Magic Space: Struggling to Survive in the Apocalypse-Chapter 108: Wyrmrest Base

Before Evelyn Ford could even react to Quincy’s words, Ronan Kendrick’s expression turned grim.

’No meat? That’s a death sentence for him.’

"Evelyn, I need to live with you," he said, his tone dead serious.

"Only married couples can live together," Quincy snorted. He always found Ronan Kendrick’s aura unsettlingly dangerous, but the man was a head taller than him, and he feared he’d lose in a fight.

"Are Officer Graham and Wendy in single rooms, too?"

Quincy nodded. "He paid with a carton of cigarettes. Roy Henderson and Owen Chapman, too. We pooled some things together to get them single rooms as well."

Evelyn Ford looked at Ronan Kendrick and patted his arm. "We can get two single rooms."

Seeing that she had no intention of abandoning him, Ronan Kendrick was instantly placated.

"Can I come eat with you every day, then?"

"What food does Evelyn have? You’re a grown man, don’t be a parasite! You should work hard and support yourself," Quincy blurted out, so angry he looked ready to jump up and down. Evelyn had to quickly step in to stop him.

"Calm down."

"How can I calm down? Evelyn, where did you find this boyfriend? He doesn’t even support you and expects you to support *him*? That’s outrageous! I’m telling you, I have food, so don’t worry. I won’t let you go hungry."

Evelyn was both amused and touched.

"He’s very capable. Ronan has been the one taking care of me this whole time."

"Alright, alright, you’re always so protective of your own," Quincy said. "Anyway, if you need anything, you can try asking Captain Collins for help. He’s a good guy. With two kids at home, he’s willing to work hard for what he needs."

Evelyn understood immediately.

The fishing team consisted of about three hundred and fifty people. Captain Collins was the overall commander, with smaller squads under him. Each squad had fifty people, and every person needed to catch an average of ninety to a hundred pounds of fish before they could return.

There were still plenty of fish in the Silver River, and the team had brought a wide array of tools. At eight in the evening, Captain Collins called an end to the work. They had to travel through the night, rushing back to the base without stopping.

"It’s about a two-day walk to where the vehicles are," someone explained. "We drove here, but all the roads on this side have collapsed. The trucks are parked at Brightpeak Mountain."

Evelyn packed up the tent. She carried the tent itself while Ronan carried the rest of their things. That woman, Lilith Owens, glared at Evelyn several times, but Evelyn simply ignored her.

"Evelyn, have you decided what you’re going to trade?"

Evelyn nodded. She’d just hand over some cigarettes and alcohol. ’I have plenty of that stuff in my space, so this is the perfect opportunity to trade for a single room.’ 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Evelyn also prepared a bag of fruit-flavored hard candies. This was a bribe for Captain Collins; Quincy had just reminded her that the captain had two children.

The weather was so cold that they didn’t have to worry about the dead fish rotting. The catch was packed into burlap sacks, tied up, and carried on their backs. Everyone did the same; some carried two bags, others carried one. The amounts were all recorded. Completing missions earned points, which were tallied monthly and could be carried over to the next. These points could be exchanged for items like clothing, candles, sanitary napkins, medicine, and more.

Evelyn observed the people around her. Most were dressed in rags, their expressions numb and exhausted. For them, the base was shelter from the elements, a place to live, and a source of food. That was enough.

Evelyn and Ronan walked at the very back of the group. Occasionally, someone would suddenly collapse, and Quincy would have to rush over to treat them. But Evelyn knew the cause without even looking: malnutrition, exhaustion, hunger, and the bitter cold.

Quincy had mentioned that the base distributed rations to everyone before they set out. Some people ate half of theirs right away, meaning they had to work on an empty stomach for the return trip.

「Two days later.」 The group reached Brightpeak Mountain and saw more than twenty cargo trucks parked at its base.

Captain Collins ordered all the fish to be loaded onto the trucks first. Only after the catch was loaded could the people squeeze aboard.

Evelyn and Ronan blended in with the crowd, getting on the truck when others did and sitting down when they sat down.

After a five or six-hour drive, they arrived at Wyrmrest Base. It was just as Evelyn had imagined: the base was huge, with patrol teams at the gate. Quincy explained that in addition to the surface-level buildings, there was also The Undercity. All the vegetables were grown there, and they also raised livestock like chickens, ducks, geese, cows, sheep, and pigs.

Residents in the communal housing lived to the east, while those in single rooms were on the west side. The entire leadership class resided in the north, where there were not only luxury apartments but also detached villas with uninterrupted power and water.

The south was home to the research and technical personnel, who also lived in apartment buildings.

"My eyes feel weird," Ronan suddenly muttered. Evelyn shot him a warning look.

"Deal with it. If you get into trouble, I’m not helping you. And all your food will be mine."

Ronan Kendrick pressed his lips together and stared at her.

"I’m just that ruthless," she added.

Everyone disembarked and lined up to enter the base in an orderly fashion. Staring at the base’s main gate, which stood nearly ten meters high, Evelyn felt a strange sense of dissonance.

"Evelyn, I spoke with Captain Collins," Quincy said. "He and I will take you to get your base resident IDs in a bit. But you need to have your payment ready."

Evelyn already had it ready in her bag.

Once everyone else had gone inside, Captain Collins gave some instructions to one of his subordinates before walking over to Evelyn and Ronan.

"Evelyn Ford, Ronan Kendrick. Both twenty years old. You know medicine," he said, looking at Evelyn. "Do you have a license to practice?"

Evelyn nodded. "I was a student at the Corinth College of Medicine. My parents were both doctors at Corinth City Hospital."

Captain Collins nodded, satisfied. "And him?"

"Ronan used to be a soldier. His combat skills are excellent." ’It’s the apocalypse, after all,’ Evelyn thought. ’There’s no way to verify any of this, so I need to give a plausible explanation for his abilities.’

Just as she’d hoped, Captain Collins’s eyes lit up.

"Excellent. Come with me."

"Captain Collins, we’ll be counting on you to look out for us. We’re just simple people, new to this place, and frankly, a little on edge."

Evelyn discreetly slipped a small black pouch into Captain Collins’s hand. He opened it right away and glanced inside. There was a bag of fruit-flavored hard candies and a pack of cigarettes.

"Capable people have no need to be on edge," he said. "But I should remind you of one thing: there are a lot of people in this base. It’s best to be honest and keep to yourselves."

Evelyn nodded. "Yes, sir. We’ll remember that."

Inside the base were all sorts of buildings, even skyscrapers like the ones Evelyn had only ever seen in science fiction movies. The apocalypse had been going on for less than a year, yet this place had already reached such a level of development. Evelyn found herself intensely curious about the person in charge of the base.

Behind them, Quincy was making faces at Evelyn and secretly gave her a thumbs-up. Evelyn raised an eyebrow smugly, only to be caught in the act by Ronan.

Mina and Lola were still in their cloth bag, which was currently hanging around Ronan’s neck.

Along the way, Captain Collins explained the base’s scale and development to them, but he never mentioned a single word about who was in power.

"We’re here at the base administration building. It’s fine that you don’t have ID cards; you can just get a resident ID in a moment."

The four of them entered the building. As Evelyn looked at the clean, white marble floor, she suddenly had the illusion of having returned to the world before the apocalypse.