18 Floors Above the Apocalypse

Chapter 213

On Thanksgiving, Mark wished the residents of the community a happy holiday over the local radio.

Whether they were happy or not, that was something only they knew. Yet, with his well wishes, even if they were nothing more than sentimental fluff, they added a touch of humanity in a world that seemed to be ending. And, he also shared a short, uplifting story.

For those who were starving or near death, it probably didn't matter, but the community had just received welfare from the city government. They had also found plenty of water to replenish their sources and the sweet potatoes they had planted were soon to be harvested. So, his well wishes and the story he shared came at just the right time.

This was the power of a psychologist, and Stella felt she should read more on the subject.

That evening, the trio and the dog celebrated the holiday.

Stella remembered they had stored some pumpkin pie for the occasion. It took her a while to find it, but eventually, she did. There was pumpkin, pecan, apple, and even a cranberry pie.

She loved the cranberry pie. After eating the cranberries, she took a couple of bites from the apple pie, and gave the rest to Jasper.

Rosie didn't eat much either. After a couple of bites from the pumpkin and pecan pies, she gave the rest to her brother too. Jasper, faced with a pile of pies, fell silent.

In the end, it was their dog who came to the rescue. Cooper loved the pies, and it happily crunched down on a couple of them.

"Good dog." Jasper rewarded it with a piece of beef jerky.

After several days of staying indoors without any physical activity, Stella felt like her limbs were about to atrophy. She decided to go downstairs to fetch some water.

When she reached the well, she saw that the water level had dropped even further. The well digger and two other community members were continuing to dig deeper.

The mood was heavy. They had been digging for half a day and there wasn't much water to show for it. If the drought continued, not only would the sweet potatoes wither and die, they wouldn't even have enough water to drink. Stella could sense their despair and confusion, and a heavy feeling settled in her heart.

The hot weather didn't seem to be ending anytime soon.

As she was about to lift her bucket and head back, something plopped on her face.

was warm.

Plop, another one.

her face and found it wet,

at the droplet of water on her fingertip and paused.

Plop, plop...

indeed falling, and they

"It's raining. It's raining!"

shouted in excitement, their voices

they realized something was off. The rain was warm. It was indeed raining, but

pulling up the ropes, trying to

slippery from the mud, and it was hard to

blurring the world around them. The well was deep, at least seventy to eighty meters, and there were several people at the bottom. If they didn't get them out in time, the rising water could pose a serious threat. Stella returned to help pull the ropes. But they were too slippery, and it hurt her hands. She took

barely keep her eyes open. The rising temperature added to their fear. What if the rain got hotter and scalded

some people took off their shirts and wrapped them around the ropes, pulling together with all their

people from the well were successfully rescued. By then, it was pouring outside, and everyone hurried home, using their clothes to shield themselves

arm was suddenly pulled. An umbrella appeared over her head. It was

unpredictable, and for all they knew, it might start raining boiling water. Jasper took her under his arm and they hurried home, with him instinctively tilting the umbrella towards her, "Be careful." They ran home quickly through the

of their apartment building,

life, things had been rough. But in this life, not only did someone risk the

and helped dry

said this but made no move

room and quickly changed her

and took a cup of hot ginger tea from

soaked and urged him,

residents

hair towel-dried, "Stella, should

for