novelraw Chapter 134: The Acid Rain Is Here
Chapter 134: The Acid Rain Is Here
At midnight, Ronan Kendrick brought Evelyn Ford into the administration building. Ronan shut off the building’s main power, disabling the security cameras. Once Evelyn walked right into the broadcast room, Ronan destroyed the camera inside before heading back to turn the power on again.
Evelyn Ford cleared her throat and switched on the broadcast system.
"Attention, attention. All residents, please take note: corrosive acid rain will fall in the coming days. Please remain indoors and store up drinking water!"
The voice that came over the speakers was a distinctly weathered female one. Evelyn didn’t dare say more, shutting off the broadcast after those brief sentences. Just then, the power was cut again, and Evelyn Ford and Ronan Kendrick swiftly departed the administration building.
The sudden voice from the broadcast startled everyone in the base awake. The words "corrosive acid rain" struck them all with the force of a physical blow.
By the time management personnel rushed to the administration building, the place was deserted. All the security cameras were destroyed, and even the main power had been switched off.
The management team was about to dismiss it as a prank when they received an urgent notice from Secretary Hawthorne.
The notice instructed everyone to report to the wheat fields outside the base the next day. The entire crop was to be harvested within two days.
That night, the base began to store water, using every available bucket and tank. They even dug a few cisterns.
This was a tacit admission that the acid rain was real. However, the culprit who made the broadcast had yet to be found, and the other managers voiced their opposition to Secretary Hawthorne’s decision.
"This is pure fearmongering! It’s obviously a prank. Acid rain? I’ve never heard of such a thing! Why not just claim it’s going to rain knives? The wheat isn’t even ready for harvest. Reaping it now will cause huge losses. Secretary Hawthorne, is that a gamble you’re willing to take?"
Secretary Hawthorne remained perfectly calm and stated it was an order from their superiors. The others said no more.
「The next day」
The base’s broadcast system crackled to life once more.
"Urgent notice, urgent notice! All residents are to temporarily cease their current work and proceed immediately to the wheat fields to harvest the crop. All who participate will receive three pounds of wheat per day."
The residents were stunned by the announcement.
However, for the promise of three pounds of wheat, most people scrambled into action and headed for the fields.
Some, however, were too afraid to go outside, fearing the sudden onset of the acid rain.
"I’m not daring to go out. What if the acid rain starts all of a sudden?"
"The base is ordering everyone out to work. That must mean the acid rain isn’t coming just yet. They wouldn’t risk so many lives. Suit yourself if you don’t want to go, but I’m going. Three pounds of wheat will last a good while."
Neither Evelyn Ford nor Ronan Kendrick went out. Wendy had been dropped off at Evelyn’s, as Officer Graham and the others had gone to the fields. Evelyn had spent a long time trying to convince them not to go, but they couldn’t pass up the three pounds of wheat.
Evelyn kept her eyes fixed on the sky. A deep sense of unease settled over her. ’I hope the acid rain holds off for two days,’ she thought, ’long enough for the wheat to be harvested and for everyone to get back safely.’
’These people have only just found a glimmer of hope. Please, God, have mercy. Don’t crush them again.’
Evelyn wasn’t religious; she didn’t believe in any gods. But in that moment, she prayed for everyone with all her heart.
The residents worked from six in the morning until eight at night. When they returned, not a single drop of rain had fallen. Evelyn’s anxiety eased considerably.
But Officer Graham told her there was still one more day of work before the wheat was completely harvested. He also mentioned that some people were working overtime in the fields that night for an extra three pounds of wheat.
Evelyn glanced down and saw a group of elderly people returning together. Some of them had lost all their kin; others had been cast out by their families as burdens. They had only each other, eking out a pitiful existence in the base.
There were children, too—five, six, seven years old—who had lost their parents and had to work just to feed themselves.
The base wasn’t a charity. Here, food was earned only through labor.
"The clouds tonight look wrong," Evelyn couldn’t help but warn them again. "Don’t go out tomorrow."
Quincy, noticing her deep concern, was the first to declare his position.
"Alright, I won’t go," Quincy said. "The person on the broadcast last night must be some kind of righteous messenger. I trust them, and I trust Evelyn. Mr. Graham, it’s better to be safe than sorry."
Ultimately, Officer Graham agreed as well. ’If something happens to me, what will happen to Wendy?’ He couldn’t take that risk.
The next day, far fewer people went out to the fields. Evelyn stood vigil by the window, watching.
Time ticked by. At four in the afternoon, the harvesters began to trickle back. The harvest was complete, finished ahead of schedule. They carried the wheat the base had given them, their faces bright with smiles.
At four-thirty, the halo around the sun seemed to ripple outward, expanding ring by ring. A few minutes later, a single drop of black rain fell, landing squarely on the stainless steel clothes rack on the balcony. Evelyn heard a sharp TSSSSSSS.
"The acid rain is here."
Evelyn turned to Ronan Kendrick, her eyes bloodshot.
"Thank God," she choked out, "thank God they made it back. Thank God the harvest is done."
With those words, Evelyn sank to the floor and sobbed. She had been so afraid, terrified of a repeat of the parasite crisis, where tens of thousands had died.
Thankfully, this time, they had been in time.
Agonized screams drifted up from below. Someone had been caught in the rain.
"Get inside the nearest building! Run!" people shouted from the hallways above. Some threw down clothes and umbrellas.
But the victim struggled for only a moment before collapsing.
No matter how desperately the onlookers screamed for him to get up, he never moved again.
The trees and grass below corroded, charring and melting into a black sludge.
The body lying in the rain began to dissolve, white bone gradually showing through.
Electrical wires corroded, showering sparks before snapping in two.
With a sharp POP, the apartment plunged into darkness. The power was out.
Outside, the sky grew dark. The acid rain fell without end, PITTER-PATTERING against the windowpanes and hammering against the hearts of all who listened.
Ronan Kendrick knelt and wiped away Evelyn’s tears, his gaze calm.
"Evelyn," he said softly, "you’re incredible."
"Ronan, I was crying because I realized... I’m still a warm-blooded person. I can pick up a knife to protect myself, but I can also use my strength to save others."
’But that’s only on the condition that I have a way to get out safely,’ she thought. Ronan Kendrick was her way out. ’Without him, even if I’d noticed the signs of the acid rain, I would never have been able to warn everyone.’
’Because I don’t have the power to guarantee my own escape.’
"Ronan Kendrick, thank you."
"For what?"
Evelyn looked at him with a small, wry smile. "For being so incredible."
After the acid rain, the soil, water, and air would all be contaminated. Life was only going to get harder.
Officer Graham and his group had also stored plenty of water. It felt like they were back in the days of the extreme heat wave in Corinth.
「The next day」
The acid rain showed no sign of letting up. The sewers clogged, and the black, viscous rain began to bubble up like crude oil, GLUG... GLUG... The iron gates of the first-floor apartments had already corroded into piles of scrap.
Residents on the lower floors began migrating upward. Everyone was already experienced in how to handle this.
No one knew how long the acid rain would last. They all just watched the world outside, their expressions numb and eerily calm.