Chapter 424: Chapter 424: Fleeing in the Rainstorm 3
Evelyn Ford sat silently to the side. Fatigue had stolen her desire to speak, leaving her without even the strength to lift a hand. Everyone had grown accustomed to this life: fleeing day after day, constantly on the move, searching for the next place to rest...
The two wild boars had been cleaned and were ready to be roasted. The cold weather meant the meat wouldn’t spoil easily, and divided among them, it would last for several days.
Ronan Kendrick sharpened a wooden stick, skewered half a rack of ribs, and once it was roasted, he gave some to Wendy and Officer Graham.
"You only used salt, but it tastes amazing," Evelyn Ford said, giving Ronan Kendrick a thumbs-up.
Ronan Kendrick might not be a great cook, but he was excellent at roasting meat.
Ronan Kendrick looked at her without a word, his eyes filled with heartache.
"Go on, eat."
Then, Ronan Kendrick handed two meaty ribs to the wolfdogs beside them. One of them yipped and wagged its tail excitedly.
At 1:30 in the morning, Ronan Kendrick shook Evelyn Ford awake.
"Evelyn, the area behind us collapsed. We have to get out of here, now."
Evelyn Ford was instantly awake. She wrapped her straw raincoat tighter, put on her straw hat, and blew her whistle to wake the others.
"The area behind us is starting to collapse! Everyone, push the rafts, now!"
Evelyn Ford took out her flashlight to light the way for everyone. She reached out and patted Wendy’s shoulder. After Ronan Kendrick pushed their raft out, he pulled Evelyn and the two dogs aboard and began to paddle away.
The others scrambled to follow. The rain was light, but the wind was picking up. From a few dozen meters away came a series of BOOM, BOOM, BOOM sounds as the road surface instantly caved in, forming a giant crater.
"Evelyn, something’s not right."
The wind was too strong for Evelyn Ford to hear clearly. When Ronan Kendrick repeated himself, she leaned in closer.
"What’s not right?"
"The wind," Ronan Kendrick said, pulling off a glove to feel the cold air. After a long moment, he said softly, "This is arctic air."
Evelyn Ford’s brow furrowed. "Arctic air? We need to find shelter immediately. The temperature is still relatively stable, so it hasn’t become a severe cold front or a full-blown cold snap yet. But if the wind reaches level five, or even surpasses it, we could be frozen solid."
Evelyn Ford’s heart pounded. ’But where can we hide?’
The nearby mountain forest was as flat as a plain; there were no caves. Taking out the cargo ship would be useless. It had to be a place that was completely airtight.
Ronan Kendrick’s judgment was never wrong. Just as Evelyn Ford was trying to think of a plan, a scream came from behind them. Evelyn turned to see that Christina Thorne and Claudia Schultz had fallen into the mud. On their raft, Chet Lawrence and Raymond Shepherd were startled. The raft was threatening to capsize, so Chet had to focus on stabilizing it first. Raymond quickly reached out to pull Christina and Claudia out, but the mud had a suction-like grip, and he didn’t have the strength to budge them.
The mud was like quicksand. The more a person struggled, the faster they sank, and the harder it was to get out.
"You two, stop struggling!"
Evelyn Ford shouted. Christina Thorne and Claudia Schultz were terrified, and their panicked, reflexive instinct was to struggle. After Evelyn’s shout, they both managed to calm down.
Everyone slowly paddled their rafts over to them. Evelyn Ford took out a rope and threw it to the women.
Evelyn Ford and Ronan Kendrick would pull Christina Thorne, while Ethan Dawson, Quincy, and Miles Vaughn would pull Claudia Schultz.
"Ah... my leg hurts so much! I can’t move!" Christina Thorne cried out in pain just as they pulled her up a little.
The pushing and pulling forces of the mud were both incredibly strong. Evelyn Ford knew Christina wasn’t being dramatic; the pain was real. It felt as if her body was being torn apart by two opposing forces. But they had to pull her out in one go. Otherwise, the downward pressure would only increase, and she would sink completely into the mud.
"Are your legs together or apart?"
"Apart."
Christina Thorne already walked with a limp, and now they had to yank her out with brute force. Evelyn Ford didn’t dare to imagine the consequences.
"I brought a hoe! Should we try digging her out with it?"
"How? This whole area is mud. Mud isn’t soil. It has its own pressure and fluidity. Digging would be pointless."
On the other side, Claudia Schultz was also screaming in pain. "Stop trying to save me! Really, I’m begging you, just leave me! You all need to go! I can’t get out. I’m definitely not getting out of here."
"Stop talking and save your strength."
"Both of you are only sunk up to your waists. You can still be saved. Once it reaches your chests, you’re done for, understand? Don’t move. Relax."
Once the mud rises past the chest, it compresses the heart, causing death within minutes. But their current situation wasn’t much better. Their stomachs and lower abdomens were already being squeezed, and their legs were held fast by the mud’s suction. Pulling them out would not be easy.
"What do we do? What do we do?" Penelope Parker and Claire Moss were frantic.
"Listen to me! Both of you, lean back to increase your body’s surface area. Tie the rope around your waists—use a slip knot! Raise your hands above your heads and grab the rope. Don’t move any other part of your body. Good. Relax. Lean all the way back. Don’t worry about the current," Evelyn Ford instructed, guiding them as they tied the ropes. Then, she directed everyone to pull together.
"Start pulling! One, two! One, two! One, two..."
They managed to pull the two women up another twenty centimeters. Christina Thorne was about to pass out from the pain. Her pelvis had scraped against a rock and was cut.
"Okay, everyone pull together! All at once! One, two! One, two..."
"Agh, my leg! Aaaah..."
Amidst the women’s blood-curdling screams, they were finally yanked free. They were covered in mud, but as long as they were alive, being dirty didn’t matter anymore.
The moment they were pulled out, the two holes in the mud sealed themselves shut, like a piece of infinitely self-healing chewing gum.
After dragging the two onto a raft, they saw that the cut on Christina Thorne’s pelvis needed immediate attention. Claudia Schultz’s thighs and calves were covered in scrapes. The pressure from the mud had been so great that their skin was already turning purple with bruises.
"Let’s get out of here first. This wind is carrying that arctic air. We need to find shelter, fast."
As soon as Evelyn Ford said this, the color drained from several people’s faces.
"A severe cold front can freeze a person to death. Your blood will coagulate instantly, and your body will stiffen in a second," Ethan Dawson explained.
"Let’s get moving. Everyone be careful. The wind is strong now, so hold on tight to the raft with both hands and lean your bodies forward as much as possible."
As they set off again, Evelyn Ford shivered from the cold. Just then, someone from behind called out to her again.
"Evelyn! Joelle Finch’s face—she can’t make any expressions! Why is this happening?" Miles Vaughn asked, his voice trembling with fear.
"Can’t make expressions? She’s probably suffering from cold-induced facial paralysis. There’s no way to treat it right now. Everyone, put on extra masks and face coverings. Keep your faces completely covered."
"I don’t think I can move my face either."
"Mine too."
"Can facial paralysis be cured? Is it the same as being paralyzed?"
...
Evelyn Ford pressed her lips together, not replying to anyone. Curing everyone’s facial paralysis was far less important than their most urgent task: finding a place to take shelter from the arctic air and the coming cold snap.
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