18 Floors Above the Apocalypse

Chapter 79

Ascending the stairs, Angela offered to share some of her firewood with Stella.

However, Stella declined. "I've got plenty of blankets and clothing. I burn wood slower. You guys keep it. I'll chop my own when I need it."

Knowing Stella's independent nature, Angela didn't insist.

Lukas knocked on the door of apartment 1801, summoning everyone to gather in 1803. "Good news!" He announced.

Many people had gone to Griffith Mountain to chop wood that day, and they had gleaned some heartening information. "The government is going to distribute supplies," he said.

The previous floods had not only made it difficult for the residents to get around but also paralyzed many government departments. Now that the floodwaters had frozen over, it was frigid, but at least they could move freely.

"The government will distribute food the day after tomorrow. They will distribute it once a week. Each person will get a pound, and residents can collect it at the original community center with their ID."

One pound of rice per week wasn't much, but the disaster had struck suddenly, and all supplies had been submerged in the floodwater. Coastal cities had a low altitude, so even if the national grain storage facilities were situated at higher locations, how much could have been transferred in time given the devastating combination of the storm and the flood?

Griffith had several million inhabitants. Even if more than half of them had tragically perished, there were still over a million survivors. It was not easy to provide this amount of food.

“In addition, the government has declared the old currency invalid. They will introduce a new currency later. For now, we will barter,” Lukas continued.

This news didn’t mean much to the residents, who had already spent all their money. But it was a blow to those who had profited from the disaster. They were probably weeping in their home.

"Besides distributing food, the government has also announced a recruitment drive for thousands of positions, ranging from technical researchers to corpse collection teams. The pay is in food. Scarce technical researchers can get twenty to thirty pounds of grain a month. The laborers at the bottom, who do the hard work, get five pounds a month, with lunch provided.”

Lukas joked, "Stella, do you think we should apply?"

"It's up to you. I’m not going."

Five pounds of rice a month for hard labor wouldn't even feed one person, but with the weekly relief food, one could scrape by.

Lukas was just joking. The task of the 18th floor was to protect their home, not to earn a pitiful five pounds of food. They could get by on what they had in apartment 1803 for two years.

The government had already turned from being passive to active in disaster relief. Things could get better in the future, so there was no need for them to risk their lives for a bit of food. Besides, there was no guarantee they'd live long enough to spend it.

So, the occupants of the 18th floor decided to take it easy and not compete for jobs with others.

When Stella left, she noticed that Cody had a wound on his hand. "What happened?" She asked with concern.

"It's nothing serious. We were just cornered by several groups when we were chopping wood on Griffith Mountain. They wanted to steal our wood and saw, but we fought them off."

The outside was chaos. Even going out in groups of three was fraught with danger. A moment's carelessness could get you schemed against. They were just chopping wood, and even with Lukas and Angela standing guard, they were still targeted.

Stella wanted to console him, but she didn't know what to say. After all, this was not only the norm, but it would become even more brutal in the future.

......

On the day of relief food distribution, Cody came over early to knock on Stella's door. Stella didn't want to queue. "You guys go ahead. I'll stay and watch the house."

So, the three of them from apartment 1803 went to the community center early.

The resilience of humans far exceeded their expectations. When they were holed up at home, it seemed like the whole world had come to a standstill, filled with the silence of human death.

However, when the relief food was distributed, it was a sea of people everywhere. They set out in the morning and only returned after one o’clock in the afternoon, pulling out the bags of rice from their thick coats.

The rice was a mix of new and broken grains. To prevent people from collecting multiple times, they could only distribute it to the person whose ID was presented.

The scene was chaotic, but with armed police standing guard, no one dared to cause trouble at the distribution site. However, once they left the site, it was fraught with danger.

Thieves were everywhere, there were those who would cut open your bag and steal your rice, and there were those who would just snatch and run.

To get more food, human ingenuity was endless. A few people in front of Angela had brought their elderly mother who was over eighty. They covered her with thick cotton blankets. Just when they were about to receive the grain, the old lady passed away.

Her family caused a scene at the spot, blaming the government's policies for the death of their elderly mother. Their clamor drew a crowd of onlookers, who murmured about the government's lack of humanity and voiced their support for compensation.

A volunteer walked over to check on the elderly woman. Her body was already stiff. "Sorry, but I used to work in a hospital. This elderly woman didn't just pass away. She's been dead for at least 24 hours."

Such underhanded methods were not tolerated, and the troublemakers' right to collect grain was revoked immediately.

The instigator was about to scream but was met with the barrel of a gun. This was not a time of peace. The police could indeed open fire.

Lukas reminded Stella, "There are thieves and robbers everywhere now. Hide your grain well and don't let anyone get close."

There were some at the entrance of their building, but they didn't dare approach because Lukas and Cody were armed.

Stella nodded, changed her clothes, and was about to leave Cooper in apartment 1803. However, the dog bit onto her trouser leg and refused to let go, insisting on going out.

"No, there are people out there who want to eat yout."

Hearing that he couldn't go out, the clear eyes of the dog dimmed, and he lowered his head in silence.

Stella squatted down and patted his head to comfort him.

Rosie opened the door and ran out excitedly. "Stella, let's go."

Stella frowned, looking at Jasper. "You're taking Rosie out?"

"Yeah, let's go out and see the world."

That was fine. It was good for them to gain some experience. People had to grow up, especially in the apocalypse, where maturing early was necessary. Otherwise, the outcome would be grim.

Stella had nothing to say, but Cooper's eyes lit up. If the little girl could go, why couldn't he?

In the end, fearing he would cause trouble, they found a leash to tie him up to. Being tied up was a humiliation for Cooper who was born to be free, but Cooper endured it because the person who tied him up was his human.

So, Stella took Cooper, and Jasper took his sister, and they walked down the stairs towards the community center.

The community center was not far, about a kilometer away. But due to the icy conditions, they couldn't walk fast.

Stella's concerns were not unfounded. She had specifically taken off Cooper's fur before going out, but he still attracted everyone's attention. They had seen dogs before, but they had never seen a dog as robust and beautiful as Cooper, who stood tall and majestic.

This was too much. How could a dog live better than them? Was there no justice in the world?Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

In the face of greedy and hungry gazes, Cooper was not afraid and stared back fiercely.

Stella, who was holding the leash, seemed like a tough cookie, and Jasper, who was standing next to her had a stoic, icy glare that could make your blood run cold. They might’ve belonged to some sort of underworld syndicate, otherwise, how could they afford to keep a dog, let alone boldly take it for walks in public?

With their intimidating aura, just a glance at them could send chills down your spine.

It was easy to figure out if they were part of a dubious organization; just by looking at their dog, one could tell. The dog exuded an overwhelming presence–it was as if it played the role of their enforcer.

Better not to mess with them, definitely not worth the trouble!