain top was often enveloped in mist. It was located in the county governed by Lincoln. Stella was surprised, "Several hundred kilometers away, how did you manage to replace it?"

"The smog made the environment worse. The professor searched all the nearby areas and eventually, we had to try our luck at Mount Murray."

Unexpectedly, they found it there.

Now that it was the Polar Day, it was relatively safe to travel. Stella was tempted, "Shall we go once?"

If even Jasper could get infected, what about her and Rosie? Stella didn't want to cough her lungs out.

Jasper paused for a moment before speaking, "I'll go. You and Rosie stay here."

"Why?"

"The earthquake didn't bring down Mount Murray, but it's incredibly unstable now. Any false move could trigger a landslide or a rockfall."

In his past life, his escort team had lost three members while searching for medicine. Jasper didn't want Stella to go through that.

"It's because it's so dangerous that I want to go with you. If we can't evade in time, we can always retreat to Arcadia."

He was lucky in a past life, but that didn't mean he would be this time around.

However, Jasper was adamantly against it. Stella's eyes were pleading as she proposed a compromise, "Let's go to Mount Greenwood first. If we don't replace anything, then we'll reconsider."

Mount Greenwood, one of the four famous mountains in the area, was an extinct volcano that had been silent for billions of years. Its elevation and terrain were much less treacherous than Mount Murray, and its unique landscape nurtured a variety of flora and fauna. The key point was that this mountain belonged to Griffith, and it was only about 50 miles from the city.

Jasper didn't want to discourage her, "We've looked there before. There was nothing."