18 Floors Above the Apocalypse
Chapter 71

Having slept the day away, Stella was wide awake and ready to continue exploring Arcadia by night.

She had harvested the peppers, eggplants, and cucumbers from her garden, and now the grapevines on the old tree were starting to ripen. The grapes were turning from a vibrant green to a deep, sun-kissed red. She guessed they would be ready to pick in about a month. There weren't many grapes this first year, only about ten bunches, but she estimated she would get around fifty pounds when they were fully ripe.

On a whim, Stella decided to try and pick a grape using her consciousness. She didn't hold out much hope, as she had never been successful at harvesting this way before, but to her surprise, a single, ripe grape appeared in her hand.

This unexpected success brought a surge of joy, and she quickly tried to pull some vegetables from the garden. She was successful in pulling a few, but the effort left her feeling dizzy and drained.

Stella wondered if she could use this new ability to till her garden. After the dizziness passed, she decided to give it a try. She was able to till the soil, but only for a short while before her energy was depleted.

She wondered why she had been successful now when she had tried before without any results. Could it be due to her increased physical strength from her daily workouts?

Overjoyed by her discovery, Stella realized that she could train her mind just like her physical strength, saving time and making full use of her garden.

She planted corn, peanuts, sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, soybeans, green beans - everything she could think of.

Stella practiced this new technique all night, managing to till around 50 square feet of soil before exhaustion forced her to collapse onto her bed.

Cooper, her loyal dog, sensing something was off, came over and sniffed around her. "Woof, woof..." Cooper seemed worried. What was wrong with his owner?

Stella shared her excitement with Cooper, "We'll have more food now, Cooper. Are you happy?"

"Woof!" Cooper spun around in excitement, clearly pleased with the news.

The next day, Stella continued to till the soil with her mind until she was exhausted, then finally got up to have breakfast. She opened the curtains and was shocked to see that it was snowing outside. Snow in the South was a rare sight, usually only seen during natural disasters.

The snowflakes were small and light, barely noticeable unless you looked closely.

Stella frowned. In her previous life, it had been extremely cold, but now it was snowing? Things were definitely different!

The extreme cold was already deadly enough, but now they had to deal with snow as well? The floodwaters had already reached the sixth floor. If there was a snowstorm, they would have to go even higher. Would this city end up buried? The thought was terrifying.

Just as she finished breakfast, there was a knock at the door. A meeting was being held at number 1803, regarding the water situation.

The previous day had been so cold that everyone had stayed indoors, huddled around their fires for warmth. Today was even colder, but at least they could breathe a little easier.

Cody and Lukas were bundled up like snowballs. Their hands and feet still trembled from the cold. "The water tower is frozen. How are we going to get water?"

Stella had water in Arcadia, so she wasn't worried. But she couldn't let the others know that, so she feigned concern. "Yeah, what are we going to do?"

Cody scratched his head. "I didn't shower yesterday, and I feel uncomfortable."

Stella quickly agreed, "Me too, my scalp itches."

When even Stella, the life-hacks expert, didn't have a solution, everyone's hopes fell on Jasper. With everyone's attention on him, Jasper took a deep breath. "It looks like it was snowing earlier." Although the snowfall was light, if they collected enough of it, it could be used.

Stella went along with his idea. "Are you suggesting that we go up to the rooftop to collect snow?"

"Why didn't we think of that before?"

So, everyone hurried up to the rooftop.

The moment they opened the door, the icy air flooded in, making everyone uncomfortable.

Stella wrapped her face with a scarf and stepped outside. The weather was so cold that the falling snowflakes had turned into ice. She suddenly slipped. Cooper, seeing his owner about to fall, rushed forward to try and cushion her fall with his body. But someone else was quicker. Jasper reached out and steadied her.

Cooper was instantly furious and glared at Jasper. How dare he interfere?

Stella was only slightly off balance and could have easily righted herself. But before she could, Cooper darted forward and bumped into Lukas.

Caught off guard, Lukas slipped and ended up falling hard onto the icy ground. Even though he was bundled up like a bear and didn't hurt, he felt wronged inside. Angela, his wife, was supposed to protect him!

However, Angela couldn't do anything. Cooper was a survival expert and Jasper was the strongest man around. She couldn't possibly confront them. Besides, Lukas was a grown man. He could handle a small fall. If he couldn't, he would just have to suck it up! Cody was also pretty unlucky. He was walking half a step ahead of Jasper, but was suddenly pushed aside, colliding with the door frame. Well, as long as Stella is fine, that's enough.

Stella's near fall had caused a stir among the group. Even Angela felt a pang of envy. She looked at Jasper, then at Lukas. Except for his handsome face, Lukas was... well, lacking in certain areas.

Jasper, the gentleman, quickly let go of Stella after steadying her. "Be careful."

Stella didn't think much of it. "Thank you."

"Woof!" Cooper was upset and started to scratch at the snow, looking anxious.

"Cooper, go back inside." Stella was worried about him because he didn't have a mask to filter out the freezing air.

Cooper was upset when Stella scolded him and started to run around the rooftop in protest.

Cody protested, "Cooper, stop running around. We need to collect this ice and snow for water. We don't want to drink water that smells like your paws."

Hearing this, Cooper started to run even faster. 'Hmph, they could all drink his foot-washing water for all he cared!'

German Shepherds were known for their high energy levels. When they got excited, not even a chain could hold them back. Stella had to use all her strength to get Cooper to leave the rooftop.

The rooftop was large, and a thin layer of ice had formed from the snow that had fallen overnight. They could break it up with a shovel and collect it.

They were worried that the rooftop floor would be contaminated, so Lukas and Cody brought up some corrugated metal sheets to lay down. These sheets were left over from an unfinished construction project. They had brought them back to block the water on their balcony from getting into their room. Now, they had found another use for them.

Each household was given two sheets. If they collected the ice and snow from them every day, it would be enough. Plus, they could also scrape off the ice from the water tower.

With the water problem solved, everyone was relieved. It was clear that there were benefits to sticking together and pooling their knowledge and resources.

After they closed the rooftop door and descended the cold stairs, they could hear the sound of hammering from downstairs. Angela thought someone was trying to break into their floor and felt her temper flaring. Then she saw Cooper nonchalantly standing at the staircase entrance, it dawned on her that it was a misunderstanding all along. "What on earth are these knuckleheads up to again?

Their ears nearly froze off from the trip to the rooftop, leaving them with a ringing sensation. It took a while for their hearing to return to normal.

Everyone was gathered at the staircase entrance. The commotion was sounding like quite a hullabaloo.