18 Floors Above the Apocalypse

Chapter 376

Stella spotted him too-no doubt about it, he was a beggar. Dressed in tattered rags, barefoot, and wandering aimlessly. "Another soul driven mad by the apocalypse," she sighed to herself.

Just as she was reflecting, the sound of a car caught the beggar's attention. Surprisingly, he turned and waved frantically to flag it down. "Robbery tactics are getting more and more creative," she thought. "This guy could very well be a decoy for an ambush."

Stella cocked her gun, ready to take him down if he showed any sign of threat.

"Hey, stop the car, stop the car!" the beggar shouted.

Stella scanned the area but saw no sign of an ambush.

Jasper didn't hit the brakes and just drove past.

"Damn it, stop!" the beggar yelled, flipping them the bird.

Stella squinted, recognizing the figure in the rearview mirror.

"Stop the car," she commanded.

Seeing the truck pull over, the beggar's mood swung from irritation to hope. He limped over and asked, "Buddy, could you give me a lift?"

He hurried over but froze in shock when he got a better look.

It was like a bucket of ice water had been dumped over him in the dead of winter.

Without a word, he covered his face and turned to leave.

"Bran," Stella called out.

It was as if his heart had been pierced; his entire body stiffened.

His dignity, once guarded, now trampled into the mud.

But Stella didn't mock him or ask how he'd come to this. "Get in. We're still a good ten miles from the base. If you walk, your feet will be shredded."

to a destitute beggar by natural disasters. Fate had

so Bran had to settle for sitting on a pile of muddy

come true. But what could

set, the fallen rich kid sat atop a pile of garbage, numb to the jostling of the vehicle, his eyes void of any

entered the base and drove up to

and

steel took the workers some time to clean, and after weighing, they earned

of steel could sustain a family for

questions about where the steel came from, which eased Stella's

keep the credits. She went straight to

escape pods, these ten

Crusoe situation, it was better to be

sale but decided to save up and buy a whole load at once,

from a submarine, Stella had almost everything

on the road, the family was eager

left without a word, probably a

a deep breath inwardly, not sure what

then, on the way back to their private compound, they

thought, she pulled over and stuck her head out, "Hey, Bran. You left some meds with me a while back. With things as chaotic as they are, I can't

taken aback, not expecting the usually covetous Stella to offer the meds

"Uh, later," he mumbled.

out scavenging again after a short

Bran merely nodded, "Mhm."

to the compound and exchanging goodbyes without much fuss, they parted

feeling his heart, already battered by the

their dog enjoyed a luxurious meal after their refreshing

home-cooked food after days on

cleared by Rosie, Stella sipped on juice while discussing with Jasper, "Remember when the Porras family's annex got hit by that satellite? Bran gave us a lot of meds as thanks. I think he added extra as a gesture of goodwill. Now that he's hit

all in Goldbridge except Bran. With all the disasters, looking after their golden boy

him to do hard

turned to scavenging, a

pitiful