18 Floors Above the Apocalypse
Chapter 70

The voice belonged to Drew, and he was surrounded by a few of his cronies.

Stella ignored him, but Drew continued to knock, chattering away to his buddies.

"Hey, Drew, seems like there's no movement on the 18th floor. Wonder if something happened last night?" The voice was hoarse, a clear indication of a cold. If something had happened to those on the 18th floor, it would have been a sweet relief to them. Drew muttered curses under his breath but plastered on a benevolent smile. "How could that be? Stella and her friends are young and healthy. How could anything happen to them? If anything did happen, we would have to help." "Drew, you're too kind. Didn't you see how they treated us?"

"We can't say that. We all live in the same building, and we should look out for each other."

"Huh, there seems to be some movement. They're not dead yet!" The disappointment was clear in his voice. If the people on the 18th floor had been wiped out, the countless supplies would have been theirs.

"Sorry to disappoint you, Drew." Stella's voice was icy cold. "We're not only alive, but we're also thriving."

The sudden voice caused the group to look at each other in surprise. They had been knocking for ages without a response; they hadn't expected a sudden answer.

This was awkward.

Drew was quick to react. "Stella, we were just concerned. It's good that you're alright."

"Don't worry, we'll outlive you lot."

The conversation was over. Drew was seething inside but kept up his friendly facade. "That's good. If you guys ever need anything, don't hesitate to tell me."

The group left with a bitter taste in their mouths.

In a post-apocalyptic world, people like Drew were common. They would wish for others' demise, hoping to scavenge what was left. But they were nothing more than fools, and Stella and her friends didn't take them seriously.

After training Cooper, Stella put on her thermal clothing. She had taken Jasper's advice and removed the cashmere sweater, but she still needed Cooper's fur coat to help him get used to the weather change. "You?" Jasper asked. "Are we still training today?"

"Yes." Even Cooper was persevering in this cold, so she didn't have an excuse to slack off. She had to keep going, despite the freezing cold.

The training mat was stiff from the cold, so Jasper laid down a cloth.

The living room had a coal stove, but compared to Stella's stove, it was second rate. It was still quite cold. Stella removed her coat and began training with Jasper.

After half an hour, she was sweating profusely. Her thermal socks were silky smooth on the inside. During a collision with Jasper, Stella slid backwards, and because her socks were slippery, she fell backwards.

Jasper was quick to react, rushing to catch her. Her body landed on the training mat, and then Jasper landed on top of her. Her mouth bumped into his face. A muffled groan escaped her lips. It felt like all the air had been sucked out of her lungs. Stars danced in her vision, and her teeth felt loose.

He was so big, and he was lying on top of her.

Jasper immediately got up and helped her sit up. "Are you okay?"

Stella then realized that he had used his hand to support her head. "I'm fine, my feet were just sweaty and I slipped."

"Woof!" Cooper, who was in Rosie's room, heard the commotion and rushed out, grabbing onto Jasper's clothes, and pulling him away. 'Let Stella go!'

Stella quickly intervened. "Cooper!"

It did not matter who Jasper was, but Cooper wouldn't let him bully his owner!

Stella quickly picked up the loyal dog. "He didn't bully me. He saved me."

Cooper still didn't believe Stella. The dog turned his back on Jasper, causing him to feel confused. "Does it have a problem with me?"

"No." Stella quickly explained, "Cooper just lacks a sense of security, and dogs are naturally protective of their owners."

Afraid of a possible fight breaking out, she quickly took the dog away. When she got home, Cooper didn't apologize and was instead sulking, as if accusing her of favoritism.

"No way." Stella tried to placate the moody dog with a treat. "You're the most important to me. I'm training with Jasper to become stronger, so that I can protect you."

'Humph, she was lying!' Cooper turned his head away in a huff.

Stella took off her thermal socks to prove her innocence. "Why don't you try them on? They're really slippery."

After saying this, she threw them at his face.

Cooper was startled. At least the socks didn't smell bad. He pounced on Stella, scratching her.

Stella hugged him and stroked his head. "Cooper, you need to be a good boy. Apologize to Jasper tomorrow, okay? If he hadn't helped me, I would have hurt my head, and you wouldn't have an owner anymore. You wouldn't get any of the chicken, duck, fish, and meat that Arcadia hoards. You'd have to go back to being a stray." Apologize? Never! The dog refused and his face was full of innocence. His paws rested on her shoulder. "Woof...woof..." This was his home and he didn't want to be a stray!'

Fine, training a dog to apologize was also a trainer's job.

Not wanting to ruin their harmonious relationship, Stella tactfully passed the buck to Jasper. This was a trade-off. A qualified trainer not only had to train a dog physically but also mentally.

After night fell, it was noticeably colder. Stella went out to the balcony to check the temperature, it was -21 degrees. The harsh weather made her wonder how many people would be sleepless tonight, or never wake up again.

She pulled the living room curtains closed, turned on the solar lamp, and got dinner from Arcadia.

Despite having three heaters on, it was still freezing. The food cooled very quickly, becoming icy cold in no time. To warm up, Stella took out a portion of lamb stew and quickly ate it with Cooper. Then she took out two servings of pig's offal soup. She added dog food to Cooper's portion. "Eat. Be quick."

It's Stella's loving dinner! Cooper gobbled it up even though it was a bit hot. Never mind, he was hungry!

After finishing the pig's offal soup, she felt warm. Stella went to another room to check on Smoky and Snowy. The two cats were energetic, but the rabbit kits were not doing well. They were born with little fur and received little parental care. Another one had died. Rabbits were extremely cold-resistant, and some of their species could even survive in the Arctic. But this was the south after all, though they seemed to be adapting quickly.

The newborn rabbit kits needed milk, so Stella removed Snowy's fur coat and thermal clothing.

She noticed that, compared to their trembling yesterday, both rabbits were much calmer today. It seemed that animals adapted to natural disasters faster than humans.

Once Snowy had finished feeding, Stella continued to observe. She noticed that it didn't seem to be cold or shivering. It seemed that rabbit fur truly was warm. Well, she had made the clothing for nothing.

She took out some Timothy hay from Arcadia and let the rabbits feast.

Stepping out of a steaming hot shower in Arcadia, Stella felt a level of comfort that was hard to express. There was no denying it; showers were etched in Stella's DNA. No matter how cold it was outside, she had to have one, otherwise she just didn't feel right.

In the heat of summer, when the air was thick with humidity, she was known to take as many as three showers in a single day. What choice did she have? This was a city where you could break a sweat just going to the bathroom, but now it had turned into a frozen wasteland.

Emerging from Arcadia, Snowy seemed unfazed, nursing her young bunnies. Without hesitation, Stella stripped Smoky of his clothes as well. She didn't turned the heater off, giving them some time to adjust.

As the cold seeped in, Stella bundled up in bed, recording the latest livable duration in Arcadia.

Nearly four months, with every minute saved and accounted for, she had accumulated a total of 145 hours. In other words, she could now survive in Arcadia for six days.

It wasn't easy, and she almost shed a tear. Danger was ever-present, so she had to keep pushing, hoping that one day, she and Cooper could retire in Arcadia.