Chapter 631: Chapter 631: Graduation

Evelyn Ford’s lips twitched, but she ignored him.

Plumes of black smoke rose from the area where the forest fire burned. Many people in the convoy were coughing, and black ash floated in the air. Evelyn Ford adjusted her mask and stared blankly at the receding scenery outside.

At six in the afternoon, the convoy of vehicles veered away from the burning forest fire. Aside from the billowing smoke, the flames were no longer visible. Just then, a massive clap of thunder echoed through the sky. Less than five minutes later, a torrential downpour began, stunning everyone.

The rain hadn’t come earlier, and it hadn’t come later. It just had to start right after they had finished digging the firebreak, after they had expended so much manpower and resources to successfully contain the thousand-acre forest fire.

Quincy flipped off the sky. When that didn’t feel like enough, he cursed a few more times.

"Is God messing with us? No rain for days, and now it decides to pour? What’s it for, to wash our hair? The fire was already under control when it started raining. Where was it before? We worked for nothing all these days, exhausted to the point of death. So many people got heatstroke and burns. If we hadn’t been held up here for so long, we’d probably be out of Varden by now."

Evelyn Ford smiled slightly. "Isn’t rain a good thing? It will extinguish the forest fire, allow new vegetation to grow sooner, and stop it from spreading. We dug a firebreak, but the wind has been strong lately. Embers could have easily been blown across it and started new fires. I know it feels like all our hard work was wasted, but this rain isn’t actually too late. It’s been so hot these past few days. A downpour will cool things down, so people won’t get heatstroke anymore."

Quincy was still angry. "But if it had rained earlier, we wouldn’t have had to work ourselves to the bone digging the firebreak! My palms are covered in blood blisters. The day before yesterday, someone died from severe heatstroke."

"Aren’t any of you angry?"

Quincy glanced at the others in the truck bed. Lily West and the other two women were sitting in the far corner. Everyone else was leaning listlessly against the truck’s inner walls, not even bothering to lift their eyelids at his words.

"What’s there to be angry about? The rain’s too heavy. The people at the back of the convoy can’t keep moving. We’ll have to stop and take shelter."

The truck had already stopped. Ethan Dawson opened the truck bed’s door and jumped in.

"This rain is insane. It’s hailing, too."

Ethan Dawson held a few hailstones in his hand. A BANG, BANG, BANG sound came from the roof as the hail pounded down on it, causing the waterproof tarp to sag.

"All personnel, listen up! Set up camp on the spot! The rain is too heavy to travel. Get the tarps from the truck beds and pitch tents." The captain shouted continuously through a megaphone, and the group leaders were already organizing everyone to set up the tents.

"Mr. Ford, should we go out in the rain to help?"

Evelyn Ford shook her head. "No. There are plenty of people in the convoy. They don’t need us."

Lily West and the other two women were still a bit nervous and uneasy. After all, besides Evelyn Ford and Wendy, there were three men in the truck bed: Ronan Kendrick, Quincy, and Ethan Dawson.

Evelyn Ford pulled a curtain closed, dividing the truck bed in two and creating two separate "rooms."

"This rain is a little heavy. It’s not going to turn into a storm, is it?"

"Probably not. It might stop by tomorrow. It’s just that the people in the convoy are going to suffer."

Listening to the steady drumming of the rain outside, everyone felt a little irritable and restless.

By eight-thirty at night, all the tents were pitched. Many people were soaked by the rain. Back at the base, before the convoy departed, everyone had been issued a first-aid kit. Some had lost theirs, but those who had kept them safe could now take out their raincoats and put them on. Fortunately, the road was covered in withered grass, so the surface wasn’t muddy.

The downpour intensified, and a strong gust of wind suddenly blew from the Southwest. Curses and the sound of children crying could be heard in the distance.

Evelyn Ford’s hand rested on her knee, tapping it intermittently. Just then, there was a knock on the truck bed door. Quincy shone a flashlight out and saw Liam Sterling standing outside.

"You’re soaked. Get in here and change into some dry clothes."

After Liam Sterling came in, Evelyn Ford grabbed Wendy and instantly vanished into her space.

Seeing them suddenly appear, Taylor Vance and the others jumped in surprise.

"Is it ten-thirty already? We haven’t even made dinner."

Evelyn Ford gave a bitter smile. "It’s still early. It started raining outside—raining really hard. We can’t keep moving, so the captain had the convoy stop."

"Rain? For real? Then didn’t we dig that firebreak for nothing?" Wyatt Vaughn looked shocked. She and Quincy really were a married couple; they thought the exact same way.

"It was a forest of several thousand acres, after all. Rain now is still timely damage control. Even though it’s heavy, it should probably stop in a few hours."

Evelyn Ford put on gloves and went into the cotton field to start picking cotton. It was her first time doing this kind of work, and her technique was very clumsy. She kept crushing the cotton bolls.

At ten o’clock, Ronan Kendrick and the others also entered the space.

"What’s the arrangement for Lily West and her group?"

"They went to rest in the driver’s cab. The young woman, Helen Nash, said you arranged it," Quincy said.

"Good. Let’s go eat."

Everyone’s spirits were a little low because they were worried about the rain outside. After dinner, Liam Sterling had Ronan Kendrick send him out of the space. As a manager, he had to be outside keeping watch. If danger arose, he had to be the first to lead everyone in an evacuation.

At seven the next morning, the rain suddenly stopped. The storm had raged all night, and the forest fire was now mostly extinguished. Emerging from her space, Evelyn Ford stood in the truck bed and stretched languidly.

After this period of study, Lily West and her group had learned wound debridement, bandaging, and how to assist with natural childbirth. When the group leader came by in the morning, he informed them that they had officially graduated. From now on, they wouldn’t be studying under Evelyn Ford anymore but would be making house calls for others in the convoy.

The group leader selected three more people, but this time, he didn’t ask Evelyn Ford to take on new apprentices. Instead, he assigned them to Lily West and her two companions.

As Lily West and the others were leaving, Evelyn Ford tucked some supplies and basic medical books into their packs. Before they left, the three of them gave Evelyn Ford a deep bow.

"Go on. You’re doctors now."

After the three of them left, Evelyn Ford sighed.

Watching their figures disappear into the crowd, she turned and went back into the truck bed.

The convoy set off once more, and Evelyn Ford found herself busy again. There were several pregnant women about to give birth, and she had now become the convoy’s dedicated obstetrician.

Perhaps because of the rain, the temperature dropped by several degrees over the next few days.

At noon, Evelyn Ford went to the truck with the pregnant women to check on them. On her way back, she saw several children from the rear of the convoy fighting.

Evelyn Ford didn’t pay it much mind at first. This sort of thing happened every day, and as long as no one was killed, the group leaders would turn a blind eye.

But a casual glance revealed a familiar face.

"Dotty? Samantha Gable?"

Evelyn Ford walked toward the fighting children. They scattered in an instant, leaving a few kids who had been beaten lying on the ground.

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