Magic Space: Struggling to Survive in the Apocalypse-Chapter 127: Inviting the Wolf In

The base’s administration had become unprecedentedly strict. On their way back to the apartment building, Evelyn Ford and Ronan Kendrick were stopped and questioned twice.

What Evelyn hadn’t expected, however, was that Serena Lynch had also rushed back from the medical department. And with her was Jill Lynch.

Jill grew incredibly emotional the moment she saw Evelyn appear.

"Evelyn, Rachel Xavier really wasn’t lying to me! It really is you! I can’t believe I’m seeing you again... *sob*... Rachel is dead, Evelyn. I’m so scared. I’m so glad I found you again."

Seeing Evelyn’s cold expression, Serena Lynch scratched her head in embarrassment.

"Evelyln, she told me she’s your best friend. She said you left suddenly yesterday and never came back, and that she was really worried about you, so she asked me to bring her here to find you. I’m sorry, I..." Serena knew her good intentions had backfired, and she looked completely mortified.

"It’s fine. You should go back to your room. Chase Underwood has been worried about you these past few days."

"Okay. Well, call me anytime if you need anything."

After Serena left, Evelyn turned to Jill, her tone chilly. "Now that you’ve seen me, can you leave?"

"Evelyn, are you still mad at me? Back then, Rachel Xavier and Flora Scott forced me to call you. I’m sorry, it was all my fault. But at the time, I really didn’t know who else to turn to besides you."

She was talking about the time the torrential rains flooded the dorm building, when she had called Evelyn, asking her to come pick them up and then take them in.

"So you called me, offered me a tip of a thousand, and asked me to brave a torrential downpour to pick up the three of you. Is that it? So you *do* remember," Evelyn said mockingly.

Jill shook her head, crying. "It’s because you were the only one from Corinth. You know my family is in Aeridor. Besides, Rachel Xavier and Flora Scott came from wealthy families. I didn’t dare to cross them. You had taken a leave of absence from school, so I was all alone. I was afraid they would bully me, so I had to rely on them."

"Right. Well, since Rachel Xavier and Flora Scott are both dead, you can say whatever you want." Evelyn didn’t want to get tangled up with her and motioned for Ronan Kendrick to open the door.

"Evelyn, can you please let me stay with you for a while? Rachel and I were living in the single rooms, and the conditions there are terrible. Rachel died because she drank the water from the single rooms. I don’t want to die. We’re good friends, please help me."

"Aren’t you tired of using the same guilt-tripping tactics you were using a year ago? Jill, this is the base, not a school. That trick won’t work on me here."

"Evelyn, how can you be so cold-blooded?"

Evelyn shrugged. "I am. I am cold-blooded."

Ronan had already opened the door. Evelyn ignored Jill and turned to go inside, but Jill suddenly ran over and grabbed her.

"Evelyn, you’re living with a man? Have you forgotten about Quentin Landry? I saw him at the base a few days ago. He liked you so much! What would he think if he knew you were with someone else?"

’Quentin Landry... Who’s that?’

"I don’t know the person you’re talking about. Move, before you force me to hit you."

Jill looked at her with teary eyes. "You don’t even remember Quentin Landry? During our freshman year, you two won an award in a competition together. I even took a picture for you both. Weren’t you in love with each other? How could you move on so quickly and live with someone else?"

Evelyn finally lost her patience. She raised her hand, grabbed Jill by the neck, and dragged her out.

"Ev-Evelyn, let me go, COUGH, COUGH..."

There was a secluded spot around the corner of the hallway. Evelyn dragged her there, pinned her against the wall, and tightened her grip on her neck.

"Say that again."

"Evelyn, let me go! I can’t breathe! Let me go!"

Evelyn didn’t let go. Instead, she tightened her grip. "How ridiculous. I actually used to think you were a decent person. It turns out you were the most hypocritical one of all."

Jill’s eyes filled with terror. She was truly afraid now.

"I was making it up! Spare me, Evelyn! I was just angry and spouting nonsense. We’re friends!"

"We were never friends."

Evelyn threw her to the ground. Jill gasped for air, staring at Evelyn in fear.

"Even if I said the wrong thing, it’s not a crime punishable by death! Evelyn, you’re too cruel, too cold-blooded!"

With a loud cry, Jill scrambled to her feet and stumbled down the stairs. Evelyn looked at her own hand and gave a cold smile. ’I was never a saint.’ She had already seen what happened when you let a wolf in the door with Lauren Keller.

When she returned to the sixth floor, Evelyn found Ronan Kendrick still standing at the door. The moment he saw her, he stepped forward and pulled her inside.

Evelyn let Mina and Lola out. Luckily, she had left a gap in the backpack’s zipper, and the blanket inside wasn’t packed too tightly, so the two little ones had remained quietly hidden inside.

"Even you two have to hide away. You poor things."

Evelyn poured out some clean water and sunflower seeds for them to eat.

"Quentin Landry... who is he?"

Evelyn turned to Ronan Kendrick, looking bewildered. "Just a classmate. I’d completely forgotten he even existed, yet somehow I’m the star of this melodramatic soap opera. Since when did you get so gossipy?"

Ronan’s eyebrow twitched. "That person just now... should I kill her?"

Evelyn was speechless.

Ronan looked up at her. "She’s not a good person."

"I know."

Seeing that she didn’t want to continue the conversation, Ronan said no more. Evelyn sat in a chair, spacing out, when an announcement came over the external broadcast system.

"Attention, attention. All residents in possession of unopened cans of meat, please bring your cans to the administration building to exchange them for other supplies. The canned meat has expired and is not safe for consumption. Please proceed to the administration building quickly to exchange them for other supplies."

’It seems the base leadership already knows about the mutant nematodes in the canned meat. But they don’t dare let the residents find out, so they’re using the excuse of them being ’expired’ to recall all the cans they sold.’

Evelyn took out the base-issued canned meat from her space and decided to go investigate the situation.

If she was going out, Ronan Kendrick would naturally follow.

"Evelyn, are you guys going to exchange your things too? How many cans do you have?"

Evelyn counted them. Including the ones she received while quarantined in the medical department, she had thirty-five in total.

"We only have ten. Chase plans to trade them all for compressed biscuits. What about you?"

"I haven’t decided yet. I’ll go check out the situation first and then decide."

The four of them went downstairs and headed for the administration building. To their surprise, quite a lot of people were on their way to exchange supplies as well.

"Miss Serena, how did you get back?"

"The medical department was shut down by the base. Now they’re doing blood tests to check for worms inside the body. If someone tests positive, the base patrol takes them away immediately. I don’t know where they’re taken. Dr. Miller told us not to ask too many questions."

Evelyn nodded. She already had her suspicions.

"Evelyn, I’m sorry about today," she said, referring to the incident with Jill. Evelyn shook her head.

"It’s not your fault. She is, in fact, an old classmate of mine."

Serena Lynch sighed. "Chase and I had a really awful experience before. We ran into a few old classmates and offered them a helping hand, but we ended up getting robbed by them instead."