18 Floors Above the Apocalypse
Chapter 300

The baseball bat struck with a vicious fury, shattering the police car window into a spiderweb of cracked glass.

"Bang!"

Several gunshots echoed through the air, but they didn't deter the rioters from climbing onto the police car, wreaking havoc wherever they could reach.

Violence was in full swing; they were trying to topple the police car over.

With a deafening crash, the police car was flipped upside down. Several police officers were dragged out, their bodies slick with blood.

Jasper slammed on the brakes, "Evan's in there."

Stella was shocked; without the deterrence of the military, the rioters had no fear of the police.

She was torn. If they left now, they would be safe, but it meant these police officers would die. Without Evan, would the new leadership of the police station be as dedicated? Without Evan, the whistleblower's report would not have been taken seriously, and The Chaos would not have been eradicated. Who knew how many people would have died then?

Moreover, he had returned all the seized food to the people, without any reservation.

"Damn it, is there no law anymore?" Bran cursed, pulling out a weapon from his coat.

Just as he was about to act, he noticed that Stella and Jasper were sitting still. He hesitated, "Should we just pretend we didn't see?"

With just three of them, rushing out would be like a lamb entering a lion's den. They wouldn't be able to save Evan, and would only risk their own lives.

Realizing his rashness, Bran was about to put his gun back when he saw Jasper lower the car window and aim his gun at the rioters. Holy crap, his aim was spot on. He shot three rioters in the head in quick succession.

The sound of gunfire woke up the rioters. They saw a car in the distance and swarmed towards it like zombies. In the blink of an eye, Stella ignited a Molotov cocktail from the passenger seat and threw it at the charging rioters. The Molotov cocktail exploded, sending sparks flying and setting some of the rioters on fire. Their screams echoed in the night.

The rioters who were not splashed with gasoline quickly retreated.

Bran got out of the car, holding his weapon high, shouting, "Come on, if you don't fear death, come at us!"

The rioters saw not only guns but also grenades. They quickly retreated.

The trio quickly rushed to the overturned police car to help. The police were lucky; they were far enough from the explosion that they weren't splashed with gasoline. However, their injuries were severe, and they were unconscious. Without a second thought, they quickly loaded the injured officers into their car and sped off towards their safe zone.

Jasper was driving, and Stella was keeping a close eye on the road ahead. As they were about to turn into their safe zone, she warned, "Careful, there's a roadblock ahead."

It was a spike strip. The thugs probably thought the car would come back, so they stayed there with a spike strip. Fortunately, the road was wide enough, and there was only one spike strip, so Jasper drifts around the corner and flew over it. Bran almost dropped his chin in surprise. That was so cool.

After a thrilling but safe return to the residential area, they drove the car to the security building. Stella called the patrolling security guard and said hurriedly, "Quick, lend us a hand."

They lifted the wounded onto the bed, Stella ordered them to warm up the room and boil hot water, then she turned to Bran, "Have any medicine?"

"Yes."

When they evacuated the houses, they found some scattered medicines, but it was far from enough. Bran took out his walkie-talkie and quickly asked Butler to come over. Including Evan, all the police were severely injured, but thankfully they were wearing bulletproof vests so there were no life-threatening injuries, but their hands and feet were cut. Stella wasn't sure if the thug's knives were rusty, so she spoke again, "Any tetanus vaccines?"

Derick didn't bring any, so Bran went to fetch it himself.

The Porras family had it; when they first heard of the disaster, Shane had ordered people to stock up on drugs.

When they heard that Evan was injured, the Porras family wanted to maintain their relationship with the authorities, so they agreed to give out the vaccines, which were all imported.

But it's been four years since the disaster. Even the well-preserved ones were expired.

Stella dressed their wounds, while the Porras family was not paying attention, she swapped the tetanus vaccines with her own, "Now we can only give it a try. If we're lucky, there might not be any side effects."

She quietly exchanged her own stash preserved in Arcadia.

Shane opened his mouth, "Are their lives in danger?"

"They lost a lot of blood, but there should be no major issues."

Shane weighed his options and quickly said, "The security room is not cut for this. Arrange for Evan to stay with the Porras family, and I will arrange for someone to take good care of him."

Having lived two lives, Stella could easily figure out his plan, "Okay, then I'll have to trouble you. Feel free to contact me if there're any issues."

As long as Evan and the others got the best care, she'd not care about any small worldly obligations.

If they were good with the authorities, the community might benefit too, so why not?

Thus, Evan and others were arranged to stay with the Porras family, and Stella, all tired from the ordeal, took the Black Moss that belonged to her family, and went back to the villa with Jasper to rest. Knowing that they were safe for now, they quickly cleaned up and got some rest.

Lying on the bed with the lights off, Stella couldn't calm her mind. If there were more rioters like the ones today, the police station would eventually be overrun.

There simply weren't enough police and military personnel to handle the situation, while the rioters seemed endless.

Stella even wondered if there would have been less chaos if she hadn't warned the authorities at the beginning.

"Stop overthinking," Jasper said. "If we hadn't warned them, the casualties wouldn't just be the rioters. The police, the scientists, and many innocent survivors would have died too."

Sure enough, the government soon came up with a solution.

Relying solely on the police and military wasn't going to work. They needed everyone to take action.

They divided the city into sections, each with its own security team. Each building had a team leader, and everyone had to work together to protect their lives and supplies. Anyone who saw a rioter was to alert everyone immediately, and the entire section would work together to trap them.

At first, people were scared. But when backed into a corner, even a rabbit will bite. Especially when the survivors had nothing left to lose.

Not only did they unite the people, but the government also implemented a high-reward system. Anyone who reported a rioter and was confirmed to be correct would receive a significant reward.

A single outlaw equaled half a pound of provisions. The more outlaws one ratted out and were confirmed, the more rewards one could reap.

Sure, half a pound didn't seem like much, but consider this: outlaws roamed in packs, numbering from a handful to a few hundred. If luck would have it, you wouldn't have to worry about survival supplies anymore.

If you manage to capture an outlaw and hand them over to the military police, you'd be rewarded with two pounds of provisions.

Well, dang, this could turn into a legit business.

When supplies got looted and the starving survivors were on the brink of death, they quickly pulled themselves together and formed teams. After all, whether they died from hunger or were killed by the outlaws, it was still death. But what if they got lucky and caught an outlaw?

Death was inevitable. They might as well go down fighting!