Magic  Space: Struggling to Survive in the Apocalypse

After they washed up, the two of them emerged from the dimensional space. The others were almost ready as well. Taylor Vance and Zion Lowell were making dinner while heavy snow swirled outside the window, mixed with scattered bits of hail and rain.

Evelyn Ford took a towel and wiped the condensation from the glass window.

Quincy came over with two bowls of ginger soup. "Are we hitting the road tonight?"

"We’ll rest here. Everyone’s exhausted today."

Taking the ginger soup, Evelyn blew the foam off the top and downed it in one gulp with her eyes closed.

Ethan Dawson came over, cradling the Gatling gun. It was the first time Evelyn had ever seen him grinning from ear to ear.

"Evelyn, this thing is so cool."

Evelyn took it and promptly stored it in her dimensional space. "You like it?"

Ethan Dawson’s eyes lit up. "Of course I do! Do you have a spare?"

Evelyn shook her head. "Nope."

’I have several crates of them in my space,’ she thought, ’but I have no intention of handing them out.’

Ethan wasn’t disappointed, though. As cool as the Gatling gun was, it was too heavy to carry around. He was content just to have seen it up close.

"Another two days of driving and we should be out of the Rocksea Forbidden Zone."

Quincy sighed. "Let’s just hope we don’t run into any more wolf packs or weird tribes. This has all been so exhausting."

"Oh, right. We need to find a spot later to burn the clothes we changed out of today. Those gray wolves were full of pathogens, and the clothes are stained with blood. We can’t keep them."

Quincy nodded. "Okay, I’ll burn them. I’ll gather up all the dirty clothes. It’s a shame, though. The thick padded jacket I wore today was brand new."

"We’re not short on clothes, so there’s no need to be frugal with this one jacket. If we catch some weird disease, we’re screwed."

Evelyn gathered the clothes she and Ronan Kendrick had changed out of. Quincy took all the dirty laundry, found a pit some distance away, started a fire, and threw everything in to burn.

"It’s a good thing Wendy and Zoe didn’t eat those two pieces of meat yesterday." Officer Graham still shuddered at the thought.

Ethan Dawson frowned. "Yeah, who would’ve thought someone would offer up their own flesh for others to eat? That’s just twisted."

"Anyway, I don’t think I can eat meat for the next few days. Every time I see it, I just think of those people." Braving the wind and snow, Quincy hopped back into the RV. "It’s freezing! The temperature really plummeted tonight."

"Surely it’s not that bad. We’re having brown crab tonight. Are you really not going to eat?"

Quincy was skeptical. "For real?"

"For real. Mr. Vance just told me he steamed a huge pot of brown crabs for tonight." Ethan Dawson gestured with his hands. "They’re about two pounds each. One or two should be enough to fill you up. If you’re not eating, I’ll take your share."

Quincy immediately got worked up. "Who said I’m not eating? Don’t even think about it!"

Sitting to the side, Ronan Kendrick spoke up quietly, "Didn’t you just say you weren’t eating meat for a few days?"

Quincy rubbed his nose. "Seafood doesn’t count as meat."

"Heh." Ronan scoffed.

"Ronan, what are you laughing at? If you’re not eating, you can give me your share."

Ronan nodded. "Sure. Evelyn, give him two crates. If he doesn’t finish them tonight, I’ll tie him to the roof of the RV tomorrow and let him enjoy the breeze."

Quincy...

"I’m not very hungry tonight. I think I’ll go to bed now."

"Only Ronan can handle Quincy’s motormouth." Miles Vaughn looked like he wanted to set off a string of firecrackers to celebrate Quincy’s defeat.

Everyone couldn’t help but laugh at that.

After dinner, Evelyn continued knitting sweaters with Wendy, while Ronan and the others played cards nearby.

Evelyn glanced at the forest not far away. "The trees here look good. We’ll chop some wood tomorrow morning and take it with us."

"These trees are so tall. Evelyn, do you know what kind they are?"

"The straight ones are firs, and the denser ones are evergreen oaks. We should chop down more of the oaks. They’re slow-burning and produce little smoke."

"Then we’ll have to get up a bit earlier tomorrow. Evelyn, do we have the tools for it?"

Evelyn nodded. "We have chainsaws. It’s essential to stockpile more wood. If this weather stays cold, we’ll need to burn wood for heat."

"Alright, then we’ll get up at six tomorrow to chop down trees."

At 10:30, Evelyn put away her yarn and went back to the upper bunk. Ronan played another round with the others, and by the time he lay down, Evelyn was already asleep.

At midnight, countless crows appeared over the desert. They flew toward the forest, their harsh caws echoing in the night sky.

At 5:30 in the morning, Officer Graham was once again the first to wake up. Hearing the movement, Evelyn opened her eyes, pulled out her pocket watch, and checked the time. It wasn’t even six yet, so she decided to sleep for another half hour.

Ronan wasn’t awake yet. Evelyn reached out and poked his Adam’s apple, but he suddenly grabbed her wrist.

"What time is it?"

"Five-thirty."

"Still early."

Evelyn’s other hand didn’t stay idle. She slipped it under his shirt and playfully groped his abs.

"It’s not early. We have to chop down trees later."

Ronan’s eyes snapped open, and Evelyn could see his dark gaze fixed intently on her.

Feeling a little flustered, Evelyn tried to pull her hand back, but he held it in place.

"Don’t give up halfway."

"I was just checking if your eight-pack was still there," Evelyn said stubbornly, putting on a serious act.

Ronan chuckled. "And what were the results of your inspection?"

"The results were very satisfactory. Keep up the good work."

"Don’t I get a reward?"

Seeing him staring at her with his eyes half-lidded, Evelyn felt her face and neck begin to burn. Her hand was pinned, completely immobile. She leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on the forehead.

"That’s your reward."

"Thanks." Ronan suddenly rolled over, pinning her beneath him. "Good morning."

***

Breakfast was shredded chicken noodles, and everyone ate with great satisfaction.

Although Evelyn had suggested they take turns cooking, Officer Graham was always the first one up, and he’d have breakfast ready by the time everyone else got out of bed.

"The snow has stopped. Let’s go, time to chop some trees."

Everyone except Zoe, Taylor Vance, and Zion Lowell took the tools Evelyn distributed and headed into the forest.

"Ronan and Ethan will use the chainsaws to fell the trees. Miles and Quincy will cut the trunks into sections. The rest of you will trim the branches, and I’ll collect the wood." After assigning everyone their tasks, Evelyn got to work.

Ronan was in charge of the firs and Ethan the evergreen oaks. The two worked together seamlessly. In just two hours, they had felled more than half the trees in the forest, leaving the smaller ones standing. After all, this was their own country; they couldn’t just strip the land bare like a plague of locusts.

Evelyn brought up the rear, collecting the wood. Despite the cold weather, everyone was full of energy.

"This fir wood is excellent. Before the apocalypse, a single one of these trees would have sold for a lot of money."

"Miles, all you ever talk about is money, money, money. You’ve got dollar signs in your eyes."

Miles immediately tattled to Ronan. "Ronan, you should go ahead and tie Quincy to the roof. He insulted me."

Hearing this, Quincy laughed in exasperation.

"Miles, are you a three-year-old? Tattling like that? How embarrassing."

"Not as embarrassing as you. In any case, I’m not the one who’s going to be tied to the roof to get blasted by the wind."

Ronan watched the two of them quietly. "Conveniently, we have two RVs. You can both enjoy the breeze together."