Chapter 418: Chapter 418: The Downpour Strikes Again 4
Officer Graham and Quincy took a few people behind the cabin. After some discussion, they decided to build a simple squat toilet over the drainage ditch. The rain was coming down harder and harder, and the runoff on the ground churned like a flood. Thin planks would be washed away instantly, so they had to use barrel-thick logs to secure it.
To prevent the cabin from collapsing, Evelyn led everyone in bracing the beams and pillars with logs. But a bolt of lightning struck, and a corner of the adjacent cabin instantly snapped off, leaving the entire structure shaking and on the verge of collapse.
"Holy shit," Quincy swore in terror. Everyone stared at the lightning-split roof, their eyes filled with raw fear.
"It’s still smoking."
The color drained from Evelyn’s face. She shouted urgently, "There’s more lightning coming! Get back inside!"
An unending roll of thunder began, and Evelyn felt the vibrations rattling her skull. The drainage ditch was dealt with, the cabin was reinforced, and it would be hours until dawn. There was still time to get some sleep.
Ronan Kendrick carried a large bowl of dog food over to the cage by the fireplace. He set it down and stroked the heads of the two German Shepherds.
"You don’t have to stand guard tonight. Go on, eat up."
The two dogs nuzzled his palm before starting to eat from the bowl.
Officer Graham returned, soaking wet. Evelyn added more wood to the fireplace, and Wendy poured him a cup of ginger soup.
"The rainfall is just too heavy."
"If this place floods, how will we get out of here?" Wendy asked, twisting the hem of her clothes, her eyes blank with uncertainty.
"Evelyn, I’m afraid we need to start preparing some rafts," Officer Graham said, his expression grim. "They should be on the smaller side. With all the trees in these mountains, smaller rafts will be easier to maneuver." He glanced at the downpour outside and sighed.
"This probably won’t let up for another month or two."
’If it really did rain for a month or two, the floodwaters would swallow the entire farm.’
’The cargo ship in my storage space is too big to navigate through the mountains; we really do need smaller rafts.’
"First, let’s make a few sheepskin ponchos. As for the rafts, do we have enough wood at the farm right now?"
Officer Graham shook his head. "It’s all split firewood. I’m afraid we’ll have to fell a few more trees."
Evelyn nodded. "We can still get around on foot for now. Take a few people off the farm at dawn and go fell some trees."
After returning to the cabin, Evelyn took stock of the kayaks and inflatable boats in her storage space. ’Clearly, there’s no way I can use these in front of everyone.’
Evelyn lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. As the sky began to lighten at dawn, she and Ronan Kendrick set out with Quincy, Miles Vaughn, Nathan Xavier, and Drako.
There was no bamboo on Immeasurable Mountain, so they could only make the rafts from trees. To prevent the wood from sinking, they had to select straight, round logs that were highly buoyant.
Once they had felled enough trees, they bound the logs together and pushed them back toward the farm, following the current.
Evelyn felt she should warn Ethan Dawson. After all, they had been neighbors for a long time and had cooperated well in the past.
Evelyn asked Officer Graham to contact Ethan Dawson, but he couldn’t get through, possibly because Ethan’s walkie-talkie battery was dead.
To ensure the raft would stay afloat, Evelyn detached the wheels from two cargo trucks and installed them on the raft’s underside for buoyancy support.
"Evelyn, are we going to have to leave this place?" Wyatt Vaughn asked quietly after finding her.
"If this storm continues for eight or nine days without a break, we’ll have to leave."
Wyatt Vaughn looked worried. "What are we going to do? Poor Zoe will have to go through hardship again."
Evelyn didn’t know how to comfort her. She thought back to that great storm from so many years ago; the storm that had served as the curtain-raiser for the apocalypse.
Back then, Wendy had been just over a year older than Zoe was now, a toddler just learning to speak. Today, Wendy was already grown up.
"That child is a survivor. She’ll be fine."
At three in the afternoon, the walkie-talkie stirred. A sound like "KSHHH... KSHHH..." came through, followed by Ethan Dawson’s deep cough.
"Master Ford, are you all okay?"
Evelyn took the walkie-talkie from Officer Graham. "We’re holding up. What about your farm?"
"We’re on higher ground, so the water isn’t too deep, but one of our cabins was struck by lightning. It might collapse."
"Ethan, to keep it short, our farm is building rafts. Today is the third day of the downpour. If it continues for eight days straight, we’re leaving."
Ethan Dawson was silent for a moment, then the sound of his coughing resumed. "Thank you for telling me. It’s a shame about the horse I traded from you."
Evelyn frowned. "Set the horse free. It will find its way back to me, and I’ll compensate you with another batch of supplies."
The horse Ethan had picked was a young but very strong bay. Evelyn couldn’t bear the thought of it drowning. In truth, if Ethan wanted to kill it for rations, she couldn’t stop him; the horse no longer belonged to her.
Ethan was taken aback. "You’re going to kill it?"
"No."
"Master Ford, I’ll return the horse to you. I don’t need you to provide supplies, but I have one condition."
「Two hours later」
Evelyn saw Ethan Dawson arrive at the farm on horseback, his saddle laden with bags of all sizes.
Everyone was surprised by his arrival. Quincy stared at his luggage, then gave Ethan a peculiar look.
"Don’t tell me you’re here to join us, are you?"
Ethan cupped his fist in his palm in a small salute to Quincy. "Pardon the intrusion."
"Seriously, Evelyn?" Quincy complained. "His farm is on higher ground, it’s safer than our place. Is it really necessary for him to come squeeze in with us?"
"What’s wrong with having an extra hand to help you work? Quincy, have him make a bed on the floor in your cabin."
Quincy fumed but didn’t dare argue. "Understood."
Ethan led the horse to Evelyn, then removed the luggage from its back. The bags were wrapped in plastic sheeting and were completely dry.
"Master Ford, the horse is returned to you. I’ve brought my own rations. I just need a place to put my luggage."
Evelyn walked over and stroked the horse’s head. Ethan had taken good care of it.
He had also brought a considerable number of weapons with him—over a dozen guns and a large case of ammunition.
"Why did you decide to come over to our place?"
Ethan was silent for a moment. "I feel it’s safer here with you."
"Don’t tell me you got kicked out by your own people, did you?" Quincy blurted out. "That can’t be right. Your farm is mostly women, and you have so many weapons. Who would dare to oppose you? When the refugees came to raid, you risked your life to stand in their way and even found medicine for them. I never thought you’d end up like this."
Ethan’s face was impassive. "I decided they were a liability and ditched them."
Everyone was rather surprised that he admitted it so bluntly.
"But I only took what belonged to me."
If the torrential rain flooded the farm, there was no value in staying to guard it. The people on his farm were merely using one another. He used them to work for him and hoard food, and they used him for a place to live, with full bellies and warm clothes.
Now that disaster was upon them, it was naturally every man for himself.
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