Magic Space: Struggling to Survive in the Apocalypse-Chapter 104: Traveling, His Blood

"These are cosmetic contacts. Black ones. They can hide your different-colored eyes."

Ronan Kendrick turned his head to look at Evelyn Ford. His expression was calm, but he radiated an immense pressure.

"I didn’t mean anything by it. I just thought you might need them."

Evelyn Ford brushed the loose snow off her clothes and took out a trekking pole and a compass.

"Which way do you want to go?" Evelyn already had an idea, but she decided to ask for Ronan’s opinion anyway.

"North."

Evelyn was a little surprised. "You want to go to the base?"

He nodded, his gaze deep and dark. "Is there a reason I can’t?"

"I just think it’ll be dangerous for you." 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"It’s not certain whether I’ll be in danger, but you definitely will be."

Before Evelyn could even react, a gust of cold wind blew past, knocking her flat on her back.

Ronan Kendrick just calmly watched her fall, then pulled her back up.

Evelyn... ’This is a little awkward.’

"Well, let’s go. The compass is working now. This way." Evelyn put on a wool hat and led the way.

"From here to the base, it’ll probably take us a month."

Evelyn Ford put Mina down to let it walk on its own. Lola flew onto her head, chirping away.

Ronan Kendrick put away the cosmetic contacts and caught up to Evelyn in a few steps. "What’s today’s date?"

"February fourth. It’s 2:30 in the afternoon."

Traveling through snowfields and embers was no easy task. It was like a world of ice and fire.

They walked for an hour and rested for ten, repeating the cycle. By 10:30 PM, they had covered more than twenty kilometers, and Evelyn was utterly exhausted.

Mina and Lola were already clinging to Ronan Kendrick. The two little critters looked even more tired than Evelyn.

The path was treacherous. Even with hiking boots, it was easy to fall. For the last two hours, Ronan had taken the other end of the trekking pole, half-dragging and half-pulling Evelyn along, which was the only reason she could keep going.

After eight hours, her pants and jacket were covered in mud and soot.

"Let’s rest here for today. We’ll get up at five to get back on the road." Ronan Kendrick found a flat, clean patch of ground and looked back at Evelyn.

Evelyn quickly nodded. "Okay."

They each took out a tent and set it up. Ronan gathered nearby burning logs and piled them up. Evelyn took out a metal rack, filled an iron kettle with water, and set it on the rack to boil. Her hands and feet were frozen stiff; she had to warm up by the fire immediately.

After about twenty minutes by the fire, steam started rising from her clothes and hair as her body gradually thawed. The water boiled. Evelyn washed her hands and took out two pre-packaged meals.

’Thankfully, I still have plenty of meals in my space. Back when I was alone in the cabin, I always made extra to store away.’

One meal was nowhere near enough for Ronan Kendrick. After he finished, he didn’t say anything, just stared intently at Evelyn, forcing her to give him more food.

Evelyn took out three instant noodle cups and five steamed buns and tossed them to him. "Eat these. We need to save the meal boxes for when we need to recover our strength."

’If he hadn’t hunted so much game and left it with me, I really couldn’t afford to feed such a glutton.’

Evelyn fed Mina and Lola, then prepared for bed.

The battery was already connected to the electric blanket. Evelyn touched it; it was already warm. She took off her jacket and immediately burrowed into her bedding.

’If this patch of ground wasn’t so small, I’d just take out the log cabin. How comfortable would it be to sleep on the heated bed?’

After setting her alarm, Evelyn closed her eyes.

——

At five o’clock sharp, Evelyn woke up at the first ring of her alarm. She got up and dressed with lightning speed, then crept into the nearby woods.

When she returned, Ronan was also out of his tent. The tents didn’t need to be packed up; they could be stored directly into her space, making them convenient for the next use. The two ate breakfast and prepared to set off.

Mina and Lola were handed over to Ronan Kendrick. It was obvious that if he hadn’t been matching Evelyn’s pace yesterday, he could have covered fifty or sixty kilometers, if not more, on his own.

Evelyn put on her protective goggles and set off, leaning on her trekking pole.

When Evelyn woke up, she checked the temperature; it had stabilized at thirty-six degrees below zero. The wind was also fierce. Whenever a gust blew over, they had to crouch down quickly to avoid being swept away.

Occasionally, they would encounter the charred remains of wild boars and pheasants, burned black by the fires. They also spotted one or two survivors that were still scurrying through the woods.

Along the way, Ronan Kendrick even found time to hunt and kill two wild oxen. Evelyn Ford was impressed beyond words.

Evelyn picked up a meteorite from the ground and stored it in her space. The thing didn’t look much different from a rock, except it was very black and had some round holes in it, similar to a honeycomb briquette.

Their daily schedule started at 5:00 AM, with a break at 11:00 AM. They started again at 1:00 PM, rested at 6:00 PM, resumed at 7:30 PM, and finally stopped at 10:30 PM.

Although Evelyn was exhausted, she didn’t slow them down. Since the first day of their journey, neither of them had washed their faces. Evelyn’s lips had started to crack, and even lip balm didn’t help.

After leaving Broken Cloud Mountain, they reached a village. The earthquake had caused all the houses here to collapse. There were still flickers of fire and piles of snow in the ruins, but not a single sign of human life.

The village wasn’t small, home to about thirty or forty families. Ronan found a vacant house for them to take shelter in for the night. They took out their tents to set up inside, and then fell into a practiced rhythm: starting a fire, then boiling water to wash their hands.

"How many people do you think are left in the base?"

Ronan stood beside her in the doorway, gazing at the densely packed gravestones on the distant mountainside.

"I heard it can hold a million people."

Ronan keenly sensed Evelyn’s unease. ’But why is she so uneasy? She’s not weak compared to others. She has weapons, food, and water. She even possesses a decisiveness in killing that most people lack.’

’He remembered the sharp, piercing pain of her knife stabbing into him with perfect clarity.’

’It was a ruthless, unhesitating viciousness. There were countless times Evelyn had wanted to kill him. If not for his unique constitution, he would have died at her hands long ago.’

The base was an unknown world. Neither of them knew if order and civilization still existed there.

That night before bed, when Evelyn saw the bowl of blood Ronan offered her, she didn’t hesitate this time. She took it and drank it directly.

This time, the sickness only lasted three hours. The next time they set out, Evelyn noticed her irises had lightened considerably.

"Don’t let anyone else get your blood. Otherwise, you’ll be in great danger."

Ronan thought she was spouting nonsense. ’Am I the type to make selfless sacrifices? If she hadn’t been half-dead and dragging down our pace, would I have bothered to slit my own wrist and bleed for her?’

Evelyn received a look of speechless disgust, but she didn’t get angry.

"I’m different. We’re on the same side now. Don’t worry, my greatest strength is that I’m tight-lipped. I won’t sell you out."

"I believe you." Ronan Kendrick looked into her eyes, a strange glint flashing through his calm gaze.

’Only by becoming the same can a secret truly be kept.’