novelraw Chapter 186: Polar Day, Cellar 7
Chapter 186: Polar Day, Cellar 7
This birthday held great significance for both Evelyn Ford and Ronan Kendrick.
From this day forward, they were no longer just partners facing the world together, but something more—something much more important to one another.
——
Evelyn Ford took stock of the medical supplies in her dimensional space. She still had plenty of boxed medicines, glucose, and vitamins, having used only about ten percent of them. Her traditional medicinal herbs, however, were depleting much faster. If she ever got the chance, she would need to plant more.
She took out several large boxes of herbs, measured them out in the correct proportions, and wrapped them in paper packets. This way, she wouldn’t have to scramble to prepare medicine in the future.
The most crucial medicines were those for stopping bleeding and aiding recovery. Living underground long-term, Evelyn Ford worried about her bone health, so she had also recently started taking vitamins.
Evelyn Ford had already thrown out the canned goods she’d gotten from the base, but she still had dozens of boxes of cans she had scavenged from a food factory stored in her space.
Among them, Evelyn Ford found a case of surströmming. It was said to be the smelliest food in the world, and her curiosity got the better of her. She decided to open a can and have a sniff.
The moment she cracked it open, Ronan Kendrick, Mina, and Lola all fled. Despite the scorching heat of the polar day outside, they nearly bolted from the cellar in desperation.
"My god, what is this, a biochemical weapon?"
Evelyn Ford could barely stand it herself. The stench seemed to shoot straight to the crown of her head, making her dizzy.
"Evelyn, get rid of it!"
Ronan Kendrick clutched Mina, while Lola perched on top of his head. Three pairs of eyes watched Evelyn Ford and the can of surströmming in her hand warily.
"Alright, alright, I’ll take it outside and toss it. Haha, is it really that bad? GACK—"
As she spoke, her eyes rolled back, and she nearly vomited.
She tossed the can out of the cellar, but it still took several hours for the stench inside to finally dissipate.
The rest of the unopened case didn’t need to be thrown out. ’I can let Quincy and the others find it,’ Evelyn thought. ’Maybe they can handle the taste.’ She slipped a few cans of braised pork and luncheon meat into the case with them.
"You had the same look on your face when I ate durian last time," Evelyn Ford said, bursting into laughter as she looked at Ronan Kendrick. "So you’re scared of smelly things, huh? Are you scared of stinky tofu? I actually quite like it."
The moment he heard the word "stinky," Ronan Kendrick shook his head firmly. "I definitely won’t like it. Evelyn, if you’re going to eat it, you have to tell me beforehand. I’ll make sure to keep my distance."
Evelyn pinched his cheek. "I know, I won’t spring it on you again."
Evelyn continued to organize her space. Tucked away in a forgotten corner, she found snakes and toads she had caught several years ago and had completely forgotten to process.
Thankfully, the space had a stasis function, so they hadn’t rotted or contaminated anything else.
She also sorted out a good deal of men’s clothing, likely things she’d picked up while scavenging. Unfortunately, Ronan Kendrick was so tall that very few of the items fit him. But that was fine; they could be altered into a more ragged, vagrant style.
After all, this was the apocalypse. Wearing tattered clothes was perfectly normal.
There were also many luxury brand clothes and handbags she’d scavenged. At first, Evelyn had thought them useless and hadn’t planned on taking them, but she eventually did. At the end of the day, it was all still fabric that could be patched up and sewn into new clothes.
There were also all sorts of diamonds, watches, bracelets, and gold bars...
’I’m a real bandit,’ Evelyn thought.
She chuckled to herself as she continued to organize.
"Ronan, if we could go back to before the apocalypse, my net worth would be well over a hundred million."
Evelyn took out one of the gold bars and waved it in front of him. "Gold really is the most wonderful thing in the world."
Ronan replied with a perfectly straight face, "I think food is more wonderful."
"Besides food, water, and clothes... you can’t go without clothes. Do you think there will ever be a day when all these jewels and gold will be useful?"
Ronan nodded. "Of course. When we die, they can be buried with us."
Evelyn’s face lit up with agreement. "That’s exactly what I was thinking! I just hope that when I’m reincarnated, my space comes with me. Then I’ll be a rich lady from the moment I’m born."
"What about me, then? I’m poor."
"Don’t worry, don’t worry. This rich lady will take you in."
Ronan’s eyes lit up. "Then you’d better find me quickly, or I might starve to death."
Evelyn burst out laughing. "Don’t worry, I won’t abandon you."
Looking at the neatly stacked supplies, Evelyn was so pleased that if she’d had a tail, it would have been sticking straight up in the air.
Evelyn made several more pairs of shoes for Ronan Kendrick. His feet were simply too big, and almost none of the shoes she had in her space would fit him.
She still had plenty of sheepskin and cowhide. Evelyn tossed him another old tire and asked him to make some templates for the soles. She planned to make them extra thick; she had a feeling that once the polar day ended, they would need to leave.
Long-distance travel required comfortable shoes. Even though Ronan was incredibly capable, Evelyn still made sure to treat him like any other person with basic needs.
’If we leave, it will definitely be with the main group. I need to get a lot of things ready. I can take out one tent—Quincy knows we have a small one, after all. I can bring out a wok, and the pushcart is still usable. I’ll need to take out some of our food and water, too. It’s all about keeping up appearances.’
Evelyn studied a map for a long time, but she had no idea where they might end up. ’We’ll just have to go as far as we can,’ she decided.
Ronan Kendrick was sharpening knives, so Evelyn took out all of their blades. The crossbow arrowheads needed to be sharpened and maintained as well. Of their three thousand crossbow arrows, they had lost about ten.
Evelyn had saved all the empty insecticide bottles. ’I can fill these with some Poison Powder,’ she thought.
’All the batteries need to be fully charged. We should conserve as much oil and gasoline as possible. In any case, there’s plenty of firewood in the space—enough to last for decades.’
With the leftover sheepskin, Evelyn made a few rain capes. She made one in a small size, intending to give it to Wendy. The sheepskin capes were not only warm and thick but also waterproof.
In the eighth month of the polar day, Evelyn Ford noticed the temperature had dropped by three degrees. This was a good sign. It seemed the extreme heat was finally coming to an end. As long as the heat broke, they could leave even if the polar day continued.
’Most residents’ water cisterns probably won’t last much longer,’ she mused. ’Water evaporates unless it’s in a sealed container.’
"Ronan, we need to make some hard biscuits and jerky. If we’re leaving, we can eat them on the road."
’I can always sneak Ronan better food, but with the whole group moving together, we have to be cautious.’
"How much should we make?"
"We should probably make a lot. I have no idea how far we’ll have to travel to find a suitable new home."
Wasting no time, the two of them got straight to work, mixing dough for dry biscuits. Evelyn, however, still added some vegetables and meat into the mix.
In the ninth month of the polar day, the temperature dropped to fifty-five degrees. Evelyn Ford could finally open the heat-shielding panel to get some fresh air. Though it was still incredibly hot and the sun was scorching, it was much more bearable.
The wind was still hot, and all the vegetation on the surface had been burned away by spontaneous combustion. But Evelyn noticed that in some fissures in the ground, the soil itself was also smoldering.
In the tenth month of the polar day, the temperature dropped to fifty degrees. Evelyn Ford heard a whistle—one short blast followed by one long one, a pattern that repeated for half a minute. It was the signal that all was well.