novelraw Chapter 173: Building Houses, Soaking Pools
Chapter 173: Building Houses, Soaking Pools
"I’ll head over to take a look in a bit. I just heard you two mention that a lot of residents want to build houses. I’d advise against wooden cabins. The safe zone is probably short on nails, and making a wooden cabin sturdy is a pretty big undertaking. I suggest building earthen or stone houses instead. Besides, earthen houses are warm in the winter and cool in the summer."
Taylor Vance slapped his forehead. "You’re a lifesaver for pointing that out. Alright. Good thing we aren’t short on water right now. We can use the sand and dirt blown in by the sandstorm. A lot of people know how to build earthen houses."
"Exactly. The houses only need to be one story, about three meters high. Don’t build them too tall. The sheds should also have stone walls to make them sturdier."
Taylor Vance and Zion Lowell eagerly went back to start planning. Evelyn Ford looked at Ronan Kendrick and told him about the situation in the outer areas.
"These sandstorms won’t let up for at least a year or two. But in a year, grass will probably have started growing for dozens, maybe even hundreds, of kilometers in every direction."
"As long as the high heat continues, it probably won’t rain again," Ronan Kendrick said.
"Exactly. We still need to remind everyone to store water. If the ponds in the mountains suddenly dry up, we’ll be truly finished."
—
Evelyn Ford looked at the leaning building and finally understood why Taylor Vance was in such a hurry to move everyone out.
The building swayed slightly with every gust of wind, looking as if it might collapse at any moment.
Officer Graham and Quincy had already chosen spots for their new houses. Evelyn Ford and Ronan Kendrick went over with hoes to help. When Wendy saw her, she ran over in tears.
"Miss Ford, my little lamb got blown away by the wind!"
Evelyn Ford held her and gently soothed her. "I know, I know. My ewe is going to have lambs soon. How about you come pick one out in a few days, Wendy?"
"I’m never going to have a lamb again."
Evelyn Ford didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but after a long time of coaxing, she finally calmed the little girl down.
Taylor Vance told everyone about the advantages of earthen and stone houses, and they all changed their minds, deciding to build earthen houses instead.
Evelyn Ford and Ronan Kendrick came to help. Just before the large building collapsed, Officer Graham and the others finally finished their earthen houses.
The temperature soared to forty-six degrees Celsius, and even the adults could barely stand it. Many people who had just stepped out to work fainted from heatstroke within minutes. Cases of heatstroke occurred daily.
Evelyn Ford was most concerned about severe heatstroke. After she reminded Taylor Vance, he once again used a piece of stainless steel to announce that everyone should rest at home during the day and work at night, when the temperature would drop by ten degrees.
Many of the children couldn’t bear the heat, and their crying could be heard day and night.
Evelyn Ford took out two tower fans. She had long since stored all the quilts from her room in her space, leaving only a cooling mat spread over the bed.
The residents began frantically cutting down the safe zone’s bamboo to make more cooling mats, so Evelyn Ford had no choice but to go out and scatter another round of seeds.
Other residents had to resort to placing buckets of cool water by their beds to lower the temperature. The heat continued to climb, and fewer and fewer people ventured outside.
Evelyn Ford planted a row of cacti in her yard. When Serena Lynch came over, she asked for a few cuttings to take back and plant. Cacti grew easily in the sandy soil, and there was no need to worry about sun exposure or lack of water.
Evelyn Ford still had a lot of saltpeter in her space, which could be used to make ice, but she had no way of explaining how she got it.
When the temperature rose to forty-eight degrees Celsius, even Evelyn Ford found it unbearable.
"I want to go soak in some water, Ronan. I feel like I’m going to explode."
True to her word, Evelyn Ford went straight to the washroom, filled the tub with cold water, stripped off her outer clothes, and jumped right in.
The chilling water seeped into her pores, and Evelyn Ford felt the heat inside her body finally extinguish. A wave of relief washed over her.
