Magic Space: Struggling to Survive in the Apocalypse-Chapter 30: Rainstorm, Toad, Cold Wave (5)

"Where is your base? How many people do you have?"

"Join us, and I’ll tell you. First, let me introduce myself. I’m Shawn Schultz. What’s your name?"

Shawn Schultz was the young man who had pointed a blade at Evelyn Ford. By now, he had already put it away.

Evelyn Ford squinted, sizing them up. The three men sounded vigorous and seemed to be in good spirits. They had an assault boat and protective suits, and there wasn’t much wear and tear on their gear. It looked like they were pretty good at taking care of themselves.

"I have several other people at my place. Can you take all of them in?"

Shawn Schultz glanced back at the two men behind him, then asked, "Are they your family? Any elderly or children?"

"Yes."

Shawn Schultz shook his head. "No, we can’t do that. The elderly and children are a liability. We can’t take them."

’It seems their base is made up of young people,’ Evelyn thought. ’Judging from Shawn Schultz’s tone, while they don’t take in the elderly or children, they still seem decent enough.’

"I’ll be on my way, then. Can you move?" Their assault boat was blocking her path. If they didn’t move, Evelyn Ford’s only choice was to ram them.

"You still haven’t told me your name. Oh, right, your Crossbow. Do you have a spare? I could trade you food for it."

Evelyn Ford glanced at the bags on their assault boat and shook her head. "I don’t."

Shawn Schultz let out a disappointed "Ah..." The man behind him backed their assault boat up a few meters. Evelyn Ford gave the man a slight nod, then started her engine and sped away.

"Hey, you still haven’t told me your name!" Shawn Schultz’s shout came from behind her. Evelyn Ford raised her right hand and waved twice before her assault boat disappeared around a corner.

"I really liked that Crossbow of hers. It’s a shame she didn’t have a spare."

"You could have just killed her and taken the Crossbow."

Shawn Schultz rolled his eyes. "What’s faster, a blade or a Crossbow? Do you take me for an idiot? Besides, if I attack a young woman, what does that make me? Am I even human?"

The man chuckled. "You’re too soft-hearted."

"I’m soft-hearted? Then why did you just back the boat up a few meters to let her leave?"

"All right, stop arguing. We should head back. Shawn Schultz has a point; there’s no need to go after a young woman. Besides, we might not even be a match for her. But Shane isn’t wrong, either. In a world like this, being soft-hearted is a death sentence."

"So what do you suggest we do?" Shawn Schultz and Shane looked speechlessly at the third man.

"How should I know? Let’s go. Time to head back."

***

No sooner had Evelyn Ford parted ways with Shawn Schultz and his men than she was ambushed by several robbers waiting around a corner. They suddenly threw a fishing net, which spread out and enveloped both her and her assault boat. As they rushed in from both sides to attack, Evelyn Ford quickly calmed herself. Her eyes scanned over the men. Taking in their numbers and positions, a counterattack strategy instantly formed in her mind.

"No supplies. What a waste. We wait for an hour and all we get is some broke-ass."

"Isn’t the assault boat a supply? Hurry up and finish her so we can take it."

Evelyn Ford crouched in the assault boat, pinching the fishing net to examine it. ’It’s a standard nylon net. It can be burned or cut with a blade.’ As the men closed in, she drew her sharpest short-handled Imperial Blade and slashed through the net. Then, with her Crossbow, she shot the two men in front through the heart.

"She’s armed! Watch out!"

However, the men behind her had no time to dodge. On pure reflex, Evelyn Ford kicked one into the water. More Crossbow Arrows flew, and in less than ten seconds, she had taken down three of them. Tearing the rest of the net off herself, Evelyn Ford aimed her Crossbow at the remaining four men.

"Wait! We can talk about this! We’ll give you everything. Just let us go! We were forced into this, we had no choice! Please, spare us!"

Evelyn Ford glanced at their two assault boats. They had a decent amount of stuff. ’Wait a minute... a burlap sack at the stern of one of the boats just moved. Is there someone in there?’

In the two seconds she was distracted, one of the men raised his blade, about to puncture her assault boat. Evelyn Ford fired a Crossbow Arrow straight into his throat. The man collapsed, a gurgling sound escaping his lips. He coughed up some blood and went still. The remaining three exchanged a look, instantly starting their boat engines to flee. Evelyn Ford wasn’t foolish enough to let a tiger back into the mountains. She fired three more arrows, and all three men fell dead.

Evelyn Ford steered her assault boat over, retrieved her Crossbow Arrows, and kicked the bodies into the water. PLOP. A whirlpool formed, and the corpses immediately sank.

Approaching the boat with the moving sack, Evelyn Ford stared at it for a few seconds. The person inside moved again, letting out a muffled "Mmmph!" sound. She used her blade to slash the ropes, revealing the contents of the three burlap sacks.

Inside were two young girls and a boy of about fifteen or sixteen. Their hands and feet were bound, and their mouths were taped shut. It was impossible to know what they had been through, but their clothes were thin and torn, and their eyes were filled with terror. Their exposed skin was covered in wounds. Seeing Evelyn Ford, the three of them trembled in fear, shuffling backward. Evelyn Ford cut the ropes binding them and unceremoniously ripped the black tape from their mouths.

"Don’t be afraid. They’re all dead." Evelyn Ford pointed to the water, where one of the bodies had already floated to the surface. The three of them huddled together, their eyes widening as they stared at the water.

Evelyn Ford paid them no mind, instead opening the other three bags of supplies. There were clothes, shoes, water, instant noodles, and bread. The clothes were filthy and smelled of mildew. She decided to leave it all for the three survivors, only taking a few cups of instant noodles as a token.

"Take these two assault boats and the supplies on them. You’re free to go."

She returned to her own assault boat. The three captives stared in a daze for a few seconds before scrambling for the two bags of food, tearing them open and devouring the contents. The boy grabbed a piece of clothing and wrapped it tightly around himself. His eyes fell on a blade the robbers had left in the boat. He picked it up and began hacking furiously at the corpse floating in the water.

Evelyn Ford watched him, an eyebrow raised in surprise.

The toads in the water, drawn by the scent of blood, began to swarm the floating corpse. The sight was sickening. Evelyn Ford frowned and looked away. Just as she was about to leave, the boy looked up at her and whispered, "Thank you."

Evelyn Ford gave a slight nod and drove her assault boat away. The boy jumped into one of the other boats and took one of the bags of supplies. The two girls watched him, confused.

"I’m going home," he whispered.

"Home? I can’t find my home anymore." The two girls hugged each other. The memory of their recent ordeal was too much, and they finally broke down, sobbing uncontrollably.

The boy’s fists clenched. He stared blankly at the water all around them, a shadow falling over his eyes.

’He couldn’t find his home either.’

***

When Evelyn Ford returned to her neighborhood, she happened to run into Lauren Keller, who was outside collecting toads. Evelyn felt a wave of relief seeing that Lauren had pulled herself together. Too many people couldn’t bear the blow of losing their families and chose to end their own lives. It was a common occurrence in their complex. For most people, simply losing power, water, and the internet was enough to shatter their will to survive.

The two exchanged a few words before heading to their respective homes. Evelyn Ford didn’t plan on going out for the next few days. She turned on several space heaters, and only after the room warmed up did she take off her heavy, insulated jacket.