Magic Space: Struggling to Survive in the Apocalypse-Chapter 34: The Rain Stops, Human Nature

Evelyn Ford walked over to Chuck Doyle and squatted down. She put on her gloves, pulled open his clothes, and upon seeing the large patches of rotting flesh on his body, she felt her stomach turn.

This was a classic case of pemphigus. Pemphigus is an autoimmune skin disease that tends to affect middle-aged and elderly people. When the body’s immune system goes haywire, it causes blisters and bullae to form on the skin, accompanied by erosion, seepage, infection, and pain or itching. Moreover, many patients also develop ulcerative erosions on their oral mucosa.

The slightest touch on the ulcerated areas caused unbearable pain. The body lost protein rapidly, leading to a drastic drop in weight over a short period.

Evelyn Ford pressed her lips together and said nothing. Without any medical equipment, any diagnosis she could make with her naked eye felt utterly powerless.

Nana Doyle said Chuck Doyle’s illness had started after the torrential rains. In just fifty days, there was hardly a patch of intact skin on his body, except for his face.

Evelyn Ford’s silence shattered the hopes of Nana Doyle and Mrs. Doyle. The two stood to the side, wiping away their tears. Evelyn first handed a tube of ointment to Nana, who had been kicked in the abdomen and kept sucking in sharp breaths of pain as she spoke.

Evelyn Ford explained Chuck Doyle’s condition to them. Her subtext was clear: he couldn’t be cured. Not only did they lack the means to treat him, but there was no longer any point in trying.

Mrs. Doyle couldn’t accept it. She threw herself onto Chuck Doyle’s body, wailing. Evelyn Ford quickly pulled her up.

"Even breathing causes pain to the ulcerated parts of his body. Are you trying to make him suffer more by throwing yourself on him?"

Yelled at so bluntly by Evelyn Ford, Mrs. Doyle was stunned. Then, she collapsed onto the floor, covering her face and sobbing.

Nana Doyle was much calmer. She stared blankly at Chuck Doyle, silent for a long time.

Evelyn had seen what she needed to see and said what she needed to say. As for what came next, she wasn’t getting involved, nor did she have any interest in doing so. She had just reached the door with her medical kit when Nana Doyle ran over, her expression pained.

"Is there any way to let him go peacefully? He’s in so much pain. He keeps crying out in pain. Dr. Ford, my father is a pillar of a man. He took two stabs for a child held hostage by a robber and didn’t even cry out once. I’ve never seen him cry before, never seen him kneel and beg anyone. The way he looked just now, so panicked and scared... the way he knelt and pleaded with those people not to drive us out... I can’t forget it. I’ll never forget it."

Nana Doyle was only fifteen this year, still in her third year of junior high. She hadn’t yet learned to hide her resentment. When she spoke of "those people," the ferocity in her eyes made Evelyn Ford see a reflection of herself.

"There’s no medicine for that. Your father won’t make it through the night. You should spend this time talking with him. The ointment is yours to keep."

That kick he had taken had hastened Chuck Doyle’s death.

Back home, Evelyn Ford had lost all desire to sleep. A light, drizzling rain was still falling outside the window. Even through the walls, she could smell the foul stench of the floodwaters. Evelyn turned on her emergency light and lay there with her eyes open all night.

The chilblains on her hands and feet had just scabbed over when new ones appeared. Perhaps from having not seen the sun in so long, her skin had become frighteningly pale.

Chuck Doyle stopped breathing at six in the morning. His body was carried to the rooftop by Nana Doyle and Mrs. Doyle. When the people from 1101 learned of his death, they caused a ruckus all day long, terrified that he had left behind a virus that would harm them. They clamored to have Nana and Mrs. Doyle driven out. It wasn’t until Officer Graham and Walter Owens from 801 stepped in to stop them that the matter subsided.

As for Nana Doyle and Mrs. Doyle, they were temporarily staying with Lauren Keller.

