Stepping out of the log cabin, Evelyn Ford took a deep breath of fresh air. She pressed her hands over her ears and shook her head vigorously until the ringing inside finally subsided.
Ronan Kendrick’s face was pale, and he was clearly not in good shape. Evelyn noticed his pulse was erratic and his body was burning up.
"I’m fine. I’ll heal on my own if I lie down for a while. Don’t worry." Ronan Kendrick managed a weak smile. Seeing him so frail, Evelyn’s heart ached with worry.
"I’m going to prepare some medicine. You rest."
Quincy had already brought Zoe out. Both of them were vomiting a short distance away.
Wendy was also pale, but Officer Graham had it worse. He was suffering from a bad nosebleed.
Evelyn added a generous amount of cooling mint to the medicine pot. Once it was brewed, she distributed a bowl to everyone, making sure the others in the bunkroom also got a share.
Evelyn went to check on them. The ones who were unconscious showed no change, but something was wrong with Ethan Dawson. He was starting to run a fever.
She took his temperature: 41°C. ’If this keeps up, he’ll become an idiot.’
After giving him two fever reducers, Evelyn called Quincy over and told him to start cooling Ethan Dawson down physically.
"Is he waking up?"
"It’s possible. Hurry and bring his temperature down. Are you going to be responsible if his brain gets fried?"
Quincy clutched his chest. "Evelyn, you’re heartless. I just coughed up blood, and I feel really weak."
"You’ve been coughing up blood on and off. How about I give you a good beating to help you get the rest out?" As she spoke, Evelyn raised her right hand. The sight of this sent Quincy scrambling in fear to grab a towel and start wiping Ethan Dawson down with alcohol.
「Two hours later.」
Ronan Kendrick emerged from the log cabin. Seeing his relaxed expression, Evelyn knew he had already healed.
"Ethan Dawson started running a fever."
Ronan Kendrick raised an eyebrow. "Looks like the arrival of this cold front was a blessing in disguise."
Then, he smiled. "Evelyn, my body’s functions have improved, too."
Evelyn understood instantly. "So, this whole time, your body has been metabolizing its blood?"
Ronan Kendrick nodded. "No, it’s bone metamorphosis. To put it simply, when I reach a certain age, my bones rejuvenate. This is my second time going through it. I never felt anything before. It was probably the cold front that made me feel uncomfortable this time."
’No wonder he seems different now,’ Evelyn thought. ’His gaze is colder, and he gives off a deadly aura.’
Evelyn felt Ronan’s condition was somewhat similar to a snake’s. A snake needs to shed its skin, while he needed blood metabolism, bone metamorphosis, and the reconstruction of his meridians and sinews.
’The event back in Tarr City was his ten-year cycle of blood metabolism and meridian reconstruction. This time, it’s bone metamorphosis.’
Thinking of Ronan’s past, she couldn’t imagine how much medicine he had taken and how many injections he had endured since childhood to have forged his body into its current state.
"Do your bones hurt? When the cold front arrived, I heard Quincy say his bones were aching a little."
Ronan Kendrick shook his head. "It doesn’t hurt. I just felt completely drained of strength. I’m recovered now."
Just then, Quincy came out. "I’m done with the alcohol rubdown, but he looks like he’s getting worse."
Evelyn and Ronan exchanged a look, then headed for the bunkroom.
Ethan Dawson lay on a straw mat, his face an unhealthy, flushed red.
"Why won’t his fever break? At this rate, his brain is probably going to get fried."
An idea struck Evelyn. She mixed the remaining one-third of the special medicine with water and forced it down Ethan Dawson’s throat.
A few minutes after she administered the medicine, Ethan Dawson’s high fever mysteriously subsided.
"For such a big guy, he’s surprisingly weak," Quincy had just finished saying when both Evelyn and Ronan turned to give him a look, infuriating him.
"What’s that supposed to mean? If I’m not mistaken, you’re looking down on me."
Evelyn nodded. "Congratulations, your eyesight has recovered perfectly. Also, bring the wooden bucket over. If Ethan Dawson vomits blood, have him do it in the bucket."
Evelyn walked over to Quincy and patted his shoulder. "I’m leaving Ethan to you. Take good care of him."
"What about you two?"
"Something seems off with the chicks I’m incubating. I need to go check on them." With that, Evelyn left, taking Ronan Kendrick with her.
Several hours earlier, Evelyn had noticed something was amiss with the chicks she was incubating in the log cabin. Perhaps because of the sudden arrival of the cold front, a couple of the eggs had actually hatched eight or nine days early.
Back in the log cabin, just as Evelyn was pulling the incubator out of the cabinet beside the heated brick bed, she saw five fluffy chicks inside.
"What’s going on?" Evelyn was completely baffled.
"Could the cold air have some kind of growth-accelerating effect?" Ronan also thought it was strange. Eggs needed twenty-one days to incubate, but it had only been a little over ten days. How had they hatched already?
"For a year or two after the acid rain, trees and animals experienced a period of rapid growth. During that time, it also only took ten days to hatch chicks," Ronan said, picking up one of the little birds.
"Maybe this time is like that one, a mutation for some reason. Don’t worry, these little chicks are perfectly healthy."
"We can give them to Wendy and Zoe to raise."
Evelyn called Wendy over and entrusted the five little chicks to her.
"Wendy, the chicks have hatched. I’m putting you in charge of raising them."
Wendy nodded very seriously. "I promise I’ll raise them big and strong."
"Me too! I want to help," Zoe chimed in, toddling over. Wendy carefully took a chick and placed it in front of her.
"Of course. From now on, Miss Wendy will teach you how to raise chicks."
"Oh, right, Miss Ford! I just went to check on the vegetables I planted and found they’ve all grown a lot bigger. It’s so strange."
Evelyn raised an eyebrow. ’Looks like Ronan was right again,’ she thought. ’After the cold front’s arrival, the plants and animals are mutating again. Is this heaven’s way of showing the survivors a little bit of charity and pity?’
Evelyn walked over to the vegetable patch. The seedlings that had looked a bit sickly before had all grown larger. Wendy, it seemed, had a touch of OCD. She planted her vegetables as if they were soldiers lining up for inspection; the distance between each plant looked like it had been measured with a ruler, without the slightest deviation.
’She’s planted bok choy, radishes, cabbage, and chili peppers... a pretty good variety,’ Evelyn observed. ’Looks like we can expand.’
"Miss Ford, these vegetables were so small yesterday, but when I went to look just now, they had already gotten this big."
"It’s related to the weather outside. It’s fine. The vegetables are healthy, and as long as there’s no radiation, they’re edible."
"Then should we plant some more? I’ll ask my dad to help me clear the land next to this patch. I want to plant more chili peppers and bok choy. The weather is so cold now, and my dad says people need to eat more peppers to generate body heat."
Naturally, Evelyn had no objections. "I’ll help you clear the land. We can plant vegetables in the entire surrounding area, and use the other half for a chicken run. How does that sound?"
Wendy’s eyes sparkled. "Miss Ford, you can just decide."
"This is your little vegetable garden, so you should be the one to make the decisions."
Zoe nodded along from the side. "Plant veggies! I want to plant veggies!"