"They seem about the same. Tarr Base has a lot of high-rises, but the tallest building at The Second Base is only six stories. However, The Second Base is better planned when it comes to farming and raising livestock."
The Second Base even established a refugee camp in Flumen, while Tarr Base just drove away any outside refugees—a policy set down by Judd Gable. In certain respects, The Second Base is indeed far superior to Tarr Base.
It was a half-hour drive from the service station to Flumen. They occasionally passed patrol vehicles, but none of them stopped their car. The Second Base was relatively relaxed; they didn’t demand food or other supplies. Generally speaking, the areas under military jurisdiction felt safer.
About two kilometers from Flumen, they could already see many refugees with bamboo baskets on their backs, searching for food in the woods lining the road. A few children were squatting by the roadside, their faces caked with dirt and snot. Their eyes were numb and vacant, and their clothes were as tattered as old rags.
As the car drove past them, they saw that the children had large heads and swollen bellies, but their limbs were frail and spindly. Two of them swayed unsteadily on their feet; it looked as if the slightest breeze could knock them over.
The baskets beside them were filled with leaves and tree roots—their food for the next few days.
"The elderly and children have it the worst in the apocalypse. These shameless parents know they’re just bringing them into the world to suffer, but they can’t control their urges." Looking at these children always made Quincy think of Zoe.
"What a sin."
"Isn’t our whole reason for going to the base to solve the survival problem in the refugee camp? If we can fix that, they’ll be saved," Evelyn Ford said calmly, looking away.
"True. Tackling the root of the problem is the only way to get the best results."
When they reached the city gates of Flumen, the four of them decided to enter openly through the main entrance. They showed their IDs, and the guards on duty let them through. The disappearance of those four rich brats had caused quite a bit of trouble for Flumen, so there were a lot more patrols in the city. But the road to the refugee camp was still just as filthy and chaotic, filled with ragged refugees. Some carried bundles of leaves on their backs, others carried firewood.
At a deserted corner, Evelyn Ford stored the car away, and the four of them proceeded on foot toward the refugee camp.
"Ronan Kendrick, you’re very quiet today."
Ronan Kendrick raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything. ’I’m always quiet, what’s so strange about that?’
Ethan Dawson couldn’t help but chuckle. Ronan Kendrick acted like a normal person around Evelyn Ford, but at all other times, he was like a silent statue. Unless you initiated the conversation, he could go on forever without saying a word.
"Ronan Kendrick is just saving his energy for the task ahead." As Evelyn Ford said this, Ronan took her hand and pulled her a little closer to his side.
Evelyn Ford smiled, taking out a thermos and handing it to Ronan Kendrick.
Upon entering the refugee camp, an assault of various odors hit them. It was Quincy and Ethan Dawson’s first time here, and the impact was so overwhelming that it took them a long moment to recover.
"Do they just relieve themselves wherever they want? God, it stinks. I can’t take it. The smell is boring a hole straight through my skull."
Evelyn Ford produced another bottle and shook out four pills. "These are Awakening Pills. Take one, it should help."
Ronan Kendrick could hold his breath, so the stench didn’t affect him, but Evelyn Ford still had him take one of the Awakening Pills.
"See? I was right to make you wear rain boots. The ground in the camp is covered in sludge, garbage, and excrement. You can just hose rain boots down, but any other kind of shoe would have to be thrown out after a single walk through here."
Evelyn Ford waved her hand. "Come on, let’s head in and assess the situation. Ronan and I didn’t make it all the way through last time. We have more time now, so we can do a proper survey."
In truth, nothing much had changed since their last visit. There were thugs everywhere, men and women of all ages relieving themselves in the open, and the constant sound of crying children. To avoid drawing attention, the four decided to split up: Ethan Dawson with Quincy, and Evelyn Ford with Ronan Kendrick. Evelyn gave Quincy a watch in case his phone died.
Their backpacks were stocked with food, a pistol, and a walkie-talkie. With Ethan Dawson around, Quincy probably wouldn’t get lost.
"They must have just distributed relief rations. I can smell grain." Evelyn Ford’s nose twitched. "It’s the smell of cornmeal."
Ronan Kendrick squeezed her hand. "I smell it too. The search for those four must have caused a panic in the camp. To placate everyone, the base probably swapped out the usual wheat bran and husks for cornmeal this time."
He had a point. Ronan Kendrick was right. Other than handing out food, the authorities had no better way to pacify the people.
When people were starving and cold, who would listen to a bunch of high-minded bullshit? If the base didn’t offer up food to remedy the situation, a riot from the hundred thousand-plus refugees would be more than they could handle.
Several elderly people were lying under a streetlight. They probably had no family and could only huddle together for warmth. Next to them, a small, broken iron pot sat over a fire, simmering with cornmeal and mud cakes.
The mud cakes were made from a mixture of Famine Clay Soil and various insects. They tasted awful but were filling. When water was added, a single cake could expand to fill a large pot, just like a brick of coconut coir.
Adding a little cornmeal made the taste much more bearable.
The refugee camp had public water taps fed by the main reservoir. A crowd was gathered around them. Some people were there to collect water, while others pressed their mouths directly to the spigots and drank. When you couldn’t eat your fill, drinking water was the only way to fill your stomach and stave off hunger.
Evelyn Ford had lived through days like this before. In her past life, she had done the same thing—when there was no food, she could only use water to sate her hunger. But after the great scorching began, the water sources dried up, and there was nothing left to drink at all.
Whenever they came across women being harassed, the pair would step in and deal with the scum.
Fortunately, the base had one ironclad rule: no cannibalism. If anyone in the refugee camp was caught eating human flesh, they would be taken away by the patrols and dealt with. Otherwise, with people dying every day, their bodies would be devoured by the starving masses long before they could be disposed of in the river.
Without this rule, the refugee camp would have likely become a true Inferno.
Just then, a commotion came from a nearby corner. Thinking it was more scum harassing women, Evelyn Ford hurried over, only to find a different scene entirely.
A group of children were punching and kicking another child on the ground, spewing all sorts of profanities. Evelyn had heard plenty of foul language on their way here—all sorts of curses about people’s ancestors and crude references to body parts.
The children here simply copied what they saw, perfectly mimicking the aggressive posturing of the local thugs.
"You’ve got no dad and no mom, you little animal! Beat him to death! Kill him!"
"This is what you get for not gathering leaves with us! We’ll beat you to death!"
The curses became so vile that even Evelyn Ford couldn’t stand to listen any longer.
She walked over and sent each of the bullies flying with a single slap.
Then, she helped the barely conscious child up from the ground.