"Am I seeing things?" Ethan Dawson clutched his head. He stood up and pointed at the five horses, then rubbed his eyes.
"Pack up. We need to get moving. Two to a horse: Mr. Graham and Wendy, me and Zoe, Quincy and Peter Owens, Ethan Dawson and Mr. Vance, and Ronan Kendrick and Mr. Lowell."
Taylor Vance, Peter Owens, and Zion Lowell couldn’t ride on their own, so they had to be tied to the others. This arrangement was clearly the most sensible.
Ethan Dawson had many questions, but he didn’t voice them. The most important thing right now was to leave this place. Nothing else mattered.
Evelyn fed the two wolfdogs some food and water. After packing up, with the fire yet to cross the riverbank, the group prepared to set off again.
Using ropes as simple reins, Evelyn tied Zoe to her back and nimbly mounted the bay horse.
"Giddy-up."
She took the lead, and the others mounted their horses one by one. The path through the spruce forest, however, was more difficult than Evelyn had imagined. It was full of dips and steep slopes, with densely packed spruce trees and a frost-covered ground. The faster the horses ran, the more painfully the branches slapped against their faces.
To keep the horses from stumbling, Evelyn deliberately slowed down. The earthquakes came in waves, rolling over them. Although the tremors were minor, the horses still panicked. Once spooked, they would follow their animal instincts and bolt wildly.
Zoe was awake now and clung tightly to Evelyn. Evelyn soothed her with a few words, telling her to keep her head down as much as possible and not to expose her face.
The wind was too strong. Just like when running, if you let the wind rush into your mouth while riding, the cold would feel like it was corroding your insides.
Five minutes after they left, a strong gust of wind blew embers from across the river into the spruce forest, igniting a large swath of trees.
Evelyn was grateful she was dressed so warmly, her thick, fleece-lined pants saving her thighs from being rubbed raw and bloody on the bareback horse.
The two wolfdogs ran frantically behind them, their speed no less than that of the fine steeds.
Three hours later, Evelyn pulled the reins tight, bringing her horse to a stop.
"Whoa." Evelyn jumped down from the horse and let it graze on the leaves of a nearby shrub. The others gradually caught up. The ground here was relatively flat, but the spruce forest stretched on endlessly. Evelyn had no idea how much longer it would take to get out of these woods.
"This is torture. My ass hurts so much. With Peter Owens’s whole weight on my back, I have to keep myself from falling off and protect him from falling off too." Quincy slowly approached on his horse. Peter Owens was also awake now.
The rest of the group dismounted one by one. Evelyn went to check on Taylor Vance and Zion Lowell. Taylor Vance’s condition had improved quite a bit, but Zion Lowell still showed no signs of waking.
"How is Mr. Lowell?"
Evelyn shook her head. "Not good."
"Let’s rest here for half an hour, eat something, and then get back on the road."
It was now late at night, and even with flashlights, they could barely see the path. But with a raging fire and volcanoes that could erupt at any moment behind them, they had no choice but to press on.
’These five horses can’t be wild, and they certainly didn’t appear out of thin air.’ Ethan Dawson had been thinking a lot along the way. He wanted to know the answer, but he knew he couldn’t bear the price of knowing it.
’Sometimes, it’s not a bad thing to live life a little bit ignorant.’
Evelyn once again took out canned food and distributed it to everyone. She had scavenged these from Westeria, and they still had foreign writing on them that she couldn’t read.
After eating a can of braised pork, everyone regained some of their energy and spirits.
Taylor Vance was still unable to speak. Evelyn told him not to rush trying to talk, as losing one’s voice takes time to heal on its own. For now, Zion Lowell’s internal injuries were the most serious problem.
"Let’s start a fire first. It’s too cold, I’m frozen stiff." Ethan Dawson gathered some branches and arranged them into a pile. Evelyn handed him the Magnesium Rod to get the fire started.
During the break, Evelyn took Wendy and Zoe to use the bathroom. Zoe had a runny nose, so Evelyn gave her two cold medicine pills and told her to take them.
"Auntie, the medicine is bitter."
Evelyn nodded. "It is a little bitter, but you won’t feel sick after you take it. Do you want to keep having a runny nose?"
Zoe shook her head.
Evelyn patted her head. "Be a good girl and take the medicine. We’ll have to leave again soon."
Back at the fire, Evelyn took off her shoes. Even though she was dressed warmly and had heating pads stuck to her insoles, her feet were still frozen like blocks of ice.
Quincy sat to one side, looking preoccupied. He was still very worried about Wyatt Vaughn.
"Ethan Dawson, where do you think we are?"
"It took us about three or four hours to get here from the riverbank. At this pace, we’ve probably covered a third of the forest. We should be out by tomorrow afternoon."
Evelyn nodded. "You’ll still lead the way for the rest of the journey."
"Alright. Do any of you have a destination in mind?" He glanced at the group, but at that moment, every face showed only exhaustion, confusion, and sorrow.
"No. Let’s just focus on getting out of this forest first." Evelyn took out a bottle of medicine and popped a pill into her mouth. Ronan Kendrick glanced at her, then touched her forehead with a worried expression.
"I’m fine, my throat just feels a little uncomfortable."
As soon as she finished speaking, Evelyn couldn’t help but start coughing. Her throat was itchy and sore. She patted her chest and shut her eyes in discomfort.
"GACK." Another wave of itchiness rose in her throat, and Evelyn coughed up a mouthful of blood. Everyone else was startled.
"What’s wrong? Why are you coughing up blood?"
Evelyn waved her hand dismissively. Just as she was about to speak, her throat started itching again.
Ronan Kendrick handed her the Water Cup and gently patted her on the back.
"I’m fine. It’s just my throat."
Looking at the blood on the ground, Evelyn used her knife to scrape some dirt over it, burying it from sight.
"Evelyn, are you really okay?"
"I’m really fine, don’t worry."
Evelyn rinsed her mouth, screwed the cap back on the Water Cup, and gave Ronan Kendrick a small smile. Ronan held her hand without a word. An hour later, the group got up to continue their journey.
Ronan Kendrick reached out and patted Evelyn’s head. "Be careful."
"I know. You too."
Just as Evelyn was about to turn away, Ronan Kendrick pulled her back into a hug.
"You have to be careful." He only let go of Evelyn after saying this.
Evelyn nodded, then hoisted Zoe onto her back and went to get her horse.
The wind in the dead of night was exceptionally biting. The moment she swung onto the horse’s back, Evelyn felt a chill that pierced her to the bone.
Ethan Dawson led the way, with Quincy following him, then Officer Graham, then Evelyn. Ronan Kendrick brought up the rear.
At three in the morning, the last three volcanoes in the Southern Range erupted in succession. A magnitude 10-plus earthquake followed, its effects felt for a hundred miles in every direction. Boulders tumbled down mountainsides, and where the lava flowed, flames shot toward the heavens. In the dark, oppressive forest, scattered birds took flight, and a pack of running wolves was swallowed by the lava, vanishing in an instant.
When the earthquake struck, the wolfdogs were the first to sense the danger. Evelyn glanced back. A tear had been ripped open in the black, fog-shrouded night sky, and her pupils reflected an endless expanse of crimson.