18 Floors Above the Apocalypse novel Chapter 319

After years of sharing a bed, it was the first time Stella realized Jasper was having a nightmare, so she nudged him a few times to wake him up.

Jasper's eyes shot open, and he gasped for air. His mind seemed foggy, and his expression looked lost and pained.

Stella waved a hand in front of his face. "Jasper?"

At that, Jasper seemed to snap back to reality, then suddenly pulled her into a tight embrace. "Stella, don’t leave me." The usually composed and level-headed man was now a picture of panic and vulnerability. It seemed he also had his own demons from the past, and they had just never surfaced before.

Stella wiped the cold sweat from his brow. "Bad dream?"

It was probably the haunting memory of Molly's tragic childbirth that had triggered this nightmare. In his dream, he saw Rosie as nothing but a skeletal frame, and then he found love with Stella, but in this cruel fantasy, Stella died giving birth to his child.

"It's just a dream, good for nothing but forgetting," Stella reassured him.

Stella wasn’t one to recklessly risk her life, but life was unpredictable, and accidents could happen out of the blue. What if one day, despite all caution, she fell pregnant?

Molly's miscarriage was a shock Stella hadn't been present for, so it hadn’t hit her as hard. But Molly's death had struck her to the core.

A constant sense of crisis reminded Stella that she had many weaknesses to address and knowledge to acquire. Otherwise, if the time came, she wouldn't even have the chance for a last-minute prayer.

After breakfast, the radio broadcasted the latest news—the night market was reopening. After two years of silence, the market was back in business. With perpetual darkness, the authorities had adapted, christening it the night market.

This was a surprise for Stella; she hadn't expected the officials to implement such a policy, encouraging survivors to venture out and barter for needed supplies, but advising them to travel in groups rather than solo.

The government's bold move indicated a significant improvement in public safety during the eternal night.

On her visit to the market, Stella noted the street lights were on, and there were no thugs to rob her. Clearly, treating criminals as walking bounties was a successful policy.

Every system had its place, and over the past two years, bounty hunter groups had thrived, with the more capable among them even living comfortably.

Some savvy operators had even started companies to recruit like-minded hunters and conduct training in various skills, but this practice was eventually halted by the authorities.

During these extraordinary times, no private armed groups were allowed—if anyone attempted to form one, they would be treated as walking bounties themselves!

The new policy sent ripples of excitement through the neighborhood, especially among the wealthy who had endured two years of hardship. Grown men wept like children in relief.

"Ha ha, ha ha ha, I finally made it through!"

Stella had little interest in the night market, but she wanted to visit the Swan Hill Institute of Herbal Medicine to see if she could find any obstetrics and gynecology materials.

She wasn't the only one with psychological scars; Jasper was also struggling. "I’ll go with you," he said.

Despite the darkness, the authorities hadn't given up on infrastructure. The edges of Swan Hill and Griffith were now connected, with military police at the city limits for security. The safety was reassuring.