Magic Space: Struggling to Survive in the Apocalypse

Chapter 154: The Fog Disperses, Digging for Groundwater

On the fifth day after the torrential downpour, the dense fog slowly dissipated, and the long-awaited sun appeared.

Evelyn Ford walked out of the building and found a secluded spot to sunbathe. After more than a year without seeing sunlight, her eyes couldn’t quite take it, but her body felt wonderful.

The temperature suddenly rose to fifteen degrees. Some people shouldered their luggage, intending to leave, while others decided to stay and begin rebuilding their homes.

Taylor Vance said that over a thousand people had died this time, with hundreds more missing or severely injured.

Every disaster was a heavy blow.

But with every blow comes the will to fight back, to find a path to survival against all odds.

Having soaked up enough sun, Evelyn Ford stood up, looked at the hazy gray sky, and let out a cathartic shout.

"AHHH...!"

’I will live a good life. I refuse to be defeated.’

’She was no longer the Evelyn Ford of her past life, the one who would only hide in a corner, just trying to get by. She would never get another chance to live a life over again, so she had to cherish this opportunity, pull herself together, and strive to live even harder.’

Evelyn Ford returned to the building and saw Officer Graham, Quincy, and a few others busy at work.

They were airing out blankets and clothes, as well as the wheat and corn that had been soaked by the floodwaters.

Seeing Evelyn’s calm expression, they all breathed a sigh of relief. Quincy came up, slapped Evelyn on the shoulder, then wrapped his arm around her neck in a playful headlock.

"You scared us to death these past few days."

Evelyn Ford smiled, her lips pressed together. "I might have had a bit of a stress reaction before, but I’m fine now. I’m back at full strength."

"That’s good. If you weren’t better, I was about to start crying."

Evelyn Ford gave Quincy a light punch on the chest. "Go on, cry then. I won’t laugh at you. By the way, there’s something I need to tell you all. After the downpour, a lot of places collapsed. I’m guessing the mountains outside the safe zone probably had some collapses too. We might be able to find a water source. I’m planning to go take a look. Do you want to come?"

"Sure! When do we leave?"

Quincy was getting impatient. Officer Graham nodded as well.

"In a little while. I’m going to go find Ronan Kendrick first. We’ll set out in about half an hour."

Back in the storage room, Evelyn Ford looked at Ronan Kendrick, who was pretending to be asleep. She cleared her throat and walked over to him.

"I want to go into the mountains outside the safe zone to see if we can dig for groundwater. Are you coming?"

Ronan Kendrick opened his eyes and looked at her. Seeing that her mental state had improved, his brow slowly unfurrowed.

"Okay."

Since Evelyn Ford was going to look for water, the others naturally followed, including Miles Vaughn and his small crew.

After the disaster, everyone had let bygones be bygones and started to unite. Carrying tools, the large group left the safe zone in a procession.

Evelyn Ford didn’t have a groundwater detector, so she had to rely on cruder methods. Generally speaking, there would be groundwater in the heart of a mountain basin or in places where rocks had accumulated in the basin.

After the downpour, the ground surface had collapsed, so there should be cave-ins or landslides in the mountains. With Ronan Kendrick’s sharp hearing, they should be able to find a water source if they were lucky.

The temperature was starting to rise, and Evelyn Ford worried that another heatwave would break out. Before that happened, they had to find water.

Without a water source, everyone would have to leave the safe zone and search for a new place to live.

Everyone was silent along the way. Three kilometers outside the safe zone, they saw that a landslide ahead had blocked the main road. Evelyn Ford decided to head straight up the mountain.

The path was difficult. The collapses in the mountain were severe, and rocks could come rolling down at any moment. Evelyn Ford remembered the terrain here; before the acid rain, she and Ronan Kendrick had explored this mountain.

When they reached the mountain’s basin, she saw many large rocks. Evelyn Ford didn’t continue forward but instead studied the stones.

"Evelyn, do you think there’s groundwater underneath?"

"The acid rain couldn’t have corroded the ground beneath this pile of rocks. And generally, places with rocky hills in a basin have groundwater."

"But these rocks are huge. How are we supposed to dig for groundwater? With these crappy hoes we have? They’ll break after a couple of swings."

Before they left, Evelyn Ford had given Officer Graham two explosive charges. She had made a good amount of black powder from the saltpeter she’d dug up on Broken Cloud Mountain, and now it would come in handy.

Evelyn Ford asked Ronan Kendrick to listen for the sound of groundwater. Ronan knelt, pressed his ear to the ground, and listened for a long time with his eyes closed. The others looked on, bewildered.

"Evelyn, Ronan’s ears aren’t dog ears. How could he possibly hear anything down there?" Miles Vaughn scratched his head, thinking Evelyn Ford was joking with them.

"His ears are even better than a dog’s. You’ll all see in a minute whether he can hear anything or not."

After getting up, Ronan Kendrick pointed to a rock on the right.

"There’s water under here, but it’s a small stream. We should hit it after digging six or seven meters."

"Ronan, you’re not kidding, are you?"

Ronan Kendrick ignored Miles Vaughn and returned to Evelyn Ford’s side. Evelyn glanced at Officer Graham, signaling that he could now blast the pile of rocks.

"Everyone, back up five hundred meters."

"Why?"

Officer Graham pulled a paper-wrapped package from his bag. You couldn’t see what was inside.

"Mr. Graham, what is that?"

"This is homemade dynamite. If you don’t want to lose an arm or a leg, get moving."

Everyone already knew that Officer Graham used to be a cop, so no one was surprised that he knew how to make such things.

"Whoa, you can actually make dynamite? All right, we’ll back off. Mr. Graham, be careful."

Everyone quickly retreated. Evelyn Ford and Officer Graham exchanged a look. After he nodded, she and Ronan Kendrick left as well.

Just as they had almost reached the foot of the mountain, two loud booms echoed from the basin, followed by a cloud of dust rising into the sky. Evelyn Ford and Ronan Kendrick immediately ran back.

"Mr. Graham?"

"COUGH, COUGH! I’m over here! Go check if the rocks were blasted!"

Evelyn Ford saw Officer Graham hiding in a pit on the downslope and quickly pulled him out.

Luckily, Officer Graham had run fast enough to avoid being caught in the blast.

The three of them returned to the basin. Looking at the large crater from the explosion, their faces lit up with joy.

"The soil is damp! There really is water! I’ll go get the hoes."

Officer Graham was beyond excited. Evelyn Ford jumped into the crater and felt the soil at the bottom. The heavy weight in her heart finally lifted.

Just then, the others arrived with their tools. They were all stunned when they saw the shattered rocks and the giant crater.

"That dynamite is way too powerful! Mr. Graham, do you have any more?"

Officer Graham waved his hand. "I only made two, but luckily they worked. This stuff is simple to make. You just need saltpeter. If you guys find any more in the future, I’ll teach you."

His generous offer made the others even happier.

In reality, making dynamite wasn’t that simple. Besides saltpeter, you also needed sulfur and charcoal, and the ratio had to be perfect. The slightest mistake would result in a useless product.

Officer Graham raised his eyebrows at Evelyn Ford and Ronan Kendrick. As for the digging, they could leave that to the others. Evelyn found a place to sit down and wait for the water to appear.

Seven or eight people dug for about an hour before a small trickle of groundwater began to seep out.

"There’s water! There’s water!"