"It’s true what they say. Different people, different fates."
"There’s no light out there. Aren’t they afraid of crashing while drag racing?"
"Rich people don’t lack generators. They must have streetlights on the road. Listen closely, the sounds of engines and horns are getting louder."
"It’s got nothing to do with us anyway. Who cares if they live or die?"
There were still several tons of corn cobs in the warehouse waiting to be threshed, wood in the woodshed that needed to be chopped, and several barrels of fish in the kitchen waiting to be cured. Everyone had endless chores, so who had the spare energy to be curious about other people’s lives?
Evelyn Ford took Wyatt Vaughn to process the fish in the kitchen. It seemed everyone preferred cured fish over smoked fish. After putting the cured fish into a jar, Evelyn moved it into her space’s cultivation area to let it ferment for a month. After that, it could be moved to the storage area to rest, preventing it from spoiling or rotting.
Ronan Kendrick was chopping wood in the woodshed. When Evelyn Ford went to find him, he had just finished.
"What time is it?"
Evelyn Ford took out her phone and saw 22:32. Only then did she confirm it was nighttime.
"It’s 10:30 at night. Come on, let’s have a late-night snack. I made sweet rice balls with fermented rice wine."
"It’s very noisy outside today."
Evelyn Ford went over and took his hand. "There’s been the sound of car horns and racing all afternoon. A group of people are drag racing at the Source River Dam, six kilometers away."
After hearing the horns, Evelyn Ford had sent a few of her little birds out to investigate for her.
"Drag racing?"
"Yeah, car racing. It was considered a very dangerous sport before the apocalypse. The Source River Dam is just over ten kilometers from The Second Base."
Ronan Kendrick nodded. "I see." They had seen people like this who weren’t afraid of death before. Wasn’t Shane Landry’s son from Tarr Base exactly this kind of profligate scion?
The apocalypse had no effect on them. While others were fleeing for their lives, they could take a plane to a safe place. While others were eating tree leaves, they could still enjoy sea cucumber and abalone.
Even with the arrival of the polar night, that group of profligate scions at the Source River Dam still had no worries. They could still drag race and enjoy the most top-tier resources.
Back in the living room, Evelyn Ford brought out the sweet rice balls. She had added fermented rice wine and sugar, and they tasted great.
Evelyn Ford only ate a small bowl. She then took out a DVD player, intending to put on a movie.
"Want to watch a horror movie?"
Ronan Kendrick leaned in to take a look. "Let’s watch this one."
"Even though this movie is called ’Revenge of the Ghost Bride,’ it’s actually a comedy." Evelyn Ford put the disc into the DVD player. After a CLICK, the movie started playing automatically.
It was just the two of them in the living room. Taylor Vance and Zion Lowell were in the hydroponics room, Joelle Finch and Wyatt Vaughn were knitting in their bedroom, and the others were in the warehouse.
Besides a single night light by the fireplace, no other lights were on in the living room. The movie began with the ghost bride climbing out of her grave. The scene was terrifying, and just as Evelyn Ford and Ronan Kendrick were getting into it, they heard a CREAKING sound from the main door. Evelyn got up to look outside but didn’t see anyone, so she sat back down.
"The wind must have blown the door open."
Evelyn Ford paid it no mind and continued watching the movie with Ronan Kendrick. A thought occurred to her, and she pulled various snacks and fruits from her space, placing them on the table. She added a few more logs to the fireplace, and upon returning to the sofa, she leaned her whole body against Ronan Kendrick’s shoulder. Although the ghost bride in the movie was somewhat frightening, Evelyn couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
The ghost bride endured countless tribulations on her path to revenge—either falling into a sewer, suddenly appearing in a toilet only to be flushed back down, or getting electrocuted when the power cut out just as she was climbing out of a TV.
"CREAK..." Just then, the door sounded again. Evelyn Ford suddenly felt a chill run down her spine. She grabbed Ronan Kendrick’s arm and glanced toward the doorway.
"Looks like the wind is pretty strong tonight. I’ll go close the door."
Ronan Kendrick stood up and looked at the doorway. "There’s a noise outside. I’ll go check."
Evelyn Ford quickly followed. As they reached the entrance, Ronan Kendrick pulled a dagger from the small of his back. The moment he pushed the door open, he slashed out with the dagger.
The sound of something heavy falling to the ground followed, and Evelyn Ford immediately took out a flashlight and shone it outside.
On the ground outside the main door, a person lay there, soaking wet.
"Help... help me," a hoarse male voice called out. He had just managed to lift his hand when it fell heavily back down. After that, there was no movement. Ronan Kendrick walked over and placed his hand on the man’s neck.
’A water ghost that crawled out of the river? Just like the ghost bride in the movie, who crawled out of the water only to be poked back in by people on the shore with fishing rods.’
Evelyn Ford poked the person on the ground with a nearby branch. Ronan Kendrick stood up, frowning as he looked toward the shore.
"This person’s still alive. He must have swum here."
He had a completely unfamiliar face and looked to be in his early twenties. His cotton-padded jacket had several holes in it, and the cotton inside had absorbed water, turning it into lumpy clumps.
Just then, the others heard the commotion and came out. Evelyn Ford explained what had just happened.
"Holy shit, Evelyn, Ronan, you two are watching a horror movie in the living room? I just went in there and almost pissed myself when I saw a gaping, bloody mouth on the screen." Quincy had just reached the door when he saw the soaking wet person on the ground and was startled again.
"What’s this now? A corpse you guys fished out of the water?"
"He walked over here on his own. And he’s still alive," Evelyn Ford said with a shrug.
"So what do we do with him?"
"Send him off the island. We can’t let him stay here," Taylor Vance said with a serious expression.
Quincy rubbed his chin. "Why don’t we just kill him? What if he goes out and tells other people there’s a log cabin here, and someone comes to rob us?"
"I agree, we should kill him."
"Yeah, killing him is safer. Don’t forget the story of the farmer and the snake."
Everyone looked at each other. Evelyn Ford sighed. "You guys are so indecisive. It’s just killing one person. I’ll do it." She took out her pistol and began to load it. Before firing, Evelyn blew on the muzzle and deliberately made a "BANG" sound with her mouth.
The man on the ground tremblingly raised his hand. "Please, don’t kill me. I don’t want to die."
Evelyn Ford crouched down and pressed the gun to his head. "How did you get here?"
"I was thrown into the water. When I woke up, I had been washed into the weeds on the shore. I heard the sound of wood chopping, so I walked toward the sound, and ended up here."
Evelyn Ford sized him up. "Where did you drift from?"
"The Source River Dam. I’ve been following Mr. Lowell. He lost a race tonight, so I became his punching bag. After he beat me up, his other lackeys threw me into the water."
After speaking, the man cautiously looked up at Evelyn Ford. "I swear, everything I’ve said is true. My name is Mason Morgan, and I’m a slave to Chad Lowell, the son of Saul Lowell, the director of The Second Base’s Resident Management Office."
A slave?
Everyone was a little surprised to hear such a feudal title.