Chapter 362: Chapter 362: Animal Mutation 3
Evelyn Ford coughed. "Don’t get any funny ideas. I’ve never tried it. When I was a kid, we’d go out to the countryside, and you could catch grasshoppers in the cornfields. The moment you picked one up, it would spit, and the stuff looked just like soy sauce. My mom tricked me and said that’s what they used to make sodas. I was so grossed out I refused to drink any soda as a child. It wasn’t until I was a teenager that I found out she was lying."
Ronan Kendrick chuckled beside her, giving her a helpless look.
"Weren’t you supposed to be the smart one?"
"I don’t think I was very smart before I was six. My mom said I wasn’t speaking very fluently even at five or six, and I had a bit of a stutter. Anyway, a lot of my memories from before then are fuzzy. But after I started elementary school, it was like a switch flipped. I learned everything incredibly fast and won awards every single semester."
Ronan Kendrick watched her, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Did you ever have some kind of brain development training?"
"I don’t think so, but my parents were doctors. They probably taught me some memory techniques, which is why my memory is exceptionally good."
Remembering the wheat in the space still needed to be harvested, they tossed Mina and Lola inside before entering the space to get to work.
"Let’s plant another crop of rice. It feels like a waste to let the black soil sit empty, and given the situation outside, stockpiling more grain is always a good idea."
Ronan Kendrick had no objections, but first, he had to go clean the livestock area.
The Mammoth, the herd of horses, and the argali sheep were behaving themselves in the space. The Four Seasons Green seeds they had previously scattered in the livestock area had already grown knee-high. Evelyn Ford carried a few buckets of water over and poured them into the trough.
After several hours of work in the space, they emerged to find the sky completely dark. The number of cockroaches outside had multiplied severalfold, covering the ground in a dense, crawling mass.
"It feels like the sheer weight of them could crush the cabin. This is terrifying. They’re coming in an overwhelming tide."
Evelyn Ford now finally understood why the windows were boarded up. It wasn’t to stop mutated animals from breaking the glass, but more likely to keep people from being frightened to death by the sight outside.
The cockroaches swept over them like a tsunami, surrounding the land, the cabin, and the shed. Their sharp teeth gnawed at the wood, producing a sickening "CRUNCH, CRUNCH, CRUNCH" sound.
To stop the cockroaches from chewing through the cabin’s logs, Evelyn Ford pulled out several poison Smoke Bombs and handed them to Ronan Kendrick. The two worked in concert to drive the insects away. The moment Evelyn opened the door a crack, Ronan tossed a Smoke Bomb outside while Evelyn sprayed the cockroaches near the entrance with insecticide. The entire operation, from opening the door to closing it, took a mere three seconds.
The Smoke Bomb detonated instantly. It was incredibly powerful, and the toxic fumes immediately spread across the entire farm.
Evelyn Ford was reminded of the time she had to deal with poisonous moths all by herself back home in Corinth. Compared to these cockroaches, the moths were a complete joke.
The Smoke Bomb’s odor was incredibly acrid. It wasn’t the same type they had used at Tarr Base; this time, Evelyn Ford had added a significant amount of extra irritant toxins.
Evelyn Ford switched on her walkie-talkie and told the people in the other cabins to cover their noses and mouths with towels and to hold a slice of raw ginger in their mouths.
Three hours later, the effects of the Smoke Bomb began to fade, leaving behind a thick carpet of cockroach corpses on the ground.
A series of barks sounded from Quincy’s cabin next door. Just then, Evelyn Ford’s walkie-talkie crackled to life.
"Evelyn, Wyatt Vaughn and Joelle Finch both passed out! Are they going to be okay?"
"Hold some medicated balm under their noses. The Smoke Bombs aren’t harmful to people. Dizziness is a normal side effect."
After putting down the walkie-talkie, Evelyn Ford put on her protective suit and gas mask and went back to making more Smoke Bombs and insecticide.