Her next-door neighbor, Leah Crane, came over again. This time, she wanted to buy prenatal medicine from Evelyn Ford. Although Evelyn didn’t know why she was suddenly willing to keep the child, her answer was the same: she had no medicine.

She didn’t want to get involved with anyone from the Collins family in the slightest. Leah Crane didn’t get angry; instead, she caressed her belly and looked at Evelyn Ford with a beaming smile.

"Jack Sullivan has become a fool. My father-in-law said that once I give birth to this child, I’ll be the great heroine of the Collins family. My husband will come back for me soon. When he returns and sees I’ve given him a son, he won’t fight with me anymore. He’ll definitely come back. I have to let him know I’m pregnant. I can have children. I’m not some barren hen." 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Evelyn Ford frowned as she looked at her. It was obvious that Leah Crane’s mental state had taken a turn for the worse.

It was as if she had come over just to show off. She muttered to herself for a while, and once she was done, she left.

Evelyn Ford returned home and pressed her temples, speechless.

Despite the cautionary tale of Officer Graham, many people still went out to salvage things. They all held onto a sliver of wishful thinking, believing the threadworms had bitten Officer Graham simply because he was unlucky.

That afternoon, several people in the building were bitten by threadworms. They were even unluckier than Officer Graham; they had more than one wound.

The unluckiest of all was Finn Lawrence from 1101. He was the man who had kicked Nana Doyle and Chuck Doyle. While everyone else was bitten on the calf, he was bitten in... an unmentionable place.

That... was something Evelyn Ford couldn’t treat.

It was the same old rule: treatment and salvation in exchange for supplies. In their hearts, these people were cursing all eighteen generations of Evelyn Ford’s ancestors, but to her face, they had to curry favor, bringing salvaged wood to her door and begging her for treatment in pleasant tones.

As for Finn Lawrence, Evelyn Ford’s advice was to cut the thing off. He might save his life if he did. Finn’s family looked as if they’d lost their own parents. Although amputation was cruel, compared to one’s life, that thing didn’t seem so important anymore.

Finn Lawrence was on the verge of a complete breakdown, crying and shouting for them not to cut off his manhood. But his wife was fast. With one slice of the knife, his dignity was gone, but his life was saved.

Lauren Keller later told Evelyn Ford that Finn Lawrence had cheated several times and refused to change his ways even after being caught. His wife had been in the middle of divorcing him when the cataclysm struck, so the matter was temporarily put on hold.

’No wonder Finn Lawrence’s wife was so clean and decisive,’ Evelyn Ford thought. ’I almost thought she worked in a slaughterhouse.’

Although Nana Doyle was very young, she had a remarkably tough character. Every time Evelyn Ford pulled open her curtains, she could see Nana downstairs, salvaging things. After Chuck Doyle’s death, Mrs. Doyle had fallen ill. The loss of her father and the reality of living under someone else’s roof forced Nana to grow up quickly.

「May 27th. The rain stopped.」

The dreary, gray sky slowly faded, revealing slivers of light. But because of the deadly toxic sun from before, no one dared to step outside.

To celebrate the end of the rain, Evelyn Ford decided to make dry pot chicken for dinner.

She took out her alcohol stove, placed a solid alcohol fuel block inside, and lit it. She set a wok on the stove, and once it was hot, she threw in all the base ingredients.

Her phone was playing music. Evelyn Ford wore her headphones, humming along to a song as she stir-fried the ingredients.

Evelyn Ford loved spicy food, so she added a lot of chili peppers. When the chicken and potatoes were almost simmered through, she added cabbage and onions. Finally, she sprinkled sesame seeds and cilantro on top. It was divine.

The torrential rains that had lasted for two months were finally ending, and everyone was praying for the floodwaters to recede quickly. The people on the eleventh floor had started setting up an altar table in the hallway again, complete with an incense burner holding three lit sticks of incense.

The one who believed in God was dead. Now, the ones who believed in Ghost Gods had started up again.