Chapter 425: Chapter 425: Fleeing in the Rainstorm 4
At 5:30 in the morning, the sky was still dark. A light drizzle was falling. After an entire night of emergency escape, everyone was running on fumes, and a range of rolling mountains lay not far in the distance.
Evelyn Ford let Lola and Red Bird out. She whispered a few words to them, and the two birds flapped their wings and flew toward the mountains.
The sound of vomiting could be heard from behind them from time to time. Everyone’s face was ashen.
Half an hour later, the two birds returned. Lola seemed very excited. It flew back and forth in front of Evelyn Ford, chirping away, but it was unclear what it was trying to express. Evelyn could only catch it in her hand and point toward the nearby mountains.
"Lola, did you see a cave in the mountains? A big one, large enough to hold everyone, on high ground, and safe."
Lola chirped twice. Evelyn Ford and Ronan Kendrick exchanged a look. Lola was an intelligent bird, and from its behavior, they knew it had found a cave.
Evelyn Ford stroked its tail, then quickly let it go.
"Lead the way."
Lola and Red Bird led the way in front of the rafts. The rest of the group had already fallen far behind; even Ethan Dawson and Officer Graham were over thirty meters away. Evelyn Ford blew a whistle to signal them to speed up.
"Evelyn, has something else happened?" Officer Graham shouted. Evelyn Ford waved her hand, signaling for them to hurry and catch up.
Seeing this, the others didn’t dare to delay, paddling faster to keep up.
"We need to get into these mountains and find a cave for shelter. A strong cold front is about to hit."
This stretch of road was perilous. Steep mountains rose on one side, while a deep chasm dropped off on the other. The mangled guardrails were completely useless. Muddy water gushed into the chasm. Because the floodwaters drained over the cliff, the road wasn’t submerged, but a thick layer of sludge was left behind.
Ronan Kendrick carried a raft while Evelyn Ford shouldered her backpack. They both stood directly in the sludge. Here, the sludge was only thirty centimeters deep, so it wasn’t particularly dangerous, but the surface was very slippery, and it was easy to fall.
"Go into the mountains? In this weather? What if there’s a landslide?"
Evelyn Ford shook her head. "We can’t worry about that now. We have to get into the mountains and take shelter in a cave first. The cold front is coming."
Even if there’s a landslide, we’d still have a chance to escape. But when the cold front sweeps in, forget people—even the plants will freeze to death.
Evelyn Ford’s expression was grave, and the others arrived, also carrying their rafts.
"Should we leave the rafts at the foot of the mountain? We can’t carry them up."
Evelyn Ford nodded. "There’s a ledge over here. We’ll hide the rafts behind it and tie them to tree trunks with rope so they don’t get washed away. Grab all your luggage. The rain is light right now, and there’s no lightning. We have to get into the mountains immediately."
The group followed Ronan Kendrick to hide the rafts, while Evelyn Ford led the others directly into the mountains.
The mountain was covered in rocks and piles of leaves washed down by the rain, so they had to be extra careful where they stepped.
Two German shepherds followed behind Evelyn Ford, their fur soaked and their bodies shivering uncontrollably from the cold.
Christina Thorne and Claudia Schultz both had leg injuries, so others helped carry their luggage. There was no path on the mountain, so Evelyn Ford had to use a knife to clear a way.
After stowing the rafts with a few others, Ronan Kendrick headed up the mountain to find Evelyn Ford and her group. But the mountain was very high, and no one knew where the cave was. Everyone was already exhausted, and with their heavy luggage, they were starting to lose their strength.
"Are—are we really going to find a cave? I don’t think I can go on. My heart hurts, and I can’t catch my breath."
"My chest hurts, and my face hurts too, but I can’t move my face. When I breathe, it feels like there’s a rock on my chest."
Evelyn Ford looked back at the group. "Take off your masks while you’re climbing. You’re not getting enough oxygen to your brain."
"Evelyn, how do you have so much stamina?"
"I told you all a long time ago to exercise more," Evelyn Ford said. Just then, Ronan Kendrick and the others caught up.
The group climbed for another half hour until several people had collapsed from exhaustion. Lola and Red Bird were circling in the woods above, leading Evelyn Ford to guess the cave was nearby.
Sure enough, after walking to the right for ten minutes, they found a pitch-black cave entrance behind a pile of rubble. Evelyn Ford took out a flashlight and shone it inside, but Ronan Kendrick suddenly pulled her back.
"There’s something inside. I’ll go check it out first."
Evelyn Ford frowned. "Maybe we should find another place."
"It’s fine. I don’t sense any danger for now."
Ronan Kendrick entered the cave alone with his knife while the others watched him nervously. The rain in the mountains was starting to fall harder, and in the downpour, she couldn’t help but shiver.
A few minutes later, a frantic squawk echoed from inside, and then Ronan Kendrick emerged, carrying a black pheasant.
"Everyone, come on in. It’s dry and clean inside."
With his free hand, Ronan Kendrick helped Evelyn Ford with her things. He entered the cave first. The cave was quite large and very spacious. Although there were many rocks inside, it was just an ordinary cave. Evelyn Ford also saw a nest, which must have been the pheasant’s home.
"Oh my god, it’s a real cave." Wyatt Vaughn, holding Zoe, had a look of pleasant surprise. The others also looked around, touching the walls.
Evelyn Ford put her things down and continued to inspect the cave. It was large with plenty of oxygen, so building a fire for warmth wouldn’t be a problem. However, there were a lot of leaves that had blown in from outside and needed to be swept up.
They also needed to chop some wood to make a door for the entrance.
"First, let’s get a fire going for warmth. Take the buckets outside to collect some rainwater. We’ll probably be hiding out here for a while. I’m going to go cut some branches to tie into a broom for sweeping."
Evelyn Ford assigned tasks to everyone and went out with her knife to cut branches. Ronan Kendrick put down the pheasant, which cowered on the ground, watching him warily. Taylor Vance and Zion Lowell had already hung up a bedsheet in a nearby corner to create a curtain so people could change their clothes.
"No wonder this pheasant was hiding in here. It’s so warm in the cave, not cold at all."
"And it’s so clean. I was terrified there’d be dead snakes or a black bear inside."
Everyone began to regain some of their energy. Evelyn Ford brought back the branches she’d cut, fashioned them into a broom, and started sweeping up the leaves. The leaves could be kept inside the cave to be used as kindling.
"Evelyn, the cave won’t collapse, will it?"
"The cave seems pretty stable. It shouldn’t collapse."
Two hours later, the cave had been completely transformed. A fire blazed in the center, with an iron pot sitting on top, ginger soup bubbling inside.
The fire brightened the once-dim cave. Evelyn Ford changed her clothes and went over to Ronan Kendrick. He and Ethan Dawson were working on a door. It looked very sturdy and should be able to withstand the strong winds. However, they would still need to brace it from behind with logs to prevent it from being blown away when the cold front arrived. Without a door, hiding in the cave would be useless.
A RUMBLE of thunder echoed from outside. Evelyn Ford glanced at the cave entrance. A fierce wind was raging, its WHOOSHING sound like the howling of a vengeful ghost.
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