18 Floors Above the Apocalypse

Chapter 16

Angela invited Stella to come downstairs and check out the situation. The flour was all gone, and though there was still a bag of rice, the gas had run out. All they had left was a few pieces of alcohol briquettes.

To conserve energy, they'd soak rice first, pour boiling water into a thermos, let the rice sit until it was cooked, and then eat it.

If they could, Angela and Lukas would go to the emergency shelter. The conditions wouldn't be great, but at least there would be enough to eat and hot water.

"The storm surge was worse than predicted," Stella said. "If we're flooded up to the third floor, imagine what it's like elsewhere."

She continued, "All the food is soaked. Who knows what's left on the surface? And with the water level this high, gyms and libraries are probably underwater, too. The government will probably have to commandeer hotels or office buildings as shelters."

Crowding into a shelter was a problem in itself; feeding and housing everyone would be a nightmare. Even after the hurricane had passed, the torrential rain continued. The flood could last for months.

In her previous life, many people from lower floors had moved to the shelter, but returned after a few days, saying that the conditions were overcrowded and unbearable. There was looting, theft, fights - it was chaos.

The government had to provide disaster relief but also had to find food. In the end, they had to fish for food underwater, but after soaking for so long, the food was spoiled.

decided to go check things out anyway. Who knew, there might

door. Rosie was

later, Angela returned, looking defeated. The fire department was only rescuing people whose homes had been flooded, and they had no information about large-scale relief efforts. Stella tried to cheer her up. "It's okay, we'll just have to rely on ourselves." Angela agreed, trying to rekindle her hope. "The hurricane has passed, maybe the heavy rain will

required hope, didn't

By five in the evening, it was dark, and the hurricane had mostly passed.

ate an early dinner, then set an alarm every hour from ten in the

with no shelter. Sunrise Sanctuary was

material. It felt similar to a thermal shirt. She took a knife and

her apartment quietly, navigating the empty, trash-filled hallways and the unbearable smell. She climbed out of a third-floor window onto a narrow platform and, in the darkness, pulled out an inflatable boat. She put on waterproof goggles and a lithium battery headlamp and began to

current strong. The city was unrecognizable; only the tall buildings remained above the water, creating an

Despite this, she struggled to navigate in the rain. It took her nearly two hours to reach the large supermarket she had visited before the hurricane. The supermarket had only two floors, but it was on higher ground, so the floors were higher than those in residential

followed the driveway to the rooftop parking lot. The

guessed that the wealthy locals had parked their cars on the rooftop to protect them

the rows of cars. Her eyes landed on a large RV. The emblem indicated that it was an expensive, top-of-the-line model. The body and windows were bulletproof, the tires were explosion-resistant and wear-resistant, and it could run on both gas

world where fuel was scarce, this RV was