18 Floors Above the Apocalypse novel Chapter 183

Stella felt a pang of emotion, never expecting Katie to be so reliable. "Thank you so much."

"It's us, the Moores, who should be thanking you." Katie clasped her hand, "Without your help these two years, I can't imagine what would have befallen us."

This girl, though cold on the outside, was always secretly helping others. If they didn’t move to the 17th floor, the survival of the Moores would have been uncertain.

Life at the research institute was tough, but it was better than the common folk. Besides having a monthly salary, they also had the benefit of fresh water. The quantity wasn't much, but it was enough for a family.

Katie brought out a small package, "Stella, I've got some vegetable seeds for you. If you plant them well, you'll have something to eat in a fortnight. Remember to save some seeds. Don't eat them all."

It wasn't much, maybe half an ounce. "We've gathered some seeds too, during our travels." Stella declined her offer and asked, "When are you moving? Jasper and I can help."

Her kids were working during the day, so Katie didn't hesitate, "We're moving tomorrow. Your help would be appreciated."

She gave Katie the remaining hay, which could be used to feed the rabbits.

There was still water in the water tower, and it hadn't gone bad even though they had added purification tablets. Stella declined this too.

People came and went, and in the end, only she and Jasper remained. Stella wondered how Lukas and the others were doing.

Stella herded the rabbits upstairs to continue raising them in 1803.

The rooftop was hot and stuffy, so she took out ice cubes to cool down the rabbits, along with some fresh hay, vegetables, and carrots. Having adapted, the rabbits were no longer afraid of water and happily licked the ice cubes.

As the sun went down, Jasper took the dog to the rooftop for training. Stella, who followed after, was almost taken aback when she saw the dog carrying bricks and crawling or climbing.

Jasper’s training method had completely changed.

Stella wondered, "Are you training it for coordinated combat?"

On the way back, she felt that Jasper was off. She initially thought it was because of Rosie, but now it seemed more complicated.

Stella asked, "Those guys who collect protection grain are not small fry, are they?"

Jasper didn't hide it, "Yeah. These guys may be a motley crew, but they've formed a base with almost 200 people."

Stella pondered. His detailed knowledge suggested previous encounters, "Have you dealt with them before?"

"They were stationed at the junction between Griffith and Swan Hill. They not only collected tolls but also robbed people. The survivors were suffering. Griffith joined forces with Swan Hill's police, launching a major offensive that took down two of their bases."

But that was six months from now.

After experiencing a severe earthquake, survival got harder and they became more ruthless, completely blocking the survivors' way out.

Two bases? Stella was shocked, "Are you saying that the crew who collected tolls in Swan Hill is also a private base?"

To put it nicely, it was a base, but actually it was a gathering of thugs who were increasingly rampant. Now, Jasper had wiped out the check post. They wouldn't just let that go. Living in peace seemed harder and harder.

Stella didn't want to cause trouble, but if trouble came knocking, there was no way to avoid it.

"It's okay. We'll kill everyone who comes to us."

Anyway, he'd given her quite a few homemade bombs and molotovs. She wouldn't hesitate to use them when the time came.

Facing these thugs, the more you tolerate, the more they'd push.

Jasper looked at her, "Are you scared?"

That was a no-brainer. Who wasn't afraid of death? But fear wouldn't help.

Stella managed a laugh, "I'm scared, but I won't just sit around waiting for death."

Jasper sat beside her, "Don't worry. You have me."

It seemed that they couldn't live here anymore. They needed to find a new place before the earthquake hit.

But the earthquake caused severe damage, and most of the buildings had collapsed in her last life. Finding a safe house wouldn't be easy.

Jasper sat beside her, "We'll have to take it slow. We'll go look for a place tomorrow."

Planning to finding a new house, they woke up especially early the next day. After breakfast, they packed their valuable belongings into the Arcadia, took Cooper and Rosie, and went out to search for a house.

Before leaving the complex, they circled the apartment building and indeed found a crack on the south wall.

It was not particularly noticeable, and even from a distance, looking at the whole structure, one wouldn't be able to see that it was already tilting.

But it was true; just because you couldn't see it didn't mean it wasn't happening.

Finding a house wasn't an easy task either. Older buildings were out of the question, and new ones... well, you never knew if the developers were honest or not.

Stella pondered, "What if we look for a place with fewer buildings and more open spaces?"

In the event of an earthquake, at least there would be time to run.

Jasper thought for a moment, "Let's go check out Eastwood Eden."

Eastwood Eden? Stella had never heard of it.

"It’s adjacent to the outskirts of the city. Should be a newly developed real estate project."

It was a long time ago, and Jasper couldn’t remember very clearly. He recalled participating in the rescue efforts after the earthquake. He encountered a civilian rescue team organized around a residential community. The team leader mentioned that their neighborhood didn't collapse.

Not only had they taken part in the rescue, but they had also responded to the city's call to free up some empty buildings to shelter the homeless.

Stella pulled out her phone and used her offline map to search for Eastwood Eden, but it came up with nothing.