18 Floors Above the Apocalypse
Chapter 80

In no time, folks with ill intentions started to stir, but no one dared to make a move.

Rosie's rare outing had her over the moon. With her older brother on her left and Stella on her right, she was oblivious to the bone-chilling cold, hopping around with sheer joy.

Most of the residents had come for their rations in the morning. By the time Stella and Jasper arrived, the queue had shortened. They waited for less than twenty minutes before it was their turn. They had to fill in their ID information and address, and upon verification, they received their rations in their own bags. Stella had brought a flour sack, as a pound of ration didn't weigh much.

Cooper saw that both his instructor and Rosie had rations, and was perplexed and distressed. He had queued up too, so why was he left out?

Stella couldn't help but laugh. "You're a dog. There's no ration for you."

Cooper was outraged and glared at the volunteers. He thought, "I may be a dog, but that doesn't mean you get to ignore me!"

The volunteers were instantly smitten by this handsome dog, not expecting to see such a well-groomed pet in these conditions.

Not just the volunteers, even the police officers maintaining order at the scene couldn't help but sneak a few glances at Cooper. They had a dog in their team once, but unfortunately, it was no more. Perhaps that was the charm of dogs, their ability to draw people in. After collecting the rations, they each carried one pound and headed back.

Cooper saw Rosie carrying her ration in her hand and insisted on carrying his own bag of rations too. Stella had to hand him a bag of rations to stop him sulking.

With a bag of rations in his mouth, Cooper finally cheered up and strutted next to Rosie. "Woof!"

Suddenly, two children playing on the icy ground rushed towards Rosie, snatched the ration bag from her hand, and ran off. Rosie was pushed down, falling hard on the icy ground.

Cooper acted quickly and pounced on the child who had taken the ration bag, knocking him down and causing the ration bag to drop.

Rosie didn't cry. She got up and rushed over to the child who had taken her bag and started throwing punches.

Did they regret stealing from her now?

One punch, two punches, she aimed for his face, causing the child to cry out in pain.

Cooper grabbed the other child's pant leg with his teeth. 'This child needed a beating too!'

Remembering her brother's advice, Rosie was furious and didn't hold back.

With Cooper's help, Rosie not only gave the children a good beating but also retrieved her ration. Her face was flushed with anger. "If you steal from me again, I'll beat you to death!" Jasper watched the scene unfold without intervening. Stella was caught between laughter and tears. No wonder he had brought Rosie along; he wanted Rosie to take practice. "What are you doing?" A woman in a padded jacket rushed over, yelling out in rage. "They're just children! How can you bully them like this? Have you no conscience?" Jasper remained silent, and his cold gaze was fixed on her.

Unfortunately, the woman didn't notice his gaze and continued her tirade, even attempting to pull Rosie away, only to be scared off by a snarling Cooper.

"Look at you, even your dog is bullying people! Everyone, come judge this!"

Stella stepped forward and kicked the woman to the ground.

The woman fell and was about to wail and throw a fit but found a sharp knife at her throat. "Seems like you don't act like an adult and let your children steal. Don't blame us for disciplining them on your behalf!"

Many adults didn't guard against children, and many parents took advantage of this loophole to let their children engage in such dirty acts. Even if they were caught on the spot, they could argue that the children didn't know any better and asked the adults not to take it to heart. If the children had any injuries, they could take the opportunity to claim compensation.

Don't ask Stella how she knew this. She had encountered it before, and more than once.

"What instigation? You are being too vicious. My kids didn't do it on purpose!"

The woman was vicious. "Your daughter and dog have beaten my sons so badly. If you don't give an explanation today, I'm gonna call the police..."

Before she could finish her sentence, Stella stabbed her with a knife. She didn't aim for the woman's heart but stabbed her from the side of her waist and gave it a hard twist. The thick padded jacket was ripped open, and the cotton stuffing fell out.

The woman was so scared that her face turned pale, and she fell to the ground.

"If you don't discipline your children well, I won't just be stabbing your clothes."

The woman was trembling, unable to utter a word, and the two children were even more terrified.

Rosie picked up the ration bag from the ground and looked at Jasper with both anxiety and expectation. "Jasper, I won."

Jasper patted her head. "Hmm, you reacted quite fast."

This wasn't an uncommon occurrence. Now that they had managed to scare the mother and her children, Stella didn't dwell on it. They headed towards their district.

Jasper and Stella followed behind Rosie and Cooper. Jasper asked, "Are we going to cut bamboo tomorrow?"

Stella was confused. Bamboo didn't burn well.

"We need to make three more crossbows, and bamboo arrows are consumables. We need to prepare some in advance."

Preventing problems before they occurred was a great idea, so Stella had no objections. "No problem."

Jasper wanted to continue speaking, but Cooper suddenly broke free from the leash, almost tripping Rosie. Cooper remembered the instructions of his owner - be sneaky! He tucked his tail in, hunched his shoulders, and quietly walked in another direction. After spending enough time together, Stella recognized this as Cooper's pre-attack sign.

She was puzzled and looked in the direction he was heading. There were quite a few people in the distance, all wrapped up so heavily that she couldn't recognize them.

Taking out her binoculars, she scanned each person and saw a familiar face.

"You and Rosie go home now. Cooper and I have something to deal with."

Without waiting for Jasper's response, she quickly caught up with Cooper. Keeping a low profile, Stella also wrapped her face leaving only her eyes exposed, and followed the two men at a distance. They avoided the crowds, walked through the streets, and entered an abandoned office building.

Cooper's eyes gleamed as he quietly led the way upstairs, not forgetting to look back at Stella as if to say "Hurry up, owner!"

Stella wasn't in a hurry. She walked up while observing her surroundings. Upon reaching the top floor, she didn't need to worry about direction. She just followed Cooper, who had a keen sense of smell.

Inside the office, there were obscene sounds.

Stella quietly stood by the window and saw one of the men pinned to the table. Cooper's eyes widened, ready to burst in.

Stella covered his eyes and ears. "Don't look. It's too dirty."

About two minutes later, just as he was about to reach his climax, a sharp knife pierced his chest. "Ah!" He screamed in pain.

Hector was oblivious, and his hand tightly gripped his chest.

He really regretted it. If he had known that this was the end of the world, he would never have confessed his love to Sadie, then Stella wouldn't have given up on him.

He could've moved into the 18th floor, becoming one of them, and feasting on prime rib and sipping champagne every day without worrying about provisions. He wouldn't have to sell himself for a mere loaf of bread, becoming someone else's plaything. Sadie was gone, so was Amanda, and then there was Ken...

But Hector didn't want to die, did he? How could he make Stella fall back in love with him?