novelraw Chapter 172: Sandstorm
Chapter 172: Sandstorm
When the temperature climbed to forty-five degrees, the safe zone was hit by its first sandstorm.
Sandstorms are a sign of desertification. Strong winds sweep up sand and soil from the ground, making them one of the most destructive natural disasters.
A sand-laden gale swept in from the mountains three kilometers away. Taylor Vance banged on a stainless steel pot lid with a stick, shouting at the top of his lungs for everyone to close their doors and windows.
Evelyn Ford moved everything from the yard back into the cabin and locked the shed and sheep pen. Fortunately, Ronan Kendrick had reinforced them earlier, so not even a level-ten gale could blow them away.
She took out a tarp to cover the pond, pulled up all the vegetables from the garden, and moved all the watermelons into her space.
In just ten minutes, the sky was blotted out by yellow sand. A WOOO WOOO WOOO sound arose as the storm tore through the trees and grass, heading straight for the safe zone.
Evelyn Ford blew her whistle three times. Just seconds before the storm reached the cabin, Mina and Lola finally made it home. Evelyn slammed the door shut and watched the roaring gale outside through the window.
Sand and dust battered the windows, and the clean glass was soon caked with a thick layer of grit. The house itself shook in the storm.
Faintly, Evelyn Ford could still hear Taylor Vance banging on the stainless steel, along with the cries of a few children.
The first sandstorm lasted only an hour before it ended. When Evelyn Ford stepped out of her cabin, she saw that the safe zone’s grasslands, woods, vegetable gardens, and fields were all buried under sand and dust.
Evelyn Ford scraped at the ground with her foot; the sand was about twenty centimeters deep. She was wearing a mask and goggles, but she still choked and coughed nonstop.
Yellow sand swirled through the air. Evelyn Ford had only been outside for two minutes, but her clothes and hair were already covered in a fresh layer of dust.
Ronan Kendrick grabbed a fishing net, pulled back the tarp, and hauled all the fish out of the pond. The once-lush vegetable garden had become a patch of sand. The two of them cleaned and stored the fish as quickly as possible. Evelyn then went to the backyard; thankfully, the shed and sheep pen were still standing firm, and the rabbit hutch was undamaged.
Half an hour later, however, the second sandstorm hit.
CRACK! Branches snapped off the pine trees outside the yard. A rock was swept up by the wind and smashed directly against the cabin door. Inside, Evelyn Ford was in the washroom, cleaning the grit from her face, while Ronan Kendrick helped Mina shake the dust from her tail.
"WOOOO... WHOOSH..." The wind outside shrieked and howled like wandering ghosts, the sound both piercing and terrifying.
The second sandstorm lasted about an hour before stopping. The sand piled up outside was even thicker now, making it impossible for people to get out normally.
"I wonder when this will stop."
Evelyn Ford had no idea what the situation was like over at the main building. It had all happened too fast. Ronan Kendrick heard a sandstorm approaching from several kilometers away, and Evelyn rushed to inform Taylor Vance. Taylor hadn’t doubted her for a second, immediately banging on his stainless steel lid to warn everyone else. In just ten minutes, the entire safe zone was engulfed by the storm and buried in sand.
If the land outside lost all its vegetation, or if plants became extremely scarce, sandstorms would only grow more frequent. With zero precipitation this year, the land was weathering faster. In the near future, all of it might become a desert.
A sandstorm would arrive almost every half hour, each one lasting for about an hour. By the second day, the storms began to weaken, hitting every two hours and lasting for about thirty minutes. On the third day, they struck every four to five hours, with each one lasting only ten minutes.
Once the sandstorms weakened, the residents of the safe zone had no choice but to go outside and work, learning to coexist with the storms.
The bamboo pipes that brought water down from the mountains had been completely destroyed by the storms. Taylor Vance organized everyone to cut new bamboo and rebuild the aqueduct. The sandstorms had left thirty people in the safe zone injured and five dead.
Three people were swept away and went missing. Zion Lowell led a search party and eventually found their bodies five kilometers outside the safe zone.
Hundreds of chickens and ducks were swept away by the storm. Nearly all the vegetable gardens were destroyed, and even many of the trees inside the safe zone were damaged. Several meters of sand had fallen into the pond, leaving only about a dozen fish alive.
Fortunately, most of the grain had been moved to the cellars in time, saving everyone’s food supply.
The residents had no choice but to gear up from head to toe and start clearing their fields and gardens all over again.
The Four Seasons Green seeds were blown away by the wind. Perhaps wherever the wind traveled, grass seeds would now fall.
Although Evelyn Ford and Ronan Kendrick’s losses weren’t as severe as others’, a thick layer of sand covered everything from the ground to their roof, and it would take a long time to clean up.
"COUGH, COUGH, COUGH..."
Even with their heads tightly wrapped, the wind-blown sand still found its way into their noses. Wherever there were people, you could hear intermittent coughing.
Ronan Kendrick was in the yard clearing out the pond, after which he put the live fish from the bucket back in.
"We need to build a cover over the pond, too. With these daily sandstorms, it’s useless without one."
"Okay. Should we still bother with the vegetable garden?"
Evelyn Ford shook her head. "Not for now. I’m going to cut some grass. It’s a good thing I stored so much of it before, or the lambs and rabbits would have starved."
Evelyn Ford left with a sickle and a bamboo basket. To cut any grass, she first had to clear away the sand covering it.
Evelyn Ford kicked the sand away with her feet and quickly cut a full basket’s worth. On her way back, she ran into other people who were also out cutting grass. No one dared to speak or greet each other, afraid they’d get a mouthful of sand if they opened their mouths.
Evelyn Ford fed the goats and rabbits, then took a walk around the perimeter of the safe zone. The wire fence was snagged with numerous animals that had been blown in by the sandstorm.
For kilometers in every direction, every patch of grass she could see was covered in sand. Evelyn Ford was thankful she had planted so many tree seeds, which had blocked a good deal of the sand and wind.
On her way back, Evelyn Ford dragged a few wind-snapped branches with her.
Just as she returned to the cabin, Evelyn Ford saw Taylor Vance and Zion Lowell standing in the yard with Ronan Kendrick off to the side. The three of them were talking about something.
"Evelyn, you’re finally back."
"What’s wrong?"
"We came to get some hemostatic powder from you, and also to see how much damage you took," Taylor Vance said, getting straight to the point.
"Besides the garden, not much. I’ll go get the hemostatic powder for you now."
As Evelyn Ford went into the house, Taylor Vance’s voice sounded again from outside. "Ronan, a lot of people want to build cabins. Could you come and supervise for a few days?"
Ronan Kendrick paused for a moment before agreeing. "Alright."
He had read several books on architecture, so building a cabin was no challenge for him.
"That’s great, thank you for agreeing. The main building isn’t livable anymore; it’s been shaking violently these past few days. All the residents have to move out. I’ve looked around, and your little cabin is the sturdiest. It even withstood a sandstorm this massive, while the other bamboo and wooden houses were all blown down."
Evelyn Ford came back out with a jar of hemostatic powder. Seeing her, Taylor Vance sighed. "Quincy and the others took a big hit this time, too. A lot of their chickens and ducks were blown away. Little Wendy lost one of her lambs. She was still crying her eyes out when I left."