18 Floors Above the Apocalypse

Chapter 71

Having slept the day away, Stella was wide awake and ready to continue exploring Arcadia by night.

She had harvested the peppers, eggplants, and cucumbers from her garden, and now the grapevines on the old tree were starting to ripen. The grapes were turning from a vibrant green to a deep, sun-kissed red. She guessed they would be ready to pick in about a month. There weren't many grapes this first year, only about ten bunches, but she estimated she would get around fifty pounds when they were fully ripe.

On a whim, Stella decided to try and pick a grape using her consciousness. She didn't hold out much hope, as she had never been successful at harvesting this way before, but to her surprise, a single, ripe grape appeared in her hand.

This unexpected success brought a surge of joy, and she quickly tried to pull some vegetables from the garden. She was successful in pulling a few, but the effort left her feeling dizzy and drained.

Stella wondered if she could use this new ability to till her garden. After the dizziness passed, she decided to give it a try. She was able to till the soil, but only for a short while before her energy was depleted.

She wondered why she had been successful now when she had tried before without any results. Could it be due to her increased physical strength from her daily workouts?

Overjoyed by her discovery, Stella realized that she could train her mind just like her physical strength, saving time and making full use of her garden.

She planted corn, peanuts, sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, soybeans, green beans - everything she could think of.

Stella practiced this new technique all night, managing to till around 50 square feet of soil before exhaustion forced her to collapse onto her bed.

Cooper, her loyal dog, sensing something was off, came over and sniffed around her. "Woof, woof..." Cooper seemed worried. What was wrong with his owner?

Stella shared her excitement with Cooper, "We'll have more food now, Cooper. Are you happy?"

"Woof!" Cooper spun around in excitement, clearly pleased with the news.

The next day, Stella continued to till the soil with her mind until she was exhausted, then finally got up to have breakfast. She opened the curtains and was shocked to see that it was snowing outside. Snow in the South was a rare sight, usually only seen during natural disasters.

small and light, barely noticeable unless

it had been extremely cold, but

to deal with snow as well? The floodwaters had already reached the sixth floor. If there was a snowstorm, they would have to go even higher.

she finished breakfast, there was a knock at the door. A meeting was

everyone had stayed indoors, huddled around their fires for warmth. Today was even colder,

were bundled up like snowballs. Their hands and feet still trembled from the cold. "The water tower

water in Arcadia, so she wasn't worried. But she couldn't let the others know that, so she feigned concern. "Yeah, what

scratched his head. "I didn't shower yesterday, and I feel

agreed, "Me too, my scalp

him, Jasper took a deep breath. "It looks like it

went along with his idea. "Are you suggesting that we go up to the rooftop to collect

didn't we think of

hurried up to

the icy

She suddenly slipped. Cooper, seeing his owner about to fall, rushed forward to try and cushion

glared at Jasper. How

was only slightly off balance and could have easily righted herself. But before she

ended up falling hard onto the icy ground. Even though he was bundled up

could handle a small fall. If he couldn't, he would just have to suck it

among the group. Even Angela felt a pang of envy. She

of Stella after steadying her. "Be

didn't think much

was upset and started to scratch