Evelyn Ford looked at the craters and immediately guessed what had happened here.

"This doesn’t look like an earthquake. Why are there so many craters?"

After they parked, everyone got out to assess the situation.

"These couldn’t have been made by meteorites, could they?"

As it turned out, Quincy was right on the money.

Evelyn Ford recalled the falling fireballs she and Ronan Kendrick had experienced on Broken Cloud Mountain. She had even collected quite a few black meteorites and stored them in her space.

The meteorites that had fallen here in Aeridor were very different from the ones on Broken Cloud Mountain.

"So this is a meteorite."

Wyatt Vaughn jumped into a crater and touched the large, reddish-brown rock inside.

"It stinks. Why do meteorites stink?"

The meteorites had sulfur on their surface, which naturally gave off an unpleasant smell.

Looking at the massive craters, Evelyn Ford lost hope that there could be any survivors left at the Aeridor base.

The road was also full of craters, making it difficult to drive the truck. Everyone got out and used wooden planks to cover the holes. Four hours later, they were finally able to enter the city.

The buildings in the city had not only been destroyed by the meteorite impacts, but the fires they caused had burned the entire city to the ground.

Everyone was disappointed. They had thought they could rest here for a while, but it turned out there wasn’t a single intact building left in Aeridor.

The Aeridor base was located at the Aeridor Vocational College. It was on high ground and had been directly commandeered by the authorities after the cataclysms began.

"Park the trucks here. Everyone, use the remaining tarps to set up some tents. We’ll make camp here for now. We’re going to the Aeridor base to check things out. Stick together when you go out, and be careful."

Zion Lowell organized everyone to set up the tarp tents, then took a few people with him to the Aeridor base. Taylor Vance and Secretary Hawthorne also seemed to have an errand to run, and the two of them left with Cherie.

The others started looking for wood to build fires, preparing to boil water and cook. Some simply draped tarps over themselves and left immediately to look for supplies.

Evelyn Ford took down her tent. Ronan Kendrick found a flat spot on slightly higher ground, and the two of them set it up, planning to eat something and rest before deciding what to do next.

"This is worse than I thought. I assumed it would be like the other counties—an earthquake at worst. I never expected a meteorite shower and fires here."

The two of them sat inside the tent as a light, endless rain pattered outside.

She took food out of her space and placed it on a folding table. Smelling the aroma of roast duck and steamed buns, Evelyn Ford’s stomach started to RUMBLE.

Hungry and exhausted, Evelyn Ford didn’t want to think about anything else. The landslide they’d encountered on the road had left her completely drained. All she wanted now was to fill her stomach and get some sleep.

Fortunately, the spot Ronan Kendrick had chosen was on high ground, so it wouldn’t flood.

Evelyn Ford placed a moisture-proof mat under a straw one and flopped down onto it, caring little for her appearance.

"Are we still going to the coast?" Ronan Kendrick opened a thermos of soup and handed it to Evelyn Ford. She took a sip, and her stomach immediately felt much better.

"We are, but I don’t have the energy right now."

"Then rest for a while. I’ll go find some firewood. The rain should stop soon."

Evelyn Ford wasn’t so optimistic. "This rain is like a broken faucet you can’t tighten all the way. It just keeps dripping and dripping."

Hearing her description, Ronan Kendrick couldn’t help but smile. After eating and drinking her fill, Evelyn Ford lay down to catch up on sleep. Ronan put on his raincoat and went out. A short while later, he had a fire going outside the tent, and just then, the rain stopped.

Evelyn Ford slept for two hours. When she came out of the tent, she found the sun was out, and the temperature had immediately risen to eighty-two degrees.

This constant switching between hot and cold was enough to wear anyone out.

The others had already left one by one to search for supplies. Evelyn Ford put out the fire and let Mina and Lola go play freely. She stretched her limbs, deciding to go for a walk herself.

"Ronan, let’s go."

Someone was guarding the camp, so they didn’t need to pack up the tent. Just as the two of them were leaving, Quincy and the others returned.

Judging by the state of things, they weren’t going to find any boats. Still, Evelyn Ford wasn’t discouraged.

"Is anyone around?"

"No one."

Evelyn Ford gave a mischievous chuckle and collected the meteorite from the crater into her space.

"Let’s do a loop through the city first. If we don’t find anything, we’ll head to the coast or the docks. I have a speedboat." ’If there’s still water and fish in the sea,’ she thought, ’maybe we can try our luck out there.’

’Besides, with Ronan around, I’m perfectly safe.’

"You want to eat fish?"

"Not really. I just enjoy the process of catching them."

Disappointingly, the entirety of Aeridor had been burned clean. They couldn’t even find a single nail.

Aeridor was a small city; a full tour took less than an hour. When they reached the coast, Evelyn Ford stared at the pitch-black seawater and began to question her life choices.

"Looks like my fishing plan is a failure."

The sea was filled with all sorts of trash. Waves of putrid stench washed over them, making Evelyn Ford’s stomach churn. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

The beach was also covered in wreckage from various boats and mountains of garbage. Evelyn even saw a human skeleton in one of the trash heaps.

The sun was a bit glaring. Under its scorching heat, the smell of decay grew even stronger.

"Let’s go. We should head back for now."

There was nothing in the city, not even scraps of metal. The sea was full of garbage, and the water was black, as if tens of thousands of tons of oil had been dumped into it. It was foul and filthy. The fish and shrimp were probably extinct long ago.

The two of them headed back the way they came. The ground was covered in a thick layer of black, ashy mud that filthied their shoes.

"Good thing I changed into rain boots before we left." Evelyn Ford sighed.

"Don’t they say that just when you think you’re lost in the mountains, a new village appears? So why does it feel like we’re just stuck in a video game, clearing one impossible level just to face another, with no end in sight?"

"Get on." Ronan Kendrick crouched down, motioning for Evelyn Ford to climb onto his back.

Evelyn Ford threw herself onto his back. Ronan Kendrick lifted her up, giving her a little bounce.

"Maybe the next ’village’ will be the one where the path appears, hmm? Close your eyes and sleep a little more. Don’t think about anything. Just leave it all to me, okay?"

Evelyn Ford hummed in agreement. Ronan Kendrick smiled softly, his eyes full of tenderness.

When they returned to the camp, Taylor Vance and the others were already back. Their rain-soaked clothes had been hung out to dry on a makeshift hemp rope line.

"There’s no one at the base, but there is a row of earthen houses that didn’t collapse."

"Mr. Hawthorne and I are both from Aeridor. We just went back to our old homes to take a look. They’ve been turned to ruins too."

Taylor Vance looked grim. The others returned one after another, all of them empty-handed.

"Should we leave Aeridor, or rest here for a few days?"

"We can head over to the base. There’s still a fair amount of stuff there." Zion Lowell looked at the group. "Everyone’s exhausted from the past couple of days. Now that the rain has stopped, we should take a proper rest. By the way, did you guys go to the coast?"

"We did." Evelyn Ford told everyone about the situation at the coast.

"The sea is full of garbage, there are even human skeletons floating in it. The water is black and it stinks."

"How far is it to the next city?"

"To get out of Aeridor, we’ll have to cross a mountain range that’s several hundred kilometers long. It spans two provinces, the terrain is complex, and it’s a very difficult journey. I’m afraid we don’t have enough gasoline."