Magic Space: Struggling to Survive in the Apocalypse

Chapter 144: Dense Fog 5

The base was no longer called the base. It had been renamed the Wyrmrest Safe Zone.

The security team was divided into groups of ten, which were then split into two-person patrols. They began to cover every corner of the safe zone.

Thirty people worked in three shifts, with ten people on duty for eight hours at a time. The work was actually quite simple: handling disputes between residents, maintaining order, and so on.

Residents could trade food among themselves, but selling children for food was forbidden, and robbery was absolutely out of the question.

Otherwise, the offender would be expelled from the safe zone without exception.

With the security team in place, everyone felt much more at ease. Some people even grew bold enough to venture outside the base to gather wood.

The tricycle Officer Graham and his team had modified now came in handy. It could be used to haul soil or wood. There were also many capable people in the base who used the scavenged wood to build simple pushcarts.

The residents of the safe zone knew Evelyn Ford was a doctor, so they would come to her with any minor aches and illnesses. Payment could be a head of cabbage or half a bowl of wheat.

The orphans were all gathered together. Zion Lowell led them in digging soil, planting vegetables, chopping firewood, and scavenging for clothes...

Heaven had left them a sliver of hope: rapidly growing plants and a light rain that fell every three days.

"Rats! There are rats!"

An excited voice came from outside. Everyone swarmed out to catch them. The one who managed to grab a rat was overjoyed, while the others were disappointed.

Rats were meat, after all.

After that, however, rats began to appear frequently. Evelyn Ford examined them and found that they were all healthy and safe to eat.

For the residents of the safe zone, catching a rat was cause for celebration. It meant an extra meal with meat, after all.

Wendy was at her most boisterous age. When Officer Graham tried to carry her on his back, she absolutely refused, insisting on taking the small net Evelyn Ford had made for her to go catch rats. Wendy had become very strong after drinking Evelyn’s blood, but no matter how capable she was, she was still just a four-and-a-half-year-old child.

"Miss Ford, I want to go outside and catch rats! If you talk to my dad, I know he’ll agree."

Evelyn Ford nodded. "I know you’re very capable, but there’s a thick fog right now. You have to be careful not to trip. You’re just a little kid. What would you do if you got lost?"

Wendy pointed at Roy Henderson and said with a serious expression, "Roy Henderson is going with me. We’ll be perfectly safe."

Evelyn Ford had no other choice, so she told Officer Graham. In the end, he agreed. Evelyn gave Wendy a small bottle of pepper spray for self-defense, and Roy Henderson took her out to catch rats.

Owen Chapman, meanwhile, stuck by Zion Lowell’s side to help. Everyone had a job to do—except Ronan Kendrick.

Serena Lynch came by with some corn to trade Evelyn Ford for medicine. Ronan Kendrick was sitting on the second floor, holding Mina in his lap with Lola perched on his shoulder, engrossed in a cookbook.

"Evelyn, why is Ronan Kendrick so obsessed with that cookbook? He was reading it the last time I was here, and he’s still reading it now."

Evelyn Ford couldn’t help but laugh. "It’s pretty much his only hobby."

"You should make him go catch rats. Chase Underwood caught three yesterday. Someone as skilled as Ronan Kendrick could definitely catch a lot more."

"Ronan says it’s boring."

Serena Lynch tsked. "You just spoil him. We’re short on food and clothes, and he’s still acting all moody."

The moody Ronan Kendrick shot Serena Lynch a glance, his face a mask of impatience.

After Serena Lynch left, Ronan Kendrick came up to Evelyn Ford like a sullen husband and started to tattle.

"Don’t let her in our house again."

"Why not?"

"She was talking bad about me."

Evelyn Ford stifled a laugh. "This is rare. You’re actually angry."

"Then let’s have fried chicken and barbecue tonight." His thoughts jumped, immediately shifting to food.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

Ronan Kendrick was completely serious. "You let her in here to talk bad about me, so you have to make it up to me."

’In the end, this was all about food, wasn’t it?’

Evelyn Ford frowned in thought. Ronan Kendrick added quietly, "If you want rats, I can go catch some right now."

Evelyn was speechless. ’That really wasn’t necessary. Best to leave the rats for everyone else.’

"Seeing as you’ve been working so hard lately, I think you deserve a reward," she said. "In addition to what you just requested, I can make a plate of dry-pot shrimp. How does that sound?"

Ronan Kendrick’s eyes lit up. "Evelyn, I’ll do the work. You go rest."

Evelyn Ford roared with laughter and handed the hoe she was holding to Ronan Kendrick.

Ever since that first rat appeared in the safe zone, countless more began to show up every day. The security personnel temporarily became a rat-catching squad, tasked with exterminating the new pests.

The rats were as fast as cockroaches, but their meat, once dried, could be preserved for a long time. People were catching them with the intention of turning them into dry rations.

***

Back when she was living in the apartment building, Evelyn Ford had treated a pregnant woman. Now, she was seeing her again in that very same building.

A little boy, looking thin and frail in tattered clothes, was still hiding in the corner.

Evelyn Ford examined the pregnant woman’s belly. Although she wasn’t due yet, a fall had triggered premature labor, forcing her to deliver early.

The man paced anxiously nearby, and just watching him was making Evelyn Ford agitated.

"Can you please go outside? Don’t distract me in here."

"I’m staying here. I want to watch my son be born."

Evelyn Ford glanced at the little boy in the corner, completely bewildered.

’Doesn’t he already have a son? Why is he so desperate for another one?’

The pregnant woman was in very poor health, her limbs severely swollen. She looked at the man with pleading eyes.

"If I don’t make it... you have to be good to Cherie."

Cherie was the little boy in the corner. Hearing his name, the boy cautiously raised his head to glance at the woman before quickly looking down again.

"Our son is about to be born. Hurry up and have the baby, and stop talking nonsense."

"Cherie is my sister’s only child! You wanted a child, so I’m giving you one. But I’m begging you, you have to be good to Cherie. Don’t abandon him. I’m begging you."

The man said nothing. He just glanced back at the little boy, his face full of irritation.

"You’re both just burdens! Hurry up and give me my son, or I’ll throw this little burden out on the street."

Hearing this, the woman was so distressed that she began to hemorrhage.

An hour later, the baby was born: a boy, as small and frail as a kitten.

Although Evelyn Ford had experience delivering babies, she had no way to stop a major hemorrhage. The woman died, her eyes wide open. The man, holding the newborn, was about to start cursing at Evelyn, but he was scared silent when Ronan Kendrick burst into the room.

"What are you doing in here?"

Ronan Kendrick didn’t say a word, only fixing his gaze on the man.

"Let’s go."

Evelyn Ford shook her head. She cleaned the woman’s body, then picked up her medical kit and left.

"You get out too, you little burden! Your aunt is dead. I’m not about to raise you now that I have a son of my own."

He grabbed the boy and threw him straight into the hallway.

Suddenly, Evelyn Ford felt a tremor. She had just pulled the boy to his feet when Ronan Kendrick swept her into his arms and charged down the stairs of the apartment building.