Surviving the Apocalypse with my Multiplier System-Chapter 243: Difficulties at the Ranch

At Fred's Ranch.

While most of the residents somewhat recovered, they were eating through the supplies that Liam previously brought. It had been less than a week since his last visit and Fred was already starting to ration their remaining water supply.

"Fred! Bad news! Another cow died, this time it was a young one", a short stubby woman said. She was part of the cattle herding crew and came over to report that they lost yet another cow.

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Fred shook. He wasn't sure how much longer he would be able to keep it together before a full-blown-out panic would spread through their settlement.

He took a deep breath, "Do the same as the other cows. Butcher it and take it to the smoker."

Unless the cow died from disease they wouldn't let it go to waste. These days the kitchen crew was working overtime, processing the meat into jerky, sausages, and other smoked meats. They tried to use as much as they could, even using the bones to make broth.

The woman nodded and ran off to deliver the instructions. Fred took a seat on the steps of the front porch, trying to find a solution to this problem.

-

His family had lived on these lands for generations and they never had an instance where all of the wells dried out.

While they were situated near the mountains, all of the streams were located on the opposite side. He had also tried to ask the Ice Tigers for a water trade but they came to him first asking the same thing.

All of the water supply ran out in the city, causing the chaos to begin to spread outside. While the Ranch was still somewhat safe due to its deal with the leader of the Ice Tiger gang, he wasn't sure how long that would last if they got desperate.

-

"I wish I knew what to do. Without water we won't survive", he said.

He was doing his best to keep himself together because he knew that the rest of them were relying on him. If he began to panic then everyone else would follow.

As he sat there contemplating different solutions Rita came home to deliver even more bad news.

"Molly is still in very bad condition. I'm not sure if she will make it", she said somberly.

Fred stood up abruptly. He felt his hands shake as tears welled in his eyes.

"I'll go see her. Maybe we have something that will help? Let's bring more water."

His words were shaky as he desperately tried to offer any suggestion.

Rita watched him shake as he walked forward. She placed her hand on his shoulder, stopping him from moving forward.

"Fred. This isn't your fault. You've done everything you possibly could for all of us."

Her words caused him to break, releasing all of the worries and fears he's been holding back since the disaster started.

"Everyone is looking up to me. They voted for me to be the leader. They placed all of their trust in me! Now look at us. We're barely holding on! If it wasn't for Liam's timely arrival I don't even know where we would all be right now!"

He broke down crying. He wasn't sure if he would be able to live with himself if someone died.

Rita shook her head, "Fred. Listen to me. No one's expects you to wave your hand and summon rain out of the sky. We all already feel like you've done so much. You work harder than any of us, and we see that. Don't blame anything but this new and unpredictable world we're trying to survive in".

She stood beside him quietly, letting him release all of the overwhelming emotions he had been holding back.

After a few minutes, he finally calmed down and looked at her gratefully.

"Thank you, Rita. Let me go dry my eyes and let's go visit Molly. She's a strong girl and I have faith that she will get through this."

-

A few minutes later they both arrived in a small room where Molly was lying on a small bed. There was another woman inside, trying to fan her with a small fold-out fan.

As soon as they walked in Fred frowned. "It's too hot in here. The air is stagnant too, we need to move her out of here."

Rita looked over at him.

"I agree it's too hot, but where should we move her? All of the rooms in the house are like this".

Fred thought for a second, "The root cellar. Let's move a few things around and bring her down".

Rita's eyes widened! She hadn't thought of that! While their root cellar was on the smaller side, fitting a person inside wouldn't be an issue!

"Yes! Good idea, I'll run down there now to make space. You can bring her down slowly!", she said before running off.

Fred carefully lifted Molly off of the bed and carried her down the staircase. The other woman in the room picked up a few thick blankets to place on the ground for her to lay on.

As Fred made it all the way down, Rita had just finished moving canned food and other perishable items around to make space.

"Here, give me the blankets I'll lay them out", said Rita.

She extended her arm to take the pile of blankets from the woman's hands and laid them out neatly on the ground.

Fred then placed Molly gently on the blankets.

"It's a lot cooler down here. It feels so good. Hopefully, she can recover after cooling off down here", he said.

Rita nodded, "I'll keep an eye on her periodically. We should leave now so that we don't keep letting the hot air down in here".

After ushering everyone out, Rita and the others went back to their tasks.

-

Later that evening Fred came down after dinner to check on Molly.

"Her face seems to be a lot less red", said Rita from behind him.

Fred knelt down and placed the back of his hand against her forehead.

"Her temperature seems to be a lot better. I think she's going to be okay", he said with a big sigh of relief.

Rita clasped her hands together, relieved at the news.

"Thank you, Fred! If it wasn't for your quick thinking things might have been very different".