Chapter 616: The Right Decision
Chapter 616: Chapter 616: The Right Decision
"The plane should have reached the steppe by now, right?" Evelyn Ford asked.
Liam Sterling nodded. "They’ve arrived. We’ve received the telegram they sent back. They’re currently surveying the terrain."
Miles Vaughn sighed off to the side. "It’ll take us at least three months to get to the Khoros Steppe, and that’s being optimistic. The roads are difficult, so we have to drive slowly. Plus, with so many people following on foot, we can’t go too fast and catch up to the groups ahead of us. It’ll be a mess if things get congested."
There was no denying that the plan to evacuate in waves was brilliant. Everyone deeply admired Rhys Chase’s arrangements.
After more than a year, being on the move again left everyone feeling a little out of practice and apprehensive. At one in the afternoon, the lead vehicle slowly pulled away. The battalion leader used a megaphone to urge the crowd behind to keep up. A few people, desperate for a spot in a vehicle, even faked sprained ankles. When a team leader discovered this, he immediately punished those trying to cheat the system.
A new rule for punishment was added to the convoy’s regulations: anyone found intentionally injuring themselves to get a ride would be immediately expelled.
This rule threw a bucket of cold water on anyone else getting similar ideas, and no one dared to try any more funny business.
As for the sick and injured in the vehicles, as soon as their condition improved, they were required to get out and walk. Anyone caught feigning illness or refusing to leave a vehicle would also be expelled by their team leader.
"Mr. Graham, Wyatt Vaughn, Joelle Finch, you should go into the space and prepare some more cooked meals. For the next few months, the convoy will only be distributing compressed biscuits and plain noodles. We don’t need to skimp on our own food. We won’t even be able to eat our entire share."
"Let us go in and help, too," Taylor Vance said. "I’m getting a bit carsick anyway. I’d rather be working in the space. Evelyn, you can just tell us to come out if a team leader comes by to do a headcount."
Evelyn nodded. "Alright. Oh, and the cotton and medicinal herbs are ready, so let’s get those harvested quickly. We need to reassign the drivers, too. Ethan Dawson, Ronan Kendrick, Miles Vaughn, and Peter Owens—the four of you will rotate."
"Evelyn, I’ve already spoken with them," Liam Sterling said. "Your vehicle is exempt from inspections, so they won’t be coming over. Rest assured."
Liam Sterling glanced at the time, then left the compartment and headed for the cargo truck behind them. Ronan Kendrick drove that afternoon, and Evelyn was called away again by a team leader to see two patients. An elderly man passed away suddenly at three o’clock. The team leader placed him in a body bag and left him by the side of the road.
"We need to keep moving. There’s no time to bury those who die on the road. A body bag is all they get," the team leader said to Evelyn, his tone placid.
"Dr. Ford, a baby in vehicle five up ahead has suddenly developed a high fever. Could you please go take a look?"
Evelyn agreed and, grabbing her medical kit, headed for vehicle five.
The first day’s journey went relatively smoothly, but they had only covered forty or fifty kilometers by the end of it. At ten o’clock that night, the lead vehicles came to a halt. A team leader announced that they would be resting where they were. Dinner was plain noodles, though this time with oil and salt.
Since the convoy was providing noodles, no one was about to waste them. With a little chili sauce added, everyone ate until their bowls were clean.
After the meal, Evelyn looked at everyone with a serious expression. "Ever since the earthquake, the days have been getting hotter and hotter. The sun was so strong today that many people on the road suffered from heatstroke. I didn’t expect it to get this cold at night. The temperature swing between day and night is just too extreme. I suspect people will start coming down with colds and other illnesses starting tomorrow."
"Evelyn, what if we have the cooks brew a few large pots of herbal medicine for everyone as a preventative measure against colds?" Miles Vaughn suggested.
Evelyn considered it for a few seconds. "Brewing traditional herbs would take at least two hours. Let’s just use the pre-packaged medicine. We still have several tons of the instant cold remedy in stock."
"Okay, I’ll arrange it right away."
Fortunately, they passed plenty of rivers along the route. After testing, the water sources proved to be uncontaminated and safe for cooking and drinking. But with the temperature rising every day, they feared the rivers would gradually dry up.
"How do the people on foot sleep at night?"
"They gather wood for a fire, and dozens of them huddle in a circle to stay warm. It gets too cold at night otherwise. We’re only on the first day and someone has already died. Almost all the most vulnerable—the elderly, the weak, the sick, the disabled, pregnant women, and young children—were assigned to teams five through eight. I don’t know if this great migration is a good thing or a bad thing for them."
"Of course it’s a good thing." Quincy patted Liam’s shoulder.
"Everyone knows how terrifying nuclear radiation is. It’s one of the most agonizing ways to die. Even if the blast zone is far away, the radioactive fallout is getting closer and closer. It’s already contaminated groundwater dozens of kilometers away. Once that dust reaches the base, anyone left behind will inevitably be exposed. Dying a normal death is one thing; dying from radiation poisoning is another entirely."
Liam’s mouth twisted into a wry smile. "So, this migration is the right call, no matter how difficult or exhausting it gets."
"Exactly."
Once the truck’s tarp was securely fastened, the group entered the space to rest. Ronan Kendrick brought Liam in with them.
"Liam, your room is this way. I’ll show you," Officer Graham said. He had already prepared a bedroom for Liam. Inside, there was a bed, a wardrobe, and a desk.
Liam didn’t stand on ceremony. He thanked him and settled in without any fuss.
—
「The next morning」 At four o’clock sharp, the sound of a gong echoed through the convoy. The team leaders used their megaphones to remind everyone to get a dose of the cold medicine. Just as Evelyn had predicted, after a night exposed to the biting wind, many people were already coughing and had runny noses.
At five o’clock sharp, the convoy departed on schedule. Miles Vaughn was driving that morning, while the others were in the space picking cotton and harvesting herbs.
The baby who had fallen ill the day before was doing much better; her high fever had broken. There were a few other young children in the convoy, around three or four years old. They all had one thing in common: they were exceptionally timid, always huddled in a corner of the truck compartment, shyly observing the others.
Besides Evelyn, Wendy, and Quincy, their team had three other doctors. However, one of them had injured a hand and their back during the earthquake and was still recuperating. The other two were much older, with hair that had gone completely white.
As they traveled that afternoon, a commotion suddenly broke out among the crowd on foot. Several team leaders rushed over to investigate. It turned out that a woman had saved her leftover compressed biscuit from lunch. Her husband, still hungry, tried to take it from her. When she refused, the two began to fight.
Their fight drew in the people around them, and what started as a scuffle between two people quickly escalated into a group brawl.
Even from a great distance, Evelyn could hear the woman’s heart-wrenching screams.
"You’re trying to steal half a compressed biscuit from me? I couldn’t even bear to eat it myself! I was saving it for our child! You heartless monster, stealing food from your own kid’s mouth!"
"What does that worthless girl need to eat for? I’m her father! What’s wrong with me eating a bit of her ration?"
Behind the woman stood a scrawny little girl, her head bowed as she wiped away an endless stream of tears. Just then, the man let out a scream like a stuck pig. Someone in the crowd, unable to watch any longer, had jumped up and kicked him.