18 Floors Above the Apocalypse

Chapter 215

They made love passionately, losing track of time until until the wee hours of the morning.

When Stella opened her eyes again, the sun was already high in the sky. Stretching, she let out a yawn.

Still half-asleep, it took her a moment to clear her head. She glanced at the empty side of the bed, remembering that Jasper had classes in the morning.

She checked the time – it was already past ten.

Stella got up, almost tripping over her own feet, but then she noticed four condoms hanging on the coat hooks. The sight of them made her blood boil, "What does he think this is, the 60s or 70s? Does he think they're reusable?"

In a huff, she tossed all the condoms into the trash can.

After freshening up, she noticed Rosie was out, probably at classes with Jasper. She picked up her lunch from Arcadia, specially opting for chicken soup.

Just as she was about to eat, the siblings came home.

After several nutritious meals, Rosie was looking much better, "Stella, I'm back."

"Good, now wash your hands and let's eat."

"Rosie." Jasper corrected his sister, "From now on, she’ll be your sister-in-law."

Rosie seemed confused, not quite understanding the difference.

"Because I love Stella and we're together now. She's my wife, so you have to call her sister-in-law."

"Together?" Rosie was puzzled. "But you've always been together."

Despite her confusion, Rosie managed a sweet smile, "Okay! Stella is my sister-in-law."

Stella blushed, "Let's eat."

After washing her hands, Rosie sat at the table, "I went to teach today. Lots of people asked if I was feeling better."

She took out a paper crane, "This is a gift from Tommy."

"Tommy? The boy who keeps pet mice?"

"And there's Lily. She secretly gave me a piece of candy, but I didn't take it."

Having had candy snatched from her mouth before, Rosie knew that candy could be a lifesaver. She didn't need candy, but Lily had been saving hers for months, unwilling to eat it.

Stella praised her, "You did well, Rosie. We can't take things from others, and we can't give our things to others either."

After two bowls of nourishing chicken soup, Rosie felt much better.

Jasper seemed unaffected, but Stella still pushed some bananas towards him, "Eat more."

It was good source of potassium.

In return, Jasper offered her a plate of slow-cooked pork, "You too."

Stella felt really embarrassed.

After lunch, Rosie volunteered to do the housework while Cooper made a mess.

Dragging her tired body, Stella went back to the room to continue her nap. Jasper followed her in, only to find the condoms missing. After a quick look around, he found them lying peacefully in the trash can.

There was not nearly enough condoms from their haul at the pharmacy. Jasper gently nudged Stella, "How many do you have?"

A bit embarrassed, Stella took out the remaining stock from the stash she got from Max King.

Jasper estimated that it was still not enough for a lifetime.

Flabbergasted, Stella took him to Arcadia to check out the large cabinets filled with supplies.

In the end, Jasper had to admit, they now had plenty.

Despite being tired, Stella found it hard to sleep with him around, so they chatted, "How are the trainees you're teaching?"

"They're doing well, understanding the importance of self-defense in the apocalypse. They're all very diligent and hardworking," Jasper responded.

He had chosen a few with excellent comprehension and mastery of the movements to teach others. This way, the training could be quickly spread, and it also lightened his workload.

After a nap and waking up in the evening, they went together to fetch water from the well.

After the rain, the land was once again dry and cracked, but the underground water level had risen. Each family could now receive two buckets of water.

Stella was diligent, getting water every day to water the plants in Arcadia. The entire terrace was filled with drought-resistant sweet potatoes, Rosie's peanuts, various greens, and such. Rosie put

her heart into it, watering them daily and providing them shade. They finally sprouted, but who could have guessed that in less than half a day, the tender sprouts were scorched by the intense summer heat. The poor little girl was heartbroken for quite a while. Stella could only console her, promising to give her new seeds once the extreme heat had passed.

After fetching the water, Jasper, concerned about her getting tired, effortlessly carried a bucket in each hand. Stella didn't even get a chance to showcase her skills.

Seeing this, the old man who fetched water commented, "Stella, you've got good taste in men. Jasper is quite capable."

Stella simply smiled, following Jasper.

"Stella." Mark called out from a distance, "Wait."

He rushed over, panting, "There's been an accident."

Christian suddenly had severe stomach cramps. In the neighborhood, only Stella had medical training. It was an unexpected situation, but they were hoping she could help.

Food poisoning was common in the apocalypse due to expired food, and in severe cases, it could be fatal. NôvelDrama.Org content rights.

Christian was a nice person, and since Mark had asked, Stella decided to go check on him. After all, practicing medicine required hands-on experience.

Christian was living in the same building as Mark, and they had a good relationship.

When Stella arrived, Christian's face was pale, clutching his stomach, "I'm...I'm okay. It'll pass."

There was a pot of thin sweet potato soup and a plate of chopped dried sweet potato leaves on the table. The leaves were black and brown, devoid of any grease, looking more like pig food.

In the post-apocalyptic world, this was considered a decent meal. Many people outside didn't even have sweet potato peels to eat, let alone sweet potato soup and dried leaves.

It's superhot now, so the sun-dried sweet potato leaves couldn’t get damp and moldy. The sweet potatoes were also just harvested a few days ago, so they couldn’t possibly be spoiled.

The rice distributed by the residents' committee was old and might have deteriorated, but only a small handful was used to make porridge, so it couldn’t possibly cause a strong food poisoning reaction.

Stella asked Christian's son, Samuel, "Does your father have any other illnesses?"

Samuel was just about seventeen or eighteen, his face a picture of panic, "No, his health is usually quite good."

Two years of disasters had hit them hard, but they had managed to avoid any serious illnesses, soldiering through minor aches and pains.

Stella asked him where it hurt, ruling out acute appendicitis and intestinal obstruction, "We'll need to pump his stomach and induce vomiting."

"No, I'm fine." The pain in his abdomen was excruciating. Beads of sweat the size of peas kept rolling down his forehead, but Christian gritted his teeth and disagreed, "I just had squid, I can't throw it up."

They hadn't had meat in over half a year, and it would be such a waste to throw it up.

Christian stubbornly insisted, "There's nothing wrong with the food. My son and I both ate it."

Stella turned to Samuel, "Did you two eat exactly the same thing?"