novelraw Chapter 169: The Search and Deterrence
Chapter 169: The Search and Deterrence
"The other two have already been carried back. Did you run into the wolf pack?"
From the nearby bushes, Evelyn Ford dragged out three wild wolves she hadn’t yet put into her storage space for everyone to see.
"The wolves are all dead. Let’s hurry and find Mr. Lowell."
After Evelyn Ford spoke, the others nodded eagerly. "Right, we have to find him quickly."
Everyone shouted Zion Lowell’s name. All the adults, aside from the elderly and children, went out to search. Evelyn Ford and Ronan Kendrick joined them to continue looking for Zion Lowell.
Half an hour later, they found a severely injured and unconscious Zion Lowell in a ditch.
Zion Lowell was more severely injured, and near where he was found, they discovered three more wild wolves that had been shot to death.
Everyone brought both the wild wolves and Zion Lowell back to the safe zone, and a door was installed at the entrance as quickly as possible.
Evelyn Ford treated the wounds of all three. The child, who was the least injured, woke up quickly, but he was clearly terrified. He was too scared to speak and just kept crying.
When Wendy saw Officer Graham’s injuries, she also cried for a long time. Serena Lynch was at her side, constantly comforting her.
Fortunately, Officer Graham and Zion Lowell were both tough. They regained consciousness the next day, but with such severe injuries, they would probably need about two months to recuperate.
Of the six wild wolves, Officer Graham, Zion Lowell, Evelyn Ford, and Ronan Kendrick were each given one. The remaining two were distributed among the elderly and children in the safe zone.
Taylor Vance didn’t hold the children responsible. Being snatched by wolves and having three people end up severely injured was already the greatest punishment they could receive.
Zion Lowell announced that once he recovered, he would establish a martial arts training ground in the safe zone. Anyone who wanted to learn self-defense skills, regardless of age or gender, could go there to train.
Evelyn Ford and Ronan Kendrick were given two more wolves. After returning home, Evelyn was cleaning her crossbow while Ronan was in the yard, processing the wild wolves.
"Weren’t you, Quincy, and the others going to harvest pinecones from farther away? How did you know I’d gone out to search for them?"
"I heard people saying a child had been carried off by a wolf. When I came home and saw you weren’t here, I knew you must have gone out to join the search."
"Mr. Graham and Mr. Lowell are very capable, and they even borrowed the crossbow. I thought they’d be back within half an hour, but when they still hadn’t returned after a long wait, I got worried something had happened and went out."
’It’s a good thing I went out.’
To deter the wolf pack from attacking again, Taylor Vance went to Evelyn Ford and took the pelts and heads of the two wolves. All six wolf pelts and six wolf heads were hung around the perimeter of the safe zone. The sight was terrifying to humans, let alone other wolves.
Afterward, Taylor Vance held another community-wide meeting, using the opportunity to educate everyone on the dangers of wild animals.
"Even a feral cat is capable of killing a person. When you encounter wild animals, do not provoke them if you can avoid it—especially not wolves, lions, or leopards. Everyone worked hard this time. You all united to go out and search for our people. Even though everyone was afraid, no one backed down. This is why we must become even more united. The safe zone is the home we depend on for our survival. Every person here is no longer a stranger, but a member of this big family. When there’s food to grow, we grow it together. When there’s danger, we must defend ourselves against it together."
The children remained the guardians of the safe zone. Zion Lowell’s training became even more rigorous. The safe zone had embraced these children who had no parents to protect them, and it wouldn’t abandon them over a simple mistake.
Officer Graham had a strong constitution and was able to get out of bed and move around after just a week. Worried that some crossbow arrows might be missing, he made a point to find Evelyn Ford and check.
"None are missing. We recovered all of them."
"That’s good. We really have you to thank for this. If you hadn’t shown up when you did, the child and I would have bled to death."
Evelyn Ford felt a little guilty herself. If she had gone out to look for them sooner, they might not have been so severely injured.
For a long time after that, no animals came near the safe zone. Instead, the temperature shot up to a hundred degrees Fahrenheit, and the sandstorms seemed to grow even stronger.
All the pinecones in the safe zone had been harvested. In total, they gathered nearly three hundred and thirty pounds of nuts.
Evelyn Ford also harvested a batch of grass seeds. Four Seasons Green was a hardy plant that grew easily, making it one of the best types of vegetation for resisting sandstorms.
After the wolf pack incident, Evelyn Ford barely left her house for about half a month. Her food stores were nearly full, and as the temperature climbed, she grew increasingly lethargic.
The sheep could be left to graze freely, while Ronan Kendrick took care of the rabbits, chickens, and ducks. She stayed home, making clothes and shoes.
「Time passed into November.」
It should have been the start of winter, yet the temperature reached an unprecedented one hundred and six degrees.
The root cellars in the safe zone were all finished, and the grain and vegetables everyone had grown were stored away safely.
Then, in mid-November, a few refugees appeared outside the safe zone.
They were in even worse shape than the previous group of refugees—practically in rags, without shoes, and baked dark by the sun. They were nothing but skin and bones.
When the refugees saw people emerge from the safe zone, they were overcome with emotion and fainted on the spot.
When Wendy came looking for Evelyn Ford, she was still holed up in her house.
"Miss Ford, my dad sent me to get you! Some people have arrived at the safe zone. There are seven of them, and they’ve all fainted."
Evelyn Ford was stunned for a moment to hear the news. ’Three and a half years into the apocalypse, and refugees still managed to find their way here.’
Evelyn Ford and Wendy left the house. Seeing Ronan Kendrick weaving baskets in the yard, they took him along to the main building.
"Wendy, did they say where they came from?"
Wendy shook her head. "The guards on patrol saw them wandering around outside the safe zone. As soon as they went out to ask who they were, they fainted."
Evelyn Ford understood. Arriving at the main building, she looked at the seven people lying on the floor and felt as if she were seeing herself from her past life.
They were emaciated, just skin and bones, and several of them had lost all their hair.
"They probably haven’t eaten in a very long time. Add to that exhaustion and being on edge, they likely fainted from the shock of suddenly seeing people."
Their stomachs were concave, their skin was shriveled, and it was impossible to tell their real ages. Two of them had lost several teeth, likely from malnutrition and a prolonged lack of salt and vitamins.
Although the residents were wary of these newcomers, their sympathy outweighed their suspicion. Many thought of their own circumstances; if they had left the safe zone back then, they might be the ones on the road now.
Taylor Vance had them settled in a room in the main building, with a few of the children standing guard. He then had a pot of gruel cooked and fed to them.
The seven remained unconscious for five or six hours before they began to wake up one after another.
"They’re waking up! They’re waking up."
The children guarding the doorway with spears saw them waking up and began to notify the others.
"They actually woke up. Talk about tough."
"Where did you come from? How did you end up here?"
"Why don’t you have any belongings? How long have you been starving?"
Faced with a barrage of questions, the seven simply stared blankly, not knowing which one to answer first.