The neighborhood Ronan Kendrick mentioned wasn’t far from where they were temporarily staying, just around the block. Evelyn Ford spotted the SUV crushed beneath the rubble.

"Nice car. It should be able to handle frozen roads." It was a white Wrangler SUV with high ground clearance, and it looked to be in great condition.

With no one around, Evelyn Ford took the car, rubble and all, directly into her space.

Looking at the large patch of rubble that had vanished on the spot, Evelyn smiled in satisfaction. "Let’s go. Time to check out some other places."

Behind the apartment complex was a building materials market, but unfortunately, it had been reduced to ruins.

Evelyn Ford picked a nail up from the ground and sighed, gazing at the ruins.

The devastation here was far worse than in any of the towns they’d passed through. All the buildings in this area had collapsed, the concrete and stone smashed to bits.

Walking slowly over the rubble, Evelyn Ford saw a skeletal human hand.

Several round, solar-powered water tanks were crushed beneath the rubble, already smashed out of shape by the rocks. Evelyn Ford went over and tapped them a couple of times. Figuring they could still be used as water barrels, she stored them all in her space.

"Evelyn, there are a few rolls of tarp over here."

Evelyn hurried to Ronan’s side. "This is great. The cover on the truck is just regular cloth, so it’s not waterproof. Let’s take these tarps back for them."

Evelyn dug through the concrete chunks and felt the tarp underneath. It seemed usable enough. Since it had been buried under the rubble, it hadn’t weathered too badly.

They didn’t find anything else useful, so they didn’t linger. They dragged the two rolls of tarp and headed straight back.

Just as they got back to the building, the rain outside began to let up. The others returned as well, carrying scavenged supplies. Evelyn glanced over and was surprised to see someone had even found a few bags of salt.

"Evelyn, Mr. Lowell says the rain’s stopped. We need to get back on the road and head to Aeridor as soon as possible." Quincy saw them return and hurried over to help carry their things.

Evelyn was a little surprised they were leaving so soon. "Alright, we’ll go pack our things now. Can you take this to Mr. Lowell for me? It’s a tarp for covering the truck."

After handing the tarp to Quincy, Evelyn and Ronan went inside to pack.

’Are Zion Lowell and his group planning to go to the Aeridor base?’

"How much further to Aeridor?"

Evelyn took out her notebook for a look. "Probably over two hundred kilometers more."

Evelyn was worried about potential mudslides or rockfalls on the road, leaving right after a rainstorm, but everyone else had already packed and gone downstairs.

Fierce winds raged outside the window, strong enough to sweep a skinny person off their feet. Evelyn picked up Mina and Lola, and she and Ronan went downstairs, one after the other.

Downstairs, the others were stretching the tarp out. Wendy had already put on the sheepskin raincoat Evelyn had given her. The temperature had suddenly plummeted to twenty-three degrees Celsius after the rain, and many people were shivering from the cold.

"This damn weather," Quincy complained, pulling his head into his collar. "This sudden cold snap is killer."

After getting into the car, Evelyn put on a pair of gloves. She would drive this leg of the journey, with Ronan sitting in the passenger seat.

"Evelyn, how about I take over driving?"

"’You’re nearsighted. I’d be a little worried with you behind the wheel,’ Wyatt Vaughn said, her face etched with concern."

Quincy looked guilty. "But we can’t just let the two of them do all the driving."

"It’s fine. I’m not tired."

Evelyn handed Ronan a clean cloth. He attached it to a stick, fashioning a makeshift windshield wiper.

As before, the truck led the way, with the three vans following in sequence.

The vehicles were fully fueled, so they had no problem making it all the way to Aeridor. Evelyn’s van was positioned second to last in the convoy because its headlights were broken. Miles Vaughn’s vehicle brought up the rear.

However, just as they left Veridia, it started to rain again.

Normally, a two-hundred-plus-kilometer drive would only take about three hours. But in this godforsaken weather, and with the poor road conditions, it would likely take seven or eight.

Evelyn had never been to Aeridor, but she knew it was a coastal city with hot summers, cold winters, and numerous docks.

A thought struck Evelyn: ’It would be great if we could find some boats.’

’But it wouldn’t matter if we can’t. We can find materials and build one ourselves. I have books about it in my space.’

"Aeridor is on the coast. Should we go to the shore and see if we can catch any fish or crabs?" Wyatt Vaughn had been to Aeridor before, so she was fairly familiar with the city.

"I’ve never seen the ocean before," Quincy sighed.

"Don’t worry. When we get to Aeridor, I’ll take you to see it."

Evelyn looked over at Ronan. "We should go see the ocean, too."

Ronan smiled at her and gave a gentle nod.

The road through the forest was treacherous. Suddenly, Evelyn heard a noise from behind and realized rocks were rolling down from above. Ronan immediately blew his whistle. The vehicles ahead got the signal and instantly accelerated.

"Don’t tell me it’s a mudslide."

A RUMBLE echoed through the mountain forest. Evelyn showed no sign of panic. Instead, she calmly put on her goggles and steadily accelerated.

Worried about Miles, Wyatt kept looking back. She even tried to open the window, but Evelyn shouted at her to stop.

"Don’t stick your head out!"

"My brother’s still back there! What are we going to do?"

Wyatt was terrified. ’Everything was fine just a moment ago,’ she thought, ’how did it suddenly turn into a cataclysm?’

"You can’t help by going out there. We need to get away fast. Your brother will catch up," Quincy said, patting her shoulder and trying to soothe her in a low voice.

As Ronan wiped water from the windshield, Evelyn stomped on the gas. A giant boulder scraped past the rear of the van, nearly sending them flying.

Evelyn yanked the steering wheel to the left, getting the van back on the road. The tires shrieked as the mudslide came crashing down, engulfing everything.

Claudia Schultz, her face pale, shrank into a corner. Just then, thunder cracked and a bolt of purple lightning tore across the sky. Evelyn suddenly let out a curse. Everyone froze, staring at her.

Evelyn was letting loose a string of curses. Quincy pinched his cheek and blinked in disbelief.

’Evelyn actually swears? That’s a first.’

With a THUD, a huge boulder landed on the road ahead. Evelyn slammed on the brakes, narrowly avoiding a collision. The others were thrown forward by the inertia. As soon as the boulder rolled off the cliff, Evelyn gunned the engine.

"My head!"

"I’m gonna be sick, I’m so dizzy."

The life-or-death race had lasted only three minutes, but for everyone in the van, it felt like hours.

When they finally drove out of the mountain pass, the vehicles ahead came to a stop.

HURK—

Many people stumbled out of their vehicles and immediately began vomiting by the side of the road. Evelyn took off her goggles and gloves, flexing her stiff fingers.

The wind howled and the rain poured, accompanied by thunder and lightning. They had no choice but to press on. Ronan touched Evelyn’s hand, then decided then and there to switch places with her. He would drive the rest of the way.

「Six hours later.」

The vehicles entered the Aeridor region. This place seemed to have suffered an even more severe disaster; the ground was pockmarked with large, densely packed craters.