Chapter 630: Extinguished
Chapter 630: Chapter 630: Extinguished
Evelyn thought for a moment. "We should give it a try. Let’s keep the seeds. Later, we can find a pot, dig up some soil, and plant them. They’ll probably sprout in about half a month. Once they sprout, we can move them to the planting area. It takes several years for durian trees to bear fruit, though. I just don’t know if the environment in the space is suitable for growing tropical fruits."
"I’m sure it will work, Auntie Evelyn. Annie and I will go dig up the soil later. You can leave this task to us."
Evelyn smiled. "Okay, then. Good luck."
The three of them ate half the durian and put the other half in the refrigerator for Mr. Vance to make into a durian cake.
After eating the durian, they all smelled of it. Evelyn poured a cup of tea to rinse her mouth. Zoe and Annie had already taken the durian seeds to plant them.
Evelyn figured Ronan Kendrick should be done washing up, so she went to the bedroom door and called his name a couple of times. The door opened, and Ronan walked out. He was wearing a black short-sleeved shirt, and his hair was still a bit damp.
"Let’s go eat."
The two of them went to the dining room, where Taylor Vance was just bringing out a plate of blanched shrimp. "They’re fresh out of the pot. You two should eat up."
The others had already eaten. It was now two in the morning. Evelyn told them to hurry back to their rooms to rest. She and Ronan Kendrick also needed to catch up on sleep after they finished their meal.
By the time the two of them lay down to rest, it was almost three in the morning. At that moment, having received a telegraph, the Sixth and Seventh Teams had arrived in Varden at top speed.
At nine in the morning, Evelyn slowly woke up. The others were already in the living room eating breakfast. They had to go dig the firebreak again today. Taylor Vance had prepared a full bottle of water for everyone. After getting up, Evelyn went to the pharmacy and got 150 kilograms of herbs for heatstroke relief. She would have the camp’s medicine brewer decoct them later. A single bowl would be enough to alleviate the symptoms for anyone suffering from heatstroke.
When she came out of the pharmacy, only Wendy, Taylor Vance, and Zion Lowell were left in the living room. Zoe and Annie had gone off to play somewhere.
"Evelyn, here’s your breakfast."
"Have you eaten?"
Wendy nodded. "I have. We had shredded chicken noodles this morning. I had two bowls and I’m totally stuffed."
Evelyn smiled. "You’re just like Zoe, always stuffing yourself. It’s best to only eat until you’re about seventy percent full. Eating too much is bad for your stomach."
After breakfast, the two of them left the space. Evelyn took out the heatstroke herbs she had prepared and opened the back of the truck. Wendy went to find Liam Sterling and gave him the herbs. Then, they grabbed a medical kit and headed to the first-aid area at the back.
"It’s only nine-thirty. How are there so many people with heatstroke already?"
The first-aid area was a sea of people; there was no room to move. A dozen or so soldiers were trying to maintain order, but there were too many people, and the scene was chaotic.
The Sixth and Seventh Teams had arrived. With tens of thousands more people joining in, the crowd stretched for kilometers.
Dr. Rowe called to her from the front. Evelyn grabbed her medical kit and hurried over to help.
An hour later, a few soldiers arrived, pushing several barrels of heatstroke medicine on a cart.
"Everyone with heatstroke, grab your bowls and line up for medicine! Don’t cut in line, don’t rush! There’s enough for everyone."
People with heatstroke grabbed their bowls and went over. Just as a man next to Evelyn got up, he staggered twice and collapsed. Evelyn immediately administered first aid. The man’s skin was flushed red, and he was unresponsive on the ground. Evelyn took a potent pill from her medical kit, broke it in half, and put it in the man’s mouth.
After a minute, the man’s breathing and heartbeat slowly returned to normal. He was saved.
From morning till afternoon, Evelyn spent the entire day in the first-aid area with almost no time to rest or eat. Lily West and the other two apprentices were exhausted to the point of collapse. At eight in the evening, Evelyn called them back to the truck and took out canned food and blocks of instant noodles from a cardboard box in the back to give to them.
"Ms. Ford, this canned food and these noodle blocks are your supplies. We can’t take them."
This box of noodle blocks and canned food had been delivered by the team leader that morning. Dr. Rowe and the others had received them too; it was a bonus for their medical service over the past few days.
Inside were ten cans and ten blocks of instant noodles.
Evelyn didn’t lack supplies. Lily West and the others had worked exhaustingly with her all day, so she planned to divide these items equally among her three apprentices.
"Each of you take two cans and two noodle blocks. You’ve been working hard these past few days. Eat up and regain your strength."
After spending a few days together, Evelyn was crystal clear about their character. They were all orphans with no family left. Since they had become her apprentices, Evelyn had no desire to exploit them. Besides, this little bit was all she could do for them.
The workload these past few days had been immense. If their nutrition couldn’t keep up, their health could easily fail. Judging by their complexions, all of them had some underlying ailments and internal injuries. Rosemary Sullivan’s face was sallow. Evelyn had checked her pulse and found her condition to be quite serious. Her menstrual cycle was irregular, coming only once every three or four months. Despite the sweltering heat, her hands and feet were always cold. Rosemary had explained that it was from a few years ago, during the extreme cold. While fleeing to Frelia with her family, she had fallen into a hole in the ice. Although she barely escaped with her life, her body had been permanently damaged by the severe frostbite.
The three apprentices took the cans, their eyes welling up with tears.
Evelyn took out a thermos from the corner and told them to hurry and make their noodles.
"After you eat, go rest in the driver’s cabin up front. Don’t go back to the bonfire."
Lily West shook her head. "No, Ms. Ford. It’s safe by the bonfire. There are soldiers on night watch. We can’t take your spot to rest."
"It’s fine. We sleep in the back of the truck at night. It’s very spacious, big enough for us."
Anyway, the cargo bay door would be locked from the inside, and there was a gap between the cabin and the back. They wouldn’t be able to tell if anyone was in the cargo bay at all, so Evelyn wasn’t worried. There were too many people in the camp, and three young women were rather conspicuous. If she didn’t know them, Evelyn wouldn’t have meddled.
After they finished eating, the three apprentices went to rest in the driver’s cabin. Wendy was exhausted, so Evelyn took her into the space first. Half an hour later, Ronan Kendrick and the others returned.
—
「Three days later.」
The firebreak now formed a complete circle, enclosing the entire burning forest. The First and Second Teams had already departed. Liam Sterling said that by the time the last team arrived, the fire should be extinguished.
The Fifth Team stayed at the camp for one more day. At three o’clock in the afternoon on the second day, the team leader used a megaphone to urge everyone in the Fifth Team to assemble, and then they set off.
Looking at the forest enclosed by the firebreak and the raging inferno within, everyone felt a heavy weight in their hearts.
Thousands of acres of forest were gone, just like that. It would likely take decades, or even centuries, for it to be revitalized.
"I thought we might get a heavy rain to put out the fire, but we finished the entire firebreak without a single drop falling. Instead, the sun just got harsher and the temperature kept climbing."
Inside the truck, Quincy sighed as he watched the fire.
"Didn’t you say you were going to drive today? How come you’re letting Ethan Dawson do it for you again?"
Quincy looked a little sheepish. "My driving is terrible. I decided to give it up so I wouldn’t slow down the team."