Magic Space: Struggling to Survive in the Apocalypse-Chapter 74: Fleeing on the Road 5

"But I still have to find my mom and dad. I can’t stay here," Roy Henderson said to Evelyn Ford, his face etched with anxiety.

"Heh, I’m just kidding. We’re in the middle of nowhere. What if a wolf comes out and eats us? Besides, who knows what will happen tomorrow? If there’s a sudden earthquake, we wouldn’t even have a chance to escape if we were living in the mountains."

Sensing Roy’s worry, Quincy patted his shoulder.

"SQUEAK SQUEAK..." The little squirrel suddenly poked its head out of the cloth bag, curiously sizing up Quincy and Roy Henderson.

"What is that?" Roy Henderson asked, his face a mask of astonishment when he saw the little squirrel.

"It’s a little freeloader of a squirrel. From now on, it’s sticking with me."

"You even managed to tame a squirrel? Impressive, very impressive." Quincy also leaned in to tease the little squirrel’s head. The squirrel immediately ducked back into the bag, its small, glittering black eyes watching him warily.

"This little guy is pretty sharp. But, Evelyn, if you take it with you, you’ll have to feed it and give it water. Can you even keep it alive? The forest is its real home, isn’t it?"

Evelyn Ford naturally understood this principle.

"But it’s latched onto me. It’s fine. As long as I have a bite to eat, it won’t starve. Let’s go. Time to head down the mountain."

"Have you given it a name then?"

Evelyn Ford shook her head. "Just ’Little Squirrel’."

"You’re taking it with you, so you should give it a proper name."

"Then let’s call it Mina." Evelyn Ford looked back at the two of them. "What do you think? Is that okay?"

Quincy nodded. "It’s not bad. Sounds like a person’s name, actually."

Evelyn Ford tapped the little squirrel’s head. "I have bestowed a name upon you. From now on, you’re Mina. You have to answer when I call you, got it?"

Mina opened its mouth to try and suckle on her finger again, so Evelyn flicked its ear.

"Behave. No noise after we get down the mountain, or some bad guy might catch you and skin you." She didn’t care if it understood or not; a good scare was in order.

Evelyn Ford packed the water container into her backpack and started leading the two down the mountain.

When they returned to the convoy, Officer Graham and Owen Chapman hurried over.

"Something happened just now," Officer Graham said, lowering his voice.

"What’s wrong?"

"A group of people ran into a black bear earlier and were calling for help on the mountain. A lot more people went up after, all thinking they could hunt the bear together and divide the meat."

Evelyn Ford didn’t have much of a reaction. She had already seen wild buffalo; a black bear seemed perfectly normal.

"Let’s not worry about them. Mr. Graham, I’ll take you up the mountain. I remember the way. Evelyn’s already made the trip twice, let her rest." Quincy offered to lead the way up this time. Evelyn Ford looked at him, unconvinced.

"Do you remember the way?"

"I do. Don’t worry, my memory is pretty good."

Evelyn Ford didn’t insist. She was indeed a bit tired. She put the water container back in her duffel bag, hid it, and shut the car door tightly.

Quincy set off with Officer Graham and Owen Chapman. Evelyn Ford sat by the fire to rest with Wendy and Roy Henderson.

All around them, people had lit fires for warmth and to cook food. The able-bodied men had all gone up the mountain to hunt. A look around revealed that only the old, the weak, women, and children were left.

"Miss Ford, I smell blood," Roy Henderson whispered, leaning close to Evelyn Ford.

Just then, a sudden commotion came from up ahead. Someone was being carried down the mountain. Evelyn Ford pulled Wendy along, quickly opened her car door, and scrambled inside. She sat in the driver’s seat and, after Roy Henderson got in, she deliberately moved the car a little to the side, trying to make it as unnoticeable as possible.

"Miss Ford," Roy Henderson said, staring nervously at Evelyn Ford.

"Shh. Someone’s dead."

The few people carried back were gravely injured. Two had already stopped breathing, while the other two were wailing in agony. Their families were frantically looking for a doctor, and the few doctors who had previously been treating Mr. Holloway were dragged over to help. When one of the doctors said, "They’re beyond saving," someone punched him.

Evelyn Ford watched it all with a blank expression. Mina, nestled in her arms, poked its head out to see what the commotion was about, but Evelyn pushed it back down.

"His leg was bitten clean off! How am I supposed to save him?" the doctor cursed, furious.

Not one of the four people carried back had an intact body. The ones who carried them back also had looks of terror on their faces.

"Two big black bears! They injured so many people! We have to get out of here! The bears might be coming down the mountain!"

When the others heard there were really two black bears, they grew excited instead of wanting to flee, despite their fear.

"With so many people, there’s no way we can’t kill two black bears! I’m going up the mountain. It’d be great to get even a pound of meat. I haven’t eaten meat in half a year!"

"Don’t go! The bears are huge and incredibly ferocious! Everyone else ran away!"

Meanwhile, inside the RV, Mr. Holloway had his arm around a scantily clad woman. A topographical map of Broken Cloud Mountain was spread out on the table. He pinched the woman’s waist, and she let out a flirtatious yelp, followed by a giggle that immediately drifted out of the RV.

A bodyguard opened the door, went inside, and handed a camera to Mr. Holloway.

"Mr. Holloway, two adult black bears have appeared on the mountain. These are photos we just took." 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Mr. Holloway waved his hand in annoyance, and the woman tactfully got up and left.

"Mr. Holloway, most of the people who went up to hunt the bears were injured. Four are dead so far."

"Only four dead? Didn’t several hundred people go up there?"

The bodyguard continued, "A lot of people ran as soon as they saw the bears. There are still several hundred people who haven’t come down. Since there are black bears in the mountains, there must be other animals too. If we could hunt some and bring them to the base, Chairman Holloway would surely be very pleased."

Mr. Holloway sneered. "The old man isn’t young anymore; he can’t chew this kind of meat. It would probably just end up in someone else’s stomach. Wouldn’t that mean I’d be doing all this for nothing?"

"Why worry about such things, Mr. Holloway? The most important thing is to secure your footing at the base. If all these people die, we’ll have fewer hands. Even if they’re just commoners, one more person is one more pair of hands for manual labor."

Mr. Holloway took out a cigarette and lit it. After taking a drag, he nodded. "You’re right. Take a few men and some hardware, and go take care of those bears."

"Yes, sir."

The four who had died were hastily buried in a freshly dug pit, and the other injured people had also fled back down.

At that moment, several roars from the black bears echoed down from the mountain, scaring many people into scrambling back into their vehicles to hide.

Evelyn Ford glanced at the time. An hour had passed, and Quincy and the others still hadn’t returned.

It was now exactly one in the morning. The night wind was biting. Evelyn Ford found a jacket to put on. Wendy kept staring out the window. Knowing she was worried about Officer Graham, Evelyn gently ruffled her hair to comfort her.

Mr. Holloway’s men came over to reassure everyone, announcing that they would go up the mountain to rescue the others and deal with the black bears.

The frightened people instantly found their pillar of strength and began expressing their gratitude for Mr. Holloway’s immense kindness.

"Miss Ford, is that Mr. Holloway a good guy or a bad guy?"

Evelyn Ford’s lips twitched. "What do you think?"

"I don’t know."

’With so many people in this convoy, who is really a good person anyway?’

Even Evelyn Ford didn’t consider herself a good person.