Magic Space: Struggling to Survive in the Apocalypse-Chapter 47: High Temperature, Searching for Supplies 2

After returning home, Evelyn Ford took out two safes. She was completely clueless about cracking passwords, so she had to resort to tools, prying the boxes open with a wrench and a screwdriver.

Half an hour later, Evelyn Ford stared at the two open boxes, her feelings indescribable. ’So, do all rich people like to hide gold bars at home?’

Evelyn Ford picked up a gold bar. It was engraved with a serial number and the insignia of some bank.

After admiring it for a moment, Evelyn Ford stored both safes in her space. To be honest, it wasn’t what she had expected. A safe from a pharmaceutical company; she’d thought she might find guns, ammunition, or some special miracle drugs.

It was such a coincidence that both safes were filled with gold bars. Although Evelyn Ford was pleased, she had no idea if she’d ever get the chance to use this stuff.

’Oh well, I’ll just keep them. They can be my burial goods when I die.’

The temperature continued to rise, but Evelyn Ford still went out for two or three hours every day. She had pretty much scoured Prosperity Gardens clean, so she had to try her luck in neighborhoods farther away.

Despite the high temperatures, quite a few people were out looking for supplies. Evelyn Ford changed into her rattiest sun-protective jacket and carried a tattered burlap sack. ’In ancient times,’ she thought, ’at this rate, I could probably even become the leader of the Beggars’ Sect.’

Up ahead, a little girl was lying on the ground. Some people saw her and rushed forward to check, while others simply averted their gaze and walked away.

"Don’t go over there. It’s a trap."

Officer Graham walked over, carrying a burlap sack. Wendy was on his back. He was holding a broken umbrella, but it was useless. The weather was so hot that Wendy seemed listless.

"The child is bait?"

Officer Graham nodded. "I ran into something like this before when I was out looking for supplies. There’s usually a gang behind the kid. They lure people into an alley and abduct them. You can guess what happens next without me having to spell it out."

It seemed the last time Officer Graham went out for supplies and came back covered in injuries, it was because he had fallen for this kind of trap. As for Evelyn Ford, she wasn’t so easily fooled or taken advantage of. She didn’t possess much empathy or kindness; the thought of going over hadn’t even crossed her mind. In contrast, it was good people like Officer Graham, with justice ingrained in their very being, who were most susceptible to deception and moral blackmail.

The two of them went to a high-end residential complex nearby. There were many people looking for supplies there, and a fight had already broken out over a pack of dried tofu.

"Let’s go to the old neighborhood next to this one. There are too many people here; we won’t be able to get in."

Officer Graham agreed. Wendy, perched on his back, peeked at Evelyn Ford. When Evelyn Ford noticed, the little girl shyly turned her head away.

Evelyn Ford reached out and touched the girl’s fingertips. Wendy grinned, revealing a row of tiny, rice-like teeth.

This area was on higher ground, so the floodwaters had only reached the fifth floor. Evelyn Ford and Officer Graham’s father-daughter pair split up, heading into different buildings.

Since the number of people out scavenging had increased, Evelyn Ford took precautions. She strapped the short-handled Imperial Blade to the small of her back, hoping to intimidate anyone with ill intentions and avoid the trouble that would come from actually having to use it.

She had just entered the building when two men started following her. Evelyn Ford ignored them and meticulously scoured each floor, one by one.

Arriving at Apartment 701, Evelyn Ford pushed on the door and found it locked. Assuming there were survivors inside, she went to the apartment next door. After searching it and stepping out onto the balcony, Evelyn Ford saw a skeleton on the balcony of 701. A thought struck her, and she turned back.

Evelyn Ford’s lock-picking skills were already very polished. She had the door open in less than five seconds. Once inside, she shut the door behind her. On the floor, a snake’s corpse had decayed into a pile of black, rotten flesh. White maggots writhed within the putrid meat, and a swarm of red-headed blowflies were BUZZING above it.

Other than the skeleton on the balcony, there were no other human remains in the apartment. The owner must have died during the torrential rains. The rice bin in the kitchen was still full, the potatoes had sprouted and grown tall, and the other vegetables had all rotted. Evelyn Ford also found two packs of luosifen and two bundles of rice noodles. On the spice rack, there were a few bags of salt and a jar of dried chili peppers.

As she was busy gathering supplies, she heard some noises from outside. Evelyn Ford’s gaze turned cold, and she quickened her pace.

She found a lot of supplies in this apartment. Before leaving, Evelyn Ford moved the skeleton from the balcony into the bedroom.

She threw the door open and kicked the man eavesdropping outside, sending him flying. Evelyn Ford recognized them as the two men who had followed her upstairs. She gripped her Imperial Blade, but just as she was about to strike, the other man, who had dodged aside, took off his burlap sack and rope. The first man scrambled to his feet, pulling out a hidden knife in an attempt to block Evelyn Ford.

Evelyn Ford drew the short-handled Imperial Blade. Neither side made the first move.

"So it really is a woman."

The man with the knife flexed his wrist and suddenly lunged at Evelyn Ford. As he charged, she dodged to the side and smoothly plunged the Imperial Blade into his back.

"AHH..." he screamed. Evelyn Ford tried to pull out the Imperial Blade, but to her surprise, the blade was stuck between his bones.

Evelyn Ford caught an unusual, putrid stench from both men. Their faces were contorted, their mouths and eyes twisted, their bodies twitched frequently, and their skin tone was unnatural.

Evelyn Ford narrowed her eyes. Without hesitation, she took out her crossbow and fired. The man, struck by the crossbow arrow, fell to the ground, twitched a few times, and died. Evelyn Ford then aimed the crossbow at the other man. He was still reeling in shock at the crossbow that had appeared in her hands out of thin air when an arrow pierced his throat.

The two showed signs of prion disease and mad cow disease—illnesses one was highly likely to contract after consuming their own kind.

Evelyn Ford was spattered with some blood. She suppressed the urge to gag, retrieved her crossbow arrows, and left the building, blade and burlap sack in hand.

On the way back, Evelyn Ford encountered many other people. Seeing the bloodstains on her, they were all frightened and quickly ran off.

The first thing Evelyn Ford did when she got home was take off her sun-protective jacket and throw it in the trash. Her blade and crossbow arrows needed to be disinfected, and she needed to take a shower and disinfect herself immediately.

After she had washed up, Evelyn Ford’s short hair was still dripping. Her small, bare face was delicate and radiant. Beneath her slip dress, her figure was curvy and well-proportioned, her exposed calves slender and long. Looking at her reflection in the mirror, Evelyn Ford sighed with lingering fear. ’It’s truly dangerous everywhere outside.’

Thinking of the two men from earlier, Evelyn Ford’s expression turned cold.

Prion disease, mad cow disease... these illnesses, whose very names sent a chill down one’s spine, had now appeared right in front of her. Remembering the blood that had spattered her jacket, Evelyn Ford rushed to the trash can, took out a lighter, and burned the clothes inside.

The next day, the temperature reached 48°C. It was too hot to go outside anymore. Evelyn Ford looked at the blindingly white sky and moved her flowerpots from the balcony back into the living room.

Officer Graham reinstalled the security door downstairs. Lately, more and more robbers had been coming out at night. He had been enduring the high temperatures to search for all kinds of supplies, only stopping when Wendy fell ill with heatstroke.

Down below, some wood that had been washed in by the flood suddenly self-combusted. This sort of thing was happening almost every day.

Evelyn Ford once again entered hermit mode.