She soaked for a full hour, unwilling to get out. Ronan Kendrick knocked on the door several times, until Evelyn Ford finally sighed and stood up.
"Your body is weak. You’ll get sick," Ronan Kendrick reminded her from outside the door. Evelyn Ford wanted to cry but had no tears.
"But it’s so hot! It’s so hot I want to fly into a rage, hit someone, just explode."
Ronan Kendrick fell silent.
Two more pools were dug in the safe zone, specifically for people to soak in. They were separated by gender, with a patch of grass in between.
This came about after Taylor Vance discovered that many children were swimming in the fishpond and nearly drowning, prompting him to organize the digging of two soaking pools.
The pools were shallow, only a meter deep and ten meters long. It took everyone just two nights of work to finish digging them.
That evening, Serena Lynch came to invite Evelyn Ford to go for a soak, but she refused. The last time she’d passed by, she saw a group of older women scrubbing their backs and feet in the water. Evelyn Ford wasn’t a germaphobe, but even she couldn’t stomach that.
Evelyn Ford’s appetite had been terrible lately. Ever since the temperature climbed past forty degrees, she hardly felt like eating. She spent her days eating watermelon, drinking water, and having shaved ice. She couldn’t even stand the smell of meat or fish; it made her want to throw up. Anyone who didn’t know better would have thought she was pregnant.
"This heat is pure torture." Evelyn Ford downed a vial of vile-tasting herbal medicine. The flavor shot straight to her brain, making her roll her eyes and her entire face contort in disgust.
"Want some?"
Ronan Kendrick shook his head. "I don’t feel that hot."
"You’re not even human," Evelyn Ford grumbled, walking over to touch the back of his hand. The man seemed to have a built-in thermostat; his body would heat up when it was cold and cool down when it was hot.
’I have healing powers now, too. Why didn’t I get his ridiculously overpowered auto-thermoregulation ability?’
Evelyn Ford lay sprawled out on the cooling mat while three tower fans blasted her with air.
The next day, while Evelyn Ford was still asleep, someone called for her from outside, their voice choked with sobs. Evelyn Ford stepped out of her wooden cabin to see a woman crying so hard she could barely breathe.
"Dr. Ford, my husband collapsed! Please, you have to save him!"
A bad feeling washed over Evelyn Ford. She grabbed a tattered black umbrella and hurried after the woman. When they reached her house, Evelyn saw a man lying on the floor, convulsing.
"Did he go outside to work?"
"A few of our chickens got out, and he went to catch them. He didn’t manage to get the chickens, but he passed out. He was unconscious for about a minute, and when he came to, he was like this."
Evelyn Ford was certain the man was suffering from severe heatstroke. It was already forty-eight degrees, with the sun hanging high overhead. A single minute outside was enough to drench a person in sweat. Even Evelyn Ford had felt breathless on her way over.
"Quick, fan him! And bring a bucket of cool water over here."
Just then, the man gasped painfully, his complexion taking on an unnatural pallor. Evelyn Ford took out her Silver Needles, but just as she was about to insert one, the man’s head fell to the side, and his breathing stopped.
It happened in less than thirty seconds. There wasn’t even time to begin treatment.
His body was as scalding hot as the bottom of a wok. Evelyn Ford glanced at the woman and the little girl beside her, then said softly, "I’m so sorry."
"Dr. Ford?"
"Your husband has passed away."
The woman froze for a second, dropped the bucket, and threw herself onto her husband’s body, wailing in grief.
Evelyn Ford left, holding up her umbrella. As she passed Taylor Vance’s home, he was standing in the doorway and asked what had happened. Evelyn told him everything.
"It was severe heatstroke. There was absolutely no time to provide first aid."
"I understand. You should get back inside. Tonight, I’ll organize a few people to help with the arrangements."
Evelyn Ford glanced back at the earthen house one last time, then turned and walked away.