18 Floors Above the Apocalypse

Chapter 34

Stella squinted, finding her vision blurred. She took out her binoculars for a clearer look.

In the middle of the river were two rubber boats filled with men and women. They were armed with makeshift weapons, sticks and pitchforks, and they were attacking something on the window ledge of a fifth-floor apartment.

A drenched dog was on the ledge, baring its teeth and growling ferociously at the attackers. This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.

"Come on, kill it! We'll have meat tonight," one of them yelled, prompting an excited cheer from the others. They swung their weapons at the dog, who jumped and dodged but refused to retreat.

Ever since the sudden disaster, food supplies had become scarce. Many people had starved to death. The sight of a dog, even one as skinny as this one, was enough to stir their hunger.

"It's meat! Who wouldn't want it?" their eyes glowed with anticipation. Stella watched them, feeling a pang of sympathy for the dog.

She was about to turn away when she recognized the dog. It was Cooper! She had named him Cooper after she had found him abandoned by his owners. He had been living on the streets near her university, scavenging from the trash bins outside the local fast-food restaurants.

Stella, who had been selling dog food at the time, had taken pity on him. She would often leave some food for him or toss him a hot dog.

The only difference between a dog abandoned by its owner and a baby abandoned by its parents is that humans have orphanages, but stray dogs are killed once caught.

At first, he was very cautious, resisting Stella's approach, only eating after she walked away.

As it grew familiar, even though he was still on guard, he would peek his head from behind a tree, stealthily watching her.

Later on, Stella fell for Hector, abandoning her job of selling dog food and forgetting about Cooper completely.

When they meet again, it was in the midst of a severe cold spell.

Stella didn't know how he survived. All his fur had fallen off, his skin was covered in pus-filled frostbite sores, and he was so skinny that only his skeletal frame remained.

Yet, even in this state, when she was harassed by a few thugs, he rushed up fearlessly, frantically biting at them. If he hadn't pounced, a baseball bat would have crashed down on her forehead.

In order to protect her, Cooper was beaten to death on the spot, yet hr never let go of the wrist he was biting until its death.

She survived, but he was killed, cooked, and then eaten.

When she was reborn, she searched for him multiple times, but she couldn't find any traces of him.

It was ridiculous to think that she had given her all to Hector, but he watched idly as she was killed by the thugs. Yet, the stray dog she had only occasionally fed had given his life to protect her.

"Cooper."

When they meet again, tears streamed down Stella's face. Without a second thought, Stella started her speedboat and headed towards the dog, shouting, "Cooper!"

Cooper, hearing his name, looked in her direction. The momentary distraction allowed one of the men to hit him with a stick.

In response, Cooper launched himself at the man, biting and clawing. The other men rushed to their companion's aid, raining down blows on the dog, but Cooper was quick and agile, and managed to dodge their attacks.

The cudgel instead landed on the man being bitten, causing him to howl in pain.

Another rubber boat was rowed towards them but couldn't be controlled due to the swift current. The two boats collided, causing two people to lose their balance and fall into the water, screaming "Help, save me...”

Before they could regain their composure, Cooper leaped towards the oncoming rubber raft.

The dog had a powerful jump and directly knocked down the person on it. In just a few rounds, three people had fallen into the water, and two had been successfully injured by the dog's bites.

One man pulled out a knife and lunged at Cooper just as Stella's speedboat rammed into their boat. Stella shouted Cooper's name again, and the dog, using his powerful hind legs, jumped onto her boat.

As she sped away, Stella could hear the angry shouts and curses from the men. She looked down at Cooper who was now sitting in her boat, looking wary and suspicious.

His condition was terrible, with blood coming from his mouth and most of his fur had fallen off, leaving behind blotchy wounds. It seemed that this was not the first time he had been besieged by humans.

In the post-apocalyptic world, there was nothing one wouldn't do to survive. Forget about stray dogs, before the storm, many people in her apartment complex kept pets, treating them even better than themselves. But where were they now?

Stella didn't dare to think about how he had managed to survive till now.

"Cooper, don't be afraid," Stella tried to soothe it, "From now on, we'll live together and as long as I have something to eat, you won't starve."

However, he still kept his distance from her, with no sign of letting down its guard. Stella didn't even have the chance to get close, let alone touch it.

She took out a sausage from her bag and tossed it to Cooper. He sniffed at it cautiously before quickly gobbling it up. Stella continued to feed him, slowly gaining his trust. By the time she had given him the tenth sausage, Cooper finally allowed her to touch him.

In response to her offer, Cooper was unenthusiastic and attempted to jump into the floodwaters to swim away. Homeless dogs were not only cautious but also smart. He knew that this was human territory, and stepping in could mean getting cooked in a pot.

Those foolish of his kind died this way!

Stella, who had finally found Cooper, couldn't let him go easily and hurriedly took out a chicken leg.

She then took out the bag of dog food from her backpack to show it, "Cooper, if you follow me, I promise you will never go hungry."

The dog food was taken from a supermarket during the flood. Scavenging for anything she could find, she found a bunch of dog food and canned pet food mixed in when she cleaned up. Not willing to throw it away, she thought about mixing it with fodder to feed the rabbits. Surprisingly, it turned out to be reserved for Cooper.

Cooper's eyes were fixed on the bag of dog food, seemingly lost in some memory. Stella held the bag of dog food, and he drooled at the sound.

In the end, Cooper surrendered.

With a sigh of relief, Stella steered her boat back towards her apartment. She knew that the road ahead would be tough, but at least they wouldn't be facing it alone. In this grim post-apocalyptic world, she finally found a companion to share her life and death with, and she would no longer wander alone in the darkness.

"Wow, a dog, there's a dog!"

"Grandma, I want to eat hot dogs."