While passing through a sparse saxaul forest, Evelyn Ford saw more exposed skeletons. Some bodies had become mummified, half exposed to the air and half buried in the sand.
"What a shame. If they’d just held on a little longer, they would have made it out of the desert."
"Isn’t that the truth."
Everyone felt sad for those who had died along the way, lamenting that if they had just persevered for one more day, they might have escaped this endless wasteland.
But for those who died before the dawn, how could they have known when the dawn would arrive?
At 7:00 PM, the vehicles slowly drove out of the desert and were met with the sight of rolling mountain ranges.
"Three whole days. We’re finally out of the desert."
"We’ll rest here for the night and set off again at 6:30 tomorrow morning."
Evelyn Ford looked at everyone and said this. Aside from Ronan Kendrick, they all looked exhausted. Even the ever-energetic Zoe appeared listless.
Evelyn got out of the RV to stretch her limbs. The temperature had started dropping around 5:00 PM. While not freezing, the wind was bone-chilling. Taking in a bellyful of it would lead to an upset stomach a few hours later, so she stayed bundled up tightly, not even exposing her eyes.
"Ethan Dawson, how long do you think it’ll take us to reach Frelia?"
"Are we going to travel day and night without stopping, like before?"
Evelyn shook her head. "No rush. We need to balance travel with rest. The RVs aren’t trains. Driving them for days on end will only wear them out faster. We’ll stick to the old routine: drive during the day and stop to rest at night."
"That’s good, too. Everyone is dead tired after the last three days. The road conditions were awful, and the ride was pretty bumpy. If this road ahead is clear, we should be able to enter Frelia in two or three days."
After Ethan Dawson finished speaking, Quincy came over. "Evelyn, should we chop some more wood?"
Looking at the forest in the distance, Evelyn shook her head. "No, that’s okay. Everyone should just get a good rest tonight."
"Then let’s make some more cooked food. We’re just sitting around anyway. We don’t know what the situation in Frelia is like, so we should prepare for the worst. If we can’t live there, we’ll have to leave again."
"Alright, let’s steam some buns then."
Evelyn took out five fifty-pound bags of flour. One bag was enough to make three to four hundred large steamed buns.
It was inconvenient to cook on the road, making steamed buns the best choice—especially large, sweet, fluffy ones. Evelyn herself could eat three or four at a time.
Everyone got busy. To save gasoline, they once again gathered firewood for the fire.
After the water boiled, Evelyn led everyone in kneading the dough. She had plenty of steamers in her space, so they could steam all the buns in one go.
Before midnight, all the buns were done. Evelyn stored the buns and the cooking utensils in her space. Everyone had a late-night snack, and the day came to an end.
Back in the RV, Officer Graham was giving Quincy a haircut.
"Might as well just shave it all off."
Quincy looked horrified. "No way! That would look too creepy."
Evelyn couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
"You know what creepy is? Back when you were in the safe zone, didn’t you always shave your head?"
"That was different. I was young back then, so being bald didn’t hurt my looks. Now that I’m older, a bald guy is just a creepy guy." Quincy held up a mirror, inspecting his reflection from side to side.
"What about Ronan Kendrick’s hair? Should we shave it? That silver hair of his is a bit conspicuous."
"No need." Evelyn looked at Ronan Kendrick’s silver hair, gently stroking a strand with her right hand.
"It won’t be conspicuous if he wears a hat."
’She couldn’t bear to have Ronan’s hair shaved. How could she let such a handsome, refined man be turned into a hard-boiled egg?’
Her wrists were a little sore from kneading dough and steaming buns all afternoon. After climbing into the upper bunk, Evelyn quickly entered her space. She was going to take a hot bath; all the recent travel had left her muscles completely tense.
However, just as she got into the bathtub, Ronan Kendrick appeared.
"There’s another tub and hot water over there. You can take a bath too," Evelyn mumbled. She had a face mask on and was leaning against the edge of the tub, resting with her eyes closed.
Ronan Kendrick walked up behind her, rolled up his sleeves, and placed his hands on her shoulders, starting to gently knead them. Evelyn shivered and opened her eyes, looking at him in confusion.
"Aren’t you going to bathe?"
"I am. With you." With that, he slipped into the water from behind her.
Evelyn...
"I think it would be faster if we bathed separately."
Ronan Kendrick chuckled softly. "It’s fine. We can take our time."
"Don’t..."
"Don’t be nervous." Ronan Kendrick continued massaging her shoulders. "I just want to help you relax your muscles."
As it turned out, he really did just help her soothe her muscles that night. Evelyn felt utterly exasperated; he had taken something perfectly innocent and made it so ambiguous and suggestive that she had completely gotten the wrong idea.
Lying in bed, Ronan Kendrick leaned in and whispered to her, "Your period is coming in the next day or two. Make sure you rest well starting tomorrow."
A day or two before her period each month, Ronan Kendrick would remind her to rest well. There was no need for her to track it; Ronan was her walking biological clock.
"How do you remember it so clearly?"
Ronan Kendrick reached out and pulled her close. "I have to remember everything about you."
"My constitution is much stronger now. My period doesn’t hurt anymore, and I’ve gotten a lot stronger too."
"So impressive." Ronan Kendrick leaned over and kissed her on the forehead.
The next day, Evelyn was awoken by the pitter-patter of rain.
She pulled open the curtain to look outside. The rain wasn’t heavy, but the fog was a bit thick. It shouldn’t affect their travel.
"It’s raining again," Officer Graham said, sounding disheartened. He clearly had some trauma associated with rain.
"It’s just a light rain, not a big deal. And there’s no thunder, so it should stop soon." Quincy yawned and turned on the RV’s interior lights.
"Let’s hope so."
"Let’s head out early. If water starts pooling on the road, the dirt path will turn to mud and be difficult to drive on. Who’s driving today?"
Quincy meekly raised his hand. "I’ll drive."
Evelyn nodded. "Drive slowly."
"You got it. Let me just wash my face and grab some breakfast, and we’ll be on our way. Evelyn, should I take the lead, or should Ethan?"
The driver of the other RV today was Ethan Dawson. After being listless for two days, he was now fully recharged.
"Let Ethan take the lead." Evelyn took two pairs of night-vision goggles from her space and tossed them to Quincy. "Give one pair to Ethan."
Yawning, Evelyn pulled the curtain shut again and snuggled back into Ronan Kendrick’s arms. "Kendrick."
Ronan Kendrick reached out and patted her back. "Mm, I’m here."
At 6:30, the vehicles set off on time.
Everyone was a little excited about entering Frelia, especially Wendy and Zoe. In Wendy’s mind, entering Frelia was like going to a big city. Frelia would have skyscrapers, neon lights, and schools. Maybe she could even find her long-lost friends there.
Even though several years had passed, Wendy had never forgotten Roy Henderson, Owen Chapman, Phoebe, Cherie, and Annie.
She remembered her father telling her that the Earth is round, and as long as people are alive, they will one day be reunited.
She believed they were still alive.