18 Floors Above the Apocalypse

Chapter 31

Looking for decent lumber in the mall or office buildings was a fruitless endeavor, and the museum had long been submerged. But there was one place that might’ve still held some promise.

Griffith was globally renowned as a major furniture manufacturing base, and the International Furniture Expo Center built in Rockdale had become a high value landmark. Every year, without fail, it hosted the Global Furniture Expo.

This year marked the 30th anniversary of the expo, which was grander than ever before. Promotions had been rolling out half a year prior, practically covering everything.

Stella recalled that the expo was supposed to start three days before the hurricane. The expo would last for half a month, so it hadn't ended yet.

A grand gathering of top-tier global furniture at the convention center—what a sight that would be!

She had seen the advertisements. One big furniture company claimed to have used thousand-year- old rosewood to craft an exquisite bed, along with a whole set of furniture for the house. The starting price was in the nine figures. All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.

To attract attention, the orgnaizers had borrowed a piece of ebony as the treasure of the exhibition.

Not just ebony, but other valuable woods like yellow rosewood and old sandalwood were also showcased at the convention center to promote furniture culture worldwide.

Stella had to go, and she had to act now.

The convention center was built in Rockdale, about 40 kilometers from the city center. The water flow along the way was complex, but it was worth a try.

Angela and the others had gone out to gather materials. Stella knocked on room 1801, saying, "I'm heading out."

Jasper had no objections, and merely advised her to stay safe.

She headed downstairs with her inflatable boat pack and ran into Sadie by chance on the 17th floor. Sadie had come up with Amanda from 1202.

Sadie's eyes were red-rimmed, and tears flowed easily. "Stella, Ken is injured. You're the only one who can save him. Please, I beg you to help him."

Stella ignored her, looking stone-faced as she continued downstairs. But to her surprise, Sadie clung to her. "Stella, we're friends. You can't just stand by and watch him die."

Her loud, sobbing voice attracted the attention of their neighbors on the 17th floor.

Stella drew her knife and swung it towards Sadie. Sadie screamed and dodged. Her waist-length hair cut in half and fell in clumps to the floor.

Before Sadie could react, Stella kicked her to the ground. Tearful and shocked, Sadie stared wide- eyed at Stella, who was as ruthless as an executioner. She had even forgotten to cry.

Stella stepped on her chest and didn't let go. "If you're tired of living, I don't mind sending you to meet the devil."

She kept stepping on her relentlessly. Her eyes were cold and indifferent. Sadie felt like her ribs were about to be crushed under Stella's foot. Her face turned pale as she struggled to breathe.

Amanda took a couple of steps back. "Stella, Sadie just wanted you to help Ken. If you don't want to help, that's fine. Why did you have to hurt her?"

"Are you stupid?" Stella glanced at her coldly. "The 18th floor is not a hospital, and I am not a doctor. If you have an inflatable boat, why didn't you take Ken to the hospital? Why look for me, who only studied medicine for a year and barely understands the basics? Are you treating everyone else like fools?"

Amanda was taken aback and explained, "But our boat ran out of fuel and it's raining heavily."

"Then just watch him die. Why are you trying to put the blame on me?" Stella sneered, "You guys are really something. You don't want to take risks yourselves, but you don't want to feel guilty either, so you're trying to shift the responsibility onto me?"

Amanda was left speechless at Stella's words.

Stella had only studied medicine for a year, and most of the first year was theoretical knowledge. But Sadie was so sure Stella was a medical professional, and everyone thought the same, so Amanda had unconsciously thought the same.

Now that she thought about it, it was indeed unfair to Stella.

"How about you lend us your boat so we can take Ken to the hospital?"

"If you want to play the saint, go ahead." Stella walked up to her, scoffing, "You got played, and now you want to drag me into it too?"

Amanda's face turned pale, and she looked like she had been struck by lightning. Her eyes were filled with complex emotions.

Ignoring Amanda, Stella continued downstairs. When she reached the 6th floor, Amanda suddenly chased after her. "Wait."

Stella kept walking.

Amanda was indignant. "You knew they had ill intentions all along. Why didn't you warn me?"

"Are you my friend or something?" Stella retorted. "Why should I warn you? If you're really kind- hearted, why did you only feed Hector when there were so many hungry people in the group? He brought a group of people to your place, and you could have refused. Why didn't you?

“You gave him meals. Were you really oblivious, or were you trying to win his favor? Now that you've realized it, why are you still hanging around with them?"

Looking at Amanda, Stella remembered just how foolish she had been in her past life.

Why didn't she tell her? Because it wouldn't have made a difference. Everyone had their own agenda.

In her past life, Stella had also noticed, but she wanted to win his favor and avoid embarrassment at the same time. She pampered him with good food and with sweet words from Hector, she felt like she was on cloud nine. She wished she could give him her heart and soul.

If a stranger suddenly jumped out at that time and said that he meant no good, wanted to eat them out of supplies, and said that the end of the world was coming so they should save food, she would probably have jumped out and chewed that person out for being insane before Hector even had a chance to speak.

Wasn't that what love did to people? So, why would Stella tell her?

Besides, Amanda had seen their true colors but continued to play dumb. What good was she?

"I didn't. If you had warned me earlier, I wouldn't have taken out the food." Amanda didn't want to face her own mistakes; her voice was choked with sobs. "Why are you so ruthless? Why didn't you tell me earlier that Hector was a jerk?"

As she spoke, tears streamed down her face.

Stella warned her, "You should cry louder; maybe he's listening upstairs."

Amanda was startled and instinctively covered her mouth.

Look at her, still wanting to be part of the group. You couldn’t wake someone who was pretending to be asleep. Stella had no obligation or responsibility to do so. She got in her inflatable boat and set off for the convention center in the pouring rain.

Considering the unknown dangers, Stella put on her life jacket and had her diving equipment ready. But she was brave, and she handled the inflatable boat well, managing to avoid several whirlpools in the water.

Cool as a cucumber, she traveled a good forty kilometers for over an hour before finally laying eyes on the impressively designed and artistically captivating convention center, standing tall amidst a flood.

The Griffith area was renowned for its labyrinth of waterways, with a multitude of rivers intersecting right by the convention center alone. A state highway and a bustling interchange ran alongside it, making the area a hub of transportation.

The more complex the location, the more complicated the water flow. Stella, alert and focused, spotted a series of whirlpools up ahead. Without hesitation, she accelerated, plunging headfirst into the tumultuous waters...