Chapter 617: Deterrence
Chapter 617: Chapter 617: Deterrence
The man was kicked to the ground, still cursing under his breath. The half-piece of compressed biscuit he was holding flew out of his hand. A boy nearby quickly snatched it up and shoved it into his mouth. He ate too quickly, and the biscuit was so dry it got completely stuck in his throat. He began to choke, the whites of his eyes showing.
The man watched as his half-biscuit was eaten. He grabbed a nearby rock and hurled it, but it struck a different person on the head.
The person struck by the rock began to bleed from their head, and their family swarmed over to beat the man. The scene descended into chaos once more. Meanwhile, the boy who ate the compressed biscuit had turned red in the face. He jumped in place a few times, trying to force the lump of biscuit down his throat. For some reason, the food he’d eaten came spraying out of his nose. He howled in agony. Just then, several squad leaders approached, guns in hand.
"What’s going on here? Stop it! Who’s causing trouble? You want to be expelled? Everyone, get in line."
The Captain rode over on a purebred horse, a long rifle strapped to his back. The troublemakers didn’t even dare to look up at him. After getting the full story, the squad leaders first attended to the boy who had nearly choked to death on the biscuit, then dragged the man who stole his daughter’s biscuit out from the crowd.
"I was wrong! I’ll never steal a biscuit again, I swear! Squad Leader, Captain, don’t expel me!"
The man was scared out of his wits. If he were expelled, he’d never survive on his own. He raised his head and shot a vicious glare at his wife and daughter, but was immediately struck twice with a whip by a squad leader.
"Still haven’t learned your lesson? Looking for more trouble?"
The man shrieked while begging for mercy. "I won’t! I won’t! I’ll never cause trouble again!"
"You’re expelled. Men! Brand him with the Expulsion Mark and chop off two of his fingers. Then throw him out of the group. If he dares to follow, break both his legs. As for the other troublemakers, you’re sentenced to three days of gathering firewood. If there’s a next time, you will all be expelled without exception."
The Captain had given the order. Before the man could beg for mercy, two men came forward. One took out a stamp and pressed it onto the man’s forehead, leaving the Expulsion Mark. He was no longer part of the convoy. The other man drew a dagger and sliced off both the man’s thumbs. Then, they dragged the limp, wailing man away and dumped him in a ditch by the side of the road.
The woman clutched her trembling daughter tightly, her head bowed. No one saw the flash of satisfaction and relief in her eyes.
"The red ink on that stamp is made from a special material. It will never fade unless the skin rots or the flesh is carved out. As long as someone has that mark, no other group will take them in. That’s what happens when you cause trouble."
The display thoroughly intimidated everyone.
"We’re on the run, escaping a catastrophe, not on a picnic. Anyone who jokes around, causes a disturbance, or stirs up trouble in the convoy will be expelled. No exceptions. I’ll add two more points. First, do not rob or steal food or clothing from others. If you’re discovered, you’ll be expelled immediately. Second, do not bully the weak. If you’re discovered, we’ll break both your arms and legs before expelling you."
When the Captain finished speaking, his gaze swept over the crowd. Seeing that everyone’s head was bowed in silence, he flicked his horse’s rump with his whip and turned to leave.
"Move out."
The convoy returned to a state of calm and set off once more. Evelyn Ford took several boxes of medicine from her space and stacked them in a corner of the vehicle. Wendy was animatedly telling her what had happened at the back of the convoy.
"Joy Ford, I thought those soldiers would just give the man a talking-to at most. I didn’t expect them to expel him so decisively. That’s good, though. No one should dare to cause trouble now."
"People are the hardest to discipline. Even animals can be tamed, but people only learn to obey when faced with absolute force." Evelyn Ford smiled and shrugged. "This kind of obedience, however, will only last three days at most. People have a tendency to forget the pain once the wound has healed."
"When I went to the back earlier to look at a woman’s injured arm, I overheard a few people complaining. They were saying the food is terrible—just compressed biscuits and plain noodles every day, with no nutritional value. They said with so many vehicles, the convoy must be hoarding supplies but won’t share them. Some people were even talking about stirring up trouble as a group. They said that they can’t punish everyone."
Evelyn Ford scoffed. "They should be grateful they have anything to eat, and they’re complaining? Those people are just spoiled rotten. Do they have any idea what era we’re in? This is the eleventh year of the apocalypse. What other base, in any country, can still guarantee food and water for its people in an apocalypse where supplies have run dry? Let them make all the trouble they want. It would be best to expel all those empty-headed idiots. It would save both food and sanity."
"Joy Ford, I actually think we could bring them along. We could make them travel at the very back of the group. When we reach our destination, we’ll definitely have to rebuild our homes, and they would be perfect for the hard labor."
’It had to be said, Wendy’s idea wasn’t bad. But if you don’t debride a rotten wound in time, the infection will spread throughout the body. If idiots like that aren’t expelled, they’ll just influence others and might stir up even bigger trouble. Indecisiveness invites disaster. It wasn’t worth keeping such a menace in the group just for a bit of manual labor. Better to kick them out and let them fend for themselves.’
"Wendy, even if we let them stay, people like that will never change. They certainly won’t be grateful. Instead, they’ll just resent everyone and might even try to get revenge on the entire convoy."
Wendy had a sudden realization. "I understand now. But Joy Ford, expelling them could still cause problems for us later. Why not just execute them?"
Evelyn Ford laughed, momentarily speechless. "Oh, Wendy. Even the King of Hell himself would have to bow to you."
Wendy gave an embarrassed smile.
Evelyn Ford patiently explained, "The Captain and squad leaders are soldiers, and The Second Base is an official government base. They can’t just execute someone at will, not unless they’ve committed a capital crime."
Wendy nodded. "I understand."
The convoy made much faster progress that afternoon. After six o’clock, however, a light rain began to fall. The drizzle was so light that the convoy didn’t stop. At nine o’clock at night, the rain suddenly grew heavier, and the Captain announced they would be stopping for the day. There were many tarps on the vehicles; they were brought down, and all the able-bodied adults voluntarily began to set up tents. By ten-thirty, the tents were finished. The tricycle used for distributing dinner pulled up, carrying several large vats of noodles. Everyone grabbed a bowl and began to line up.
Evelyn Ford led Wendy, Liam Sterling, and Peter Owens into the space. The others had just returned from the cotton fields, and Taylor Vance had already prepared dinner. Back at the cabin, everyone washed their hands and started to eat.
Ronan Kendrick had also returned to the space to work that afternoon. There was still a bit of cotton fluff in his hair, and Evelyn Ford brushed it away for him. The two exchanged a few quiet words, only to look up and find everyone else staring at them.
"What is it?" Evelyn Ford asked, looking baffled.
"You were only apart for a few hours. An outsider would think you hadn’t seen each other in years, being all lovey-dovey like that."
Evelyn Ford picked up a steamed bun with her chopsticks and dropped it into Quincy’s bowl.
"Shut up and eat."
"How am I supposed to eat if my mouth is shut?"