18 Floors Above the Apocalypse

Chapter 121

And so, they spent five whole days making pie.

In apartment 1801, where they worked side by side, each contributing half the ingredients to the cause. To prevent the crust and filling from freezing, they kept a lively coal fire burning.

Jasper contributed the coal while Rosie helped, and Stella provided generous helpings of chives, cabbage, and parsley.

Jasper was in charge of the filling, sneaking in the chopped vegetables without Rosie noticing, and then mixing it with a bit of pepper.

Rosie, only six years old, was clever but not enough to realize the trick. She was thoroughly fooled.

Each household received a whopping 200 pies, enough to last for quite a while.

Stella's share was kept in Arcadia for preservation, while Jasper's was left out on the balcony to freeze for an hour, after which they were harder than rocks.

No need for a refrigerator, they just stored them in boxes and cooked them whenever they felt like having some.

Stella had wanted to make some bread as well, but the cold weather made it difficult for the dough to ferment, so she gave up on the idea.

After spending some time together, Stella realized that Jasper not only had good fighting skills, he was also a boy who loved reading and learning. He was actually reading books on automotive repair, and he seemed to be enjoying it thoroughly. Stella, while a good driver, knew next to nothing about car repair, so she couldn't help but ask, "Why are you reading that?"

She felt a bit sorry for his old truck, even if it hadn't been swept away, the months of submersion in water and extreme cold weather had drastically deteriorated its material properties, making it practically useless.

Once the flood had receded, all vehicles were practically written off, getting another one would be no easy task.

"Just passing time," was his response.

such thing as "just passing time" for a man

crawled by, but they

out her abs, making the daily

month, their potato sprouts had grown lush and

was craving some vegetables, asked, "Stella, can we eat the

sprouts contain solanine, eating too much of it can lead

was curious, "What's

make sense to her, so she simply warned,

want to be

month, and there had been no news. She wondered how they were

fierce, scratching at the door

wagging its tail.

be heard,

of them had returned as planned, carrying their bedding and

seen each other, and they seemed to have changed a lot. Lukas and Cody were still joking around, but there was a new

their faces were wrapped tightly. Their eyes were filled with exhaustion and bloodshot veins. They had had to walk for seven hours to get back home. "You guys go have a rest, I've just boiled some water,

carried a hot water kettle to Room 1803, noticing how tired they were and, on a whim, cooked a pot of soup for

couldn't help but express his gratitude, "Stella's cooking really is the best. The food at the canteen was terrible, not a

his bandaged hand, "I almost lost my

pounds of grain, really

first time in his twenty years of life, he was working hard for his food. If it wasn't

were on the night shift, but Angela was in a different group, so the two of them had to stick together to

things were relatively calm, but at night, all hell

a robbery, and Lukas got slashed by a knife. If it wasn't for the protective gear they were wearing, he

carrying their grain without a care in the world. But as soon as they left the company, they were robbed,