noveltune Chapter 327: Division of Labor
Chapter 327: Division of Labor
In contrast to Taylor Vance’s management style, Evelyn Ford’s was simpler and more heavy-handed: everyone, without exception, had to follow her orders.
More and more refugees were moving to Fairgate, and soon there were even reports of missing children. When someone came to ask for help, Evelyn Ford sent Miles Vaughn and Quincy to handle it. She could ignore a missing adult, but she found it difficult to remain indifferent when a child disappeared.
Evelyn Ford decided to build a shed just for stacking firewood. They still had tens of tons of wood left over from building the cabins and the farm. She and Ronan Kendrick went to help, splitting the logs with axes and stacking them up.
"We must be burning through hundreds of pounds of wood a day now. Mr. Graham, are you and Miles Vaughn able to keep up?"
Officer Graham smiled. "This work is actually very easy for me. Besides, we have chainsaws and a truck now. Even if we have to go cut trees on the mountains farther out, we can still get several tons in a day."
Evelyn Ford nodded. "Your leg was injured before, so don’t push yourself too hard."
Officer Graham looked a little sheepish. "I feel like I’ve been holding everyone back these past two years, not really able to help with much."
"Don’t you dare think that. In this entire group, you’re the one I can trust with my back." Every time Evelyn Ford left, she entrusted the weapons and food to Officer Graham. That trust alone was enough to prove his importance.
Officer Graham’s expression suddenly grew serious. He looked at Evelyn Ford and Ronan Kendrick and said, word by word, "I will never betray that trust."
With Miles Vaughn out looking for the missing child, the remaining three began to split firewood. Immeasurable Mountain had plenty of maple and fir, but the wood was hard and took a lot of effort to split.
"I wonder if we’ll ever run into Roy Henderson and Owen Chapman again," Officer Graham sighed.
"Maybe we will."
"Reuniting isn’t what’s important. What’s important is that they’re still alive."
Meanwhile, Miles Vaughn and Quincy had already found the missing child. Unfortunately, they were a step too late. In a cave near Fairgate, several refugees had thrown the child to the ground. A fire blazed brightly inside, and the grating sound of a knife being sharpened filled the air.
The two had led a group of refugees into the mountains to search. Upon finding the child, the perpetrators went berserk, swinging their knives and trying to snatch the body back.
"What choice do I have?! I’m starving! Starving! Don’t you dare try to take my food! Give me back my food!"
Miles Vaughn and Quincy hadn’t expected to find a group of cannibals hiding here. They made a snap decision and opened fire. But the child was already dead. The parents stared numbly at their child’s body, then picked up rocks and began to viciously smash them down on the perpetrators who weren’t quite dead yet.
The cannibals were beaten to a bloody pulp. As Quincy and Miles Vaughn prepared to leave, they were surrounded by the other refugees, who all started pleading for protection.
"What if there are other groups of cannibals? We don’t have any weapons! You people live on Immeasurable Mountain; you have a responsibility to protect us."
Quincy got fired up when he heard that.
"Ma’am, have you forgotten what kind of world this is? What responsibility do we have to protect you?"
"You live on Immeasurable Mountain. You’ve taken over such a great place all for yourselves, so you have a responsibility to protect us. If you’re not willing, then you have to leave your guns for us."
Quincy laughed and kicked the woman who had spoken. "You want me to give you something? Here’s a kick. You just pointed out I have a gun. Aren’t you afraid I’ll give you a bullet to go with it?"
The woman was terrified, scrambling to get away. Quincy glanced at the crowd and said, "We live on Immeasurable Mountain because when we got here, there wasn’t a single soul in all of Fairgate. You all came later, stirring up trouble day after day, and now you expect us to protect you? Where do you get the nerve? I’m only going to say this once, so listen up: all of you better start behaving. And another thing—the penalty for cannibalism is the same as what happened to them. Death."
With that, Quincy grabbed Miles Vaughn and left.
"I didn’t realize you could be so assertive," Miles Vaughn said.
Quincy shot Miles Vaughn a look. "I’ve always been assertive. Besides, Evelyn Ford put us in charge of this. If we were indecisive and caved to their demands, what do you think she would say?"
Miles Vaughn shook his head. "To be honest, I’ve rarely seen her get truly angry."
Quincy tutted. "You may not have seen her angry, but you’ve seen her kill, haven’t you? It’s best to just do what she says. She doesn’t have the best temper. If we go against her orders, she’ll never give us another task again."
"She’s lenient with you, though."
Quincy grinned smugly. "Of course. We’re siblings, after all. Anyway, let’s go report back."
When she learned that a group of cannibals had appeared in Fairgate, Evelyn Ford felt a headache coming on.
"Did you kill them?"
"Definitely. Wiped them out completely."
Evelyn Ford nodded. "It’s hard to stop this from happening. If you find any, execute them on the spot."
"There’s still tree bark in the mountains. You can even dig for wild yams and fungi. They’re just animals. Anyone who resorts to cannibalism is an animal. Only animals have no morals," Wyatt Vaughn said, his hands shaking with rage.
"I heard that child was only six. It’s just tragic."
"How many children are in Fairgate?" Evelyn Ford suddenly asked.
"Probably more than twenty."
"That many." Evelyn Ford hadn’t expected to run into so many children after entering Varden. The provinces in the Northwest hadn’t been hit by the acid rain, so people here were still able to reproduce.
"How are they surviving?" Evelyn Ford hadn’t left Immeasurable Mountain recently, so she wasn’t entirely clear on the situation outside.
"Most of them have built crude lean-tos out of wood and branches, with a fire pit inside. That’s how they live. Some have cars and tents, so they have it a little better. There aren’t many wild animals left in the mountains, so it’s hard to hunt for prey."
Evelyn Ford nodded but didn’t say anything else.
"The frozen ground in the greenhouses has almost completely thawed. Starting tomorrow, sweep out all the wood ash and spread it over the soil. I bought some fertilized chicken and duck eggs back in Tarr City, and I’m going to try to incubate them. If they hatch, we’ll also need to build a chicken coop."
"Those eggs from Tarr City are huge! As big as goose eggs."
Evelyn Ford nodded. "They’re apparently a special breed. I tried one. The taste was pretty ordinary."
"If the chicken and duck eggs hatch, who wants to be in charge of taking care of them?"
As soon as Evelyn Ford finished speaking, everyone raised their hand except for Ronan Kendrick.
Evelyn Ford scanned the group. "Then let’s have Mr. Vance and Mr. Lowell take care of it. You both raised chickens and ducks back in the safe zone, so you have plenty of experience."
Yunnis Denton suddenly raised her hand. "We haven’t had much to do these past few days. Could you give us some work too?"
"The vegetable plots will be ready to work on tomorrow, once they’ve thawed. Do you have any experience with farming?"
Yunnis Denton nodded. She was an elementary school teacher, but she grew up in a rural area, so farming came naturally to her.
Evelyn Ford’s expression brightened. "That’s great. Once we have chickens and ducks, their manure will be the best fertilizer. Let’s sow some daikon radish seeds first. Radishes are a cold-hardy crop."
"Cabbage too. Cabbage is very resistant to cold."
Because of the number of refugees in Fairgate, the military had actually sent three patrol soldiers to be stationed there. What’s more, they had specifically requested that the farm on Immeasurable Mountain provide them with lodging.
"Should we let them into the farm?"
Evelyn Ford’s eyes turned cold. "In their dreams. Let them fend for themselves out there."