Chapter 351: Chapter 351: Farm Daily Life 23
Since Evelyn Ford was going to Tarr City, Ronan Kendrick was naturally going with her.
But before they left, she wanted to find out a few things, so she called the boy into the cabin to talk with him alone.
"What’s your name?"
The boy looked at Evelyn Ford and asked softly, "Were you the one who had that man give me the food?"
"Yes. I want to know about the situation in Tarr City. Can you tell me everything you know?"
"I can. Ask away."
"When were you driven out?"
"About a month ago, I think. I remember a lot of people came that day. They said Tarr City had too many people and that some of us had to leave. None of us wanted to go, but everyone who resisted was taken away. Looking back, we should have just gone to the mines. I heard they provide food and shelter there."
"From what I know, there’s an age limit for the mines. Only men and women between fourteen and fifty-five are allowed to work there."
The boy stared blankly for a moment after Evelyn spoke.
"So we’re just supposed to starve to death?" The boy let out a bleak laugh.
"If I’d known living was this miserable, I never should have been born. It would have been better to die at birth and avoid all this suffering."
Evelyn fell silent for a moment. ’Most children are born into a world of hope and well wishes. Who could have imagined this before the apocalypse? The parents who wanted to give their children the best of everything... how could they have known the world would turn into this?’
"My name is Ian Yates. What’s yours?"
"My name is Evelyn Ford."
"Did they say who gave the order? What did the people who drove you out look like? Men? Women? Does it snow heavily in Tarr City? How’s the temperature compared to here?" Evelyn fired off a series of questions, and Ian Yates answered each one.
Once Evelyn had a general understanding of the situation, a few theories began to form in her mind.
"I’ll have Mr. Graham arrange a room for you. Stay here for now. I have to be away for a while. You can leave after I get back."
Ian Yates looked up at Evelyn. "You’re going to Tarr City? I’ll go with you."
Evelyn smiled and refused. "I don’t bring dead weight."
"I’m not dead weight. I can help you. I remember their faces. I have a really good memory."
Evelyn still shook her head. "You’re too weak."
Clearly, Ian Yates was offended by Evelyn’s words. He glanced outside. "Are you going alone or with that man out there?"
"With him."
Ian Yates frowned. "He looks even weaker than I am."
Evelyn laughed. "Kid, do you have any idea what you’re saying?"
Officer Graham led Ian Yates away. Evelyn told Ronan Kendrick her plan. "There’s definitely something fishy going on. I want to go to Tarr City and see what really happened."
"Alright, I’ll go with you." Then, he asked about Ian Yates.
"Is it safe to leave him on the farm?"
"He’s just a kid. I think he was telling the truth."
Evelyn called the others over and told them she was leaving, though she didn’t specify her objective.
"Like last time, I expect we’ll be back in five days, but it could take longer. Don’t worry, and don’t come looking for us. I’m leaving the farm in the hands of Mr. Graham and Quincy."
Evelyn didn’t elaborate further; everyone knew what they needed to do.
"The roads will probably be difficult," someone commented.
Evelyn wasn’t worried about the roads. ’The base has to keep running, which means they have to transport supplies. The roads will definitely be kept clear.’
"We’re taking the truck, so it’ll be easy to blend in with a convoy. You all don’t need to worry about that. We’ll set out tomorrow morning."
"Should you take some cooked food? You’ll need a set of pots and pans, won’t you?" Aunt Crane offered to prepare some provisions, but Evelyn declined.
"I’ve already prepared for that, so don’t worry about it. Ian Yates will be staying on the farm for now, so just keep an eye on him."
"Ian Yates is the boy’s name?"
"That’s him."
—
Back in the cabin, the sight of Lola gave Evelyn a sudden idea: she would bring the two birds with them tomorrow. Mina and Blackie would be temporarily left with Quincy. Unaware that Evelyn was leaving again, Mina was sleeping soundly in its bed without a care in the world.
Before bed, the two entered the space to continue harvesting wheat. Ronan Kendrick cleaned the chicken coop, a look on his face as if he had lost the will to live.
"If we bring all the other livestock in here, my life will be over."
Evelyn couldn’t agree more. "If only the waste could decompose automatically. Cleaning every day takes half an hour. It’s so tiring. After we finish this harvest, let’s let the fields lie fallow for a while. The crops growing this fast is its own kind of hassle."
Unfortunately, the space had no automatic harvesting function, so the two of them had to do it all by hand.
Ronan Kendrick suddenly hugged her, whining playfully, "If only our physical bodies could enter the space, we could just live in here. It wouldn’t matter what happened to the outside world."
"Ronan, are you tired?"
"I’m not tired."
Evelyn reached out and ruffled his hair. "Liar."
「The next morning」
The truck was clean and fully fueled. After saying their goodbyes, the two of them left the farm once more.
Lola and Red Bird were huddled in a corner, sleeping. As the truck passed through Fairgate, they could faintly hear the sound of a few suppressed coughs.
The road was clear, and they even saw other trucks carrying cargo pass them by.
"Every truck has three or four armed men inside. They’re probably afraid of refugees blocking the road to loot them, so they’ve hired guards." Evelyn took out a thermos, unscrewed the cap, and held it to Ronan’s lips for him to take the first sip.
As they passed a refugee camp, they saw almost no one left alive. They had frozen to death, starved to death...
Some bodies were sprawled by the roadside. The cold kept them from decomposing; they looked like logs of wood, frozen solid.
Evelyn and Ronan Kendrick entered the camp and saw more bodies. They came across a small child huddled over a corpse. When he saw them, his face went white with fear, and he bolted, disappearing in an instant. It reminded Evelyn of the stray cats in her neighborhood before the apocalypse—the same terrified eyes, the same bristling fur, the same trembling, furious hisses.
"Ronan, look over there." A nearby mud hut was filled with a pile of naked corpses. Tragically, even in death, they couldn’t keep the only clothes they owned.
"There are still a few people alive in that dilapidated hut over there."
After Ronan’s reminder, Evelyn didn’t get any closer. She took out some bran flour and had Ronan quietly leave it by the entrance before they left.
Back in the truck, Evelyn couldn’t calm her turbulent emotions for a long time.
"This is hell on earth."
And they would see many, many more scenes like this on the road ahead.
Some people were huddled by the side of the road, while others sat in their cars, laughing and joking as they used slingshots to shoot at the refugees.
Evelyn took out her gun and, without a moment’s hesitation, shot out all four tires of the car ahead. She sped off, leaving them shouting curses in her dust.
The closer they got to Tarr City, the fewer refugees they saw. All that was left were rows of mud huts the size of burial mounds—the shelters the refugees had built for themselves.
"There are quite a few cargo trucks. It looks like Tarr City’s demand for supplies is huge... or are they hoarding them?"
