Quincy was startled by Evelyn Ford’s maneuver. Moreover, he felt a strange sense of déjà vu. Back when they were traveling through the extreme cold, he and Miles Vaughn had fallen into a pit and frozen unconscious. It seemed Evelyn had used this very same method to slap them awake.
After two slaps, Ethan Dawson’s brow twitched. Evelyn then took a bottle from her bag containing a specialty drug she had developed. She took out a pill and stuffed it into Ethan Dawson’s mouth. ’Time to test it on him.’ Although she had tested it on rabbits several times with great results, this was the first time Evelyn had tried it on a human.
When he still showed no signs of movement, Evelyn began to worry that her specialty drug wasn’t effective on humans. Just as she was preparing to give Ethan Dawson another two slaps, he finally opened his eyes.
"Please, stop hitting me. My face hurts." After saying this, he clutched his chest and began to cough.
Seeing him awake, Evelyn breathed a sigh of relief. ’Thank goodness, the specialty drug is highly effective.’
"Can you get up and walk?"
Ethan Dawson nodded. "Just give me a moment. Where are the others?"
"We haven’t found them. This part of the forest is on fire. We need to get out of here, fast."
Ethan Dawson pulled a nearby branch toward him and used it for support, struggling to his feet.
Ronan Kendrick took his backpack to lighten his load.
After a quick search of the area revealed no one else, Evelyn took out her flashlight to lead the way, with Ronan Kendrick bringing up the rear.
"COUGH COUGH... COUGH COUGH..." Ethan Dawson coughed with every couple of steps. The wound on his head had stopped bleeding, but he swayed as he walked, looking as if he might collapse at any moment.
"How’d you end up falling in a pit?" Quincy asked, curious.
Still looking half-dead, Ethan Dawson replied, "I was just focused on running. The black fog was everywhere, so I couldn’t see the terrain. I stepped right into a pit, hit the back of my head on a rock, and cracked it open."
Quincy shook his head. "Your luck is even worse than mine."
"WOOF WOOF WOOF..." Suddenly, the two wolfhounds began to bark frantically and bolted forward. A thought struck Evelyn, and she hurried after them with her flashlight. The dogs were so fast that she almost lost them.
After a chase of more than ten minutes, they finally stopped. Evelyn saw them circling in one spot, looking anxious. As she approached, she saw Officer Graham and Wendy collapsed behind a tree.
"Mr. Graham? Wendy?"
Evelyn quickly checked on them. Officer Graham’s face had a bluish tint, and his breathing was extremely faint. Wendy had a cut on her forehead, and she wasn’t in good shape either.
She took out her specialty drug and gave a pill to each of them. Evelyn then helped them sit up, propping them against a nearby rock.
Just then, the others caught up. One of the wolfhounds spotted Ronan Kendrick and ran over, circling his feet as if looking for praise.
"It’s Mr. Graham and Wendy! Evelyn, how are they?"
"Mr. Graham isn’t doing well."
Quincy grew anxious at the news. He tried to step forward, but his legs suddenly went weak, and he dropped to his knees.
"Don’t panic. His life isn’t in immediate danger. We need to leave this area first."
Evelyn hoisted Wendy onto her back. Ronan Kendrick stepped forward and unceremoniously slung Officer Graham over his own. Quincy winced at the sight of this rough handling.
Through the black fog, they could feel the heat of the approaching blaze. Evelyn had Ethan Dawson take the bullhorn to call out for the others, while she and Ronan Kendrick cleared the path ahead.
Although Wendy wasn’t heavy-set, she still weighed over a hundred pounds. Evelyn was already getting tired after carrying her for twenty minutes.
But when she saw the limestone powder on the ground, Evelyn could no longer remain calm.
"How did we end up back here?"
"We must be walking in circles. What do we do? Should we try the method I suggested?"
"It’s not some ’ghost wall,’ it’s an issue with the magnetic field. Let me think about how to find a way out." Evelyn gently set Wendy down and began to pace back and forth.
’Logically, they should rest and conserve energy right now. But with the wildfire at their backs, they risked being cornered and consumed by the flames if they didn’t find a way out.’
’Before the apocalypse, Evelyn had read many news reports about geologists who went missing deep in the mountains. The biggest cause was magnetic field anomalies, which led to them exhausting their energy and dying of hypothermia.’
"We’ll rest here for half an hour." Evelyn took out some cans of food and distributed one to each person. At the sight of the cans, both Ethan Dawson and Quincy’s eyes widened in disbelief.
Evelyn didn’t bother to explain, simply opening a can and starting to eat. After she finished, she gave Wendy and Officer Graham more water and medicine.
The bullhorn continued to play on a loop as Evelyn gathered some branches and built a small fire.
"Are we ever going to make it out of this forest?"
Evelyn shrugged. "If we don’t make it out, at least we’ll all die together. It’s a good thing, really. We’ll have company in the afterlife."
A gust of wind rustled through the trees, and Quincy shivered in fear.
"Evelyn, don’t say things like that. It’s terrifying."
Evelyn’s lips twisted into a wry smile. She stared into the oppressive black fog, an indescribable frustration welling up inside her.
The fire was growing larger. Evelyn brushed the dirt from her knees and decided to search the immediate area for the others.
Unwilling to let her go alone, Ronan Kendrick naturally went with her. They took one of the wolfhounds, leaving the other to protect the rest of the group.
Evelyn continued to blow her whistle. The wildfire had reached the woods; the mountain must be a raging inferno by now. ’Those who were left behind...’
Evelyn pushed the distracting thoughts from her mind and continued her search.
But after searching the area, they still came up empty-handed.
"Do you think they might have already gotten out of the woods?"
Ronan Kendrick glanced at Evelyn. "Mr. Vance and Mr. Lowell aren’t fast runners."
Evelyn took a deep breath. "Are you saying they fell behind?"
Evelyn looked toward the wildfire, and her heart clenched as if pierced by a needle.
When they returned to the campfire, Officer Graham and Wendy were awake.
Officer Graham still looked weak. Evelyn gave both him and Wendy a can of food, telling them to eat up before they had to get moving again.
"Ronan Kendrick and I did a sweep of the area but didn’t find anyone else," Evelyn reported. "They’re either ahead of us and already out, or they fell behind. It’s also possible they’re injured and unconscious somewhere."
As she spoke, she saw Quincy clutching Zoe, a look of helplessness on his face. It made her heart ache, but in the face of disaster, they could only press forward. There was no sense in turning back.
"We leave in ten minutes."
"When I fell, I heard footsteps running past nearby. It’s very likely the others are ahead of us," Ethan Dawson said with difficulty, coughing twice.
"Right before I passed out, I think I heard Miles and Wyatt Vaughn’s voices," Officer Graham added. At this, Quincy’s eyes widened.
"Mr. Graham, are you sure you didn’t mishear?"
"I don’t think so. I heard Miles telling Wyatt to run faster."
Quincy finally let out a sigh of relief.
"But that doesn’t make sense. If they were able to get out, why are we just going in circles?"
No one could figure out the answer to that question.
"Let’s not overthink it. The priority is to get out of here. This time, let’s have someone else lead and see what happens."
Ethan Dawson raised his hand. "I’ll do it."