A/N: HAPPY NEW MONTH, EVERYONE~ As always, special thank you to the lovelies who sent gifts, golden tickets, commented, and/or reviewed! Love you~

Also, shoutout to July 2026’s top 3 Golden gifters Addicted_Vixen, SandraSom, KKGG~! HUGS!

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Fred did not have the strength to carry his cousin’s body, though, and his cousin-in-law probably didn’t either.

All he could do was drag his aching body around to check the others, hoping some of them could help out, specifically to convince his sister that they had to get themselves together.

The people nearest to them, if he didn’t count the corpses, were two people whom he always (internally) referred to as the peacock lady and the simp.

He had witnessed their whole push and pull the whole time, and how the guy was pretty much a willing dog to the other. Steph was a bit pretty, but not that pretty, right?

However, the simp had a branch through his body, and he was looking at the peacock lady with no warmth in his eyes anymore.

An hour ago, he looked like he could give her the world if she asked; now he looked like he was staring at a random stranger.

In normal days, Fred would find this drama interesting. Right now though, he was too numb, too busy compartmentalizing everything. As for the losses...he dared not think in that direction yet.

His hometown wasn’t too far from here. How affected were they by this disaster?

"Hey, time to get up," he told Steph. Peter was definitely not able to help, and they needed to move.

She ignored him. She was uncomfortable all over her body and did not have the patience.

"Hey," he repeated, this time with a more stern tone. "Get up."

Steph turned her head and glared at him. "I’m tired! Let them come here!" she yelled. The two men felt their veins pop a bit.

With gritted teeth, Fred tried to explain. "Sister Alyssa is okay. We’ll need her to treat Peter, but I need to check on the others, too. You can stand up, so help me."

"There will be aftershocks. Are you going to hang out here?"

The two flinched and looked at him. It was difficult to determine what emotions the others had.

Steph was uncomfortable and did not want to move. In fact, she felt like Fred was bullying her. "Take Peter! Why are you making me, a woman in pain, do the work?!"

"Do you not see I have something protruding from my stomach?" Peter snapped at the side, making Steph flinch.

More than that, she was startled at his tone. He had never used this on her before. "You..."

It was only then that Steph realized the other’s condition, and she turned even paler. Still, she didn’t say any sincere words of comfort or offer to assist. She was likely just annoyed that he wouldn’t be of help.

Thinking of this, the two young men’s eyes turned a little cold.

"My body is in pain—"

"Welcome to the club."

Fred closed his eyes and headed back to Alyssa.

Now that there were survivors in need of her expertise, Fred knew it wasn’t right to let her continue like this. There was time for mourning later.

He knelt down and touched his cousin’s cold body.

Fred’s heart froze as he looked closer at his cousin. He knew he had perished, but making contact made the tragedy even more tangible.

At least his expression was peaceful, knowing he had protected his fiancée well.

"Sister-in-law," he said, voice raspy from pain. "Please take a look at your friend. He was stabbed by a branch."

This made the girl flinch, slowly raising her head, but unable to let go of Chris.

"I’ll take care of my cousin," he said, eyes teary as he held on to his cousin’s limp arm. "Please...help those who are still alive, too."

Alyssa stared, tears continuously flowing, before shutting her eyes tightly. She bit her lips as if to wake herself up, and was struggling to do so.

The wait was torturous, and Fred himself felt like he was going to faint.

Then another aftershock shook the ground. It was nothing compared to the initial shaking, but it was enough to wake Alyssa up to reality and the dangers still looming above them.

She leaned down to give Chris a few kisses on his cold face before heading to the others.

Fred watched Alyssa leave, and he looked down at his cousin. Finally, even for a few minutes, he was allowed to mourn for him.

"Cousin..." he said, embracing the man’s head. "Please don’t worry. I will help them as much as I can."

...

The branch on Peter’s stomach fortunately didn’t seem to have hit any internal organs or arteries, which was extremely lucky. However, Alyssa dared not be casual and simply cut part of the branch.

All of them, in fact, had at least first-degree burns on the exposed parts of their bodies, and several had deep wounds. She could do first aid, but she needed proper equipment if she didn’t want them dying from bleeding within the day.

Charm had the most horrid wounds this time, but she was dull and barely felt the pain. She blankly followed after them.

"There’s...there’s a first aid station not far from here," Alyssa said, voice raspy from crying. "It’s behind this mountain, so if we survive, it might be fine, too."

Even when there were aftershocks, they thought that this was the first and last disaster, so they took the time to bury Chris and the others. They even set up a rock to serve as a grave marker.

The nearest parking lot for people who did not want to hike was partially intact, and there were still cars there.

The first aid station was abutting this open space, and they hurried to handle the resource. The other survivors had not yet gathered their wits, so Alyssa’s group took this chance to deal with everyone’s wounds.

A bit guilty, they also took the medical supplies there. They knew there were probably other survivors, but this would save their lives, too.

Next was to get a car...

They hiked from below and, considering the positioning, it was probably obliterated. They could only look at the handful of cars in this parking lot.

"Does anyone know how to hotwire?" Fred asked. His voice was weak, but he was still a bit more energetic than the others.

Alyssa shook her head. "Even if there are, cars have advanced now. Cars that can be hotwired are rare nowadays. Stop believing in movies so much."

Fortunately, someone was in one of the cars. They looked shocked, probably just arrived when the disaster happened and did not dare leave their car.

They were a couple who were on their first date. Who’d have thought they’d see something so shocking?!

When Alyssa knocked on their window, they flinched and looked at her as if she were a monster. Their guards were all the way up their heads, and any stimulation could be met with overreaction.

Alyssa knew this, so she tried to sound as calm as she could. "I’m a doctor! If you’re hurt, I can help you, as long as you take us away from here!"

Somehow, they managed to get a ride like this.

As for how far they could go, only time would tell.

But Alyssa was determined not to waste Chris’ sacrifice.

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