Ronan Kendrick’s ears were a little red. He put the two wolf pups on the ground, preparing to make them some mush to fill their bellies. Evelyn Ford took out a can of milk powder and handed it to him.
"Feed them this."
Ronan Kendrick didn’t know how to prepare the formula. The two of them spent some time figuring it out, but they finally got the pups to drink.
"If we put them in the space, they won’t eat the other animals when they grow up, will they? Wolves are carnivores."
"They won’t. They can be tamed. We’ll keep them in the space for a while first. When we leave this place, we can release them back into the wild."
Evelyn Ford was a little surprised. "I thought you were going to keep them as pets."
"Wolves are different from other animals. They belong in the forest."
"Poor little pups. If you hadn’t gone out, they probably wouldn’t have survived until tomorrow." She noticed their bodies were already a little stiff.
"From their appearance, they look very healthy. It’s just that their eyes look a little weak. Could they have been abandoned by the pack for that reason?"
Ronan Kendrick picked them up and examined them. "There might be other reasons. You really can’t tell just from their appearance."
After they finished the formula, Evelyn Ford put them into her space. ’Although they’re small, their wild instincts are still intact. They should be able to survive.’
Because she was on her period, Evelyn Ford didn’t go out for the next few days. On the first day, she dutifully stayed in bed, but by the second, she couldn’t stand being idle and went into her space to continue researching the special medicine.
A week later, Evelyn Ford appeared before everyone with dark circles under her eyes and faltering steps.
"Weren’t you supposed to be resting these past few days? How did you end up looking like this? How has Ronan Kendrick been taking care of you?"
Everyone looked at Ronan Kendrick with deeply reproachful gazes. Just like that, he became the scapegoat.
"It’s my fault; it has nothing to do with him. By the way, has no one gone out these past few days?"
"I went out once. There was no activity outside. But the water in the buckets is almost gone, so we’ll have to go out and get ice again." Ethan Dawson had gone out, something Ronan Kendrick had mentioned to Evelyn before, but she was busy mixing the medicine at the time and it didn’t register.
"Then let’s all go out to get ice later. There might be a wolf pack in the mountains. When we go out, everyone stay quiet. Get the ice and return to the cave quickly."
Evelyn Ford went to check on the chicken coop and the vegetable patch again. There were no problems with either.
After lunch, everyone left the cave carrying buckets. To avoid encountering the wolf pack, they only collected ice from the bushes near the cave. The ground was still very slippery, and several people fell. Evelyn Ford felt the fog was getting thicker. Before, she could see trees within ten meters, but now even things within five meters were blurry.
"What are you doing?" Just after they left the cave, Quincy started rubbing his eyes. Evelyn Ford thought he wasn’t fully awake and asked casually.
"My eye feels a little uncomfortable. I think an eyelash fell in. Wyatt, can you take a look for me?"
Wyatt Vaughn put down his bucket and checked for him, but he didn’t see an eyelash.
"There’s no eyelash."
Evelyn Ford walked over. "Let me see."
Quincy had rubbed his eye until it was bloodshot. "It feels like it’s right on my eyeball. It’s itchy and it hurts. No, I have to rinse my eye with water."
"Don’t move. Let me check if it’s an eyelash first. It’s probably a bit of dirt that got in when you came out of the cave." Evelyn Ford gestured for him to open his eye wider, pulled back Quincy’s eyelid, and started looking for the eyelash.
But Evelyn Ford searched for a long time and couldn’t find anything.
"Maybe it’s eye strain, or maybe you got bitten by an insect in the vegetable patch."
Quincy shook his head. "Impossible. There’s definitely something in my eye. I can feel it. It’s an eyelash, rolling around on my eyeball."
Evelyn Ford and Wyatt Vaughn exchanged a helpless look.
"Let me see." Hearing the commotion, Ronan Kendrick, who had been clearing the path ahead, turned back.
He roughly pulled open Quincy’s eyelid and squinted at it for two seconds. Then he took a handkerchief from his bag, folded it into a sharp point, and gently swept it across Quincy’s eyeball. The pain made Quincy’s eye water.
"It’s not an eyelash. It’s a transparent flying insect."
As Ronan Kendrick spoke, he waved his hand twice in the fog. He was wearing black gloves, and Evelyn Ford saw several tiny, transparent flying insects lying in his palm.
The insects were only about two millimeters long and looked quite fragile. A light pinch would break one into several pieces. Their bodies were covered in a layer of fluorescent powder that came off on contact.
"It was actually a bug! That was driving me crazy."
"Flying insects have appeared in the thick fog again. Everyone be careful. Get the ice quickly, and as soon as you have it, return to the cave immediately." Evelyn Ford’s expression turned serious. ’There are so many of them. This isn’t a good sign.’
"Quincy, stop collecting ice. You go back to the cave first."
"I’m fine, didn’t you get the bug out?" Quincy was confused.
"The insect had powder on it. It might cause inflammation. Go to our room and get some water to wash your eye."
Quincy didn’t argue anymore. He left his wooden bucket and ran quickly back to the wooden cabin.
The others continued further into the mountain to get ice, but everyone was afraid of the insects getting into their eyes. In their panic, they were prone to falling.
"Ow..."
"Keep it down. There’s a wolf pack in the mountains." Evelyn Ford glanced at the group and warned them again.
Claire Moss, the one who had been warned, quickly apologized. After scrambling back to her feet, she took her wooden bucket and went to get ice.
Evelyn Ford’s method of collecting ice was rough. She used a knife to shatter the ice on tree trunks, scraping it directly into her bucket without picking out the bark and leaves.
The atmosphere grew tense. Everyone moved faster and faster. Although there was no wind in the mountains, it was so cold that the others were shivering uncontrollably.
"There’s movement in the mountains. Return to the cave, now!"
After saying this, Ronan Kendrick took the wooden bucket from Evelyn Ford’s hands. The two of them ran quickly back to the cave. The others saw this and hurried to follow, but some were slow to react, only taking off after seeing everyone else run.
Back in the cave, Evelyn Ford pulled off her mask, put her hands on her hips, and gasped for breath. The others trickled back in one by one. Evelyn did a quick count—two people were missing.
"Where are Raymond Shepherd and Penelope Parker?"
"Didn’t see them. They must have fallen behind."
Evelyn Ford stood at the cave entrance and looked outside. Indeed, she couldn’t see the two of them. Paul Pence and Patrick Pence turned pale with fear, looking pleadingly at Evelyn Ford and Ronan Kendrick.
"Claire Moss, weren’t you collecting ice with Penelope Parker?"
Claire Moss shook her head. "After I fell, I went to scrape ice from the trees up ahead. When I saw everyone running back, I just followed. I didn’t see Penelope."
"AWOOO..." Just then, the howl of a wolf echoed from the valley. Paul Pence, ignoring the danger, was about to rush out but was held back by his son.
"Dad, there are wolves."
"But your sister is still out there."
"Evelyn! Mr. Ronan Kendrick! Please, I’m begging you, save my sister!"
Evelyn Ford’s gaze drifted lightly over to Patrick Pence. Hearing his plea, she just tugged at the corner of her mouth.
"Those two... did they sneak off for a tryst?"