"Is he sure there are only two black bears?"

Taylor Vance nodded. "He’s sure. He’ll take us up the mountain."

Evelyn Ford mulled it over for a moment, then agreed to go up the mountain and take care of the two black bears.

"I’ll go up the mountain with Ronan, Peter, Miles, Wyatt, and Quincy. The rest of you can go cut branches."

"Should we ask the uncle and his family to come?"

"Go ask if they’re willing to go."

A little while later, the uncle’s son came over. His name was Kurt Rowe, and he was thirty years old. The young man from earlier was his cousin.

"Are you guys really going up the mountain? Black bears are ferocious. Fred must not have explained it clearly. Those two are huge—they have to be over eight or nine hundred pounds."

"He told us. For one, we wanted to do some hunting anyway. And for another, since we’re borrowing a courtyard in your village, we wanted to help you take care of these two black bears."

Kurt Rowe grew anxious. "But black bears eat people."

Just then, Fred Rowe arrived, carrying a machete and a coil of hemp rope. Fred was very tall, with a remarkable presence, almost like a police officer or a soldier.

"Fred, how could you let them go up the mountain?"

Fred didn’t say a word. He’d seen from the start that these people were not to be underestimated. They had bear meat, which meant they had weapons. He wasn’t mistaken.

"Kurt, I believe they can handle the two black bears."

"I don’t want a share of the meat," he said. "I just want to ask for your help in dealing with the bears, so it’s easier to hunt on the mountain in the future." He was being sincere, not hiding his own intentions.

Kurt was about to say something more, but Evelyn Ford cut him off.

"Then let’s head up the mountain. It’s getting late. We need to be back soon."

Evelyn Ford handed out the guns, then grabbed Ronan Kendrick and left.

Kurt Rowe was stunned speechless at the sight of the long guns. Fred Rowe, however, reacted quickly, picking up his machete and rope and following Evelyn out of the courtyard.

After entering the mountains, before Fred Rowe could even lead the way, Ronan Kendrick told everyone to head to the right. Fred had his doubts, but he followed along anyway. An hour later, Ronan stopped in front of a cave.

"Everyone, take a few steps back."

Quincy and the others immediately ran back more than ten meters. Seeing that Fred and Kurt were still standing in place, Quincy doubled back to pull them away.

"Don’t stand here and get in the way of their hunt. We just need to wait and drag the bears back."

Fred glanced at Evelyn Ford and Ronan Kendrick. "Are the two of them enough? Shouldn’t we go help? Black bears are fast."

"They’re more than enough. We just need to wait."

"Then what did you bring your guns for?"

Quincy chuckled. "For decoration. And to scare the bears."

Fred...

Kurt...

Over by the cave, Evelyn Ford took a small bundle of Pine Torches from her bag. After lighting them, she had Ronan Kendrick toss them into the cave. The thick smoke from the Pine Torches was acrid and choking. Soon, a sound came from within. Before a bear even emerged, Ronan fired two shots.

A roar echoed out, startling everyone hiding behind them. Ronan fired two more shots, and a black bear charged out, its mouth wide open in a furious bellow. Evelyn pulled the trigger, firing a shot straight at its head.

The two worked in perfect sync, quickly killing the bears. Just as Fred Rowe had said, there were indeed only two, and both were massive. Seeing the bears were down, the others immediately ran over.

Fred stared at the pair, shocked. Ronan Kendrick’s marksmanship was too precise; he was no different from a professional sniper.

He didn’t let it show, though. He grabbed the hemp rope and quickly started tying up the bears. But they were too heavy; it looked like it would take all eight of them just to drag one.

"You all drag the smaller one. Ronan, Quincy, and I will drag the other." Evelyn Ford immediately assigned the tasks.

Once the bears were tied up, everyone started down the mountain. In the difficult spots, they just pushed the carcasses down the slope. When they returned to the village, everyone came out. Seeing them drag the black bears back, the villagers were incredibly excited.

Although Fred Rowe had said he didn’t want a share of the meat, Evelyn Ford still gave one of the bears to his family.

"We can’t accept this. We didn’t even help."

"You did help! You dragged a bear back."

Hearing Quincy say that, Fred felt a little ashamed. He had really just wanted them to use their weapons to solve his problem. He never expected to get a whole bear out of it, especially since his family had initially been reluctant to let them stay in the village.

"We’ll take half, then. A whole one is really too much."

"How about this: you take half back home, and we’ll cook the rest. Everyone can come over for meat tonight."

When Taylor Vance said that, both Fred and Kurt Rowe agreed.

The bears were quickly butchered. Evelyn Ford collected all the guns. The trip had cost them nine bullets in total.

"What breed of sheep are these? I don’t think I’ve ever seen them before."

"They’re argali."

"They’re as sturdy as oxen. They must eat a lot of feed every day, right?"

"Yes, they have huge appetites."

The sound of meat being chopped was already coming from the courtyard. Fred Rowe came over, carrying a jug of baijiu. Both families had children, and perhaps because it had been a long time since things were so lively, Evelyn Ford even found the sound of the kids playing to be particularly pleasant.

"Brother, your marksmanship is incredible. Were you in the army?" During the meal, Fred Rowe toasted Ronan Kendrick.

Ronan Kendrick remembered the identity Evelyn Ford had fabricated for him: a retired soldier.

"Yes."

"What a coincidence, so was I. I was stationed in Serena before. I had just retired and come home when the apocalypse hit. Where were you stationed?"

Ronan Kendrick blinked. "I was in Frelia."

This was also part of the story Evelyn had made up for him.

"That’s a long way from my post. There’s still game in the mountains. Let’s go hunting again tomorrow. You all can stay for a while longer, wait for the temperature to rise a bit before leaving. Once it gets warmer, our whole family is thinking of heading to the Northwest, too."

Ronan Kendrick didn’t say anything, so Taylor Vance quickly jumped in.

"We have to leave the day after tomorrow. But the temperature is indeed rising. I reckon it’ll be back to normal in about half a year. You were in Serena, huh? That’s a great place."

Donovan Irving nodded in emphatic agreement.

Fred Rowe sighed. "I’m just afraid some other disaster will happen. These cataclysms keep coming one after another, with no time to even catch your breath."

Learning that Ronan Kendrick was leaving the day after tomorrow, Fred suddenly felt a sense of regret that they hadn’t met sooner. He toasted Ronan twice more.

"There’s a county seat just a ten-minute drive down the road behind us. During the earthquake, the entire town collapsed. Our village was shaken badly, but only a few houses fell. That town had two hundred thousand people... all gone."

After the older man finished speaking, everyone fell silent.

"How tragic."

’The thing I fear most is earthquakes,’ Evelyn thought. ’You can hide from other disasters, but how do you hide from an earthquake?’

"I wonder how things are outside. Maybe the south is a little better off."

Taylor Vance gave a bitter smile. "The south... is just as tragic."

After the Rowe family left, everyone else returned to their vehicles to get some rest.

Evelyn Ford took out her thermometer. It was negative fifty-seven degrees.

Ronan Kendrick had drunk a little, and his cheeks were slightly flushed. He didn’t speak, just stared at Evelyn.

"Drunk?"

"A little."

Evelyn Ford took out a lemon, planning to make him a soup to sober him up.

"Evelyn, you’ve gotten fat."

Evelyn... ’He might as well drink himself to death.’