Chapter 392: Chapter 392: Coexistence
"Wyatt, you’re my sister. Did you expect me to just stand by and watch you get into trouble because of this burden?" Miles Vaughn’s hands were shaking. If Wyatt hadn’t managed to run out of the cabin in time, he would never have been able to forgive himself.
"I’m sorry, brother."
Wyatt Vaughn tightly gripped Miles Vaughn’s hand. They were brother and sister. With their parents gone, they were the only blood relatives they had left in the world. They couldn’t afford to lose each other.
Quincy patted Miles Vaughn’s shoulder and whispered, "I’m sorry." Miles took a long time to calm down. Once his emotions had stabilized, he took a deep breath and slapped himself across the face.
"Brother!"
His slap didn’t just startle Wyatt Vaughn; it startled everyone.
Miles Vaughn’s eyes were bloodshot. He fell silent, regretting that he had shouted at Wyatt, and that he couldn’t bring himself to accept a child.
The atmosphere inside the tent was oppressive. Everyone lowered their heads and stopped talking. Taylor Vance took the kettle off the fire. A spark from the embers popped with a SIZZLE, landing on Taylor’s damp pant leg.
"Everyone, have some water first. Is anyone hurt?" Evelyn Ford broke the deadlock, starting to check on everyone.
"No one’s hurt. Paul Pence and Austin Moss bumped into each other while running and both took a fall. Ma’am, has the earthquake stopped?"
Evelyn Ford shook her head. "I can’t say for sure. A few of you, come over and start making food. Chet Lawrence, take two people and go gather some firewood. Quincy, you and Mr. Graham go secure the tents again."
Evelyn Ford went over to Miles and Wyatt Vaughn, calling them to a corner. Zoe saw that Wyatt was no longer crying and was even grinning.
"Miles, I completely understand how you feel."
Miles Vaughn turned his head to look at Evelyn Ford. "Really?"
"Really. Considering our environment and our situation, raising a child is definitely not easy, especially in a world like this. We never know what will happen next. You’re angry because you’re worried Wyatt will be dragged down by this child. If I were you, I’d be angry too."
Evelyn Ford looked at Wyatt. "Of course, I understand you too, Wyatt. Everyone’s capacity to endure hardship is different, so everyone’s moral compass is different too. She saw a child abandoned in the snow. If she hadn’t helped, that child would have frozen to death. If she had ignored it, she might have spent the rest of her life plagued by guilt, or even regret."
"Miles, you’re actually underestimating Wyatt. In terms of physical fitness, she’s on par with any man. She’s very strong. I still remember back at the safe zone, she even caught a wild boar."
"But all her energy is focused on this child now. A child isn’t an animal; they don’t grow up in a year or two. It’s a very long process."
Evelyn Ford nodded. "Of course. When the apocalypse started, Wendy was only two and a half. I watched her grow up bit by bit, so I know exactly what you’re anxious about."
"Evelyn, I know what you mean. I’m not blaming Wyatt, and I’m not blaming Quincy. I just hate that fate won’t give us a break. I also hate Zoe’s mother. If she hadn’t died, no one would have to raise this child for her. But she was innocent too. I have no reason to hate her."
Evelyn Ford shook her head. "I just wanted you two to open up and have a proper talk. Wyatt, you shouldn’t feel burdened either. You have us. Besides, Quincy is very worried about you too."
The two of them nodded. Evelyn Ford gently touched Zoe’s little face. "She’s pretty infuriating when she cries, but look how cute she is now."
—
The night was hard on everyone. The ground shook every ten minutes or so. Gradually, everyone got used to it. The rain also started to let up. After dinner, everyone gathered around the fire. A bolt of lightning streaked across the sky, followed by a deafening clap of thunder.
Officer Graham brought over two buckets of sweet potatoes, and everyone started roasting them to pass the time.
Fierce winds battered the tents. Ronan Kendrick sat next to Evelyn Ford, holding a pair of tongs and intently staring at the sweet potatoes in the fire.
Rainwater pooled into streams and seeped in from outside, forcing them to block the gaps with planks and stones.
"I’m so sleepy," Wendy yawned, but she didn’t dare to sleep, trying hard to keep her eyes open.
The earthquakes didn’t stop the entire night, though the tremors were all between magnitude two and four.
「At six in the morning, the rain finally stopped.」 The rooster in the coop began to crow. Evelyn Ford stepped out of the tent into a thick fog. The sky was still gray, and a few stray raindrops would fall occasionally.
The nearby cabins, except for the two that Evelyn’s and Taylor Vance’s groups were living in, had all collapsed to varying degrees.
Officer Graham had taken some people to feed the livestock. Evelyn Ford took a walk around the front of the cabins.
"From last night until five minutes ago, there have been a total of two hundred and sixty-three earthquakes," Ronan Kendrick said quietly, standing beside her.
"That many?" Evelyn Ford patted her cheeks. "I hate earthquakes."
Ronan Kendrick nodded. "Me too."
"I’m at a complete loss right now. I don’t even know if there’s any point in rebuilding." Whenever Evelyn Ford looked back, she could see the fearful and nervous eyes of the workers.
More than Evelyn’s worries about rebuilding the houses, they were terrified of being driven away or abandoned. That’s why they scrambled to do work, and no one even dared to make a sound while eating.
They were like kittens or puppies that had been abandoned many times before, growing anxious with every new misfortune.
Only two cabins remained. It would be a tight squeeze, but they were enough to live in. However, the cabin Evelyn and Ronan Kendrick lived in was very small, only a few hundred square feet.
"We’re not rebuilding. We’ll arrange for some people to move into Mr. Vance’s cabin. Men and women separate, sleeping directly on the floor." Sleeping on the floor in front of the heated brick bed wasn’t actually cold, and there was also a fireplace. A house of over a thousand square feet could fit quite a few people.
"As for our place, we’ll have Mr. Graham and Wendy, and Quincy and Wyatt Vaughn move in. We can partition the living room for them."
Evelyn Ford looked at Ronan Kendrick. "What do you think?"
The temperature was too low now, and with the frequent earthquakes and rain, rebuilding the houses would indeed be very difficult.
Ronan Kendrick had no objections.
"The kitchen area can house a few more people. No one should stay in the cellar; it’s dangerous. We also need to move the things out of there."
The kitchen was in the back, connected to the water house. Both the water house and the kitchen had half-collapsed, but they could still be propped up to shelter people.
Just as Evelyn Ford was making these plans, the ground suddenly shook beneath her feet. If Ronan Kendrick hadn’t suddenly grabbed her, she would have definitely fallen to the ground.
With a CREAK, a pillar from the cabin next to them fell.
"That makes two hundred and sixty-four," Ronan Kendrick said grimly.
Evelyn Ford was still a little shaken, but upon hearing this, she couldn’t help but laugh.
"We’re like cockroaches that you can’t kill."
Back in the tent, Evelyn Ford explained her plan to everyone. "Later, everyone go find everything inside the cabins, especially clothes and blankets."
The building with the screening room was tilting badly, but it hadn’t completely collapsed yet. The things inside needed to be salvaged too.
"The large shed for the warehouse collapsed too."
Evelyn Ford nodded. "That one’s fine. We park the trucks there; they won’t get crushed. Let’s focus on salvaging things from the cabins first."
