Two hours later, the vehicle drove out of the Rimefrost Forest and came to a large stretch of wasteland. Officer Graham and Quincy got out to survey the area. By this time, the sky had gone completely dark.
"This land used to be cotton fields. It feels like hundreds of acres. Let’s just park here. There are no high mountains around, so it’s relatively safe."
Evelyn Ford took out her pocket watch to check the time. It was 5:00 PM. Based on Frelia’s latitude and longitude, it shouldn’t have been dark at this hour under normal circumstances.
"Looks like it’s really going to rain." Just as she spoke, a raindrop splattered against the windowpane.
Evelyn Ford got out and walked to the back, storing the other vehicle in her space. Everyone then piled into the remaining one. With the added weight, it would be harder for high winds to flip the vehicle over.
"Hurry, get in! The wind’s picking up."
Once the last person was on board, Ronan Kendrick shut the door.
The RV was rather crowded. Evelyn Ford brought out the food. "Let’s eat first. This storm looks fierce; it’ll probably last all night."
"We’ll have a bowl of ginger soup after we eat. The temperature dropped so suddenly, it’d be easy to catch a cold." Officer Graham already had the ginger soup simmering. Everyone grabbed their bowls and chopsticks and started to eat.
"This region is so vast. It feels like we could walk forever and never see the end of it."
"It’s probably about two million square kilometers in area."
Taylor Vance smiled. "A little less than 1.7 million, but that’s close enough. If we were traveling on foot, it would probably take us more than half a year."
The sheer scale of the nation was no exaggeration.
The raindrops began to fall more frequently, covering the windows in a dense sheet of watermarks. Soon, a clap of thunder rolled, and the drops turned into a torrential downpour.
After dinner, no one spoke. They sat quietly in the RV, watching the storm rage outside. The rain grew heavier, now mixed with hail that hammered against the windows, making Quincy wince and furrow his brow in distress.
"It’s not going to get damaged, is it?"
"No. It’s bulletproof."
Quincy gave Evelyn Ford a thumbs-up, but she just slapped his hand away.
She was on her period, and even without cramps, she couldn’t help but feel irritable. Watching the downpour outside, Evelyn Ford rubbed her eye. Her right eyelid had been twitching nonstop since the afternoon.
Ronan Kendrick brought her a hot towel to place over her eyes. After a while, the twitching stopped.
Evelyn Ford looked at everyone and said softly, "Go to sleep if you’re tired. Nothing should happen. We’ll all just have to squeeze into this vehicle for the night."
"The women should all get some sleep. Keeping watch is a man’s job." As soon as Quincy finished speaking, he couldn’t help but yawn. Everyone looked at him in amusement.
’He really does get less reliable with age.’
"I’m not sleepy! I just yawned." Quincy looked at Evelyn Ford with pleading eyes. "Evelyn, do you have any coffee?"
’There should be some.’ Evelyn Ford searched through her space for a while and actually found a good amount of coffee. ’She probably didn’t buy it herself; it must have been something she scavenged.’
"Here."
Quincy’s eyes lit up. "I haven’t had coffee in years! One cup and I’ll be sharp all night. Anyone else want some?"
Everyone refused except for Ethan Dawson and Miles Vaughn.
"It’s so bitter and harsh. I could never get used to the taste."
Ethan Dawson was a little curious. "Mr. Vance and Mr. Lowell, you don’t like coffee either?"
Taylor Vance nodded. "I prefer tea. A strong brew is more invigorating."
Zion Lowell didn’t like coffee either. As friends and colleagues for many years, their tastes were quite similar.
Evelyn Ford climbed into the upper bunk, ready to sleep. Ronan Kendrick came over and looked into her eyes. "Are they still bothering you?"
"They feel fine now. Are you tired?"
"I’m not tired. Go on and sleep, don’t worry." Ronan Kendrick gently ruffled her hair, then pulled the privacy curtain shut for her. Evelyn Ford lay down and fell asleep just a few moments later.
The rain poured down outside, yet she slept with a profound sense of peace.
At 7:00 AM, the first thing Evelyn Ford saw when she opened her eyes was Ronan Kendrick lying beside her. She listened carefully to the sounds outside; besides the rising and falling chorus of the men’s snores, there was only the whistle of the wind.
The rain had stopped.
Although the rain had stopped, it left behind plenty of standing water. The road, the fields, and every hollow in the ground were filled to the brim. The morning air in the wilderness was sweet. Evelyn Ford climbed out of the RV, did a few stretches, then shoved her hands in her pockets and started walking slowly down the road ahead.
Evelyn Ford wandered outside alone for half an hour. The view here was incredibly vast, with no mountains to obstruct it. The seemingly endless cotton fields all bore the scars of the apocalypse’s erosion.
With the rain gone, the fog had also dissipated. Evelyn Ford picked up two hailstones and rolled them around in her palm, like one would with walnuts.
’How fun.’
Evelyn Ford laughed out loud as she played. She decided to head back, only to find Ronan Kendrick standing a short distance away, watching her.
Evelyn Ford ran over to him.
"Why didn’t you sleep a little longer?"
Ronan Kendrick rubbed his eyes. "I’m fully rested. Are you still feeling unwell?"
"I feel fine. Look at this." Evelyn Ford handed the hailstones to Ronan Kendrick. "This one looks like a glass marble."
Ronan Kendrick took the hailstones with one hand and took her hand with his other.
"The morning wind is strong. Let’s head back before you catch a cold."
"Okay."
The two returned to the RV as the others were gradually waking up. Evelyn Ford brought the second RV back out.
"Let’s have breakfast and then set off. After a storm like that last night, it probably won’t rain again for a long time."
Evelyn Ford agreed with Officer Graham’s assessment. She was in high spirits today, so the task of driving fell to her.
Barring any surprises, they should reach Frelia by the afternoon.
Evelyn Ford was looking forward to entering Frelia. Or rather, she was even more excited about raiding the Hooper Family.
The vehicles started up slowly with Evelyn Ford leading the way. She was a steady driver and kept a brisk pace. The road was full of potholes, and some sections had cracked open, likely due to an earthquake.
After crossing the vast cotton fields, they entered another stretch of rolling mountains.
At 4:00 PM, the RVs officially crossed into Frelia.
Frelia shared many similarities with Country E. Evelyn Ford used her binoculars to survey the area ten kilometers out and discovered quite a few wooden cabins nestled in the mountains.
Thick smoke billowed from the cabins, a sign that many people were living here.
"Now that we’re in Frelia, we should also find a place to settle down."
"Not heading for a town?"
Evelyn Ford smiled. "Nope."
’As for the Hooper Family, I can always find another chance to deal with them.’ Evelyn Ford didn’t like taking risks, especially in an unfamiliar place.
As the vehicles drove deeper into Frelia, some people chopping wood in the mountains spotted them. They were clearly frightened and immediately ducked for cover.
Evelyn Ford had no desire to intrude on someone else’s turf anyway. Frelia was vast; surely there was a piece of it that could be hers.
At 6:00 PM, the vehicles stopped beside a small creek. A JINGLING and CLANGING sound came from up ahead, and a horse-drawn carriage came swaying toward them from the distance. Two young men sat on the carriage, longswords and hunting rifles hanging from their waists. Upon seeing the two RVs, they looked surprised, and then their expressions immediately grew wary.
Evelyn Ford saw a sign hanging on the carriage. Three words were written on it in red ink.
"Daily Goods Merchant"
Evelyn Ford remembered Langley saying his friend was in the business of bartering for supplies.