18 Floors Above the Apocalypse novel Chapter 39

Don't let her youthful appearance fool you! The girl got a dark side.

She was the classmate with the folks in apartments on the 8th and 12th floor. However, she ended up breaking the girl's ribs and cutting her hair. And the boy, well, he was even worse off. He was bitten by a dog and then stabbed. They had to carry him to the hospital in the morning.

No one should provoke her! That was for sure.

Drew's team had just returned, looking weary and only bringing back firewood. Every foraging spot in the vicinity seemed to have been picked clean. Even moldy bread was taken.

As they watched the residents of the 18th floor, they could only sigh in envy. How could there be such disparity in the same building?

The moment Stella reached the 18th floor, a dog named Cooper came rushing out of room 1803, furiously leaping at her, whining non-stop.

Cooper thought, “You promised not to abandon me, didn't you? What a lie!”

Rosie too came rushing over, hugging Stella's waist. “Cooper and I were so well behaved today.”

Stella laughed and was just about to say Rosie loved her more, when Rosie suddenly dashed towards room 1801. “Jasper, Rosie missed you so much.”

As per usual, everyone gathered in room 1803 to divide the loot. Upon hearing that they'd found a pig, Angela's concern overcame her excitement. “The fridge isn't working. How are we going to store the pork?”

It was half a pig, so there was no way they could finish it in a few days. It would be such a waste if it was spoiled.

Jasper had a surprising solution. “I have a car refrigerator at home. It's USB powered. The meat should just fit in, but the light is poor and it charges slowly. Anyway, it can be used for some days.”

A car refrigerator? Stella had seen a couple of those back in Arcadia. She quickly said, “The landlord has one as well. I'll go look for it in his room later.”

Their storage problem had been solved, but the pork in room 1803 couldn't be spoiled either. Cody suggested, “Why don't you two start with ours?”

Stella had no objections, but they still wouldn't be able to finish it in a few days. “Cut off the fat and render it into lard. We can make a pork stew tonight. Whatever we can't finish, we can preserve in salt.” With the cool rainy weather, it should last a few days.

Cody was drooling in anticipation. “Aren't we eating this for lunch?”

“You guys can eat, but I need to go out again to see if I can get some dog food for Cooper.”

Lukas offered, “Do you want us to go with you?”

“No need, just handle the pig.”

Worried about their lack of experience in rendering lard, Stella reminded them, “Separately cut the pork skin. Don't fry it with the fat. Be careful of oil splatters...”

Jasper also didn't know how to render lard, so he was quietly learning on the side.

Once home, Stella had a portion of shredded pork in garlic sauce, filled her stomach, treated Cooper's wounds, and then prepared to go out again.

Cooper clutched her trouser leg. Was he going to be abandoned again?

Stella scratched his head. “You guard the house. I'll go get us some meat.”

The pig had floated down the river. She remembered that there was a large pig farm upstream. If the pig had indeed come from the farm, there was likely more than one. There were several mountains in the upstream river, so the pigs were very likely to swim across to seek refuge.

Arcadia didn't have much pork stored, and now she had Cooper to feed as well, so Stella wanted to try her luck.

She wanted to make a quick round trip, but Cooper adamantly refused to be left behind. She had no choice but to bring him along. After all, when it came to hunting, dogs were much more skilled than humans.