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.

pendant. The pendant emitted a bright light. When Stella opened her eyes again, she found herself in a sparsely furnished apartment with no doors, except for the

holographic timer floated in the living

had allowed Sadie to live so

order to understand Arcadia's functions, she conducted a test with boiling water, finding that apart from the balcony and the garden, every

had another chance at

lived for only three years. She had no idea what other disasters awaited her, so she used her phone to search for types of natural disasters. After reading the dense list

aside unnecessary emotions, she started to make

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

in elementary school. By high school, she was tutoring and even cleaning toilets - as long as she was paid. She ranked highly in

was a money hoarder. She sold insurance, organized events, and 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 down payment

have professional classes and in the evening, she was supposed to tutor. But

and hospitalized, unable to tutor for a considerable period. She asked if they could find

were all well off.

to remind them about the impending hurricane and to

list to her childhood friend, Cody, who

immediately,

"Stella, this medication list

The client has only

up the phone and transferred $50K, [Tell me

on the limited edition, brand new Air Jordans

the crack of dawn at a specialty store to buy him Air Jordans. She never spent more than $300 on her own shoes, but she didn't hesitate to spend over $8K on a limited edition pair for him. And what did she get in