18 Floors Above the Apocalypse

From thyroid to bladder, they checked everything that could be checked.

Stella took her time going over the results, feeling pretty confident that Jasper was in good health. Then she called Rosie in with a smile, "Your turn, kiddo." Rosie was also given a clean bill of health and skipped out of the room happily.

Jasper walked in next, his face the picture of seriousness, "Stella, take off your clothes."

Stella, caught completely off guard, "..."

What she didn't expect was that two months later, just as she was about to wrestle with the CT scanner, new neighbors showed up.

From who knows where, they arrived with SUVs and motorcycles, over thirty people in total.

They looked worn out and haggard.

When a dust-covered RV appeared in front of them, they excitedly gathered around, "Anyone home?"

Survivors who made it to the high plains with vehicles like these were definitely not your average folks.

Stella didn't want to deal with them, but the strangers kept getting closer, their eyes flashing with excitement and calculation.

Two of them discreetly pulled out guns.

Clad in a bulletproof vest and helmet, Stella opened the RV door, her eyes cold and merciless, "Need something?"

The leader, a middle-aged man, stepped forward with a smile, "Sorry to bother you, we just migrated here, and our vehicle's out of fuel. We're out of water and food. Could you spare some?" "No." Stella was impatient, dismissing them, "Move along!"

Nothing at all? They weren't blind.

Their clothes were new and clean, their complexions fair without the high-altitude sunburn, and even the body armor and helmets looked fresh.

Surviving off an RV in style surely meant a wealth of supplies.

The middle-aged man wasn't deterred by the rejection and shamelessly persisted, "Please help us out. We're all in this together, you know? If not fuel, then some water would do; we're dying of thirst here."

As he spoke, the crowd behind him exchanged looks, and those with hidden guns tried to move forward under the cover of the group.

Before they could get close, however, gunshots rang out.

Two bullets swept past the man's feet.

The tips of his shoes were pierced, and he could feel the heat from the gunpowder.

He fell to his knees, terrified, with a telltale wetness spreading from his crotch.

Stella did have a submachine gun at her back but hadn't even had the chance to aim it before Jasper beat her to the punch.

She hadn't fired yet, she hadn't fired yet!

The attackers, not expecting to be met with gunfire, stumbled back in fear.

Jasper, holding the submachine gun, stepped forward, "Still want that water?"

Upstaged, Stella followed suit, revealing her own weapon with a fierce look, "Don't think you're invincible with a couple of toys and feel like robbing everyone."

Goodness, two submachine guns!

While they were still in shock, out popped Rosie with a smile, holding a grenade, "Hello, ladies and gents."

And then there was Cooper, unwilling to be left out, emerging with a bomb in his mouth, his fangs bared menacingly.

The crowd gasped, feeling a chill of despair within.

The middle-aged man scrambled up, facing the overpowering firepower, he could only smile sheepishly, "Misunderstanding, we meant no harm, just looking for a drop to drink. If you're not willing, that's fine, no need for such a big show, right?" "Surviving through the apocalypse, and you still treat others like fools?" Stella scoffed, "Those two with the pathetic guns, if you dare to move, believe me, I'll turn you all into sieves."

Caught red-handed, the group was left speechless.

Survival wasn't easy, and Stella warned with a dark face, "For the sake of our shared skin and eyes, I'll let you off this once. Now get as far away as you can."

The middle-aged man led his group away in a sorry state.

Rosie, not reassured, kept a wary eye on them.

Half an hour later, she came in frowning, "Brother, sister-in-law, those folks set up camp a kilometer away."

Stella wasn't surprised; making it this far was impressive. Where else could they go?

Moreover, she guessed they hadn't given up.

It wasn't that they weren't afraid, but fear was useless in the face of death.

They set up nearby because they saw the three humans and one dog living well, guessing there must be a water source, and their thieving hearts weren't dead. If they truly had nowhere else to turn, they might strike when least expected. If she wasn't mistaken, these people came from wealth, accustomed to the cutthroat world of business, cunning and with stronger nerves than ordinary survivors.

Through binoculars, Stella watched as they talked amongst themselves, some even glanced her way.

She was on alert, "We need to be careful."

Jasper pondered, "Let's set up the electric fence."

So, the trio and their dog spent half a day surrounding the RV with an electric fence.

Rosie, well-trained over the years, could now handle her own. Stella let her take over the lookout duties while she continued to study the CT scanner's manual.

The next day, they indeed came asking politely across the electric fence for the location of a water source.

Scared by the previous day's shooting, they didn't dare to risk approaching, but after searching nearby and finding no water, they were desperate.

Who knew where the water was? Anyway, Stella wasn't lacking.

They were met with silence.

Three days later, darkness enveloped the outside, and the highland winds howled eerily.

Stella felt drowsy, brewing a cup of coffee to stay alert as she continued flipping through the doctor's notes.

Rosie, wearing night vision goggles, turned around, "Brother, sister-in-law, they're coming."

A group of fifteen, using the cover of night to sneak over.

Driven mad by thirst, they targeted the RV again.

Their expertise showed this wasn't their first rodeo.

Unlike their previous blunder, they were patient this time.

They feared the RV's firepower and the grim prospect of dying of thirst. If they could take this place by risk, not only could they force out the location of the water source, but they would also claim the vehicle and all its supplies! In a life-or-death moment, they had to bet it all.

The RV windows were caked with thick dust, and nothing could be seen from afar. Only upon approaching did they realize the lights were still on.

Fearing discovery, they crawled on the ground, waiting for the occupants to fall asleep before attempting to lift the electric fence with a stick and rush in for the advantage.

The RV was bulletproof, so Stella wasn't worried. She even moved around behind the glass windows, not resting even into the wee hours.

The highland winds were strong and the night bitterly cold. The people outside turned into stiff icicles, the air laced with sand cutting like knives.

They had miscalculated, arriving too early.

Only in the early morning did the lights inside the RV finally go out.

The group shivered to their core, some even showing signs of hypothermia, their teeth chattering as they quietly got to their feet, gingerly moving their frostbitten limbs.

The RV was a behemoth, undoubtedly stocked with a treasure trove of supplies-this score was particularly lucrative.

The two women were beauties, worth keeping around for some fun.

The men would be dealt with-eliminated. And that dog... it'd make a decent stew back home...