18 Floors Above the Apocalypse

Chapter 252

Stella glanced up to see Amber queuing ahead.

Amber quickly walked over, "What a coincidence, are you guys here for house selection too?"

Stella nodded, "Has Katie recovered from her illness?"

"Much better." Amber was delighted and lowered her voice, "Stella, we owe it to your medicine. Katie stopped coughing and her concussion symptoms have eased. She's in good spirits now.

The life-saving medicine wasn't cheap and she doesn't have much valuable stuff. She'll pay you back with groceries in a few months, is that okay?"

The Moore family was working and once the research institute moved in, Amber’s job could be restored. They could save some money by tightening their belts.

Stella gave it without intending to take anything from the Moore family, but she didn't want anything could foster a sense of dependency.

"No rush, let's focus on getting Katie back to health. Everything else can wait."

While they were together, Stella curiously asked, "Did you guys get a two-bedroom?"

Amber nodded, "According to the policy, a researcher is entitled to a two-bedroom unit. Both my husband and my son are at the research institute, so we got two units in the institute’s residential building. The conditions there were pretty bad before, and we moved into an unfinished building a while ago. Today, we came to register and get our certificates."

They were fortunate that both father and son had good jobs, otherwise they would have ended up sleeping on the streets.

Stella was surprised that the authorities provided free housing for researchers. This policy was commendable.

The queue slowly moved forward, Stella and Amber chatted from time to time. Newtown had more than houses, it also had factories, schools, and other relevant units.

"Many units have merged with those in Swan Hill. The two cities are developing towards each other. The Agricultural Institute of Swan Hill has been merged into Griffith, and the Herb Medicine Research Institute is in Swan Hill. Once the second and third phases are built, the two Newtowns will be connected."

Schools and factories?

The reconstruction plan was wonderful, but whether it could be sustained was not guaranteed.

If the two cities were connected, safety would relatively improve, but by the time Newtown was completed, the eternal night would likely have arrived.

Darkness would be a haven for criminals.

Stella hoped she was overthinking, and that the authorities had put in a lot of effort into rebuilding and would likely make corresponding arrangements.

When she saw Stella again, the staff member reminded her while registering, "If you want to sell or rent your house in the future, you can come to the Housing Center to register. We can help you connect with potential buyers or renters, but we will charge a certain service fee."

Stella couldn't resist gossiping, "If a detached house is well decorated and put up for sale, how much would it be?"

"It depends on the willingness of the buyer and seller. If houses are in high demand, the price will at least double."

The housing information had been entered into the electronic card, but the paper house certificate would only be available in a month.

The staff reminded, "The detached houses will be completed the day after tomorrow. You can move in and decorate then."

Stella thanked them and returned to Eastwood Eden. In return, as soon as she got back to building 5, she told Mark the news, "Mark, you guys can go choose a house now. You have to be quick to get the good ones." Original content from NôvelDrama.Org.

By the time the message was officially released, all the good properties would have been taken.

Mark had actually thought of this, and was discussing with Christian how they could soften up the staff.

But there wasn't much to discuss. If you had enough resources, you could make the impossible happen, even in the end times.

After dinner, Stella discussed, "When should we start decorating?"

Jasper thought for a moment, "Let's wait until the house is completed."

First, they would check the site, then discuss the specific renovation plan. They didn't waste the remaining two days. The vacant cornfield was re-cultivated, this time they planted wheat on all six acres. With the seeder and the tireless Jasper, it was quickly done.

On the day the house was completed, Stella drove over and happened to meet Mark and Christian at the neighborhood entrance, so she gave them a lift.

The number of people commuting to and from Newtown had increased, and the road was much better. It only took a little over an hour.

After dropping them off at the work center, the two of them drove to the villa area.

Wow, it really paid off to mix with the high society. The road in the villa area was actually a cement road with a green belt on both sides.

However, even the upper class was divided into different ranks.

Stella was astonished. The king of the villas worth 500,000 points was located in the best position. Just the main building occupied over a thousand square feet and had four floors, not to mention the large garden in the front yard and the swimming pool in the backyard.

This was no longer buying a house with points; it was clearly high-end customization.

From the best position extending to both sides, the status was clear at a glance. The further back you went, the less impressive the specifications.

The last two buildings were simple two-story courtyards with three rooms and a living room. They were barely comparable to pre-apocalyptic apartments; the only good thing was that they had their own bathrooms.

There was a cement path on the side, and beyond that was the courtyard wall. Presumably, the authorities also knew that the villa was too conspicuous and had purposely built a courtyard wall for protection.

The corner position was not easy to plan, leaving a triangular wasteland that looked about a hundred square feet.

Stella made a quick decision, "Let's build a wall and enclose our yard, and include this part as well."

The villa originally had a backyard, and with the wasteland, it would be over two hundred square feet.

The two villas were about 30 meters apart, so splitting it in half would be the fairest.

Jasper planned ahead, "We build a three-meter stone wall in the outer courtyard. Put nails and broken glass on top, so ordinary people can't climb over."

Stella had no objections. Arcadia had a lot of stones, more than enough.

"We can build a glasshouse on the roof and in the backyard. It can be used for planting and can withstand acid rain erosion."

Acid rain would be continuous for half a month, destroying the soil and making it impossible to plant. The cement wall also couldn't withstand the erosion, leaving pits and holes. The thinner walls were even eaten through.

Considering this, they would also need to stock up on plantable soil. Otherwise, even if they built a glasshouse, the soil in the backyard would be destroyed by acid rain.

The two planned their future home, one room on the first floor would be a garage, one would be a storeroom, and one for Cooper.

The second floor would be the master bedroom, one room for Rosie, and one as a study.

Stella patted the wall, "It's too thin. It won't keep the heat."

The temperature was around freezing during the polar day, and the temperature difference was getting bigger. By the time of the polar night, it would be even more obvious, down to negative thirty or forty degrees at night.

Jasper nodded, "Yeah, it doesn't soundproof either. We need to thicken it."

At his words, Stella blushed.

After roughly planning the renovation direction, the two drove away from the villa area to pick up Mark.

When they arrived, Mark had finished his business and seemed in good spirits.

After handing over half a sack of corn, the task of selecting a house was finally settled. The entire team of Eastwood Eden managed to secure rooms in the same building.

Christian was all smiles, "Mark really is clever. Our house is right across from the police station, and three-fifths of the building is taken up by the Eastwood Eden crew. If anything goes wrong, we've got strength in numbers."

Stella, who also had a room across from the police station, could only nod in agreement.