18 Floors Above the Apocalypse

Chapter 237

Around half an hour later, the crowd gradually cooled down.

Mark started to speak slowly, "If you find it too challenging, you can choose to stay in Eastwood Eden. As long as you're willing to take on any potential risks that may come in the future.”

“Mark, are you moving?”

“I can't afford to buy a house either, but I'll definitely find a way to earn points to move.”

“Then, since you're moving, we'll move too.”

“We want to move too, but how do we earn the points?”

Sensing Mark's determination, those who didn't want to move were flustered and reluctantly agreed after some thought. Most of the people had moved in within the last two years and trusted Mark. They couldn’t survive if they hadn’t moved into Eastwood Eden. Thus, even if they had to stick together, they would choose people they knew well.

They all remembered the evil people in the settlement camp who, in order to snatch houses in Eastwood Eden, tossed powerless people from the buildings. They even dared to kill staff members.

Staying or going out alone was too dangerous.

Reality didn’t offer them much choice, they had to agree even if they didn’t want to, just to survive. And so, except for Jasper and Stella, everyone in Eastwood Eden unanimously decided to move.

The next issue was how to earn points.

On the way back, Mark was thinking about this issue and had already come up with a plan. Doing things individually was too dangerous, so he suggested forming teams to earn points.

“We will divide into groups. The young and strong men will go to the ruins to collect scrap metal. Those with less strength will go to the Griffith River to dig sand.”

Eastwood Eden didn't have a vehicle, so he would negotiate with the government to see if they could provide a truck.

The rest, the women and children, would be responsible for farming. They would plant corn, sweet potatoes - as much as they could, to be used for purchasing housing supplies later. Vegetables grew the quickest, so they could plant several batches, dry them and store them for later.

With clear division of labor and tasks, and group leaders chosen, no one had objections. They trusted Mark and hoped that through everyone's efforts, they could settle in the new town. Living in cramped conditions was miserable, but being homeless was even worse.

When Stella returned, the meeting had just ended. Mark stopped the two of them and briefly explained the content of the meeting. Just as he had expected, the two had no plans to squeeze in with others.

“Mark, we won’t participate in this task.”

Mark understood and expressed his gratitude once again, “Anyway. thanks for the seeds.”

Luckily, they had spoken up in time, otherwise the price would have probably gone up several times by now.

The people of Eastwood Eden didn't rest. After the meeting, they immediately set into action – collecting scrap, digging sand, and farming.

Stella stood on the balcony, watching the busy figures by the Griffith River.

After two rainfalls, the drought had greatly eased and the groundwater level had stopped falling.

Afraid that the good sand would be taken, Stella was eager to start digging, “When are we going to dig sand?”

Jasper was watching the figures in the river, “We need to make a sand sieve.”

Doing it manually like them was slow and earned fewer points.

Making a sand sieve was simple – just welding reinforcement bars into a grid, leaving gaps in between. When sand was poured onto the grid, larger stones would be blocked while the finer sand would fall through to the other end.

Arcadia had plenty of reinforcement bars in stock. The two of them cut the bars to the right length and quickly welded three sieves.

This thing was very durable. Stella suggested, “Should we give them one?”

Eastwood Eden provided them a comfortable environment. Although they had to pay 20 lbs of grains as rent every month, it was definitely worth it.

They didn't know what the future would bring, but being able to show kindness to others after three years into the apocalypse was truly commendable. As long as it didn't affect their own interests, Stella didn't mind lending a hand. After all, it was more meaningful for such people to survive than those devils with weapons.

Jasper didn’t object, “Sure.”

They got up early the next day, put on their thermal clothes, prepared for sun protection, and set off with their sieves.

Half an hour later, a large truck drove over the bumpy road and stopped by the Griffith River. The earthquake had cut off the Griffith River. The community members were digging upstream, and

Stella and her team were digging downstream, almost 200 meters apart.

When she saw a community member passing by, she quickly called him over, “I borrowed two sand sieves from a friend. You can borrow one, just return it when you're done.”

The member was thrilled and thanked her repeatedly. He carried the sieve and shouted at his team members from afar, “Jasper and Stella lent us a sand sieve.”

Good quality sand could be exchanged for more points, which gave them more hope.

Jasper went to the middle of the river and chose a flat place. He used a hoe to clear away the weeds and mud. NôvelD(ram)a.ôrg owns this content.

Rosie helped with a small shovel and suddenly exclaimed, “Stella, the grass is sprouting.” She squatted down and cleared away the lumpy mud. A grass root was twisting its body, trying to break through the ground and grow.

Stella was moved by the power of life.

Digging sand was hard work. Jasper worked tirelessly under the sun, like a machine.

He didn’t want Stella and Rosie to work too much. But Cooper, who was always competitive, was digging the sand with his paws.

There was fine sand, and the coarse gravel that was filtered out was collected as well. In the future, it could be mixed with cement to build the yard or used for walls.

The work was slow, and they had to secretly hide the sand they dug into Arcadia when Rosie wasn't looking.

The three of them, along with Cooper, didn't get much sand after working half a day.

Rosie reflected that she seemed to have not done much work. Despite her brother's objections, she kept adding more work for herself.

They didn't bother going back for lunch and sat under the sunshade to eat.

They were afraid the other residents would come suddenly, so they didn't eat much. They had some toasts and eggs, and a bowl of soup each.

After working hard until dusk, they finally got half a truckload of sand.

When the residents went home one after another, the three of them were still busy. When it was too dark to see, they packed up and went home.

Jasper waited on the side of the road with Rosie while Stella went to deliver the goods with Cooper.

When they reached a deserted area, Stella hid the goods in Arcadia under the cover of night.

After working for half a month, Jasper seemed to have tanned.

Except for the extra they had kept aside, Arcadia was stocked with full 7 truckloads of fine river sand and 3 truckloads of coarse gravel. With enough sand, Stella conveniently lent the sieve they were using to the residents.

After several negotiations with the government, Mark finally struck a deal. They agreed to dispatch a truck to collect the sand, scrap metal, stainless steel doors, and iron frames he had gathered.

This was the advantage of teamwork. Having more resources gave you bargaining power. Those who were solo players had no choice but to figure out how to transport their goods to Hope Bay for registration and earn points.