Chapter 25
Men''s emotional expressions are quite different from women''s. Instead of Ste or Ang
apanying him, it was Lukas who went in to chat.
They didn''t get into specifics; they just mentioned that they had spotted him at the Griffith Hotel
when they reached the neighborhood.
The conditions at the shelter were terrible, so Lukas invited him to the Sunrise Sanctuary, "We''re
staying next door to Ste''s ce. It''s a three-bedroom apartment, and you can move in with us.
We''ll figure out the restter."
Ste called Ang to a window at the end of the hallway. "What''s your n?"
Ang didn''t really want any outsiders disrupting their lives, but these were exceptional times, and
friends needed to help each other. Without Ste, she and Lukas would have had no other option
but to stay at the shelter.
"Lukas is actually quite sentimental," Ang said. "He only has you and Cody as friends. Besides,
who doesn''t have difficult times? The flood will eventually recede. Let''s let him stay with us."
Their food supplies wouldst two or three months. If they ran out, they''d find a way. Ang was a
straightforward person who didn''t overthink things. Plus, she firmly believed that the world would
returned to normal.
As the two women chatted by the window, Lukas and Cody emerged from the room. Cody
approached the two women with a forced smile, "Ang, I''m sorry for the inconvenience."
Ang pped his shoulder. "We''re friends. After the flood recedes, just treat us to a good meal."
As they left in an intable boat, Ste handed Cody a package of cookies. Cody thanked her, tore
open the package, and wolfed them down. The corners of his eyes were teary.
Lukas also offered thest of his crackers.
"I''m... I''m so sorry." Cody said.
"It''s nothing," Ste said. "We''ve all had our low moments in these end times. There''s no such thing
as easy."
Upon their return to the Sunrise Sanctuary, everyone was utterly exhausted. Ste took out two
pounds of rice she had bought from the supermarket and other items. "Cody, don''t say I''m taking
advantage of you. Once the flood recedes, you owe me a hundredfold. I’ll have a 1% cut on all
deals."
Despite her mercenary words, her tone was teasing and familiar. She was the same Ste, showing
no disdain for him. Cody let out a small sigh of relief. "I''ll give you a 2% cut."
"What about me?" Lukas asked indignantly. "You''re covering mine and Ang''s brunch for a year."
"Deal," Cody agreed.
Upon returning home, they changed into sleepwear and fell onto their beds. Ste stared at the
ceiling, lost in thought. Unlike Lukas and Ang, Cody, who was used to dealing with business, was
far more insightful. Ste had to protect Arcadia''s secret and couldn''t give anything away.
For the next two days, none of them left the house.
Ste, when not reading or training, spent her time in the house organizing their supplies.
Exhausted to the point of breaking her back, she finally managed to sort out all the goods they had
looted from the supermarket. The supplies piled up to the ceiling. She locked therge room and hid
the key in Arcadia.
During this period, Ang came over once. While they were chatting, Ste asked about Cody,
"How''s he doing?"
"He hardly speaks. He just sleeps all day," Ang said with a sense of foreboding. "That woman
really hurt him. And life is so hard right now. Do you think he''ll ever recover?"
"He''s been like this every time he''s broken up with someone. He''ll be fine in a couple of days,"
Ste said, rummaging through a cab. She pulled out a bottle of whiskey. "This is a gift from his
company to their clients. He gave me one. Let him drink it and he''ll be fine."
Men always needed to vent. Despite being an orphan, Cody hade from a tough background
and was stronger than most.
Thinking about it, Ang agreed. "The storm has been over for a few days now. Why won''t the rain
stop?"
Not only did it not stop, but the water levels were rising, making them feel suffocated and anxious.
"Who knows," Ste said, "Maybe one day it will reach the 18th floor."
Ang was scared. That was a terrifying thought!
The next day, Ang knocked on Ste’s door. "Cody drank an entire bottle of whiskeyst night.
He was out cold all night, but he''s better now. He wants to talk to us about something."
After changing clothes and shaving, Cody looked a lot cleaner. He looked at everyone seriously. "I
think the apocalypse is here."
Ste''s heart jumped at his words.
"Don''t you think it''s unnatural?" Cody asked, sitting upright. "An unprecedented storm, rain pouring
like there''s a hole in the sky.
"I heard a lot of news at the shelter. The government is working round the clock to salvage food
from the wholesale market. Our bread and crackers are made from that food.
“Our country has enough stockpiled food tost two years without farming. So why are they giving
us half-rotten food salvaged from floodwaters? And why are they only giving us enough to barely fill
our stomachs while the rest is dried and stored?"
Lukas looked surprised. "It''s been raining non-stop. They can''t transport food."
"No, don''t underestimate the power of the state," Cody said confidently. "If it was just the coastal
areas affected, relief would have arrived by now. Unless..."
This was a national disaster, perhaps even a global disaster.
Before the inte went down, Cody had followed the news and browsed forum posts. Many other
areas were also affected. Simultaneous disasters were happening everywhere. Wasn''t this the
apocalypse?
Even if the floodwaters receded one day, it would take a while for things to return to normal. This
was probably why the government was urgently salvaging and storing supplies.
After hearing Cody’s analysis, Ang and Lukas were also concerned. "A lot of people have been
scavengingtely. Should we try our luck?"
Cody looked at Ste. "Ste, what do you think?"
"The water is too deep. Even professional divers would struggle, let alone ordinary people without
equipment." Ste immediately dismissed the idea. "Even if we''re lucky enough to find something,Content protected by N?v/el(D)rama.Org.
we may not be able to bring it back. Wouldn''t it be better to find a way onnd?"
"But the stores have been cleaned out. There''s nothing left for us."
Ste reminded them, "We don''t necessarily need to find food. As long as we have something
others don''t, we can trade for foodter."
Lukas caught on. They needed to act before others did, but what would they look for?
"Medicine," Cody suggested. "Everyone is looking in stores and underwater. We should look in
office buildings."
Office buildings were mostlypanies, and they didn''t have many supplies.
Lukas shook his head. "Some people in our building already scavenged the office buildings
yesterday. The ones in the city are almost cleaned out. The officeplex where mypany is
located is quite remote, and it''s surrounded by aplicatedwork of waterways. Given the
current water levels, even a rubber boat wouldn''t cut it. Some people don''t have the gasoline to
power the motorboat, even if they have one. They''re just stuck wandering the city."
Ste agreed, "Cody and I know they of thend. We could try our luck. If we manage to find the
pharmaceuticals from hispany, it''d make our lives a lot easier down the road.
Thepany''s not a warehouse, but it does have a showroom. The amount of medicine won''t be
enormous, but for a small group like ours, it would be like hitting the jackpot. Moreover, it seems
that building houses have more than one pharmaceuticalpany.
Even though Ste had stocked up beforehand, it was only around 50 thousand dors worth of
stuff. When ites to medicine, you can never have too much. A single pill could be a lifesaver in
a critical situation!
They needed to act fast if they were to have a shot at this before others caught on.
Hearing their n, Ang and Lukas grew anxious. "Should we negotiate with the guy in 1801?
He''s got a motorboat."