18 Floors Above the Apocalypse

Chapter 235

With lightning reflexes, Stella accelerated her mule, swiftly evading the threat.

Jasper, without hesitation, raised his crossbow and fired, the shriek from the debris pile echoed in the air. They didn't stop but kept moving.

As they approached the city center, the crowd thickened, the town hall was bursting at the seams.

The hall was packed with survivors, all drawn by the promise of a new city plan. Even amidst an apocalypse, the deep-rooted mindset prevailed, a home was not a home without a house.

Those wealthy enough hoped to seize an opportunity to secure a house. The less fortunate aimed to accumulate points to exchange for supplies.

The bulletin board was plastered with dozens of pages, all lists of various materials that could be exchanged for points. The hall also boasted a precious electronic display screen, scrolling through the same information.

After half an hour, Stella and Jasper finished reading. Afterward, they exchanged a glance, and both felt uneasy.

Indeed, reinforced steel was expensive, but the price of a completed house was even higher. A two- bedroom house required 5000 points, a villa demanded 50000 points.

Well, it was not exactly a villa. It was just a two-story detached house, and the two bedrooms were just that, without a living room or bathroom, only about 15 square meters.

What did this imply? It wasn't that the government was being greedy, but resources were simply too scarce. Only by raising the threshold could some survivors be satisfied.

The absence of a living room was understandable, but no bathroom? Stella tugged at Jasper, hoping he could elaborate.

Jasper lowered his voice, "In the post-apocalyptic world, building materials are scarce. Without waterproof paint, you can build bathrooms. Any leakage could damage the quality of the house."

Reinforced steel, after being exposed to extreme cold, had its quality affected to some extent. Building too many floors would be risky, five or six was already pushing it. Material © NôvelDrama.Org.

In the future, public bathhouses and toilets would be established to cater to nature's call.

Stella was shocked, so they would have to venture out to use the toilet in the middle of the night? Or keep a chamber pot at home?

After remembering the key details, Jasper led her away from the crowd to a quiet place, "A villa requires 50000 points and 2000 pounds of grain, but it comes with a yard and a bathroom."

He made some calculations. If they used all the steel and bricks they had accumulated, plus 2500 pounds of grain, they could afford a villa and a two-bedroom house.

"Why do they need so many points?" Stella frowned. "Were houses this expensive in your past life?"

Of course not, the price should at least be reduced by tenfold.

At first, Jasper didn't understand either, but soon he realized, "The people who survived the earthquake were few, but this time, with the government's early warning, most people survived. This means resources are even scarcer, and the struggle for survival is even fiercer."

"You mean the government deliberately raised the points required for a house to exchange for more resources so that the lower class survivors can live?"

With so many survivors, most of whom couldn't afford a house, the government had no choice but to increase the price of houses, taking a cut from the middle and upper classes.

To put it simply, it was robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Stella counted the building materials they had in Arcadia and shook her head, "We can't donate all our materials. We still need to decorate the villa."

Moreover, being neighbors with the rich was great, but during harsh conditions, the villa area was also unsafe. For instance, during the polar night, the cost of committing a crime was low. What if the villa was invaded? Where would they retreat to then?

Even if they had an extra two-bedroom house, with Rosie and Cooper, and the need to raise rabbits, they wouldn't be able to manage. Therefore, not only did they need the villa, but they also needed at least two two-bedroom houses.

But if that was the case, the building materials they had accumulated wouldn't be enough.

The expensive materials weren't necessary. The steel was valuable. The bricks wouldn’t earn many points, and as for the glass, it had to be saved for decorating the villa, to protect against acid rain.

Stella had a new idea, "We can accumulate other building materials that can be exchanged for more points, to try and get another two-bedroom house."

"Sand and wood?"

"Those two are in the highest demand." Stella nodded, "Near Eastwood Eden is the Griffith River, as long as we're willing to dig, we will get lots of sand."

As for wood, they could venture into the deep forest.

For others, these two weren't difficult to obtain, the challenge was how to solve the transportation problem. But Stella had Arcadia to cheat, if they needed wood, they just had to go into the forest.

Leaving the city center, they still had some time. Stella didn't want to go back and do nothing, "Shall we take a walk?"

Everywhere was dangerous, and they didn't have any friends in Griffith. Jasper suggested, "Shall we visit Katie?"

Stella agreed, "Sure."

The Moore family had survived the extreme cold, but had they managed to endure the super earthquake?

It wasn't too far, so they rode the scooter there.

The ruins were everywhere, making them feel overwhelmingly depressed, especially when they saw the research institute's residential building collapsed. The building where Katie lived, had collapsed. Stella stood in front of the ruins, feeling lost.

A woman scavenging nearby looked up, "Young lady, who are you looking for?"

Stella was taken aback, after a while she said, "I'm looking for Mikey's family."

"Mikey's family."

The woman thought for a long time before pointing in the distance, "I think they're over there."

A few hundred meters away, tents and wooden houses were crowded together. Only one building of the research institute was left standing, but the research work had to continue, so the families had to make do.

Stella asked, "Are they okay?"

The woman sighed deeply, "My son was in the same group as Mikey's dad. A while ago I heard him mention that his mom got injured in the earthquake, and she's not doing well."

After thanking the woman, the pair headed to the temporary shantytown.

Worried about safety, Stella smeared some dust on her face and clothes.

The air in the shantytown was polluted, trash and waste were everywhere, the survivors were disheveled, and discarded materials from scavenging were piled next to the tents or wooden houses.

After asking several people, they finally found a shabby tent. Amber was crouching in front of the tent, boiling some herbal medicine on a clay stove, "The medicine will be ready soon."

From inside the tent came a cough, "Stop wasting food to exchange for medicine. I've lived long enough."

Amber added more wood to the pit, "Don't think like that. If Mikey hears you, he'll worry. You're not seriously ill, you're just recovering slowly because of your age."

Amber was particularly surprised to see Stella, "How come you guys are here?"

"We were nearby on some business and thought we'd stop by to see you."

Amber was pleased, wiping her hands and leading them into the tent, "Please come in."

The tent was cramped but clean and odorless.

Katie turned to the side, "Stella and Jasper are here?"

She looked unwell, listless, and seemed to have aged several years since they last saw her. Her cheeks had become thin.

Stella slumped onto the floor, "Katie, what happened to you?"

"No big deal, just got a knock on the head during the earthquake."

As Katie was trying to sit up, she felt the room spinning.

Amber hurriedly helped her lie down, explaining to the two, "Mikey built a metal box for earthquakes. During the quake, our entire family wrapped ourselves in thick clothes and crawled inside. But we didn't anticipate the earthquake to be so severe."

It was shaking violently and unbearably hot. If they didn't die from the quake, they would have suffocated.

Katie survived the earthquake but not the aftershocks. As soon as she stepped out of the metal box, disaster struck. Her body was not as agile and she fell, getting injured by flying debris.

They had to swap their scarce resources for overpriced antibiotics. Her external injuries barely healed, but she was left with a lingering headache and dizziness that no medication could cure.

Katie was burdened with guilt, always feeling that she was holding her children back, and this mental stress only exacerbated her condition.

Stella saw through it all and reassured her with a smile, "Katie, if you trust my amateur medical skills, let me take a look at you."

"That would be great," Amber thanked her repeatedly.

The local quacks they had consulted were all talk, not only failing to cure Katie but also scaring her half to death.