18 Floors Above the Apocalypse

Chapter 84

Though Stella was hard at work, she was aware that Cooper, their faithful dog, was a trustworthy companion. Yet, she couldn't fully turn her back on him, and often glanced over her shoulder as though expecting a sneak attack. Suddenly, she saw Rosie pulling out a Swiss army knife from her bag. Wait, what? Little Rosie knew how to handle a knife now?! Without thinking, she turned to Jasper. "Did you teach her that?" Jasper didn't deny it. "Is it wrong?"

"No, no. It's...it's great."

The harsh realities of life forced growth. From hurricanes to floods and freezing cold, many innocent children had indeed learned the ways of survival. Rosie couldn't be left behind. If she was, it would be like inviting the Grim Reaper to their door. A harsh lesson it was, sure, but it was effective.

Chopping bamboo was quick. They cut them into equal lengths and bundled them together with some rope. Rosie volunteered to drag the bundle back. Jasper tied a few pieces for her, warning her not to get tired halfway. "I'll bring these back home."

There were many people around. Some children were dressed in tattered clothes, but all of them were chopping wood with determination. Seeing them, Rosie felt motivated to work even harder.

After preparing the bamboo, Jasper asked Stella, "Do you need firewood?"

Arcadia had plenty of firewood, but it wasn't easy to actually use it. "What about you?"

""Maybe a little?"

So, they cut down a pine tree together, planning to split it and bring it back.

The Moore family's father and son, each chopped down a pine tree, but it was a struggle to bring them back. They were academics and not used to such manual labor.

The climb uphill was tough, but the descent was even more challenging. The snow had turned into icy shards. If they slipped, they would tumble down the hill, possibly losing their lives.

careful, helping each other, taking one step at a time. Rosie was leading the way with her Swiss

to laugh at the absurdity of it all but felt a pang of sympathy too. Natural

with the heavy wood. Then, she put the bundled bamboo on top of the wood.

of bamboo. The ice made it a bit hard, but

large bundle of bamboo with the other, looking as

watched them

pull the sled again, and to his surprise, it moved

This dog was amazing, and much easier to handle than

was pushing the sled with all her strength. The three men dragging firewood from behind suddenly rushed up, two with knives and one with a brick. The one with the knife went straight for Jasper, while

he spun around quickly, cleanly and efficiently breaking the neck of another man. Sensing the sudden gust of wind from behind, Stella instinctively drew her knife and stabbed backwards. With a soft sound,

the brick to the side. She was successful, but the sound of the brick shattering

didn't fall on Stella's forehead; Jasper blocked it with his shoulder. His action made

Moore family in front heard the commotion and rushed over with their knives.

Jasper grunted, "I'm fine."

her

alright. I

an instant. The man who was kicked away by Jasper was pale with fear and ran away as soon as he got up. Not just him, another woman

while reaching into her bag, and forcefully threw it. The man was dressed

caught up, her cold eyes

mean to." They simply wanted to rob, they never expected the other side to be so fierce, not even blinking when killing. "I'm sorry. Please let me go! I have a wife and a kid. Ahhh....!" Stella was in no