Ronan Kendrick carried Evelyn Ford on his back, heading into the woods to the right. The forest was too full of obstacles, with thorns and branches blocking the way. Otherwise, they could have made better time on horseback.
Ronan Kendrick glanced back at Evelyn Ford, his eyes full of worry. "Is your head still bothering you?"
Evelyn Ford wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing tightly against his back. "It’s not bothering me anymore. Let’s keep moving."
A whistle sounded intermittently, and Evelyn Ford whistled back in response.
She was still exhausted, without an ounce of strength in her body. Her right hand trembled as she pulled a pocket watch from her collar and checked the time.
"It’s been four and a half hours since we left the cave. Given the speed the magma is spreading, we should be safe by now."
Ronan Kendrick nodded. "But we still need to get out of the mountain range quickly. Ethan Dawson said The Southern Range has a lot of active volcanoes. The cluster is all grouped together. If one erupts, it could set off a domino effect, causing the others to erupt too."
They walked for over ten minutes, and the whistling grew clearer. Evelyn Ford had regained some of her strength. She flexed her wrist and asked Ronan Kendrick to let her down.
On a large, fallen tree trunk, Evelyn Ford saw Quincy and Zoe sprawled out.
Zoe was in better shape, still wrapped in a heavy coat. Quincy, however, was desperately coughing as he lay on the tree. Seeing Evelyn Ford and Ronan Kendrick, his eyes lit up with surprised relief. He tried to stand, but his legs went soft and he slumped to the ground.
"I thought I’d gotten separated from you all again."
Quincy covered his mouth and kept coughing. ’Evelyn Ford knew that feeling all too well. When you ran too hard, too fast, the wind seemed to rush into your stomach, and a burning pain seared through your insides.’
Evelyn Ford took out a cup and poured some water for him. "Drink some water."
Quincy waved his hand. "I’m fine. Check on Zoe for me."
"She’s fine." Zoe was chilled, hiccuping as her nose ran. The tip of it was bright red.
Quincy clutched his stomach and dry-heaved a couple of times. After several minutes, he shakily got to his feet.
"What about the others?"
"We haven’t seen them. Can you still walk?"
"I can. Do we have to run again? I can’t run anymore. My legs were cramping up just now. If I hadn’t heard the whistle, I think I would have passed out."
Evelyn Ford took a bottle from her bag and shook out a black pill for Quincy. The pill carried the fresh scent of mugwort. Without asking questions, Quincy took it and popped it into his mouth.
Evelyn Ford then wiped Zoe’s nose, gave her two cold pills to take, and then strapped Zoe to Quincy’s back.
The four of them didn’t rest any longer. After confirming their direction, Ronan Kendrick led the way with Evelyn Ford following behind.
The dark haze was so thick they couldn’t see the ground at all. Evelyn Ford began to whistle, calling for the others. Half an hour later, she sensed something was wrong.
"Ronan Kendrick, I think we’ve just been walking in circles. Look, this is the branch I broke off and dropped here earlier. I remember it very clearly."
Ronan Kendrick pressed his lips together, staring at the branch on the ground. Just then, Quincy caught up, dragging his unsteady feet.
"Have we run into a ghost wall?"
"But we’ve been walking straight ahead. How did we end up walking in circles?" Evelyn Ford was also completely baffled.
"Let’s leave a trail." Evelyn Ford took a bag of lime powder from her pack and sprinkled some on the ground.
The four of them and the two dogs pressed on, with Evelyn Ford leaving a trail of lime powder as they went. But half an hour later, she and Ronan Kendrick found themselves staring at the same trail of powder, completely bewildered again.
"How did we circle back again? Is it really a ghost wall?"
"I remember hearing about a way to break a ghost wall. You’re supposed to cut your index finger, wipe the blood on a nearby tree, and ask the tree for guidance. Then you can get out."
Evelyn Ford looked at Quincy, skeptical. "Are you sure that works?"
"I don’t know either. It’s just something I heard. It should work, I guess."
Evelyn Ford rolled her eyes. ’It’s probably not a ghost wall. The magnetic field in this part of the forest must be disturbed; that’s why we can’t get out.’
"Let’s try calling the others first. This forest feels creepy. We can’t see the path, and we’ve lost all sense of direction." Evelyn Ford pulled a megaphone from her bag, and Quincy stared at her in renewed astonishment.
"That bag of yours... just how much stuff is crammed in there?"
A small smile tugged at Evelyn Ford’s lips. "This isn’t a bag. It’s a bag of holding."
The megaphone still had power. Evelyn Ford cleared her throat and began to call for the others.
"Hello, hello... This is Evelyn Ford. If you can hear this, please respond with a whistle. Mr. Graham, Wendy, can you hear me? Can you hear me?"
The sound from the megaphone was incredibly loud, booming out in all directions. It could likely be heard for five or six kilometers.
Evelyn Ford repeated the call on a loop. After a few minutes, a faint whistle seemed to answer from behind them. She immediately shut off the megaphone.
"It’s a whistle!" Quincy was thrilled, but his limbs were weak, and he couldn’t walk anymore.
Evelyn Ford whistled in response and hauled the half-dead Quincy up from the ground.
Ronan Kendrick and the two wolf-dogs continued to lead the way. To avoid walking in circles again, Evelyn Ford had to keep sprinkling lime powder to mark their path.
The whistle was faint. Each time it sounded, Evelyn Ford would whistle back in response.
Twenty minutes later, they found a severely injured Ethan Dawson in a dirt pit.
"Ethan Dawson, Ethan Dawson, wake up." Quincy took a stick and poked at Ethan Dawson in the pit.
Ethan Dawson opened his eyes but didn’t move for a long moment. Then, he lifted the whistle hanging from his neck and blew with all his might.
Evelyn Ford raised her whistle and blew in response, and only then did he show some sign of movement.
Ronan Kendrick dragged him out of the pit. Seeing the wound and the blood on the back of his head, Quincy sighed.
"That sharp rock in the pit practically split his head open. It’s a miracle he’s still alive after losing so much blood."
’He couldn’t help but worry about Wyatt Vaughn and the others. What if they had also fallen into a pit like Ethan Dawson, and were lying there, on the brink of death?’
Evelyn Ford quickly stopped the bleeding and bandaged Ethan Dawson’s wound, then stuffed a handful of pills into his mouth.
"We still don’t know what’s happened to the others. Evelyn Ford, give me the megaphone."
Quincy took the megaphone, found a small ridge, and stood on it before starting to call for the others.
Ethan Dawson was not in good shape. The cuts and bruises from his fall were the least of his worries; the gash in the back of his head was far more serious. If he didn’t make it through the night, he would surely die.
The acrid smoke hanging in the air made them dizzy and nauseous. A cold wind carried waves of intense heat—the forest had caught fire. They had to get out of there, fast.
"There’s no response! What do we do? What if the others are hurt, too? How are we supposed to find them in this dark haze?" Quincy was extremely anxious.
"We need to leave this place first. The forest is on fire."
"What about him?" Quincy pointed at the unconscious Ethan Dawson leaning against a tree trunk.
Evelyn Ford walked up to Ethan Dawson, took off her gloves, and slapped him hard across the face twice.