18 Floors Above the Apocalypse

Chapter 446

Stella asked, "The sea's so deep, are they using a dredger?"

The site manager glanced over with a look of disinterest. "The specifics of how we're dredging don't concern you. Just focus on your work, grow your crops, and remember, we're all about community and support here at the base. Don't worry about how things run behind the scenes."

Too many nosy folks cause unnecessary trouble; best to keep your head down, feed your belly first, and pour your energy into this fresh start.

The base had a mountain of challenges to overcome, what use was it explaining to the survivors who couldn't help anyway?

Stella decided to keep her mouth shut and climbed the stairs to the third floor with her keys in hand.

Residential Area B was among the first to be completed. Active-duty military personnel occupied zones 1-3, while zone 4 housed the civilian survivors.

No matter which Kindle Society you belonged to before, at Hope Point, if you were willing to serve the people, you had to fall in line with the new arrangements.

With over 12,000 survivors, the majority were military. The rest were from well-established official bases, with only a handful of solitary fighters making it through.

The soldiers were busy working, rarely at home during the day, and some who went to sea might not return for weeks at a time. As a result, Area B was relatively quiet and uncluttered. Civilian survivors even took over private garden plots in zones 1-3, trying to grow more food.

Stella reached room 370, where someone had already placed a planter by the door.

She nudged it aside with her foot and stepped out.

The container-like room was small, about 1.5 meters wide and 2.5 meters long, with nothing but a ventilation window in the upper right corner.

The pleasant surprise was that the rooms were separated by movable steel panels, with sliding bolts on both sides. If both parties agreed, the panels could be shifted.

By combining three rooms into one, you'd get a 2.5 by 4.5-meter space, suddenly boasting around ten square meters, much less claustrophobic.

The steel was thick, making noise when moved, but it felt stable and safe to walk on. Thankfully it wasn't peak summer; otherwise, the metal rooms would turn into ovens. Jasper let Cooper, his loyal dog, out of his crate and reminded him not to bark.

After nearly a decade of working together, Cooper understood and wagged his tail excitedly.

The newly built rooms hadn't been used yet, so after resting for a moment, they began to clean up.

Arcadia, which could serve as

that could be found

no running water or electricity, but the sofa came with a USB charging port and an extendable lampshade for

added a small round table and a few fabric stools, creating a temporary

better

keep, feeling they could never pay off their rent, so they chose to live on

could quickly

eye to this arrangement,

with no visible

but it was allocated based

room each. Renting additional rooms in exchange for extra

break came around, Stella unfolded the sofa and set

rooms weren't particularly soundproof. The sound of waves crashing against the giant drilling columns and the occasional conversation

opened the door to get some air in

setting sun shone on her face, dazzling

were carrying buckets or basins downstairs, lining up to

wooden buckets from Arcadia. Rosie stayed

their health - everyone looked gaunt, their faces pale and haggard. It was the flesh

community had its drawbacks; it felt like being

an hour, it was finally their turn

was well filtered, with the salty brine

some people drinking

found a woman in a red

thin, her worn dress hanging loosely, patched

in the hallway, her

pound on room 370's door, brandishing the knife as if

"Your planter was blocking my door, we had to move it aside to get

voice, the woman turned around,

out but froze in shock upon seeing Stella,

low profile, "Sorry, I accidentally knocked over the

her expression shifting