Magic Space: Struggling to Survive in the Apocalypse-Chapter 51: High Temperature, Vultures 3

Officer Graham and the other two returned at 2:30 AM. Half-asleep, Evelyn Ford heard their footsteps coming up the stairs.

However, half an hour later, a helicopter flew over the residential complex. The deafening roar woke Evelyn Ford, and she shot out of bed. Ignoring the pain in the soles of her feet, she ran straight to the balcony to see what was happening.

[ATTENTION, SURVIVORS! ATTENTION, SURVIVORS! ATTENTION, SURVIVORS!

THE GOVERNMENT HAS ESTABLISHED A SURVIVOR BASE IN WYRMREST, THIRTY KILOMETERS SOUTHEAST OF CORINTH. THE BASE IS GUARDED BY THE MILITARY AND CAN ACCOMMODATE ONE MILLION PEOPLE. ALL SURVIVORS, PLEASE PROCEED TO WYRMREST BASE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. ALL SURVIVORS, PLEASE PROCEED TO WYRMREST BASE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.]

The message repeated three times, and Evelyn Ford heard it clearly. The helicopter was flying slowly, with several speakers suspended below it broadcasting the message in a loop. This was the first time in over four months that she had seen any sign of the government.

Evelyn Ford watched the helicopter fly on to the next area. For the people of this country, a strong sense of reliance on and trust in the government was ingrained in their very bones. Even though she hadn’t chosen to go to the base, she still felt an indescribable excitement.

The government hadn’t abandoned anyone.

The helicopter broadcasts continued for three days. After that, the skies fell silent again.

This time, the mobilization was remarkably effective. Officer Graham and the other two went out to scavenge every night. For the first two nights, they would still run into a few people, but in the following days, the entire city seemed to empty out.

Perhaps some people were still hiding in a corner of some building, just like Evelyn Ford, but the vast majority had already left for Wyrmrest Base under the cover of night.

When the temperature rose to fifty-one degrees, the number of vultures outside increased.

Officer Graham had found some magnets and wooden boards and made three hand-cranked fans. He gave one to Evelyn Ford and one for Roy Henderson and Owen Chapman. Evelyn Ford gave him three cans of food and two compressed biscuits in return.

The five of them in the building coexisted harmoniously. Time flew by, and soon it was early September.

A few days ago, Officer Graham and the other two had brought back a bag of beans from a supply run. After they divided it amongst themselves, they gave the remainder to Evelyn Ford. She weighed it—two pounds. Two pounds of beans was no small amount. In an apocalypse where supplies were dwindling, even a single dry biscuit was precious.

Evelyn Ford was never one to take advantage of others, so she immediately gifted them a few pounds of soil in return and taught the three of them how to use it to grow bean sprouts. For the next few days, Officer Graham’s group didn’t leave the building. They spent hours every day squatting in front of the plastic tubs, staring intently and waiting for the sprouts to emerge.

The buildings in Caelan Manor had been picked clean after being thoroughly scavenged by Evelyn Ford and Officer Graham’s group.

Everyone’s supply stocks had grown, but no one dared to eat too much. Water, in particular, was so scarce that every sip had to be carefully calculated.

Starting in September, Evelyn Ford noticed some people appearing in Corinth.

They appeared to be teams sent from the base to look for supplies. They were searching complexes one by one, going door to door, and any supplies they found were airlifted out by helicopter.

After Evelyn Ford told Officer Graham about it, she, Roy Henderson, and Owen Chapman went to Officer Graham’s apartment that evening to discuss a plan.

"Ford, where did you see them?"

"The night before last, I was on the overpass and saw them searching the nearby Sky River Mall. Last night, they were at The Crimson Hotel. Their team had ten people: eight searching for supplies and two standing guard. Every one of them was carrying a gun and a knife."

As Evelyn Ford spoke, she casually tied up Wendy’s messy hair.

"Were the teams you saw on both nights different?" Roy Henderson asked.

"Yes. From the looks of them, they’re most likely soldiers."

Officer Graham let out a sigh of relief. "Then we don’t need to worry. If they’re soldiers, they won’t give us any trouble."

"My advice is that we don’t go out at all for a while. Our complex has old buildings, so maybe they won’t come in to search. But if they find survivors here, not only will we be taken to the base, but our supplies will likely be confiscated."

Just as she’d expected, her words sent Officer Graham and the other two into a panic.

"That’s not an option! If they confiscate our supplies, what will we eat?"

"I’m not going to the base. I’d rather die here. The base is huge, with so many people. There are bound to be all sorts. I don’t want to go there just to get pushed around."

"In this situation, does the base even have any food?"

When it came to food, however, Evelyn Ford was quite optimistic.

"Every city has grain reserve warehouses. During the torrential rains, the military would have taken control and moved those reserves. Although there were some losses, there should be enough to last a few years. The most critical issue right now is water. But besides taking in survivors, the government’s other goal in mobilizing people to the base is likely to have them build it up—digging wells for water and establishing experimental indoor greenhouses to grow fruits and vegetables."

The three of them had a sudden realization.

"In this heat, being forced to build the base... can the human body even take it?" Roy Henderson asked, picking at his fingers, his face etched with fear.

Everyone fell silent. In the end, Officer Graham made the final decision: for the next half-month, everyone would stay indoors. No fires, no loud noises, and it would be best to stay off the balconies entirely.

Evelyn Ford returned to her apartment and collapsed onto the sofa, staring blankly into space.

She unwrapped a piece of candy and popped it into her mouth. As the sweetness filled her senses, all her frustrations melted away in that instant.

On the third night, the search party passed by Prosperity Gardens. Perhaps because the complex was too rundown, they didn’t come inside.

Evelyn Ford thought the crisis had been averted, but she didn’t expect that later that night, two men with flashlights would sneak into the complex.

After observing from her balcony for half an hour, she saw them go to Building E next door. Perhaps because everything inside had already been scavenged, the two men left quickly.

Her palm, gripping the crossbow, grew sweaty. Only after their figures disappeared from the complex entrance did she push herself up on her numb legs.

For the next two weeks, everyone except Wendy was on high alert, their nerves stretched taut.

It was only when there were no more signs of people outside—and swarms of vultures appeared instead—that everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Compared to those well-trained teams, even the vultures seemed less terrifying.

The teams had guns and numbers. Evelyn Ford had no desire to encounter them, and she would do anything to avoid it.

After half a month of not eating or sleeping well, with the threat now gone, Evelyn Ford slept soundly for two days without a care in the world.

On the third day, Roy Henderson came knocking. When Evelyn Ford saw the half-dead vulture behind him, she thought she was seeing things.

"Miss Ford, can we eat this bird?"

Evelyn Ford was speechless.

"I don’t know if it’s edible. I’m more curious about how you managed to get it into this state."

Roy Henderson chuckled.

"Owen and I were heading out to check the situation. Just as we got downstairs, this vulture was fighting a bigger one. They wore each other out, and we just swooped in and reaped the rewards."

Evelyn Ford raised an eyebrow. "So there were two of them?"

"Miss Ford, I’ve got the other one here!"

Downstairs, Owen Chapman was struggling to haul another vulture up the stairs.