18 Floors Above the Apocalypse

Chapter 1

"Ah..."

Stella Larson bolted upright in bed, sweat trickling down her forehead. Her eyes were clouded with confusion and despair. Her muddled consciousness was jolted by the scene before her. Was this her apartment from before the apocalypse? "Ding-dong, ding-dong."

The sound of incoming text messages prompted her to reach for the smartphone on her nightstand. September 14, 2029, 9:32 AM.

Over a dozen unread messages, all about the impending arrival of a powerful hurricane, "Cleaver," expected to make landfall on the coast in the wee hours of the 17th. The storm was predicted to be a Category 5, bringing heavy rainfall that would last for several days. Stella was bewildered. Hadn't she perished in the chaotic apocalypse? Could her unwillingness to die have plunged her back into this nightmare on the brink of death?

"Ding-dong." Another alert, this time timestamped 9:37 AM.

Stella pinched her arm hard. The sharp pain served as a reminder: this was no dream; she had truly been given a second chance. She had returned to three days before the hurricane that marked the start of the apocalypse. Or more accurately, two and a half days. Stella was far from overjoyed. Instead, she felt an overwhelming sense of fatigue. Hurricanes, torrential rains, floods, extreme cold and heat, and earthquakes, each challenge felt like hell. Was there anything worth starting over for?

But since she had returned, was she supposed to just wait for death? Absolutely not!

She splashed cold water on her face. Looking into the mirror, she saw a young, beautiful reflection. Her face was glowing, untouched by the desperate struggle of the apocalypse. Everything seemed so perfect.

Her weary gaze fell on the pendant around her neck. She had found it in the hospital when she was abandoned at birth. Later, Hector took it from her to give to the cheerleader, Sadie.

Three years into the apocalypse, Sadie still looked pristine and radiant, her clothes spotless, her skin rosy. It was as if she still lived in the prosperous world before the disaster.

Once, Stella had been so hungry she fainted. In her peripheral vision, she saw Sadie take an ice cream from the pendant and start to lick it.

Stella opened her eyes again, she found herself in a

timer floated in the living

opulent Arcadia that had allowed Sadie to live so comfortably, the

she left Arcadia, she could feel everything in the house with her mind. In order to understand Arcadia's functions, she conducted a test with boiling water, finding that apart from the balcony and the garden, every other

she had another chance at life and had Arcadia in her possession, she was

she used her phone to search for types of natural disasters. After reading

started to make a

grew up in an orphanage, and although the orphanage seemed peaceful on the surface, there were intense power struggles behind the scenes. This

By high school, she was tutoring and even cleaning toilets - as long as she was paid. She ranked highly in her exams and as a sophomore in medical

she dared to do anything as long as it was not illegal. After a decade, she had saved $200K in the bank, planning to make a

afternoon, she was supposed to have professional classes and in the evening, she was supposed to

a message to the parents, saying that she was ill and hospitalized, unable to tutor for a considerable

was settled every two weeks, and the parents were all well off. Among them, two sent $500 as a get-well

the impending hurricane and to

also not available in pharmacies. Stella sent a picture of the list to her childhood friend, Cody, who worked for a pharmaceutical company. [New rich client needs these urgently, and they need to be delivered tonight. Can you

immediately, [Sure

this medication list is weird.

has

she hung up the phone and transferred $50K,

of supplies was long. Stella picked up her keys and headed out, her gaze falling on the

met Hector, it was as if she was under a spell. To win him over, she gave up her dorm and rented an expensive apartment in a school district, even queuing up at the crack of dawn at a specialty store to buy him Air Jordans. She never spent more than