Magic Space: Struggling to Survive in the Apocalypse

Chapter 152: Dense Fog, Torrential Rain 13

Evelyn Ford roasted two sweet potatoes on the brazier. The sweet fragrance made Ronan Kendrick stop in his tracks. He kept glancing from the sweet potatoes to Evelyn Ford.

"If you have something to say, just say it."

"I thought you were going to go out and save people."

People had been calling Evelyn Ford’s name from outside, the shouts intermittent. The floodwater downstairs was deep, so no one dared wade through it to ask for her help, yet they had the audacity to expect her to go out and save them.

"I only save people when I have the time and can guarantee my own safety. It’s pouring out there. I’m not that selfless, nor do I have some kind of sacrificial spirit."

Once the sweet potatoes were done, Evelyn Ford placed the larger one in front of Ronan Kendrick, but he swapped it back, taking the smaller one instead.

"So, the guy who’s so protective of his food has learned to be considerate. You’re teachable after all."

Ronan Kendrick snorted, but his hands moved without the slightest hesitation. He peeled the sweet potato and raised it to his lips, unfazed by the rising steam and heat.

"Two buildings out front collapsed today."

Evelyn Ford looked at him, surprised. "You went out?"

"No. I heard it."

"Is your hearing that sharp? Can you hear what the people next door are saying right now?"

"I’ll tell you if we have grilled meat tonight."

"Fine. Go on."

"They’re saying the first floor is flooded, and they’re afraid the building might collapse."

Taylor Vance’s group of three and Cherie were living next door.

Evelyn Ford reached out and touched Ronan Kendrick’s ear. ’It looks completely normal,’ she thought, ’no different from my own. How does he have the Sharp-Hearing Ear ability?’

’I guess being a genetically engineered human has its perks.’

"Then make another prediction. When will this storm let up?"

Ronan Kendrick sighed softly. "How would I know that?"

"Just make a bold guess. I’ve noticed your predictions are usually pretty accurate."

"Three or four days, probably." After speaking, he placed two more sweet potatoes on the brazier.

"It’s already been raining for a week. Another three or four days of this, and a lot more houses are probably going to collapse."

Several buildings in the West Courtyard collapsed one after another. After the Undercity caved in, it sank fifty meters, forming a massive, water-filled pit.

The corroded ground could no longer withstand the deluge and the weight of the buildings, and it began to give way. Evelyn Ford felt the house shake. After a tremendous crash, the villa dropped several meters. They lived on the third floor, which had now suddenly become the second.

Mina and Lola leaped about in terror. Ronan Kendrick held Evelyn Ford in his arms, and the two of them lay on the floor, waiting for the swaying house to stabilize.

Just as Ronan Kendrick began to get up, the house lurched again, sinking another two meters.

"This feels like a pirate ship ride. I’m getting dizzy." The house was still sinking slowly and shaking nonstop. Evelyn Ford moved her limbs tentatively, waiting until she’d adjusted a little before daring to slowly stand up.

"Talk about a jinx. You just said the houses might collapse, and now ours is caving in. It’s even tilted about twenty degrees to the left."

But it wasn’t just their house; all the buildings were either collapsing or sinking. People living on second floors were buried instantly, then submerged by the rushing floodwaters and mud.

Once she was on her feet, Evelyn Ford stored everything in the house into her space. She put on her raincoat and rain boots, tucked Mina and Lola inside her coat, and the two of them slowly climbed out of the building.

But the fog outside was still thick, making it impossible to see their surroundings.

"Quincy? Mr. Graham? Wendy?"

"Over here! Evelyn Ford, quick, come give me a hand!" Quincy’s cry for help rang out. Evelyn Ford and Ronan Kendrick followed the sound, finally pinpointing his location.

In the dense fog, even flashlights were useless. They could only rely on sound to find people.

A few minutes later, Ronan Kendrick dragged Quincy out of the mud.

Quincy hadn’t even found his footing when the ground beneath him gave way, and he fell into a collapsed pit. Fortunately, Ronan Kendrick’s reflexes were sharp, and he hauled him out again.

"My god, how did the ground just collapse like that?"

"The corroded ground gave way after being washed out by the storm, so it collapsed."

Evelyn Ford still couldn’t hear Officer Graham or Wendy, so she kept calling their names.

"Mr. Graham! Wendy!"

"Miss Ford! My dad and I are over here! We’re trapped!"

Hearing her voice, the three of them cautiously made their way over to rescue them.

Officer Graham, Wendy, Roy Henderson, and Owen Chapman had been living together, but their villa had sunk more than two stories, trapping all four of them on the third floor.

"Miss Ford, there’s a lot of rubble over here! You have to be careful!"

Evelyn Ford didn’t hear the other three, and her heart sank.

"Wendy, how are your father and the other two?"

"They were knocked unconscious by the rubble." Wendy was surprisingly calm; she wasn’t crying or afraid.

"Okay, we’ve got it. Don’t move. We’re coming to get you right now."

Just then, Taylor Vance and Zion Lowell arrived, with Secretary Hawthorne following behind, carrying Cherie on his back.

Evelyn Ford could smell blood on them; it seemed they were badly injured.

"I wonder how Serena Lynch and her group are doing."

"I’ll go check." Zion Lowell wiped the rain from his face and began wading slowly through the floodwater.

"I can’t see a thing! The rain is so heavy we can’t hear anything clearly either. What are we going to do?"

Quincy was on the verge of tears from anxiety, still unable to pinpoint Wendy’s group’s exact location.

"I’m going to check. Quincy, watch over Evelyn Ford for me." With that, Ronan Kendrick smashed a window and slipped inside the sunken house.

Quincy looked back at Evelyn Ford, hesitating as if he wanted to say something.

"Do you really need me to watch over you? I think he seriously underestimates you."

Evelyn Ford was in no mood to deal with him.

Quincy was speechless.

Fortunately, with Ronan Kendrick on the job, he soon managed to pull all four of them out. Officer Graham was severely injured; to protect the other three, he had braced his back against the rubble, and it was now a mangled, bloody mess.

"Need help over here!" Zion Lowell’s voice called out just then, and everyone rushed over to help.

Twenty minutes later, Chase Underwood, Serena Lynch, and Annie had all been rescued.

Almost no houses were left intact; they had all sunk, and the ground underfoot could give way at any moment.

"What do we do? Where are we supposed to go now? We have nothing left," someone wailed. "It’s all gone."

Ronan Kendrick slipped away for a few minutes when no one was looking. When he returned, he told Evelyn Ford that only the medical department building had sunk, and only by two floors. It hadn’t tilted or swayed, so it should be relatively stable. A few dozen families were living inside, but there was still room for more people.

"Everyone, head to the medical department building! Grab whatever you can and let’s go! Don’t dawdle, hurry up!"

At Evelyn Ford’s command, everyone scrambled back to retrieve their supplies.

"We have to get our things. Food, the tricycle, blankets, clothes, the pot..."

"Oh god, my chickens... and the eggs... and my vegetables... they’re all gone! All gone!"

Someone in the distance began to cry loudly. Serena Lynch, holding Annie, couldn’t stop her own quiet sobs.

"It’s like God won’t give us a chance to live! This is meant to kill us all!"

"Why is it so hard just to stay alive?"

Evelyn Ford was soaked from head to toe. Every so often she’d slip and fall, getting a mouthful of filthy floodwater.