Magic Space: Struggling to Survive in the Apocalypse-Chapter 39: High Temperature, Snake Infestation 3
With the walls up, the apartment grew dark, no different from a basement. Evelyn Ford had to put an emergency lamp in the living room and keep it on twenty-four hours a day.
When she woke up the next day and opened her eyes, it was so dark she couldn’t see her hand in front of her face. Only then did Evelyn Ford remember that she had completely sealed off the balcony glass. In the bedroom, she set up a desk lamp, and it lit up instantly after she connected it to a battery.
Evelyn Ford made herself some breakfast, turned on the radio, and put in a cassette. As a cheerful song began to play, she shut out all the commotion from the outside world, choosing not to see, hear, or acknowledge it.
Evelyn Ford knew in her heart that the snake swarms had already multiplied to an uncontrollable degree. Corinth was about to become an Inferno.
All she could do now was wait for that horrific acid rain. Only when it fell would there be any hope of wiping out the snakes.
Evelyn Ford spent the entire day reading, practicing acupuncture, jumping rope, working on her arm strength, and watching TV. In the afternoon, she took out a bowl and soaked two handfuls of soybeans. They needed to soak in fresh water for seven or eight hours before being moved to a small bucket to germinate. In about three or four days, they would sprout, and then she could make hot pot.
The smell of cement had faded somewhat. Evelyn Ford laid down several moisture-proof mats in her bedroom. She took out her stockpiled yarn and a crochet hook, intending to crochet a sweater to pass the time.
For Evelyn Ford, using her mind was far easier than using her hands. She followed the steps in the book to crochet, failed countless times, and even pricked her fingers in several places. Just as she was about to give up for the hundredth time, she finally managed to crochet a single edge. The days of self-entertainment passed quickly. On the third day, Evelyn Ford stared at her newly-finished creation, and the frustration was so intense it felt like a lump in her throat, nearly choking her.
’This thing looks like a beggar’s outfit. Did I really waste three days crocheting it?’
Never mind the frayed edges, it wasn’t even symmetrical. One sleeve was long and the other short; one wide and the other narrow. Perhaps only a mutant could fit into it. Thinking of the dozen-plus boxes of yarn she had stored in her dimensional space, Evelyn Ford was filled with regret. ’If I’d known I had no talent for this, I should have just stocked up on a few more bags of rice. After all, what you can eat is what truly counts.’
The soybeans had sprouted, with the two handfuls producing a whole bucket of sprouts. She had wanted to make hot pot, but looking around the hermetically sealed apartment, Evelyn Ford realized she had a serious problem: the smell would have a hard time dissipating.
’Looks like I’ll have to settle for plain boiled bean sprouts.’ Deciding on the spot, Evelyn Ford took out a head of lettuce, planning to make some blanched lettuce to go with it. With the temperature rising lately, it was a good idea to eat more vegetables to cool down.
She spread a rug on the living room floor, set up a low table, took out an ice-cold Sprite, and positioned the projector. After finding an arthouse film to play, Evelyn Ford felt as if she were back in the days before the apocalypse. She couldn’t shake the feeling that this apartment was her own Truman Show, and that perhaps one day, she could just open the door and step back into the real world.
Sometimes, Evelyn Ford talked to herself. People who live alone can lose the ability to speak if they go too long without talking or interacting with others; their vocal cords atrophy, and their minds grow dull. Evelyn Ford didn’t want that to happen to her. She took out a notebook and pen and started chronicling her daily life.
The old building’s soundproofing was mediocre, so Evelyn Ford could still hear sounds from outside. Many times, people cried for help or frantically kicked and pounded on doors. Since she never made a sound, the neighbors in the building probably thought she was already dead. Someone even tried to chop her door down with an axe, but the heavy-duty security door she had installed was so thick that it remained undamaged, and their efforts were a complete waste of energy.
「In mid-July.」
Evelyn Ford checked a thermometer and saw the temperature had climbed to thirty-five degrees Celsius. The walls were starting to feel hot to the touch. Outside the window, the sound of snakes slithering by was clearly audible.
Evelyn Ford took out some electrical wires and a circuit breaker, then retrieved the air conditioner to set up in the living room, placing the outdoor unit on the balcony. She didn’t need to use it just yet, though. Running two fans at once consumed far less power than a single air conditioner. She had plenty of gasoline and diesel in her dimensional space, but Evelyn Ford had no intention of wasting it.
The fans ran all night. When Evelyn Ford woke up the next day, her face felt dry and tight, and her lips were starting to chap. She quickly grabbed some lip balm and moisturizer, slathering them on her face like they were free. Looking at her disheveled reflection in the mirror, she touched her face, too disgusted to look any longer.
"What an eyesore."
Since she was all alone, Evelyn Ford didn’t worry about appearances and changed into a cool tank top, which immediately made her feel better. Having been cooped up for so long, she couldn’t resist pulling open the curtains on the one window that wasn’t sealed with bricks. She found herself eye-to-eye with a Blue-ringed Sea Snake, about two meters long, coiled just outside. Three seconds later, Evelyn Ford pretended to be calm as she yanked the curtains shut, took a deep breath, and nearly collapsed onto the floor.
If she wasn’t mistaken, that black-and-white-banded Blue-ringed Sea Snake perched outside her window was as thick as her thigh. Its purplish-black tongue flicked out, as if trying to pinpoint her location.
Just as Evelyn Ford was about to get some ice water to calm her nerves, a sudden THUD THUD sound came from the window. She swallowed hard, crept over, and cautiously lifted a corner of the curtain. She saw the sea snake, head reared high, its forked tongue poised. Resisting the urge to collapse, Evelyn Ford pulled two bottles of medicated oil from her space and tried to place them by the window’s edge, but the seal was too tight for the strong scent to escape. To the snake, her movements must have looked like a joke. Though she knew snakes had poor eyesight, she felt its dangerous eyes fixed on her. The sea snake lashed its tail against the glass, its vertical pupils dilating slightly. Evelyn Ford felt her hair stand on end. She dropped the curtain and fled back to the living room as fast as her legs could carry her.
At that moment, Evelyn Ford wished Finnian would descend from the heavens and take all the snakes away. ’If he’s not available,’ she thought, ’Sean Hughes would be fine too.’
The menacing Blue-ringed Sea Snake outside her window had completely ruined Evelyn Ford’s appetite. That night, she crept over to the window and peeked through the curtains. The snake was gone. A flicker of joy passed through her eyes.
"It’s finally gone. What a relief."
That night, Evelyn Ford had a nightmare. In her dream, the Blue-ringed Sea Snake came back, and it brought reinforcements. They all clung to the outside of her window, flicking their tongues as they stared at her.
Terrified, Evelyn Ford burst into tears, fell to her knees, and begged for mercy. Then, the sea snake suddenly spoke.
"Damn you, human. You tried to repel me with that foul-smelling stuff. I’m going to eat you."
Evelyn Ford rolled off her folding bed and onto the floor, where she lay for a long time, completely dazed. She didn’t snap out of it until she heard the sound of a tail slapping against the window once more. Evelyn Ford couldn’t suppress a dry heave, and then she threw up nothing but stomach acid.
’The terrifying thing about snakes isn’t really their venom or their power,’ she thought. ’It’s how disgusting they are.’ 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂
Evelyn Ford told herself that unless she planned on hiding in this apartment forever, she had to overcome her fear of snakes.
’If I want to survive, I can’t have any weaknesses.’
