Magic Space: Struggling to Survive in the Apocalypse

The passengers in the back fell silent as the car entered Flumen. After so long without contact with outsiders, they had grown timid. The residential area had streetlights, and lights glowed from every home. They could even catch the occasional scent of a home-cooked meal.

"Are we almost there?"

"Almost. We’ll be at The Kestrel Villas in a few more minutes."

The round trip had only taken three and a half hours. Once the car entered The Kestrel Villas, Miles Vaughn and Quincy started chatting.

"These villas look like they’re over a decade old, but they still look brand new. Each one is a hundred or two hundred meters apart, so it’s not crowded. Which one is ours?"

"Villa 11 in C-block."

As Evelyn Ford spoke, the car turned into C-block.

Parking in the spot for Villa 11, Evelyn Ford opened her door and was the first one out. "This is our new home. Everyone, let’s get inside."

Once everyone was out, Evelyn locked the car and followed the group into the villa.

"This villa is huge. Even in a small city, you couldn’t get it for less than a few million. In a tier-one city, it would cost tens of millions."

Quincy snorted. "Miles Vaughn, you’ve really got money on the brain. You find a way to connect everything to cash."

Miles Vaughn couldn’t be bothered to argue. Just then, Ethan Dawson came out of the house.

"You’re here already? I thought it would take you over ten hours."

"Where’s Annie?"

Ethan Dawson pointed inside. "I had those three look after her. Annie doesn’t seem to like me. She cries whenever she sees me."

Evelyn Ford was exasperated. "With that grim look on your face, it’s not just Annie—even adults would be scared of you. Alright, everyone, let’s not just stand around in the garden. Get inside. Quincy, you can assign everyone a room."

"You got it. The rooms are all pretty much the same, so there’s no need to be picky. I’ll make the assignments. Mr. Vance, Mr. Lowell, and Mr. Graham will stay on the first floor. It’s more convenient."

Officer Graham walked with a slight limp, so Quincy’s arrangement was perfect.

"Miles Vaughn and Joelle Finch will be on the second floor, Wendy and Peter Owens on the third, and Ethan Dawson on the second floor. Quincy and Wyatt Vaughn will also be on the second floor."

Evelyn Ford went into the kitchen for a look. "There’s a fridge in here, with vegetables and meat. The cookware is all here, too."

Evelyn looked around but couldn’t find Ronan Kendrick. In the first-floor guest room, the three strangers were sitting primly on chairs, while Annie slept soundly on the bed.

Evelyn asked Quincy to carry Annie up to the third floor. ’Ethan is way too trusting,’ she thought, ’handing his child over to complete strangers.’

"What should we do with these three? Are we still keeping them locked in the guest room?"

"Yes. Ronan has a task for them. Send some food in later and let them move around freely within the guest room." Just as Evelyn was about to head back to the third floor, Taylor Vance called out to her.

"Where’s Ronan? He’s not home?"

"He went out to run some errands but should be back soon. All the bedrooms have attached bathrooms, so everyone can take a shower before getting something to eat. Since we just got here, don’t go wandering around outside. And definitely don’t go visiting the neighbors. If someone comes over to our door, be on your guard."

"Evelyn, with such a big garden outside, can we plant vegetables?"

Evelyn pointed toward the sky. "It’s the polar night right now, so it’ll be very difficult to get anything to grow. If you’re feeling restless, you can work on your physical fitness."

Joelle Finch and Wyatt Vaughn were already busy in the kitchen. Having given her instructions, Evelyn went back up to the third floor.

She noticed Ronan had stored a lot of new things in her dimension. Shutting the bedroom door, Evelyn quickly slipped inside. She was dumbfounded when she saw the thousands of new boxes of medicine in her storage space.

’Did Ronan go looting at the base?’

’Or did he and Rhys Chase have a falling out? Did he take all the base’s medicine as revenge?’

’Oh, well. I’ll find out why when he gets back.’ Evelyn didn’t dwell on it. After setting up the bedroom, she re-entered her dimension to continue collecting chicken and duck eggs.

The clothes they’d worn recently also needed washing. Evelyn was a whirlwind of activity inside her dimension, while downstairs, everyone else was busy settling in.

By the time Evelyn emerged from her dimension, another two hours had passed. Ronan was already back. The moment he’d walked in, everyone had surrounded him, peppering him with questions. As Evelyn came downstairs, Ronan looked up at her.

"What have you been up to? Your jacket is covered in dust, and you’ve got a spiderweb on your hat."

Evelyn brushed the dust off for him. Ronan just smiled and said nothing.

"Let’s all eat first," she announced. "We can talk while we eat."

"Quincy, take a plate in for those three."

"Got it. A plate of stir-fry and three steamed buns should be enough. They don’t do any work, so they don’t need to eat much. Eating too much is bad for the stomach and can cause diarrhea. We can’t have them wasting our food." Quincy picked up the tray and headed for the guest room.

"The vegetables and meat for today’s meal all came from the base." Evelyn had already stored the pork in her dimension, leaving out only the chicken, duck, and fish.

"I can’t believe your trip to Flumen resulted in us getting a new home."

"Evelyn, do we have to pay for utilities and rent here?"

Evelyn looked to Ronan. He knew more about the house than she did.

"No. The house is ours. There’s running water and electricity, so you won’t have to chop firewood."

Ronan finished and set down his chopsticks, looking at everyone. "Don’t go outside for the time being. The refugee camp is about to undergo reforms, and there are bound to be some incidents. And don’t visit the neighbors. The people living in The Kestrel Villas are all armed. If they mistake you for a thief, they won’t hesitate to shoot. There’s no room for reasoning with anyone out here."

Everyone understood the gravity of the situation and promised repeatedly not to wander outside.

After dinner, Ronan pulled Evelyn back up to the third floor.

"I have to go out again in a little while."

"To the base or the refugee camp?"

Ronan chuckled. "To the base. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. If you need me urgently, you can call out to me from inside your dimension. I’ll be able to sense it."

Evelyn pulled out one of the boxes of medicine he had stored. "Ronan, did you take all the medicine from the base’s pharmaceutical factory? We don’t rob our own people. Let’s put it back."

"I made a deal with Rhys Chase. You wanted a plane, so I got one from him. He has a lot of weapons, and he gave me some. He also has a lot of Gold, which I’m going to collect later. With that, we can finally develop the fourth area."

Evelyn raised an eyebrow. "So you agreed to store supplies for him?"

Ronan nodded. "Don’t worry. Rhys Chase won’t hurt me. He doesn’t bear me any ill will."

"Just medicine?"

"For now, just medicine and vegetables. With the goods in our possession, Rhys Chase is the one who should be worried. I don’t know why he trusts me, but it’s a very profitable deal."

Evelyn pinched his cheek. "Regardless, you have to stay on your guard around him. The moment he does anything unusual, kill him. Test subjects are hard to kill, so just chop off his head."

Ronan looked at Evelyn, a helpless expression on his face. "Did you used to want to chop my head off, too?"

"AHEM... What are you talking about? How could I ever do something so vicious?"

"You should be able to guess Rhys Chase’s motive. Even though he’s the supreme commander, he doesn’t have absolute control over the base. He chose to work with me to prevent others from making off with the supplies and deserting."

"And he’s not afraid you’ll be the one to run off with them?"

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