The room was divided in two, separated by a bedsheet. Evelyn Ford and Ronan Kendrick stayed on the right side, which was also where the window was.

It was a single-room unit, and quite small. There was a suite upstairs, but it was so filthy and cluttered that no one had moved in. While the unit had a washroom, there was no water, so everyone had to go outside to relieve themselves.

This neighborhood of self-built homes was nearly full, with thousands of people crammed inside. You could hear all sorts of arguments and crying at all hours.

On the eighth day of the insect plague, they still hadn’t found a water source. Many people had already turned the entire city of Danver upside down searching for one. They had even checked the reservoir outside the city, but it was bone dry, without a single drop of water left.

At this point, it seemed only rain from the heavens could solve their predicament.

Evelyn Ford sat on a straw mat and took out a needle and thread. Her protective suit had several tears in it that needed mending.

Seeing that Evelyn Ford had a needle, Serena Lynch quickly scooted closer. "Evelyn, could I borrow the needle when you’re done?"

"I have a spare one here. You can use it."

Serena Lynch’s eyes lit up. "That’s wonderful! I’ve saved up a lot of thread. I used to borrow needles from the older women in the safe zone to patch my clothes, but they all stayed behind. I’ve worn holes in so many clothes lately, but I couldn’t mend them without a needle. Thank goodness you have one."

Evelyn Ford smiled. She was short on everything, except for needles and thread.

The two women sat on the straw mat, mending their clothes. On the other side of the sheet, Chase Underwood was tidying up, Ronan Kendrick was splitting firewood with a knife, and Annie was asleep.

"I’m planning to cut up those clothes you brought back and sew them into a protective suit. They’re very thin, which is perfect for that."

Evelyn Ford thought that was a great idea. "The fabric on those clothes is high-quality, it’s just that the colors are a bit flashy."

"I took a look, and they still had the tags on. One floral dress was over three thousand. They’re all designer labels. And the kids’ clothes you brought back, those are designer brands too—a few thousand for one outfit."

Serena Lynch clicked her tongue. "I never thought the first time I’d get to wear a designer label would be in a situation like this."

After finishing her mending, Serena Lynch returned to her side of the sheet. Evelyn Ford folded her protective suit, then took out a ball of yarn and began to crochet a pair of shoes.

"It’s too dark in here. You should stop, you’ll hurt your eyes." Ronan Kendrick, having finished splitting the firewood, sat down next to Evelyn Ford.

"Just for another twenty minutes. They’re slippers for you. How do you like the color?"

Ronan Kendrick rested his head on Evelyn Ford’s shoulder. "It’s beautiful. Why don’t you teach me how to do it? I’ll take over."

Evelyn Ford was doubtful of his dexterity, but seeing how eager he was, she didn’t refuse him.

"Alright, I’ll teach you."

However, a few minutes later, he had completely unraveled the part Evelyn Ford had already finished.

"Why is this so hard?"

Evelyn Ford shot him a death glare. Looking sheepish, Ronan Kendrick gave her sleeve a gentle tug.

"Can you teach me again?"

"Some people are just born clumsy." Evelyn Ford took the slipper back. "Why don’t you go find a cool place to sit."

The crochet hook and yarn seemed to come alive in Evelyn Ford’s hands. She worked quickly, her movements graceful and mesmerizing to watch. Ronan Kendrick was captivated.

Most of the time, however, people still had to go out to scavenge for supplies or hunt for crows and insects.

Chase Underwood had also fashioned a net and was preparing to go out and catch insects. Evelyn Ford couldn’t stomach the things; she had eaten more than her fill of them in her past life. Now, the mere sight of an insect patty gave her chills.

Officer Graham and the others had made slingshots to hunt crows, and Ronan Kendrick decided to join in. While everyone else used their tools, he simply threw stones, and his haul turned out to be surprisingly large.

Evelyn Ford didn’t want to eat crow, so Ronan Kendrick gave all his spoils to Quincy and his group.

"Ronan Kendrick, I’ll get the eye drops for you. You should take out your colored contacts and rinse your eyes."

He used to complain constantly that the colored contacts were uncomfortable, but now he was used to them. Evelyn Ford, worried his eyes might get inflamed, made him use eye drops every day.

Every time she saw his mismatched eyes, Evelyn Ford felt like she was looking at a character from a comic book.

"Evelyn, do you like my eyes?"

"Of course I do."

Ronan Kendrick hadn’t expected her to admit it so frankly, and it was his turn to get a little shy.

"Then you can look at them for a while longer."

Evelyn pressed her lips together to hide a smile. "Okay. But only I get to look."

「On the tenth day of the insect plague」

In addition to insects and crows, a large number of rats began to appear in the neighborhood.

Meanwhile, in a collapsed courtyard house on the outskirts of Danver, a few people discovered a very deep, ancient well. The well had water, but its output was very low.

People thought drawing water would be easy, but the group who found the well had set up a lean-to over it. Anyone who wanted water had to hand over food; one bucket of water cost a pound of dry rations.

Taylor Vance was furious when he heard. Everyone had come from the same safe zone, facing countless hardships and dangers on the road together. They had all stuck together. When Ronan Kendrick caught the python or found water, or when Peter Owens spotted the ibex, they shared their finds with everyone, no questions asked. To think that now, after someone found a well, they were demanding food in exchange for water.

Taylor Vance took a few men to investigate, but the other group was large as well. Every one of them was armed with a machete or a sickle, and they menacingly demanded food from anyone who approached. To avoid a fight, Taylor Vance didn’t confront them.

"That’s outrageous! A pound of dry rations for one bucket of water? Are those people trying to bleed us dry?" Serena Lynch was so angry her hands were shaking.

But Quincy, Roy Henderson, and their group were almost out of water. They had no choice but to comply.

After all, the other group consisted of eight large men, each one armed.

"Go trade for half a bucket first," Evelyn Ford said. "Let me see if the water is even drinkable before we decide whether to go back for more." A vicious glint flashed in her eyes. ’Hoarding a water source... They deserve to die for this.’

"I’ll go," Quincy said. "I’d like to see just what kind of game these people are playing."

Quincy set off to trade for the water, with Miles Vaughn going along with him.

The two of them didn’t return for nearly two hours.

A piece of clothing was draped over the bucket to keep insects from falling in.

When he lifted the cloth, Evelyn Ford sniffed the water in the bucket. It had a faint, briny smell—not like well water, but more like seawater.

Evelyn Ford poured some water into a bowl and studied it for a long time. It didn’t seem to have any impurities.

"I have some water quality test strips here. Let me check," Secretary Hawthorne offered.

Secretary Hawthorne dipped a test strip into the bowl and pulled it out once it was wet.

"It’s yellow. The water is clean. It’s safe to drink."

That the water was drinkable was good news, but the terms of the trade were too harsh. Everyone felt it was pure extortion.

Just then, someone downstairs was being helped back into the building. Quincy hurried out to see what had happened.

"They went to get water and got beaten up by those bastards because they didn’t have enough rations! Shit, those guys have gone too far! We can’t just let them hoard the water. They’re obviously trying to take every last bit of food we have," Quincy spat, cursing furiously.

Evelyn Ford already had a plan forming. ’Animals like that, trying to profit from others’ misery... It’s time to send them to meet their maker.’

"Everyone get some rest for now," she said aloud. "By doing this, they’ve made an enemy of everyone here. They won’t come to a good end."

Taylor Vance suddenly looked up at Evelyn Ford, who met his gaze without flinching.

"Evelyn Ford is right," Taylor Vance said. "There’s no need to be angry. There are thousands of us. Are we really going to let eight men intimidate us?"