18 Floors Above the Apocalypse

Chapter 21

Stella peered at the floating object, drawing closer, not realizing it was a corpse, until she poked it with her oar.

Initially, the sight was shocking and stomach-churning, but after seeing a few more, she grew accustomed to it. Floating bodies had been a common sight in her neighborhood ever since she had set out. With her eyes on the clock, she noted that a minute had passed since she had released the rope into the water, and there was still no movement.

Two minutes... Three minutes...

Four minutes...

Anxiety began to gnaw at her. Stella yanked the rope twice, but there was still no response. Even the most skilled swimmers could only last a minute or so underwater. Even though Jasper was known for his diving prowess, four minutes seemed overly long. She had a bad feeling about this. Just as she was about to pull on the rope again, the water surface broke with a loud splash. Jasper emerged. "I checked several stores. All their doors have been pried open, and they've been cleaned out."

Cleaned out? Who could have done such a thing?

Lukas looked disappointed. "We can't find gas. Even if we had food, we wouldn't be able to cook it."

They had been quick, but not quick enough. They had been beaten to the punch. Stella glanced at Jasper. These fast-food joints had been flooded the day after the hurricane. Even if some of the owners had tried to salvage their stocks, it was unlikely that they would have been able to pry open all the stores. The floodwaters were too murky and fast-flowing for anyone without a diving mask and strong swimming skills to succeed.

Unless these stores had been looted as soon as the disaster struck.

She had a hunch. "We need to try our luck at the propane station. Hopefully, they haven't cleared everything out."

after all. There was no way they were

out her waterproof bag and took out her phone. She showed the offline map to the others. "It's around here. I think there's a huge tree at the

Sanctuary. It wasn't too far, but it was in

the propane station. The suburbs

encountered firefighters trying to rescue stranded individuals. Upon seeing their boat, the rescuers tried to commandeer it to help

into a vast ocean, it was difficult to make out directions. Stella used her binoculars and said, "Go

a giant tree. The once tall tree was now almost entirely submerged,

boat to the tree. Stella gave a general direction, and Jasper, with his diving mask on, dived into the water. After about two minutes, Jasper resurfaced. "I found it,

it that he was

rope, and binding rope in his bag, she didn't hesitate to put on the mask, tie the rope around herself,

Lukas nodded. "Be careful."

in and swam towards the propane station, guided by the light from her waterproof flashlight. She also took out her steel pliers. From a distance, she saw

was standing in the water, trying to lift the roll-up door, but the water resistance made it incredibly difficult. Stella swam over to

gate behind it. Jasper took the steel pliers from Stella, cut the

pulled her away. The shadow grazed the top of her head, and she quickly swam up. Stella shone her flashlight towards it, and from the shape, it appeared to be a propane tank. And it wasn't just one. Many propane tanks floated out from inside the station, all vying to reach the

one but realized that these were probably empty tanks. Filled tanks wouldn't float that easily due to their density. She took out her high-beam waterproof flashlight from

of the building. He then pulled the rope tied around him. Lukas

and helped lift the heavy tank. It was likely left behind because the owner didn't

She sat on the boat to catch her breath. Lukas was on guard, scanning their surroundings with his binoculars. Suddenly, he said anxiously, "Stella, someone's coming." Stella stood up, and sure enough, an inflatable boat was rapidly approaching in the rain. There were at least four or five men on