Magic Space: Struggling to Survive in the Apocalypse-Chapter 63: High Temperature, Refugees 1

When Evelyn Ford got home, she stored the refrigerator, cupboards, pots, pans, dishes, cutlery, and all sorts of seasonings from the kitchen into her space.

She left only a few essential daily necessities in the house. She had removed two of the three doors; they were custom-made from the best materials, and she had to take them with her if she were to leave.

At ten o’clock that night, Evelyn Ford, Officer Graham, and Quincy left Prosperity Gardens on schedule and headed for the auto repair shop behind the complex.

Evelyn was quite familiar with this shop. Before the apocalypse, her father’s car had gotten into a fender bender, and she had taken it there for repairs. The shop was on higher ground, so the floodwaters would probably only reach the second floor.

The three of them walked quickly, reaching the repair shop in half an hour. But the place had been washed out by the flood. Staring at the ruins before them, the trio fell silent.

"There’s a smaller building next to it. Let’s go check it out."

Officer Graham took the lead, shovel in hand. When he reached the small building and saw the door blocked by branches, glass, and steel rebar washed in by the flood, he didn’t hesitate. He swung the shovel and got to work.

Evelyn and Quincy quickly went over to help. After the three of them cleared the debris blocking the entrance, Evelyn took out her lock-picking tools and opened the door.

Inside, the first thing they saw was a complete mess. In a room on the third floor, they found several skeletons, and the ground was littered with shed snakeskins.

In a storage room on the fourth floor, the three found a few tires, along with some tools and gasoline.

After confirming the tire size, they moved everything downstairs. Before leaving, Evelyn took a piece of cloth and covered the skeletons in the room.

It took the three of them two trips to move everything. Back home, Evelyn immediately chugged a bottle of water to quench her thirst. When she took off her clothes, she could have swept up a couple of pounds of dirt from the floor.

With spare tires secured, their confidence in being able to leave grew.

But a few days later, a late-night incident shattered the tranquility of Prosperity Gardens.

A large number of refugees suddenly flooded into Corinth. They spoke in dialects from other regions and began moving into various residential complexes to live and search for supplies.

That day, Quincy and Officer Graham went out to dig for wild vegetables. They blended in with the newcomers and managed to gather some information.

"They’re refugees from Harrowdale, Newcross County, and Stonelight City. They heard that Wyrmrest Base is accepting survivors, so they’re heading there."

Everyone knew of these three places. Harrowdale and Newcross County were over a hundred kilometers away. Stonelight City was farther, a prefecture-level city about three hundred kilometers from Corinth.

A lot of people had come this time. Several buildings in Prosperity Gardens were now occupied by a large number of them.

"Feels like there are thousands, maybe even ten thousand of them. I asked one of the guys today, and he said there are a lot more people still on the way."

Everyone gathered at Officer Graham’s apartment, their faces grim, to discuss how to handle the situation. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

"A few of them saw us when they came in today. I’m worried they’ll team up and try to rob us." Even Quincy had become uncharacteristically serious.

"I have a little bit of leftover poison—a concoction made from toxic moths and toad glands. I’ll bring it over for everyone later. We should coat our self-defense knives with it. The security door downstairs is safe, but I’m worried they’ll climb up the building to get in."

"Now that these people are here, all the wild vegetables and giant rats outside will be gone." Roy Henderson sounded dejected.

"Norcast is almost completely burned down. Right now, our district is the only relatively safe place, so it’s normal for them to flood in here. Nobody should go out for the next couple of days. Let’s just observe the situation for now."

Everyone was deeply worried, and Evelyn Ford was no exception. These refugees showed no sign of leaving for Wyrmrest Base anytime soon. It was manageable during the day, but at night, they came out in droves to look for wild vegetables and giant rats, fighting and wailing in the complex over a single plant.

Some even stood downstairs, begging the residents of Building D for a little food. When they were ignored, they started throwing rocks at the windows.

The bombs Officer Graham had made were very simple. They had little destructive power, but they had one advantage: they produced a lot of smoke and a loud noise. Due to a lack of materials, he had only made five. They couldn’t be used except in a critical emergency.

Evelyn began storing the bed, cabinet, air conditioner, and outdoor AC unit from her bedroom into her space. She left only a folding bed, a fan, and a storage battery in the living room.

To make herself look as wretched as possible, she hadn’t washed her hair or face in a long time. She dug out her dirtiest, most tattered clothes to change into whenever she went out. It wasn’t enough to wear a mask over her head; she also wrapped a filthy scarf over the mask.

There were few elderly people or children among the refugees; most were young men and women. By the third day, some had gathered downstairs with torches, threatening the residents of Building D to hand over all their food.

Evelyn stood in the fourth-floor stairwell, holding her crossbow. Her aim was better from this position.

"Listen up, people inside! You have three minutes to bring down everything edible! Otherwise, I’ll burn this building to the ground and you with it!"

Evelyn and the others exchanged glances, their faces a mixture of anger and fear.

Evelyn took out a lighter and flicked it at the arrowhead. The tip immediately caught fire.

"I’ve coated it with poison and gasoline. At a time like this, we just need to make an example of one to warn the others."

As soon as Evelyn finished speaking, the crossbow arrow shot out like a gale, pierced straight through the chest of the man holding the torch, and finally embedded itself in the sandy soil behind him.

The man fell down, stiff as a board. The people next to him were terrified by this sudden turn of events and scattered in every direction.

"Anyone who isn’t afraid to die, come on up! I haven’t had meat in a long time, and I’m not one to turn down a free meal!" Officer Graham bellowed. The people downstairs were so frightened they started begging for mercy.

A fire suddenly erupted from the chest of the man Evelyn had shot. Soon, he was consumed by the flames.

Evelyn had thoroughly intimidated the provocateurs. She’d kill one if one came, and kill a pair if two came. Her demeanor was like that of a god of slaughter, so much so that even Officer Graham and Quincy, standing behind her, felt a tremor of fear.

Meanwhile, the fleeing crowd below caught the scent of roasting meat from the fire. Their eyes gleamed with a feral light as they rushed forward like madmen.

"Are they... going to eat him?" Owen Chapman’s eyes widened, and he stumbled back two steps in terror.

Evelyn glanced down. In the darkness, the savage faces of the people fighting over the "food" were starkly clear to her. They seemed to have forgotten that this man was once their companion.

’Hunger brings out the beast in people.’

Evelyn had originally planned to retrieve the crossbow arrow from downstairs, but now, all she wanted was to escape this place.

She quickly returned upstairs. The others took one last look outside and hurried after her.

"Evelyn’s not... crying from fear, is she?" Quincy was a little worried about her condition.

"She killed that provocateur with her own hands, then watched him get devoured by his own companions. She’s definitely not feeling good about it, but she won’t cry. She’s not that fragile." Officer Graham clapped Quincy on the shoulder.