The next day, everyone stacked the stones back to wall up half the cave entrance, leaving only a forty-centimeter passage for easy entry and exit.
Evelyn Ford was in the chicken coop, checking on the chicks. They could hardly be called chicks anymore; they had grown a lot recently, with each one weighing at least a pound.
"Auntie, this one is sick. It says it’s about to die." Zoe held a hen by the neck, presenting it to Evelyn Ford.
The hen was struggling so hard in Zoe’s grip that its legs were kicking and its eyes had rolled back. Evelyn Ford quickly rescued it from her.
"Let me see. I’ll treat it right away."
Zoe’s little face was etched with worry. "But it says it’s about to die. Can you still save it?"
"It has a growth on its neck. If we cut it off, the chicken will live."
Zoe’s eyes lit up, and she relayed the message to the hen. But as soon as it heard, it started to struggle frantically.
’Cutting a growth off its neck? Isn’t that the same as cutting its neck? That’s a death sentence!’
"Be a good girl now, Auntie is going to perform surgery on you." Hearing such a cute girl say such terrifying words, the hen struggled even harder.
Evelyn Ford found it quite amusing to watch Zoe communicating with the hen.
"Zoe, tell her that if we don’t remove the growth, she won’t live more than three days."
Zoe nodded and relayed the message with a solemn expression, even adding some threatening embellishments of her own.
"If you don’t listen, we’ll eat you right now."
The hen...
Trembling all over, it submitted to the treatment. Evelyn Ford was quick. After removing the growth, she even thoughtfully stitched up the wound.
"Auntie, why is it still so listless?"
"It’ll probably need a few days of rest to get better. There, it’s not going to die for now."
Zoe smiled, satisfied. "That’s great! It can keep laying eggs."
"Zoe, you can’t spend all day in the chicken coop. They have fleas, and fleas bite people, understand?" Evelyn was worried Zoe would be covered in fleas, since she was in the coop every day chatting with the chickens.
"Auntie, there really are bugs biting me, but I can’t find them."
Hearing this, Evelyn Ford pulled her right out of the coop.
"You can go back in after I spray some insecticide."
After finding Wyatt Vaughn, Evelyn Ford handed Zoe over to her. "Zoe probably has fleas. I’m going to get a flashlight. I need to check her hair."
Wyatt Vaughn was both distressed and exasperated. "This child is in the chicken coop every day. Besides eating and sleeping, she spends all her time in there. She won’t answer when I call her. I’ve been so slow-witted, I completely forgot chicken coops have fleas."
Zoe didn’t know what fleas were. All she knew was that bugs were biting her, and she immediately lost her composure.
"Am I going to die?" As she spoke, tears welled up in her eyes, and her body trembled like a sieve—just like the hen from earlier.
It was wrong of her, but Evelyn Ford couldn’t help but laugh.
"Of course not. But you can’t go rolling around and sleeping in the chicken coop anymore, got it?"
Zoe said through her tears, "I’ll be good. Auntie, please save me."
Evelyn Ford went back to the wooden cabin to get the flashlight. By the time she returned, Wyatt Vaughn had already stripped off Zoe’s jacket. The cave they lived in had only one kerosene lamp, and the light was dim. Living in such conditions for so long had caused Wyatt’s eyesight to deteriorate quite a bit.
After searching for a long time, she couldn’t find a single flea, but Zoe kept scratching herself.
When Evelyn Ford came over with the flashlight, the cave instantly became much brighter.
"Evelyn, I can’t find any."
"You all sleep with Zoe, so you might have fleas on you too. This whole cave needs to be fumigated."
The moment Evelyn Ford said that, Wyatt Vaughn started to feel itchy herself.
"We’re screwed. I must have fleas, too. I haven’t washed my hair in over half a year. Evelyn, I’m sure I’ve got lice."
Evelyn Ford glanced at Wyatt Vaughn’s hair. "I’ll get you a pair of scissors. Cut your hair short, then boil a pot of water and wash it."
"No, we can’t waste water."
"Forget about the water for now. Let’s deal with the lice first." Evelyn Ford sighed and went back to get half a bar of homemade medicated soap for Wyatt Vaughn.
It was cold now, so a shaved head would be even colder; cutting it short was the only option. Evelyn Ford found a lice comb in her space and had Wyatt Vaughn wash her hair, then use the comb to get the lice out.
Zoe had fleas and lice in her hair too. Seeing that her scalp was scratched raw, Evelyn Ford applied some anti-inflammatory ointment to it.
The others started checking each other’s hair, and as it turned out, no one was spared.
"How did we get them? Our hair is so short," Ethan Dawson said, completely baffled.
"They spread. When you all eat together, if you’re close enough, they just pass from one person to another."
After returning to the wooden cabin, Evelyn Ford quickly mixed a large bottle of insecticide. She wasn’t sure if it was just her imagination, but she kept feeling things crawling in her hair.
She had Ronan Kendrick check it over, and only relaxed after he found no fleas or lice.
"Every corner needs to be sprayed with insecticide. Let’s have everyone wash their hair, then treat it with the medicated steam."
Evelyn Ford checked Ronan Kendrick as well. His hair was very clean, without even a hint of oily smell.
Wendy also cut her hair short. Evelyn Ford gave her a packet of medicinal herbs and explained the process: boil the herbs in a pot of water, soak a towel or hat in the solution for a few hours, wring it out, and then wear it on your head for twenty minutes to suffocate the lice.
All medicine has side effects, and this was no exception. Used on the head, it was bound to cause dizziness. But for now, there was no better way, unless they shaved their heads completely—the only surefire solution.
’The chicken coop needs to be sprayed, too,’ she thought. ’And the two wolfdogs... I’ll have to find time to bring them into the space and give them a bath.’
The men didn’t want to waste water or go through the steaming treatment, so they all just shaved their heads clean.
They had all experienced this before, back in the safe zone. It had been hot with little water, so lice were a natural consequence of not washing your hair for long periods. They just never imagined you could get lice in such cold weather.
"I’m never growing my hair out again." Just the thought of his hair teeming with lice and fleas made Miles Vaughn’s skin crawl.
"But a shaved head is so cold. It’s still cold even with a hat on."
"Our blankets and clothes must have fleas too. How do we deal with those?"
Evelyn Ford gave them a spray bottle. "Take out your clothes and blankets, spray them with insecticide, and then dry them by the fire. That should clear them out."
After months of not bathing or even washing their feet, how clean could their clothes and blankets possibly be? The moment they were brought out, Evelyn Ford couldn’t stand it and quickly put on a mask.
"Ethan Dawson, is this blanket even salvageable? It’s practically a bioweapon."
"Peter Owens, you have the nerve to criticize me? Your blanket is covered in mold."
"Getting your blanket moldy even with a heated sleeping platform... you’re really something else. You wet the bed."
Peter Owens was furious. "You’re the one who wets the bed! I just accidentally spilled some water while drinking. Mr. Vance can be my witness, he was right there!"
Evelyn Ford frowned at the men, then retreated to her wooden cabin before she dared to take off her mask and breathe.