18 Floors Above the Apocalypse

Chapter 281

Stella sat bolt upright, her heart pounding. It took her a moment to realize that she had been dreaming and that the world outside her window was still bathed in the bright sunlight. Jasper stirred awake at her sudden movement. "What is it?" he asked.

"I...I had a bad dream," Stella admitted, wiping away the sweat from her forehead. The dreams had felt so real and vivid. She could still feel the terror lingering in her heart. "You know the guy who was sitting next to Bran last night?" Jasper guessed.

"I don't know him personally, but there's some bad blood between us," Stella confessed, recounting the details of the recent burglary incident at Bentley's office.

Living next to the rich and powerful had its drawbacks. You never really knew whose nest you were poking into.

Not only were the three top-tier off-road vehicles off limits now, but even the samurai sword and golf clubs were deemed too dangerous for their use. It was just their rotten luck.

Death was everywhere in this post-apocalyptic world, but Bentley, this domineering CEO that came straight out of a romance novel, seemed invincible.

After having breakfast, Stella took stock of their inventory in Arcadia. The weapons and supplies they could no longer use were all locked away, preventing any impulsive decisions in moments of crisis.

The four members of Lukas' group shared one walkie-talkie. Stella didn't know their exact schedule and didn't want to disturb their work hours, so she didn't reach out to them.

But days passed, and they made no effort to contact her either. She picked up the walkie-talkie several times, only to put it back down again.

When it was time for Collin's class, Stella decided to drive to Swan Hill to pick him up and drop him back home after class.

In the meantime, she used a scanning pen to scan each page of the thick medical books and copy them onto her digital device. Books were precious, and she didn't want to risk damaging them. It was better to return them as soon as possible. Not only did she return the books, but she also gave him a USB flash drive containing scanned copies.

Collin was thrilled. The apocalypse had struck so suddenly that many precious books and resources couldn't be saved and had perished in the floods.

thought for a moment. "Dr. Collin, if you need it, I have a

He hoped that one day the apocalypse would end, and the remnants of their civilization could be passed on to

tending to her herb garden. Arcadia's medicinal

Stella collected another batch

From her voice, Stella could tell that Angela was

home, so she took Cooper and Rosie to

decided to go

anti-depressant medication, and having books and music for company had helped boost her spirits. Stella not

on the 18th floor, she wasn't sure if she could have survived till now. Jasper was a man of few words, but he was always there to protect Stella. Their journey together was truly enviable. And then there was herself, making a mess

away to comfort Angela. "In fact, I'm

meant it. She had underestimated

there were no family conflicts when they interacted. But Angela's family was complicated. If she and Jasper were in their shoes, they might not

is not a big issue, and you need to overcome your emotional

the community, a loud rumbling noise

and sure enough, a helicopter was descending towards the rooftop of the Porras family's

a car, the Porras family had managed to acquire a helicopter. And it

anywhere.

walk. As luck would have it, she ran into Bran, who

a mastiff, which he kept on a golden leash.

ignored him. His dog was just a pet, but

they fight". The mastiff