Magic Space: Struggling to Survive in the Apocalypse

After breakfast, Ronan Kendrick led everyone to the pharmaceutical factory’s warehouse.

Liam Sterling was already at work inside. Seeing him rise earlier than the chickens and go to bed later than the dogs every day, everyone felt a little sorry for him.

"Mr. Kendrick, Evelyn, you’re here. I’ve already had someone tally the safflower oil. There are over five hundred boxes in total."

Four armed guards stood beside Liam Sterling. The factory warehouse was a critical location for the base, guarded twenty-four hours a day.

Liam Sterling waved his hand, and the four guards on duty immediately left. With no outsiders present, Peter Owens shut the large warehouse doors, and everyone got to work.

Evelyn Ford went to collect the five hundred boxes of safflower oil, while Ronan Kendrick followed Liam Sterling to Warehouse B. There was a lot of machinery and equipment there that all needed to be collected today.

"It’s a good thing Mr. Kendrick warned us about the swine fever at the pig farm. Otherwise, we probably wouldn’t have been able to save any of the tens of thousands of pigs. All the sick ones have been dealt with promptly. To prevent another outbreak, the remaining pigs are being slaughtered and sent to the cannery. Evelyn, I’m afraid we’ll have to trouble you to make a trip over there as well."

Liam Sterling was Rhys Chase’s confidant, so he was fully aware of the deal between Ronan Kendrick and Rhys Chase.

"Alright."

Evelyn Ford agreed readily. After all, they would get a twenty-percent cut of everything they stored, and twenty percent was no small amount.

Most importantly, if she could get everything into her space, a vast amount of supplies and equipment could be saved in the event of a crisis.

Vegetables from the plantations were continuously transported to the warehouses. The oxygen was growing thinner, and the cultivation of vegetables and grains had come to a complete halt. Most critical of all was the water supply. Water is a renewable resource, but once the environment suffers catastrophic pollution, even regenerated water sources will carry some level of contamination.

Evelyn Ford and Ronan Kendrick worked furiously. They spent five days at the base, and in that time, they managed to store most of the supplies and equipment, including airplanes, cargo trucks, excavators, gasoline, and diesel...

The base hospital was already packed with people. Liam Sterling said that the number of people dying suddenly from hypoxia had been increasing over the past three days, and among them, ninety percent were elderly people over the age of sixty.

The base residents began to protest. They gathered outside the administration building and the pharmaceutical factory, demanding the management distribute oxygen tanks and heart-rescue pills.

The base management ignored the residents’ protests. The first to die were all elderly. To those in power, this was an opportunity. According to the law of the jungle, culling the weak would increase the remaining population’s chances of survival.

Before returning to Kestrel Villa, Evelyn Ford and the others took a detour to the base hospital. It was no different from a hospital before the apocalypse—a sea of people, with lines stretching from the hospital entrance for three kilometers.

"Look over there on the floor. Are those bodies wrapped in black trash bags?"

Peter Owens pointed to a corner of the hospital lobby. Everyone followed his finger. People walking by would occasionally step on the black bags without a second thought. Everyone was in such a hurry that no one had time to look closely at what was inside.

"They’re bodies."

The group sat in their car, watching the emergency building from a distance through the crowds.

Miles Vaughn rubbed his temples. "To be honest, I’ve been feeling short of breath these past few days. Especially when I stand up after squatting down, my vision goes black, my head feels dizzy and a little tingly, and my chest gets really tight, like someone’s strangling me. It feels like the blood is flowing backward in my veins."

"Are you still feeling it?"

Miles Vaughn shook his head. "I don’t feel it right now. Actually, I also find it hard to breathe when I’m showering. I haven’t dared to shower these past few days, afraid I’ll just suddenly drop dead."

Evelyn Ford took out several oxygen tanks and handed them out. "Take these, just in case. This is getting serious. Let’s go home first."

Ronan Kendrick drove away from the hospital. A cargo truck passed them, its bed filled with the bodies of the elderly. A pair of ghastly white hands stuck out from a gap in the railings. Peter Owens jumped in fright and quickly rolled up the window.

"So people who die from hypoxia... their bodies turn blue and purple," Peter Owens said. He quickly opened an oxygen tank and took a breath, patting his chest with eyes full of unease and panic.

Oxygen deprivation was different from other disasters. It didn’t care if you could run fast enough, react quickly enough, or were strong enough. It was a silent assassination. You couldn’t see it, and you couldn’t even fight back against it.

"Mr. Kendrick, Evelyn, you should have everyone move to the Undercity. Things are probably going to get chaotic soon," Liam Sterling, who had been silent, suddenly said with a grave expression.

Evelyn Ford looked outside. On the road from the base back to Flumen, people who had died of hypoxia lay scattered about. Some were still struggling on the ground, while others knelt beside a corpse, weeping.

"Right now, we only have a little over fifty oxygen tanks. The tanks come in different sizes, so their usage times vary. A medical-grade tank can last forty to fifty hours, but a regular one only lasts ten to fifteen."

"That above-ground shelter you mentioned, how long until it’s completed?" Evelyn Ford asked, looking at Liam Sterling.

"Construction only started a little over a month ago. It’ll be at least another two months before it’s finished."

Besides, the above-ground shelter could only accommodate a hundred thousand people.

Just as the car entered Kestrel Villa, they heard waves of crying and arguing.

A few other cars were leaving the villa community. Evelyn Ford had sharp eyes and spotted a hand and the corner of some clothing hanging out of a trunk.

’It seems someone in the villa community has died. Those with cars are planning to take the bodies out of Flumen to bury them in secret.’

When they returned to Villa 11, Evelyn Ford found the large iron gate locked from the inside. Ronan Kendrick parked the car, and Peter Owens and Miles Vaughn went to pound on the gate. They shouted for Officer Graham and Quincy at the top of their lungs. After two minutes, Officer Graham and Ethan Dawson came out.

They had been gone for five days, and it seemed a lot had happened in the villa community. The neighbors didn’t have the luxury of coming out to gawk, and they could faintly hear crying from next door.

"Ronan, is that you?"

"Yes, we’re back! Mr. Graham, open up!" Evelyn Ford took out a flashlight and flashed it twice, signaling to the people inside.

Officer Graham hurriedly opened the gate. After they were all inside, he locked it again from the inside.

"Mr. Graham, is everyone alright?"

Officer Graham nodded. "Mr. Vance and Mr. Lowell were vomiting for two days. They’ve been unconscious most of the time since, though they wake up occasionally and are still lucid. Everyone else is fine. They’re all in the house. Let’s get inside first."

"Why is there constant crying from next door?"

"Something happened to the Miller family next door. Winnie Miller’s mother passed away."

Upon entering the villa, everyone saw that Evelyn Ford and the others were back and hurried over to greet them.

"I’ll go check on Mr. Vance and the others first." Evelyn Ford produced a box of oxygen tanks from her space and had Peter Owens and Miles Vaughn distribute them to everyone.

In a first-floor bedroom, Taylor Vance and Zion Lowell were awake. Between the vomiting and unconsciousness, neither of them looked well. Fortunately, Evelyn Ford had left behind a bottle of special medicine, which had saved their lives.

"It’s nothing serious. Take one more of the special pills, then start using the oxygen."

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