Evelyn Ford returned to the cabin and tossed the siskin into her space.
"Something bad is about to happen. We have to leave."
"Okay."
Ronan Kendrick didn’t waste words and immediately began to pack.
After Quincy returned to the cave carrying Zoe, he quickly notified the others. Everyone was baffled. They had been living just fine in the cave, so why the sudden departure? The outside was shrouded in black fog. If they left now, they might just starve to death on the road.
Quincy didn’t explain, only telling everyone to pack up quickly. Some, fearing they would be left behind, immediately began to pack their belongings. Others gazed at the pumpkins and corn in the vegetable patch, reluctant to leave.
The two of them quickly finished clearing out the cabin. Thinking of the chickens in the coop and the pumpkins in the storeroom, Evelyn Ford opened the door and stepped outside.
"Evelyn, what happened? Why are we leaving?"
"Yeah, it’s safe in the cave! We’re sheltered from the wind and rain. If we leave, where else can we go?"
"It’s all black fog outside. We can’t even see the path. There’s no way to travel."
Evelyn Ford looked at the crowd and raised a hand, signaling for silence.
"If you want to leave, pack your bags quickly. If you don’t, you can stay. When Ronan Kendrick and I went out earlier, we discovered that the black fog has contaminated the ice. It’s mixed with grit. This isn’t normal, so I’ve decided to leave."
"What does that prove? Besides, the black fog is everywhere. We can’t see the path. There’s simply no way to leave."
Evelyn Ford nodded. "I’m just acting on a gut feeling. We all just met by chance, after all. Anyone who doesn’t want to go can stay behind. Once we leave this place, it’s every person for themselves."
The others were stunned.
"Evelyn, you’re not going to look after us anymore?"
Evelyn Ford smiled. "In this day and age, no one is obligated to care about anyone else’s life or death. Everyone can split the chickens in the coop. I’m going to get my share first. The rest are yours to divide."
With that, Evelyn Ford went to the chicken coop. She only took four chickens. Seeing this, the others followed suit.
After returning to the cabin, Evelyn Ford put the chickens into her space. Then she and Ronan Kendrick came out with the two wolfdogs.
Evelyn Ford scanned the group. Perhaps her earlier words about being strangers and it being every person for themselves had struck a nerve, because not many people were leaving.
Paul Pence and his family of three, Austin Moss and his daughter, Raymond Shepherd, Christina Thorne, Claudia Schultz, and Yunnis Denton were all staying.
The ones leaving, aside from the original team, were Chet Lawrence, Nathan Xavier, Drako, Ethan Dawson, and Ian Yates.
Joelle Finch was sticking with Miles Vaughn, so naturally, she was going too.
Evelyn Ford didn’t take any of the pumpkins or corn, leaving it all for those who were staying.
Evelyn Ford saw that Quincy and the others had put plastic bags over their eyes as makeshift goggles. Their luggage bags had live chickens tied to them, and everyone was bundled up tightly.
"Let’s go."
At Evelyn Ford’s command, Ronan Kendrick and the two wolfdogs led the way, with the others following right behind.
Claudia Schultz watched them go, her heart heavy. But Christina Thorne had said she was done with running, so Claudia had decided to stay behind with her.
The cave suddenly felt empty, and their voices echoed in the space.
"What do we do now?"
"What else can we do? I’m not leaving, anyway. It’s not dangerous. Let’s hurry and block the entrance so the black fog can’t get in. We have enough pumpkins, corn, and cabbage here to last the rest of us for three or four years. They’re just being alarmists. If they want to leave, let them. With them gone, all this food will last us even longer."
"How can you say that? If it weren’t for them, you would have starved to death long ago."
"I’m just telling it like it is."
...
Stepping out of the cave, Evelyn Ford couldn’t help but shiver. Despite wearing two layers of thermal clothing, she still felt a chill.
The path down the mountain was very slippery. Bundled in thick clothes, Evelyn Ford wasn’t afraid of falling, but the chickens tied to the others’ packs were having a rough time. They started squawking the moment they left the cave and hadn’t stopped. The chickens allotted to Quincy and Officer Graham had already been given to Evelyn, who stored them away. Their own packs weren’t heavy, containing only a few necessities; Evelyn was carrying the rest of their supplies.
"Get down the mountain as fast as possible. We have to be out of this range by the end of the day."
Leaving them with only that sentence, Evelyn Ford crouched down and used the ice to slide more than ten meters down the slope. Just as she was about to crash into a tree, she used her momentum to push herself back to her feet.
The others tried to copy her, but between the momentum and the black fog obscuring their vision, they all ended up falling.
It was a chaotic descent of rolling and tumbling. Half an hour later, the group stood on the road at the foot of the mountain, staring in dismay at the collapsed pavement.
"The whole road has collapsed. It’s full of pits and craters. This is going to be tough."
Evelyn Ford glanced at the group. "Put on all the clothes you have. Keep only dry rations and absolute necessities in your packs. Ditch anything useless. We need to get out of here as fast as possible."
Evelyn Ford trusted the siskin. Animals have a strong premonition for danger. Since leaving the cave, the two wolfdogs had been extremely agitated, and the live chickens tied to their packs had been squawking the entire time.
All the signs were abnormal.
Everyone quickly checked their backpacks and put on all their extra layers of clothing.
Evelyn Ford quietly released the siskin from her space and tried to get it to lead the way. The bird just chirped incessantly. Since Evelyn couldn’t understand it, she had no choice but to take it to Zoe.
Zoe was on Quincy’s back, her nose runny from the cold.
"Auntie, Dot says it’s very dangerous here! He says we need to run!"
Evelyn Ford nodded. "Auntie knows. Ask him if he knows where it’s safe. Tell him to lead us there."
Zoe shook her head. "He says he doesn’t know where is safe, either."
Just then, the others finished repacking. Evelyn Ford and Ronan Kendrick resumed their position at the front, setting a brisk pace that the others struggled to match.
"WOOF WOOF WOOF..." They hadn’t gone far when the two wolfdogs began barking frantically at something ahead.
The ground beneath their feet began to tremble. The shaking wasn’t severe, about a magnitude 2 earthquake, but it was enough to make everyone’s legs turn to jelly.
A deafening "BOOM" echoed from far away. The black fog obscured their view of everything, but after the massive sound, an acrid smell assaulted their nostrils.
Evelyn Ford’s expression changed instantly. "It’s a volcanic eruption!" she yelled. "Run!"
Ronan Kendrick grabbed Evelyn Ford’s hand, and the two of them, along with the dogs, sprinted ahead, with the others scrambling to follow.
Spurred by the imminent danger, everyone tapped into their deepest reserves of strength. Even if they fell, they scrambled back up instantly and kept running. Evelyn couldn’t afford to worry about anyone else.
’Based on the sound, the eruption is at least a few kilometers away,’ Evelyn Ford judged. ’But a pyroclastic flow is like a tsunami; it could sweep over this distance in just an hour or two. We can’t enter the space now. If we waste an hour in there, this entire mountain range will be a pit of fire by the time we get out.’
Evelyn Ford stored her backpack in her space. Ronan Kendrick was running too fast. ’Being pulled along by him feels like I’m being dragged behind a car,’ she thought, her whole body aching from the strain.
The others reacted quickly enough; even Taylor Vance and Zion Lowell weren’t holding the group back.
The two wolfdogs ran at the very front with Evelyn Ford and Ronan Kendrick right behind them. This whole area was dense forest. ’We’re only safe if we can get out of these woods and find an open space.’