18 Floors Above the Apocalypse

Chapter 327

Scrambling to beat the clock, they was still a minute too late.

Swan Hill Institute of Herbal Medicine was shrouded in smog, packed with people seeking remedies for their ailments. Coughs echoed everywhere, droplets flying chaotically through the air. Armed soldiers stood guard at the main entrance, behind the police tape, forbidding anyone to enter.

Stella quickly turned her car around and headed for the institute's back door. She didn't hide her concern, explaining the situation as it was.

Without official authorization, no outsiders were allowed entry. "I'm a student of Dr. Collin," Stella insisted, "I was invited over especially. Please, could you pass on the message?"

The guard at the rear was an institute staffer, unyielding in his refusal.

Stella smiled, stepping out of her car, and from the folds of her oversized coat, she pulled out a five-pound bag of rice, slipping it to him discreetly. "Do me a solid, will you? No worries if it doesn't pan out. I'll take the fall if anything goes wrong." Who could resist the lure of a five-pound bag of rice in these times? The guard risked a reprimand to help her make contact.

After a thirty-minute wait, an assistant dressed in protective gear came out to fetch her.

The research center was small and had already filled up its temporary wards with over a hundred cases, categorized into asymptomatic, mild, severe, and critical. The hallways were crowded with patients.

The smog had came suddenly, compounded by a relentless darkness. Even some of the institute's doctors had fallen ill in the past couple of days, overwhelmed with the workload, many still working through their sickness. Collin still managed to get Stella inside, clearing out two rooms in the family area.

The institute lacked a veterinarian, so they had to treat Cooper as if he were human, with Collin himself taking charge.

After examining both patients, he confirmed the symptoms were mild and similar to those in the early stages of the infection. "You're lucky to have spotted it early. Timely treatment should make a significant difference."

Seeing Stella and Jasper symptom-free, Collin asked curiously, "How have you been preventing it?"

recipe you gave us before, brewing herbal tea daily since

symptoms and the individual's immune system." Collin instructed, "Luckily, some kind-hearted folks from Griffith have donated plenty of remedies. Dr. Garcia has tailored treatments for different symptoms. You can pick some up from the office

the moment, Stella inquired, "Dr.

for different symptoms. We're still exploring, but once a patient's condition worsens, it deteriorates rapidly, making clinical observation and

a room, while she and Jasper were next door. The likelihood of infection for Stella and Jasper was high. Though it

and Cooper stable and self-sufficient, they decided it was better to join the institute's efforts than to wait passively for the disease

stretched thin, and the smog virus was relentless. Waiting for a cure could mean

idly by. A day earlier with the cure meant

tasted similar to her own brew, confirming

Collin but were spotted by Hugh. "Stella,

wheeling a body towards the operating room. She hurried over. "Hugh,

wearily. "The virus acts too fast; a medicine professor's eyes aren't scanners. The patient's descriptions often differ greatly from the

a shortage of

Stella

kid, come and lend a

sight of an opened chest cavity and the perforated lungs of the deceased nearly made her retch. Deep breaths kept her stomach

other hand, remained stoic, passing instruments as

Stella quickly adjusted and fell into step with Hugh. Together, they dissected body after body, while Jasper documented the grim

riddled with holes, disintegrated into a sieve, with fragments expelled through coughing. Most had died from asphyxiation caused by coughing up blood. Without respirators, oxygen tubes, defibrillators, or adrenaline, survival

tired that their backs ached and the thought of gory scenes made them lose their appetite

quarters, tending to Cooper and Rosie first-forcing them to eat, knowing it was