18 Floors Above the Apocalypse

Chapter 211

Rosie was chewing on a piece of dried orange peel, "I miss Mom and Dad, but I don't want to leave you guys."

Jasper held her close, "Be a good girl, listen to Stella, and stay awake."

The pounding on the outside door grew louder. The faces of the men barricading the storage room were twisted with rage, as if they were dealing with vile criminals.

Despite Jasper's attempts to block the door, it was still being kicked with a loud bang. The last thing a concussion patient needed was to be jostled. The door wouldn't hold much longer at this rate.

Stella lifted Rosie off the ground and peered through the small window opposite the door. The ground outside was littered with dense hailstones, and the hailstorm was starting to let up.

Hailstorms usually lasted for 2 to 10 minutes, rarely more than 30 minutes. It had been about 20 minutes since the storm began and it looked like it would stop soon.

The commotion outside the door grew fiercer. Stella, without hesitating, filled a bag with empty medicine bottles and handed out masks to everyone. She held Rosie close, protecting her head with her hands.

Just as several angry men were about to kick the door again, it swung open suddenly, nearly causing them to fall. They looked up to meet a pair of cold eyes and the barrel of a gun.

Jasper pressed the gun against one of the men's heads, his voice seething with suppressed rage, "Kick it again. I dare you."

The man, who was not hurt at all, was startled by Jasper's fierce gaze. He stuttered, "I... I'm injured. I just wanted some medicine. I didn't mean any harm."

Jasper took a step forward, causing the man to step back, "Don't... don't do anything rash. There are police officers here."

The crowd began to shout, "We're all injured! Give us some medicine!"

"The medicine's here, but there's not much left," Stella said, holding up the bag. She handed it to the man who'd been leading the kicking. "Here. If you want it, ask him."

Jasper holding the gun,

time to celebrate before others lunged at him, wanting

than food or water in these times,

envious. The first one to

The man's angry voice was soon drowned

had made it out of the chaotic lobby, the hailstorm had mostly stopped. An occasional hailstone would fall, but they

water, ran out

had been injured by the hailstones and were bleeding from the head, but they

were covered with dirt. They just kept stuffing them

scarce, who cared about

bags to plug the holes and continued to collect ice. Others had lost their buckets in the chaos and had resorted to stealing from others, resulting in fights. Several people lay dead on the community center playground. It was unclear whether they had been killed

a cruel place. One moment, they were happily lining up for welfare benefits, thinking that with food and water, they could continue to survive.

struggle,

could survive. When your own survival was in question, you didn't have the time to

seemed like a

in the crowd behind

police and the security patrol rushed over. "Stop

a gun is

gun in his hand. "Even

Stella had given him

gun. He breathed a sigh of relief but

there at all. Those people were unarmed, but they were desperate and violent. They were trying to steal the medicine, but you guys didn't make it in time

before saying, "Just don't use it to

worry. We still have our humanity," Stella