18 Floors Above the Apocalypse

Chapter 30

As they ventured upward, they found the offices in a mess, littered with plastic and the occasional wooden desk - though these were simply sawdust and glue, certainly not fireproof and smelling of toxic fumes.

The other office building was the same, yielding only forgotten fast food, a few cases of bottled water, and a minor amount of timber.

They returned to the building housing Cody's company. It was also ransacked, but the damage was less severe, likely because intruders had discovered the place had been picked over and made a hasty retreat to the other two buildings.

Stella's hunch was right. As they climbed higher, evidence of intrusion became less frequent. She suggested a staggered search pattern, as each person might’ve noticed something different, perhaps overlooked areas.

Stella set about searching the area Lukas had combed through the day before, while Cody swapped places with Jasper.

Her motives had shifted. Yesterday, they sought medication and food. Today, with an additional 150 cubic feet in Arcadia, the overly cautious Stella wanted to fill it to the brim.

Books to enrich their minds, ornate vases from the boss' office, wooden desks, wardrobes, jewel ornaments, and mop handles from the janitor's closet.

Men seemed to lack the knack for scavenging. Stella, however, managed to find many overlooked snacks and suitable clothing and shoes after a thorough search.

She stumbled upon a jewel company. The counter was empty and showed no signs of vandalism. After a quick tour, she discovered the manager's office was locked tight.

After a struggle with the sturdy door, she found four safes inside. They likely contained jewels, so Stella stowed all of it in Arcadia. She also found some tea, cigarettes, and alcohol, and used a samurai sword to dismantle the office furniture.

She also raided a sportswear company's local office, taking only sizes suitable for their group, while the rest were swept into Arcadia.

One company appeared to be planning a team-building event, leaving several large boxes of barbecue charcoal and camping equipment behind in their administrative department.

After going through four floors, Stella returned to the clothing company's live streaming office and gathered another batch of clothing, including women's underwear and bras that the men were too embarrassed to take.

She also revisited the home appliance company from the night before and quietly collected a batch of appliances that might’ve proved useful later, including a high-end massage chair worth several thousands of dollars.

She stealthily sneaked into the places the others had scoured at different times, taking anything useful. She continued until the extra 150 cubic feet of Arcadia was filled.

To facilitate transportation, they dismantled all the wooden furniture and chopped it into similar lengths. It had fit neatly into two inflatable boats and three rubber boats.

They returned home early, finishing the sorting and moving just after nine.

After today's events, the residents of the 18th floor had gained a notorious reputation. The other tenants viewed them with a sense of horror.

They didn't try to hide it, hauling their timber upstairs.

Once Stella closed the door, she immediately entered Arcadia. The safes were safely tucked away in a corner, but the living room, balcony, and toilet remained the same size.

Could it be that the jewel company was selling fakes?

Unwilling to accept this, she opened the door to the master bedroom. A bathroom had appeared, about 10 square metres.

The safes couldn't be opened, but there must have been a lot of jewels. Disappointed to see only a 10 square metre increase, she realized that the upgrade conditions were quite strict.

Well, she would have to keep looking then. In this post-apocalyptic world, gold, silver, and jewels were worthless.

She was awakened in the middle of the night by a loud noise and a horrifying scream from downstairs. This was nothing unusual in the post-apocalyptic world, so Stella turned over and went back to sleep.

She woke up naturally and ate two bagels and a donut for breakfast. She washed it down with a bottle of milk.

The weather was terrible, and the green vegetables she had planted were turning yellow. Stella diluted some nutrient solution and poured it over them, hoping for the best.

She checked Arcadia, but the timer had only increased by two hours. It was moving at a snail's pace.

She planned to continue planting greens in the new 10 square feet of black soil. She wanted to stock up enough to last two or three years before planting anything else. Of course, she could plant some fruit seedlings first. The mature trees would surely bear fruit by next year.

Her physical fitness had improved significantly over this period, and she managed to save 15 minutes while tilling and sowing.

Just as she was about to leave Arcadia, Lukas knocked on the door. She opened the door to find Lukas with a bruised face. Stella was startled. "Who did this?"

Lukas seemed a bit embarrassed. "Well, you know Cody and I aren't as fit as the others? Angela has been training us since last night."

Before, Angela wouldn't lay a finger on Lukas. Now, she was training him to the point of exhaustion.