Evelyn Ford no longer had the capacity to worry about the outside world. The residents of Tarr City and the base were likely safe, but what about the refugees who had been cast out?
’They might have already been devoured by the cockroaches.’
This wasn’t just one or two cockroaches. Their numbers were as incalculable as bacteria.
The thought of the dense carpet of cockroach corpses outside the cabin made Evelyn Ford feel nauseous. She popped a mint into her mouth, forced herself to focus, and continued mixing her concoctions.
Paul Pence’s voice crackled through Ronan Kendrick’s walkie-talkie, his tone fraught with tension and a hint of terror.
"The cockroaches are starting to burrow! How are things over there?"
"The cockroaches outside are chewing on the support pillars. I can hear crows, too. Everyone, keep your doors shut. You should have plant ash in your cabins. If the cockroaches burrow inside, pour the plant ash and charcoal on them."
"The sound of them chewing the pillars is so loud! It sounds like a person eating sugarcane. It’s horrifying."
"Everyone, stay calm. Just remember, do not go outside for any reason. If you get bitten by one of those things, you might turn into a zombie." The moment Drako said that, everyone grew even more terrified.
"I don’t want to be a zombie! Waaaah..." The easily frightened Aunt Crane had already burst into tears.
"Don’t be ridiculous," Quincy quickly interjected, trying to calm everyone down. "People won’t mutate. You’d be poisoned to death at worst. We have food and water in the cabins, so eat, drink, and get some sleep. Maybe by the time we wake up tomorrow, the cockroaches will all be gone."
"Where’s Miss Ford?"
"She’s making Smoke Bombs," Ronan Kendrick replied, his tone detached.
"Where did all these cockroaches come from all of a sudden? I wonder how the refugees outside are doing."
"By the way, do you think the cockroaches can get in through the chimneys?"
"They can’t. There’s a wire mesh over the top. These cockroaches are huge, the size of my palm. They won’t fit."
"Hey, what are you guys doing about a toilet?"
"We cleared out a room to use as a latrine. Just cover everything with plant ash. There’s no smell at all."
"Can I... uh... say something? I have diarrhea," Peter Owens chimed in. After he spoke, everyone on the line went silent.
"Maintain hygiene. Be careful not to breed germs and flies," Ronan Kendrick said before switching off his walkie-talkie.
「The next morning at eight o’clock」
Evelyn Ford emerged from the space and stripped off her protective suit, her forehead slick with sweat.
"I made another two hundred Smoke Bombs. We’ll start by deploying twenty of them."
Ronan Kendrick took the Smoke Bombs and noticed this batch was larger and had a much more potent smell.
Evelyn Ford gave a wry smile. "I added some extra toxins. Let me warn the others."
Evelyn Ford switched on the walkie-talkie. "This is Evelyn Ford. Does anyone copy?"
"Miss Ford! You’re finally on. What’s it like out there?"
"A lot of cockroaches. Also Eagles, crows, and other small birds... all mutated. The sun is still red. Ronan Kendrick is about to deploy the Smoke Bombs, so everyone mask up and cover your faces with wet towels."
"Roger."
"Roger."
...
Evelyn Ford went to the door, insecticide in hand, ready to deal with any cockroaches at the entrance. Ronan Kendrick tossed one Smoke Bomb out, then, wearing a protective suit and carrying a bag full of more bombs, he prepared to head outside. He had to deploy them in other areas of the farm, otherwise the greenhouses, the livestock area, and the water pump room would be completely overrun.
The moment Ronan Kendrick was out, Evelyn Ford slammed the door shut behind him.
After working through the night, Evelyn Ford was so exhausted she felt she could collapse at any moment. Her legs felt weak and unsteady as she walked.
「Twenty minutes later」
Ronan Kendrick returned.
"The Smoke Bombs kill them instantly on detonation, but there are just too many. I don’t think we can kill them all."
