Magic Space: Struggling to Survive in the Apocalypse-Chapter 26: Heavy Rain, Toads (Part 1)

The next day, a loud bang shattered the peace of Prosperity Gardens. Evelyn Ford pulled open the curtains and glanced outside. A splash of something white was stuck to the glass. Realizing something, she grabbed her binoculars and searched for the bodies that had been floating in the water.

Sure enough, the bodies were gone.

Evelyn Ford had once seen a short video of an exploding whale. A bloated corpse, it was said, could explode with the force of a bomb.

This was the first time she had experienced it so viscerally firsthand.

When the temperature dropped to minus sixteen degrees, the toxic moths vanished overnight, leaving behind only pools of viscous fluid and a pungent, foul stench. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

When Officer Graham returned from a supply run, he told Evelyn Ford that a nearby old residential complex had suddenly collapsed the previous night. The entire area had caved in, forming a massive sinkhole. No one inside had survived.

Evelyn understood Officer Graham’s concern. The torrential rain had been falling for a month straight. The sewer system had been overwhelmed by the third day. With the ground surface eroded and the soil compromised, it was only natural for it to collapse and wash away.

The floodwaters swept sand, debris, cars, rebar, and trees from upstream. If this debris created a blockage somewhere, the water couldn’t flow downstream, leading to severe local flooding.

Evelyn Ford knew in her heart that a much larger flood was coming soon.

Collapsing roads, bursting dams, landslides, mudslides...

Corinth was low-lying. If a dam burst, the city would become an isolated island.

Wendy’s chickenpox had almost completely healed. Fortunately, Mrs. Graham hadn’t been infected.

Evelyn Ford returned home, suddenly feeling restless.

The many uncontrollable factors were making her anxious. ’If Prosperity Gardens collapses too, how will I save myself?’

The course of the disasters in this life wasn’t too different from her previous one. But Evelyn remembered that in her past life, the nearby complex hadn’t collapsed. It was only later, during the heatwave, that a gas canister in one of the apartments exploded, destroying the entire building. Even then, a few survivors had been rescued. Furthermore, in her past life, everything had started to freeze a few days after the downpour. This time, even at more than ten degrees below zero, the water not only hadn’t frozen, but toxic moths had appeared.

That afternoon, Evelyn Ford went out. When she saw the massive sinkhole with her own eyes, her heart plummeted.

Floodwater from all directions poured into the sinkhole, creating a spectacular, waterfall-like cascade. A rare sliver of light broke through the clouds, and standing at the edge of the pit, Evelyn vaguely saw a rainbow.

An indescribable sense of unease washed over her. In that moment, she truly understood her own insignificance.

For a moment, she felt as though she were living in a disaster-themed video game. Some invisible hand was creating one level after another. The sudden sinkhole was a new challenge, and the people who died beneath it were just NPCs.

She looked up at the sky and imagined she saw a contemptuous smile. Suddenly, those hands conjured a gust of wind that effortlessly tossed her into the gaping pit.

Evelyn Ford detoured to the park where she had previously chopped down trees. Unfortunately, not even the stumps remained.

She passed an unfinished housing development on higher ground. Spotting some trees still standing inside, Evelyn steered her motorboat over. She used her axe to chop the landscaping trees into several logs and loaded them onto the boat. Flexing her stiff fingers, she prepared to head for home.

On the way back, a toad appeared on her motorboat. It was unnervingly large. The toad squatted on the stern, staring at Evelyn, its eyes round and bulging. Its body was covered in warts, and its dark brown skin reminded her of the toxic moths that had disappeared.

Toads normally didn’t appear in cold weather, especially with the temperature now well below zero. The ones Evelyn had seen before were about the size of a fist. She had never seen one the size of a soccer ball.

The creature was hideous. Anyone with trypophobia would probably feel dizzy and sick just looking at it.

Toads were poisonous, but they could also be used in medicine. Evelyn stared at it for two seconds before poking it into the water with a thin stick.

Back in Building D, Evelyn saw several more toads in the stairwell. It finally dawned on her. ’The toxic moths are gone, and now the toads have come.’

Sure enough, two days later, the toads began to appear everywhere, just like the toxic moths before them—in the stairwells and in the water.

The residents were miserable beyond words. They couldn’t even open their doors without finding a solid mass of toads blocking the way. The creatures croaked in unison—CROAK, CROAK, CROAK. Unlike a frog’s call, the toad’s croak had a strange, reverberating quality that was instantly spine-chilling.

Furthermore, the toads had an astonishing jumping ability. The moment someone stepped outside, the creatures would leap onto them. The mucus on their skin was not only toxic but also thick and sticky, making them incredibly difficult to shake off.

Evelyn tried using a torch and insecticide to drive them away, but it was useless. Before each croak, a toad’s throat would swell up as if it were being inflated with air. The sight always reminded Evelyn of the bloated corpses.

Ever since the toads appeared, Evelyn hadn’t gone outside. The water level continued to rise, and the fifth floor was now in jeopardy.

Her neighbor, Jack Sullivan, suddenly threw open his door. The toads in the stairwell swarmed into his apartment. Evelyn heard shouts and slapping sounds from next door. An idea struck her. She put on her protective suit, grabbed a pair of tongs, and opened her own door.

"Kill them! Throw them out! Get them out the door and shut it! Don’t let any more of these damn toads in!"

"Dad, the balcony is covered in them! They’re jumping into the bedroom!"

"This is all Jack’s fault! Why the hell did he open the door? The idiot, he’s just a burden!"

"And you’re not a burden? How dare you talk about my son! I’ll kill you, you bitch!"

"You dare hit me? Harvey Sullivan, I’m carrying Zane Collins’s son! When he gets back, I’ll have him deal with you!"

"Deal with me? You think he’s even alive to come back? I’m telling you, Zane Collins is never coming back."

"What does that mean? Harvey Sullivan, what did you mean by that?"

Leah Crane and Harvey Sullivan began to fight, clawing and cursing at each other. David Collins, after calming Jack, walked over and slapped them both.

"If you two keep fighting, get out of this house! Jack is my grandson, he’s staying. The two of you are outsiders, so get the hell out!"

Hearing this, Harvey Sullivan and Leah Crane awkwardly stopped fighting. David Collins glanced at Leah’s stomach and said in a low voice, "You’d better make sure you keep that child."

At her doorway, Evelyn snatched up a toad with her tongs. Ignoring the Collins family’s pathetic drama, she quickly shut the door and went back inside.

Evelyn used a scalpel to cut off the toad’s head, then removed its skin and glands. She remembered that while toads were poisonous, they were also edible. ’Perhaps the best way to deal with them is to eat them.’

The thought that they had spawned from the floodwater gave her a moment’s pause, but only a moment. After preparing the meat, she heated oil in a pan. Like bullfrogs, they could be fried or boiled.

Looking at the cooked toad, the savory aroma of meat wafted into her nose. Evelyn took a bite. Honestly, it tasted pretty good.

But these things seemed to have mutated; the largest were nearly the size of basketballs. ’I’ll have to wait a few hours to see if there are any side effects.’