18 Floors Above the Apocalypse

Chapter 275

There was still a distance between the two new towns, and the transition zone was pretty chaotic with a lot of risks coming and going.

Knowing Stella's prowess, Collin didn't refuse.

Swan Hill Medical Research Institute was significantly larger compared to Griffith's temporary outpost. The Hummer parked outside just in time to see someone walking out with a medicinal plant, indicating that their cooperative cultivation model was doing well.

"Stella, if you guys hadn't shown us the way, we would have never thought of this brilliant method." Collin was pleased, "I spend most of my time here, if you ever need anything, feel free to come directly."

"Thank you, Dr. Collin, I'll be bothering you more often, I hope you won't find me annoying then."

Collin wasn't bothered, in fact, he hoped for more people like Stella. Cultivating a skilled herbal medicine expert was extremely difficult. The sudden apocalypse had claimed many doctors, and a talent gap was the most terrifying thing.

He pulled out a weathered book from his bag, "This is a book my mentor gave me years ago, and it's been out of print for decades. It records the difficult diseases encountered by traditional medicine over thousands of years and their solutions, now, I'm lending it to you for your study, remember to keep it safe."

The thick book, worn and yellowed from use, showed its value. Stella was pleasantly surprised, "Thank you, Dr. Collin."

Collin's mentor must be the old professor who developed the treatment for smog-induced lung and liver infections. She hoped one day she could meet him.

Waving goodbye, Stella drove back to Griffith. Just as she reached the Griffith boundary, a figure darted out from the roadside.

Unable to stop in time, she hit the figure, sending it flying. It lay motionless. Was this what the apocalypse had come to, people running into cars for compensation?

Stella, her head slightly dazed from the impact, didn't get out to check but took out her gun, wary of her surroundings.

Not far away, another figure sprinted over, agile and swift, an arm sporting a security patrol badge, and a baton in hand.

Looking at the man lying in a pool of blood, he was taken aback before crouching down to check. The man was barely breathing, beyond saving. Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

Taking the cloth bag clutched in the man's hand, he dragged the body to the roadside, then gestured for Stella to get out of the car.

Stella looked at the man outside the car window, her blood rushing to her head. Their gazes met, both taken aback.

Stella got out of the car, the man first showed joy, then complexity, and then rushed over in excitement to hug her, "Stella."

She hadn't expected to meet Lukas under these circumstances. In fact, she'd almost not recognized him.

Two years apart, Lukas seemed like a different person. His once smooth and delicate skin was gone, replaced by rough, dark complexion, even a scar on his cheek. Once feminine-looking, he had been turned into a rugged man.

In contrast, Stella had hardly changed. She looked even more beautiful, her clean-cut charm now accompanied by a touch of brilliance and allure.

The two, who started from the same place, were now worlds apart.

"Why are you here?" Stella asked, immersed in the joy of reunion, "Jasper and I went to Mount Murray a few months ago and even went to the military base to look for you guys, but they said there were no records of you, we thought you guys went to the military base in Jia City."

Mentioning the past, Lukas managed a small smile, "After reaching Lincoln, we went to the official base."

It wasn't safe to talk on the roadside, so Stella pulled Lukas into the car, "How are Cody and Angela? Was the official base not good? Why did you guys come back to Griffith?"

Lukas was not dressed warmly enough and his face was frostbitten, so Stella handed him a thermos, "Warm water."

Lukas didn't take it, unsure of how to tell her about his experiences in the last two years, "Stella, do you have a cigarette?"

Stella was taken aback. She didn't like the smell of cigarettes, and Lukas hardly ever smoked in the past. However, the oppressive environment could make people turn to anything for relief, it wasn't surprising he'd taken up smoking.

Stella handed over a cigarette. Lukas lit up three in a row, rubbing the cigarette and said: "Cody and Angela are both fine. We patrol different areas. Angela's in the east of the city, and Cody's in the center, just like before. We rotate every two weeks."

Seeing how adept he was at smoking, Stella knew that the three of them must have hit a rough patch. And it wasn't just any rough patch.

What kind of situation could have turned a naturally optimistic and slightly naive person into the man he was today?

"On our way to Lincoln, we encountered a few groups of robbers, but we managed to get through each time without any major incidents..."

Angela's family lived in a small town in the county. After going through a typhoon, floods, and a freeze, they finally made it home, but it was too late. Her parents were gone.

According to the neighbors, they had died from heatstroke.

After Angela's family buried their parents, they moved to the official base in Goldbridge.

Angela had always quarreled with her brothers since they were kids. They were particularly close, but they were blood after all. Especially for Angela, who hadn't even seen her parents for the last time, her two brothers were the last of her kin.

Lukas and Cody wanted to join the military base, but after discussing, they decided to accompany Angela to Goldbridge.

They paid 30 pounds of grain and successfully entered the base, they also found Angela's two brothers and their wives. Their nephews and nieces were all still alive.

Perhaps to make up for the lost kinship, Angela took great care of the two families, and the children would come over for food from time to time.

At first, Lukas didn't mind, after all, Angela was his beloved, and she was more capable than him. During their relationship, she had always been the one to give more.

But once you started doing something, it was hard to stop. The two families kept finding reasons to ask for things, one more outrageous than the other. Despite the trio bringing a lot of food and

medicine, they couldn't keep up with the consumption.

In order to settle down at the base, the three of them actively sought work to plan for the future. Being newcomers with no connections, they could only do the most labor-intensive jobs, barely getting enough to eat, and even less grain to take home.

Angela's family always had issues. Today a child was sick, and tomorrow another child fainted from hunger.

Lukas gently brought up the issue with Angela, but she was still grieving from the loss of her parents and was constantly manipulated by her brothers' families. She gave everything she could, whether it was necessary or not.

The work at the base was hard and couldn't even provide for their basic needs, so the three of them later became scavengers. Once, Angela got injured and Lukas asked Angela's family for antibiotics, but nobody was willing to give any. In the end, it was Cody who provided them.

After experiencing life and death, Angela saw through it all, and gradually distanced herself from her family. But then, she unexpectedly became pregnant.

Having a baby in an apocalypse was undoubtedly a gamble with death. Since she was already pregnant and abortion was equally dangerous, she decided to risk it and keep the baby.

With a new life on the way, and time revealing the true colors of her family, she didn't even give them a single grain of rice.

Her nieces and nephews, misled by their parents, felt that their aunt was being stingy by not sharing her food. They believed she was wasting resources on her kept boy, and now on a bastard child. In their anger, they hurled insults at Angela and even punched her stomach.

Startled, Angela retaliated with a slap to each of them. The children who were slapped threw tantrums on the ground, one of them bawling, "You and your baby are a waste of food. When it's born, just let it starve to death, like we let grandma and grandpa starve..."