Chapter 608: Chapter 608: Compatriots

Evelyn gave a wry smile. "What I mean is, someone took off with the Undercity. Even Rhys Chase and his group were abandoned. A second earthquake just hit outside, and we need to go rescue people trapped under the rubble. Get the first-aid supplies and tents."

"I’ll go out with you. One more person means more strength," Ethan Dawson was the first to declare.

"I’ll go too." Quincy’s expression was serious. "Even though I’m a bit of a coward, how can you go save people without me?"

The others were about to speak up, but Evelyn stopped them.

"Ethan Dawson, Quincy, Miles Vaughn, Peter Owens, and Wendy will come out with us. Everyone, grab a whistle, a walkie-talkie, and put on thermal clothing, a raincoat, and rain boots. The rest of you will wait for news in the space. If there’s any danger, we’ll return to the space immediately."

Wendy hadn’t expected Evelyn to actually agree to let her go out and help with the rescue. She excitedly ran up to Evelyn, repeatedly promising she would do her best to save people.

Evelyn shook her head. "Wendy, you’re going to be a doctor someday. A doctor can’t just talk theory forever; you have to grow through hands-on practice. But patients aren’t copper men. The slightest mistake could cost a patient their life. I’m taking you out not just to hone your medical skills, but also for this: if you run into unreasonable people, don’t waste your breath. If you need to get physical, get physical."

Wendy nodded. "I’ll remember, Joy Ford. I’ll become a competent doctor. I won’t disappoint you."

Officer Graham also gave Wendy a few words of advice. Children have to grow up and become independent eventually. Having a mentor like Evelyn was Wendy’s good fortune.

After changing into their raincoats and rain boots, everyone waited quietly. In the wooden cabin, Joelle Finch and Wyatt Vaughn prepared food for everyone, while Taylor Vance and Zion Lowell, unable to sit still, started tidying up the things on the ground.

Zoe kept staring at Evelyn. When Evelyn looked over, the little girl had an expression like she was on the verge of tears.

"Zoe, what’s wrong? Are you not feeling well?"

Zoe shook her head. "No. I’m afraid Daddy, Auntie, Uncle, Wendy, and the other uncles will get hurt."

Evelyn picked her up. "We won’t get hurt. There, there, don’t cry."

"Auntie, can’t we just ignore everyone else? We don’t even know them, so why do we have to help?"

If this had been the first few years of the apocalypse, Evelyn would have felt no guilt about leaving people to die.

But now, in the eleventh year of the apocalypse, she had changed.

It wasn’t just because the base’s food and supplies were in her space. Now, she also wanted to do what she could, within her means. More importantly, after so many years of living on the run, she had come to understand the meaning of "compatriot" and the meaning of a team.

"Zoe, even though we don’t know those people, we are compatriots. ’Compatriots’ means people who live on the same land, have the same skin color, speak the same language, and share the same national beliefs and historical culture."

Zoe nodded, only half-understanding. "I get it. Because we’re compatriots, we have to help each other."

"That’s great, Zoe."

Praised, Zoe puffed out her chest proudly. "When I grow up, I want to be a doctor too, just like Wendy! I’ll learn medicine from Auntie and save people."

Evelyn smiled. "Of course you can, as long as that’s what you want."

"It’s gone quiet outside." Ronan Kendrick had been observing the situation. The moment the earthquake stopped, he immediately alerted Evelyn.

"Then let’s go."

Evelyn put Zoe down. She took Wendy’s hand, and everyone joined hands to form a circle. At a thought from Evelyn, they all vanished in an instant.

When they emerged from the space, the ground was still trembling slightly. Wendy and Quincy nearly lost their footing. If Evelyn hadn’t been quick to grab them, they both would have fallen into the muddy water.

"Ouch!" A cry of pain came from nearby. It was Liam Sterling’s voice. Evelyn signaled for everyone to start the rescue.

"How did you guys get out?"

Liam Sterling was a little surprised to see Quincy and Ethan Dawson. During the second earthquake just now, the tarp shelter they had set up collapsed on top of him. He had just managed to crawl out when the ground next to him suddenly split open. He scrambled away, only to be hit in the knee by a rock rolling down from a short distance away.

Ryan Rowe and Rhys Chase were mostly unharmed, but the other managers weren’t so lucky. Two of them had fallen into a fissure that had opened up. Fortunately, they were large enough, and the crack wasn’t too wide, so they got stuck instead of falling all the way down.

Everyone rescued the two men and re-erected the collapsed tarp shelter. Another half hour passed.

"The aftershocks should be over for now. Let’s go rescue people from the rubble of the hospital and the shelter. Everyone, grab a megaphone and mobilize the residents who escaped. Get them to help with the rescue so we can dig out the people trapped underneath as quickly as possible."

The task of mobilizing the residents was given to the injured. When one man showed reluctance to work, Rhys Chase shot him a glance and said coldly, "If you don’t want to work, then we’ll throw you out."

Terrified, the man quickly apologized and begged for forgiveness, then took the megaphone and got to work.

Evelyn and Ronan Kendrick led Ethan Dawson and the others toward the hospital ruins. When no one was around, Evelyn released two German shepherds from her space to help search for people.

Many residents who had survived the disaster came over to help. A woman was wailing beside the rubble. Evelyn listened for a while before she understood the full story. The woman’s husband and child were inside the hospital; her child had been sick, and she had brought them to see a doctor. She never expected the earthquake. As she cried, she cursed the heavens for being blind and cursed the hospital for its shoddy construction.

Evelyn and Ronan Kendrick each took one of the dogs and began a grid search of the area.

"WOOF WOOF WOOF..." One of the dogs started barking furiously at a piece of rock in the ruins. Faintly, Evelyn heard someone calling for help.

She quickly grabbed the megaphone hanging from her body. "There’s someone alive here! Under this concrete slab! Everyone, get over here and help!"

About twenty soldiers arrived from behind. They were from a unit that had been stationed here before the apocalypse and had upheld their duties all these years.

Liam Sterling went to confer with them. After putting on gloves, they immediately came over to help with the rescue. Seeing the soldiers join the effort, the residents standing nearby also pitched in.

"There’s a sound of someone hitting stone over here! There’s someone here."

Evelyn had found a second survivor.

A light rain drizzled as the wind howled. The two rescued doctors thanked everyone profusely. One doctor’s leg had been broken by a concrete slab, while the other had injured their lumbar spine and was in too much pain to speak.

Ronan Kendrick’s side had also found several survivors. Ethan Dawson and the others, wearing gloves and holding tools, began the rescue under Ronan’s direction.

"This earthquake must have been over a magnitude 12. All the buildings have been shaken to pieces. Countless dead, countless missing. The loss of supplies is immeasurable, especially the crops and factories. All the medicine from the pharmaceutical plant is gone."

Liam Sterling and Ryan Rowe were talking behind her. Evelyn overheard a few sentences before walking away.

"As long as people are alive, everything will get better."

Liam Sterling clapped Ryan Rowe on the shoulder. He knew better than anyone how pale and ridiculous that comforting phrase sounded.

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