18 Floors Above the Apocalypse
Chapter 46

Stella stepped into the kitchen and grabbed some freshly boiled eggs. She made a batch of pickling liquid and pour it over the eggs. "It's done." she stated.

...

Just as she was about to take a nap, there came a knock at the door.

The residents of 1801 and 1803 were heading out, even Rosie was donning her raincoat. Jasper wanted to take these two out for some real-world experience. With Cooper's unbridled enthusiasm, Stella thought about it and didn't refuse, "Wait here."

She went back to retrieve her makeup box, selecting a dark color and began to apply it on Rosie's face. It wasn't wrong to let Rosie see the harsh reality of the post-apocalyptic world early on. Still, she was simply too rosy-skinned, making her an easy target if she ventured outside.

After some retouching, Stella finally finished applying the makeup to Rosie's face making her look more weathered and rugged. The dog nudged over as well; he wanted to be painted too.

Stella scoffed at the idea. The dog's face was ugly enough as it was. Cooper, whose confidence was severely dented, huffed and without looking back, left with Jasper.

When Stella woke up from her nap, she began preparing to perform acupuncture on Katie.

Katie took out a cloth-wrapped baked potato from her pocket, "Stella, my back is feeling much better. Thank you."

The potato was still warm, but Stella refused, "I have charged for my services. You keep it."

She wouldn't take anyone's survival chances away. Food was life.

Katie, however, insisted on giving Stella the potato. Suddenly, there was another knocking sound from downstairs.

"I appreciate your kindness," Stella told her, "but if you insist on giving it to me, you can use the potato to pay for your future treatments."

The knocking continued. After a while, someone started shouting, "Hey, girl from the 18th floor, I'm here for treatment. Open up!"

Judging by the robust voice, what illness could they possibly have?

Annoyed by the noise, Stella went downstairs and asked coldly, "What's the problem?"

A middle-aged woman approached her, quickly putting on a smile, "You're Dr. Stella, right?"

"I'm not a doctor, just a medical student."

"Dr. Stella, I have a headache and a fever. Could you please take a look?"

"I charge for my services."

Hearing this, the woman's smile froze, "What? It's just a headache and a fever. Just give me some pills."

Stella retorted, "Are you a shoplifter or something? I don't have any medication here, nor can I treat you."

"No medication? Can you at least give me acupuncture?"

"Acupunctureis five pounds of food per needle."

"What? There's no cost for you to do acupuncture. Why do I have to give you five pounds of food?" The woman was furious, "You can't just take advantage of people like this. We are all neighbors. We should help each other. You've already taken so much, and now you want our food too? You're heartless!"

Stella took a step forward, brandishing her knife, "Say that again."

The woman yelped in fear, "What are you doing? Are you trying to kill me? I have connections in the police department. If you lay a finger on me, you'll regret it."

Stella, fed up with the noise, swung her knife towards the woman.

"Murderer! Murderer on the 18th floor! She's gone crazy."

The woman's screams echoed through the building. Stella coldly retorted, "Keep shouting. Look at you, all plump from overeating. Come here to pick a fight now that you're full?"

Stella remembered her, the one who came from out of town with her grandson, selfish and love to take advantage. She would go through the trash cans in every building to pick up things, even asking for beverage bottles that others hadn't finished drinking. The woman's face turned pale, and her voice significantly weakened, "I... we have no food at home. We've run out."

There was indeed a good amount of food stored at home. When the storm first hit, she went knocking on doors to borrow food from neighbors, and she managed to acquire quite a bit. Little did she know that her intentions would be revealed.

She had also heard there were medicines on the 18th floor and wanted to get some. She had no idea this young girl would be so difficult to deal with.

The woman's voice became noticeably weaker, "We really don't have any extra food. If we had any, we would have given it to you in exchange for medicine."

Stella warned her, "If you dare to mess with me again, I won't hesitate to break down your door."

The woman, terrified by Stella's menacing glare, quickly retreated and left.

Back upstairs, Stella resumed her acupuncture session with Katie.

"Stella, don't let that woman get to you." Katie advised, "She's a real piece of work, always trying to take advantage of others. Even her kids are spoilt, always grabbing things that aren't theirs. We stopped letting them into our house a long time ago. Oh, and be careful with the girl next door. She's been spreading rumors about you."

"The one whose hair was cut off?" She was referring to Sadie.

"Yes, she's been asking around about you, trying to replace out if you have any medicine."

Katie was not oblivious to Sadie's intentions, "I told her you didn't have any, but she didn't believe me. She's even managed to turn some of the others against you."

Katie, having seen much in her life, worried for Stella, "This disaster has made people desperate and cruel. I know you're capable, but you must still be careful."

Stella, who had already experienced death once, was always on guard. She was selective about her patients; not everyone who came to her received treatment.

She had seen the dark side of humanity in this very building in her past life. Those she chose to help were the ones whose conscience hadn't yet been destroyed, even though many of them eventually died.

Thinking of Sadie, Stella narrowed her eyes, "Katie, what exactly has she been saying about me?"

Katie tried to recall, "She didn't say anything specifically but kept insinuating that you're hoarding supplies."

Katie then remembered something else, "She's also been trying to flirt with that handsome guy from your floor, but he didn't even give her a second glance."

Flirting with Jasper?

Katie continued, "She even tried to fake a fall in front of him, but he didn't spare her a glance and just walked past."

Katie sighed. This world had indeed changed. Some women were even willing to exchange their bodies for a packet of instant noodles.

Mikey had also been harassed, but thankfully Katie's strict upbringing kept him from straying.

Angela and the others returned just before dusk. They brought back a lot of firewood and even managed to drag back a large stainless steel water tank.

Cooper, ever the eager beaver, dragged a large tree branch upstairs, following Rosie who was carrying firewood, "Stella, we're back."

Cooper was excited, constantly jumping at Stella, getting her all wet.

Rosie had a scrape on her face, probably from a tumble or a scrape, but her eyes shone exceptionally bright when she smiled. She leaned over to whisper into Stella's ear, "Stella, there's meat. Cooper found it, and Jasper hunted it." Ah, no wonder the dog had a smug look on his face. He was waiting for her praise. She rubbed the dog's head and even gave him a peck.