18 Floors Above the Apocalypse novel Chapter 156

Fortunately, all three of them were skilled, and they had weapons on hand, so they didn't suffer any losses.

The water reached around their knees when Jasper decided it was time to stop twiddling his thumbs. He and the others went out to look for cars to avoid any further delay. If any more cars were damaged, it would be a real pain to repair them.

They weren't the only ones being proactive. The city's management was also on the move.

Excavators and drilling machines were being brought in. Some were digging wells, others were constructing public restrooms. Everything was orderly and seemed to have been planned in advance.

The water evaporated quickly, and the mud accumulated in the Sunrise Sanctuary was cracked and dry within a day.

The midday temperature reached a scorching 53 degrees, feeling like being grilled on a hotplate.

Underground garages dried up quickly, filled with cars in disarray, coated in a thick layer of dried mud.

Jasper's Hummer, stripped to almost unrecognizable, was still there. Lukas and the others were awestruck, giving thumbs up after a long moment, "Jasper, you're the real deal."

They managed to push five or six cars back, all of them decent off-road vehicles. However, not only were they soaked, but they were also frozen. Many parts were damaged, and trying to salvage them was as difficult as performing a head transplant.

But the will to survive kept them going, and no one was ready to give up.

Jasper inspected his own car. Despite the grime and dirt, the damage was minimal thanks to previous special treatments, and he had disassembled all the parts that could be removed.

With Cody and Lukas, he cleaned the car and started tinkering with spare parts.

While the men were busy in the underground parking lot, Stella wasn't idle either. She chatted with Angela while making a pot of lemon tea, "Now that the water has receded, once the cars are repaired, you can leave. Lincoln has plenty of water resources, but it's not as industrialized as Griffith. They have a military base over there, so they've probably exhausted all available resources. Let me know what you need, and I'll try to get it for you in the next couple of days."

Angela didn't want to trouble Stella, but her offer was too good to refuse, "Stella, thank you."

"No need for thanks, we're friends."

Parting was imminent, and Angela was reluctant to leave, "It's a pity you're not coming with us to the base, otherwise we'd still be together."

Stella smiled, "Nothing lasts forever. No matter where we are, we have to keep going. Who knows, we may meet again someday."

That night, Angela discussed with Cody and Lukas.

Nearly two years into the catastrophe, thanks to regular exercise, the three of them had rarely fallen ill and their supply of medicine hadn't decreased much.

They sorted through their supplies, realizing that some of their medication was nearing its expiration date and some rarely used ones were of no use.

They gave the outdated and seldom used medication to Stella, along with a list of their needs.

Stella accepted the medication and looked over the list, "What you all need are common items, but meteorological researchers have warned that various extreme weather conditions may persist in the future. Once the extreme heat subsides, we don't know what comes next. Aren't you taking precautions in advance?"

That did remind Cody, and he quickly came up with an idea. "Stella, how about this? Whatever you and Jasper prepare, make an extra set for us too?"

Stella thought about it and said, "Alright, I'll check with Katie later to see if the Moore family has any leads on what kind of extreme weather might be coming. Then we can decide what supplies to prepare."

With that decided, they all returned to their work in the parking lot.

When Jasper came home that night, he smelled so bad Stella almost threw up. She quickly fetched two bathtubs full of water from Arcadia and urged him to take a bath, "You stink."

Jasper had been using the bathroom in 1802 since they returned from the ceramics factory.