Magic Space: Struggling to Survive in the Apocalypse

Chapter 182: Polar Day, Cellar 3

In the end, the two little lambs were slaughtered. The temperature was too high now, and they needed water and fresh grass. Evelyn figured it would be impossible to care for them once the polar day began. She made several steamer baskets of steamed lamb with rice flour and sent some to Quincy and the others.

Everyone in the safe zone was prepared for the polar day. The nights grew shorter day by day until, half a month later, darkness vanished completely. The polar day had arrived.

After the polar day began, the sun seemed to grow larger. There were no longer any clouds in the sky; the vast, white sunlight formed concentric halos. The wind seemed to have vanished as well. Evelyn took out her pocket watch and watched the second hand move. If not for the fact that time was still passing and she could still move freely, she would have thought the entire world had been put on pause.

Wearing her heat-resistant suit, Evelyn came out of the cellar and stored the wooden cabin in her space. Not daring to linger, she quickly ran back into the cellar and sealed the insulated hatch at the entrance shut.

"My god, it’s so hot. What do you guess the temperature is outside?"

Ronan Kendrick helped her take off the heavy heat-resistant suit and wiped the sweat from her face and neck with a damp towel.

"56°C?"

"57°C. I feel like the thermometer is about to explode. When I went out to put the cabin away just now, I noticed all the grass and trees on the surface seem to have withered and died."

’Why would the plants wither overnight?’ Evelyn suspected that all the moisture under the surface had evaporated. The heat from the magma had penetrated the earth’s crust, scorching the surface vegetation to death.

Of course, this was all just her wild speculation. It was also possible that the plants simply couldn’t withstand such intense, direct sunlight. Their moisture evaporated, and they naturally withered and died.

"I’ll make some ice."

Evelyn took out some saltpeter and filled a bucket with water. Adding the saltpeter to the water caused it to quickly chill, and it slowly turned into a block of ice.

The cellar was already cool, but placing a basin of ice inside made it even more refreshing.

Evelyn connected a battery to a desk lamp, making the cellar brighter. She placed a bookshelf next to the bed. Usually, Ronan Kendrick would sit in a chair while Evelyn lay on the bed, each of them reading a book.

A round clock hung on the wall, and the calendars were placed on the bookshelf. Evelyn crossed off each day as it passed, but time in the cellar crawled by. Without the night, she sometimes even forgot what day it was. The world outside was silent. There was no wind, not even the rustle of a small animal.

Every day, Evelyn would open the insulated hatch for a quick look outside. The sun still hung in the sky, a glaring white orb. When its light touched her skin, it stung unpleasantly, like being pricked by needles.

Evelyn took out some yarn and crocheted more than ten sweaters to pass the time. But the days, indistinguishable from nights, passed with excruciating slowness. She would think two or three months had gone by, only to look at the calendar and see that it hadn’t even been one full month.

Thankfully, Ronan Kendrick was with her. If she were alone, Evelyn thought she might develop autism or depression.

Back when she lived in Building 10, she often talked to herself. To prevent her mind from deteriorating, she would solve a Rubik’s Cube every day to train her brain. But that wasn’t necessary anymore. Having someone with her, even if they didn’t speak and just read or watched TV separately, provided a much greater sense of security.

After moving into the cellar, Evelyn’s cracked skin slowly healed. She took out a humidifier. Even with the bucket of ice, the air near the cellar ceiling was still a bit dry. Keeping the room humid prevented her throat from becoming dry and scratchy and made her feel more comfortable overall.

"What day is it?" Evelyn asked Ronan Kendrick after waking from a nap.

"The thirty-third day."

Evelyn sighed, rolled over, and tried to go back to sleep. But she wasn’t the least bit drowsy. After lying with her eyes closed for half an hour, she gave up.

"Any changes outside?"

"No. I went to look. Still no wind."

Three years ago, when they parted ways after the earthquake at Broken Cloud Mountain, Evelyn had given Quincy and the others each a whistle. She had done the same this time. If anything happened, the signal was three short blasts and one long one.

Evelyn picked up a copy of the *Vegetable Growing Guide* and stared at it for over ten seconds, but she couldn’t take in a single word. These days left her feeling flustered and agitated.

"Want to play a game?" Seeing her frustration, Ronan Kendrick brought the Gomoku board to the bedside.

Evelyn stared at him for a few seconds. "I don’t want to. I’m too annoyed."

"Calm down. Don’t think about what’s happening outside, and don’t think about when the polar day will end. Just pretend it’s like any other time."

’He’s gotten pretty good at comforting people now.’ Evelyn’s lips twitched, but no matter how hard she tried, she was still agitated and couldn’t calm her mind.

Mina and Lola were lying on a straw mat, both looking a little downcast.

"Ronan, how long do you think this will last?"

Ronan Kendrick reached out and pulled her up from the bed. "I’m guessing about a year."

Evelyn nodded. "Okay, I’ll start a countdown. Two years is twenty-four months. Since one month has already passed, that leaves twenty-three. I can definitely survive these next twenty-three months."

Evelyn sat up straight and played a game of Gomoku with him.

"I lost?"

Evelyn was in disbelief. She had never lost at Gomoku before and couldn’t believe she’d lost this time.

"You were distracted today. That’s why you lost."

"Aren’t you worried? Ronan, you don’t seem scared at all."

Ronan Kendrick smiled. "I’m not. After all, I have you."

Evelyn was speechless. "I can barely save myself, and you expect me to protect you? Give me a break, man."

Ronan Kendrick just smiled without saying a word. In the second game, Evelyn lost again.

"My luck is bad today. I’m not playing anymore."

Being a sore loser, Evelyn flopped onto the bed and played dead. She had never felt like this before, unable to muster the energy for anything.

Evelyn lay there for a few minutes, then got up to make some food. After eating her fill, she lay back down to sleep.

By the second month, Evelyn had finally adapted to life in the cellar, and her mood gradually stabilized.

Evelyn laid a yoga mat on the floor. She hadn’t exercised in a long time and felt that her joints had gone stiff. Stretching her legs was agony.

Seeing the faint outline of her abs starting to reappear, Evelyn had finally found the best way to pass the time.

In addition, Ronan Kendrick made her a wooden target. She used her dagger as a throwing knife, practicing her accuracy and speed.

Every minute she wasn’t sleeping was scheduled solid. Evelyn no longer had the mental space for panic or obsessive thoughts. After over a month of training, her long-lost abs made a comeback. Evelyn weighed herself: forty-eight kilograms. Not too light, not too heavy. Just right.

More than two months into the polar day, Evelyn still hadn’t heard any sound from outside. She opened the insulated hatch again to check on the situation and discovered that the trees in the distance were starting to turn black, as if they had been scorched by a blazing fire.

Fissures began to appear on the ground’s surface. The windblown sand had hardened, and the sun’s halo had turned orange-red.