18 Floors Above the Apocalypse
Chapter 48

Everyone looked exhausted except for Jasper. Rosie had teardrops in her eyes and her face was as pale as a sheet, clearly traumatized. Nobody spoke. The three men silently moved water towers.

Stella packed away the inflatable raft and carried a bundle of firewood upstairs. Angela walked ahead of her, stumbling and almost falling. Stella couldn't free her hands. She quickly pushed Angela with her body to keep her from falling. As they continued upwards, Stella noticed Angela was walking oddly, most likely because of a foot injury.

Stella had a sensitive nose and could faintly smell blood. Was there a fight during their trip?

There were many eyes in the apartment building, and now was not the time to appear weak. If anyone discovered that people from the 18th floor was injured, there would be a swarm of people rushing in like mad dogs.

They returned to the 18th floor gritting their teeth. Angela placed the firewood in the hallway, her expression full of pain. Stella helped her into the room. "What happened?"

Angela had injured her leg. The gory hole in her leg was not made by a knife or gunshot, but by a tusk.

"It was a wild boar," Angela grimaced in pain.

Stella frowned. "You guys went into the forest again?"

"What else can we do?" Angela gave a bitter smile. "All our supplies are submerged underwater. People are dying from hunger every day. Today, we saw bodies being thrown out of buildings. There were more than one. We can barely last for seven or eight months. But supplies are getting harder and harder to replace. What are we going to do in the future?"

The main purpose of the trip was to hunt in the forest. They climbed over several hills, and Cooper, as expected, found a family of wild boars. There were five in all, all with big bodies. After some discussion, they decided to hunt them.

Stella was worried for them. "Wild boars are very aggressive, not like farm pigs."

It was indeed risky, but wild boar meat could save lives. They had to take the risk.

Stella took out bandages and iodine, looking for surgical instruments and sutures. "This wound is too big and hard to stop bleeding. Should I take you to the hospital, or should I stitch you up?"

"It's not a big injury. You can stitch it."

Angela was used to injuries from boxing, so she didn't think it was a big deal. Besides, there were no medical supplies at the hospital, so it was better to do it at home.

Stella first disinfected the wound, then used anesthetic to numb the pain, and then started stitching. Lukas turned pale at the sight, tightly holding his girlfriend's hand. "Stella, Angela's life is in your hands now."

Angela pushed him away. "You're hurting my hand."

Cody rolled his eyes. "Stop being so mushy."

Angela wasn't the only one injured. Cody and Lukas also got hurt, but their injuries were minor.

Jasper was bleeding from a cut on his arm and was comforting the frightened and crying Rosie like nothing happened.

It was raining and slippery in the mountains. Angela killed an incoming boar with her bare hands, but was toppled by tusks.

Cooper was very brave. He and Jasper worked seamlessly together, killing the remaining four boars. Cody and Lukas also helped, but they were clearly not on the same level. If it weren't for Jasper's intervention, Cody would have been in serious danger. For that, Jasper got a scratch on his arm.

Rosie didn't participate. She was tied high up in a tree by Jasper and was completely terrified by the intense battle going on under the tree.

After stitching up Angela's wound, Stella started treating Jasper.

With everyone's wound treated, hey sat down to discuss what to do with the boar meat. Without a fridge, they couldn't store it.

"Why don't we make jerky?" Lukas suggested. "We brought back several boxes of charcoal last time."

Stella disagreed. "Making jerky uses too much charcoal. Besides, with five boars, when would we finish? The whole neighborhood would smell of roasting meat."

"Do you guys remember Monkey?" Cody suggested. "They not only sell stuff but also buy stuff. We're short on food now. Why don't we exchange the boar meat with them?"

They had traded five times in a row last time, and Monkey was pretty trustworthy. This was a good idea and might be worth a try.

They packed a boar into the water barrel, which had already been butchered into four large pieces. The wild boar meat was pulled out of the water barrel. It had thick skin and coarse meat, with a deep red color and almost no fat.

Stella disagreed with taking the whole boar over. "We should cut a few pounds first to test the waters. Don't mention how much we have. If it works out, we can trade in batches."

With Angela and Jasper injured, Cody and Lukas volunteered to go to the department store to replace Monkey.

In the post-apocalyptic world, no one could take care of anyone forever. How far you could go depended on yourself. Stella didn't stop them, but reminded them to be careful.

Rosie was scared. After being comforted, she fell asleep. Jasper carried her back to their room to sleep.

Angela told Stella about the situation in Ivywood Estates. They had dismantled six water towers this time, collected a lot of solid wood furniture, and found two bottles of unused gas canisters.

They had to figure out a way to bring these back as soon as possible. Otherwise, other people would take advantage of it.

"The wild boars are hidden in the mountains. Probably not so easy to replace for now."

An hour later, Cody and Lukas returned.

"We found out that the boss of Monkey is willing to exchange food for boar meat, but they are taking advantage of the situation."

A pound of wild boar meat could be exchanged for two pounds of broken rice, but only one pound for fresh rice. They had brought five pounds of meat and exchanged it for five pounds of fresh rice.

Stella inspected the rice. It was high-quality jasmine rice. "You guys weren't followed, were you?"

"No, we took the inflatable raft and made sure to take a detour."

"They seemed really interested in the meat. They said if we exchange for new rice, it would all be vacuum-sealed, and the expiration date is the latest."

They called Jasper over to discuss the trade.

Stella agreed to exchange the meat for rice. It seemed like a loss, but they had no conditions to preserve the wild boar meat. And how many people could afford to buy meat when they couldn't even afford rice? Compared to meat, rice was more filling and lasted longer. Five wild boars, after being slaughtered, had an average net weight of 200 pounds. That could be exchanged for a lot of food. However, they decided to keep some meat and only exchange four boars.

The remaining wild boar was divided into four parts. The 1803 group took two parts, the 1801 group one part, and Cooper's part was given to Stella.

The wild boar meat was good for roasting and making meat sauce, which could be preserved for a long time without going bad. But whether it was roasting or making meat sauce, it was time-consuming and had a strong smell. It was best not to do it in their room. The smell was one reason, but also because if they closed the door and roasted the meat inside, people couldn't stand the heat.

Jasper suggested, "The villas have been evacuated. Why don't we cook the meat there and then come back?" Stella was thinking the same thing.

The others had no objections. So the three men bagged and stuffed the wild boar into large backpacks and set off in the raft to trade. They didn't forget to bring Cooper along.

They met at the shopping mall, trading in the quiet floodwaters, away from the crowd.