Lukas knew the world had changed. He couldn't always rely on Angela and Stella to protect him. From now on, he decided to man up and protect his woman.

"Right, you guys really need the training."

Stella suddenly remembered something. She went back into the room and took out a black bag. "I found these in the office building. I thought you and Angela could use them, so I kept them."

Seeing the contents of the bag, Lukas looked embarrassed, then laughed. "Thanks, I was looking for these."

He almost forgot the main reason he knocked on Stella’s door. He asked with a grin, "Do you know what happened last night?"

"No idea, I was dead to the world. I was fast asleep."

"Hector and Sadie were robbed."

Lukas disapproved of Hector's attempts to woo Stella while also stringing Stella along. Fortunately, she had extricated herself from the situation. "After making such a show with the supplies

yesterday, they were targeted last night."

Hector was staying in suite 802, which couldn't accommodate everyone, so some people were also staying in 1202.

The robbers targeted 1202 first. If Hector and his crew hadn't rushed up when they heard the commotion, Sadie would have been raped by several men. They managed to drive off the attackers, but when they returned to the 8th floor, they found all their supplies had been taken.

Stella was taken aback. "A decoy?" Even bandits needed to use their brains these days.

"They kept most of their supplies on the 8th floor, but their inflatable boats and rubber dinghies weren't stolen."

Stella laughed. They weren't spared - the bandits were just farming them slowly and steadily.

"One of them got injured, and they had the audacity to knock on our door earlier, hoping you would help."

But no one on the 18th floor paid any attention to them.

There was another incident. This morning, two men from other buildings came over. "They wanted to pay us protection money, but Angela sent them packing."

Stella was amused. They were just defending themselves. How had they become a crime syndicate?

While they were talking, Cody came out with a bruised face. "Are we going out again today?"

"I don't want to go out again. If you need anything, you can go. I'll stay and watch the house."

Everything had been scavenged. She couldn’t find the items she needed now. Besides, Angela and Lukas had been brainwashed by Cody's end-of-the-world theories. They felt like they were always lacking something, which made them overly cautious.

After exchanging pleasantries, the trio equipped themselves with an inflatable boat and ventured out, with the dual purpose of gathering supplies and scoping out the situation. Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

Just after midday, another three people turned up at their doorstep, begging for their protection Stella was vexed by their constant interruptions and penned a note and stuck it on the door. [No Alliances.]

It wasn’t just the ill-intentioned newcomers she had to worry about, but even her companions Angela and the others couldn’t be completely trusted. After all, in a post-apocalyptic world, human nature was the most unpredictable thing. Even friends or co-workers could turn on each other when times got hard. If it ever came to that, Stella knew she wouldn’t hesitate to walk away.

She had all the necessities - food, clothing, and shelter. As for other desirable supplies she couldn’t find, Stella would have to figure out Arcadia first.

With the trio out, Stella indulged herself with her hoard of comfort food - Cheetos, cookies, Skittles, and chocolates, all while reading a book to pass the time.

It was still early, so she took out the cheese she had prepared earlier to make tortellini. She made many tortellinis while binge-watching her favorite show until she heard the others returning.

They came back with some firewood and two stainless steel doors that they had salvaged from a mall. Compared to Stella’s door and the door at 1801, Lukas felt uneasy, so they spent a long time in the mall to find the right size.

After a lot of clanking and banging, they finally finished remodeling 1803. They had one door left, which they installed on the staircase. To get to the 18th floor, one would have to cross three barriers now.

Observing Lukas applying cement, Stella curiously asked, "Where did you find that?"

"We passed a construction site and I snuck in and grabbed a couple of bags."

They planned to go back again to get some glass to install on the balcony because the constant rain was making everything too damp.

Stella reminded them, “Get good quality ones, in case another storm comes and shatters the glass. If that happens, it will be a hassle.”

Lukas agreed wholeheartedly, discussing with Cody about several incidents in their neighborhood where windows had shattered due to the storm.

After a day of contemplation, Stella concluded that the expansion of Arcadia was somehow connected to spirituality. The reason the antique shelf had disappeared was probably due to the wood that it was made of.

Quality wood, which could take decades or even hundreds of years to mature. Most of the artifacts from the flooded museum had been salvaged or relocated by the government, and items like gold, silver, and jewels would be easy to find once the floodwaters receded.

The only option left was wood.

Wood? Stella suddenly had an idea.