Chapter 648: Chapter 648: Suffering

"If we set up a quarantine, I suggest separating men and women. The children also need to be tested. It can be transmitted through breast milk and blood."

Rhys Chase nodded. "I’ll have my people get on it right away."

Evelyn Ford went to the apothecary to select some medicinal herbs. The base wasn’t short on water, and each zone had several water stations. She packed the herbs into gauze bags. The next day, when she visited the maternity tent, she distributed the bags to the new mothers observing their postpartum confinement.

"Hold onto these herb packets. After your postpartum confinement ends, you can use them to make a wash for your lower body. Don’t waste them—there’s enough in each for five uses. It can cure minor gynecological problems."

Evelyn was very blunt. She gave a special warning to the women who had husbands: until they were fully cured, it was best not to have any more children, or even to be intimate.

"Dr. Ford, my husband has a terrible temper. If I go against his wishes, he’ll beat me."

"Are all the soldiers patrolling the base just for decoration? Why would you cling to a man who does nothing but beat women?"

"But he’s a man, after all. We’re a widow and child alone. Without a man, how are we supposed to survive?"

"You’d live better without him. He already beats you. Do you really expect him to provide you with a good life?"

The woman tried to argue, but Evelyn stopped her. "No one wants to hear about other people’s private family business. You can’t leave the man, yet you complain when he beats you, and you won’t listen to advice. The base has established an employee support department. I suggest you go there."

Evelyn glanced at everyone in the tent. "I’m only responsible for treating illnesses here, not for mediating domestic disputes. To resolve family conflicts, please go to the base’s employee support department."

"One more thing. Any single mothers who want to work after their postpartum confinement can report to the logistics department. They have some jobs that allow you to bring your child with you while you work. After the confinement period, new mothers no longer receive nutritional and food-ration subsidies from the base. Newborns up to the age of three can each receive three jin of grain. This benefit is automatically canceled after their third birthday."

This was one of the base’s more humane policies.

The female patient Dr. Turner had discovered had already been taken away to another medical tent for treatment. She’d given birth to a son, a very thin baby only twelve days old who had never been breastfed. Yolanda Lawrence and the others had been looking after him during that time.

The base had an orphanage. Evelyn visited once after the baby was sent there. The center was run by soldiers, so sending the child there was considered the best possible outcome.

After the New Year, every department was bustling with activity, especially the soldiers conducting the health screenings. To prevent anyone from being missed, a red stamp was placed on the back of the hand of each person who was examined. The mark would take at least six months to fade.

And this base-wide health screening really did uncover a considerable number of patients.

Most of the patients had one thing in common: they had either lived in the refugee camps or had a history of promiscuity.

There were also innocent people who had been unknowingly infected, and a fair number had contracted the diseases through breast milk.

Because all zones were screened simultaneously, it took only five days to examine all ten million-plus residents of Eldoria. With the exception of those with mild symptoms, patients with moderate to severe cases were taken to the grasslands for centralized quarantine and treatment.

During this time, some patients would suddenly fly into a frenzy, lunging at and trying to bite the staff conducting the examinations. Fortunately, the staff all wore protective gear and had taken various prophylactic and preventative medications beforehand, so no one was infected.

For days, a dark cloud hung over the base because of the mass screening. When Dr. Turner found Evelyn again, he immediately gave her a deep, formal bow of gratitude, which startled her.

"Dr. Turner, I should be thanking you. Honestly, if you hadn’t discovered that the new mother had that disease, this whole thing would still be under wraps."

Dr. Turner waved his hand dismissively. "Dr. Ford, if you hadn’t been able to reach the base commander, this wouldn’t have been resolved so quickly. I was mainly worried about the child. I was afraid the mother might do something desperate, like breastfeed the baby. Sending her away was the best solution, even if it was a bit cruel."

"It’s not cruel. Dr. Turner, don’t blame yourself. The base is saving them, and it’s saving everyone else, too. We have to assume the worst of human nature. If some people found out they had this disease and weren’t going to survive, they might suddenly decide to take revenge on the base. The consequences would be unimaginable. From ancient times to the present day, this kind of disease has always been terrifying."

"Besides syphilis and AIDS, they’ve apparently also found prions in many people." Dr. Turner sighed. "Everyone always thinks suffering comes from natural disasters, but they don’t realize the real suffering is man-made."

"Dr. Ford, how many truly ’human’ people do you think are left in this base?"

Dr. Turner left, carrying his battered medical kit. Evelyn walked in the opposite direction, heading toward the truck.

A few strangers walked toward her, and she couldn’t help but wonder what unknown horrors might lie beneath their normal human facades.

’Have they cannibalized their own kind? Bullied the weak? Have they burned, killed, and looted?’

The weather after the New Year was pleasant. The sun was out every day, and the wind was mild and tolerable.

Evelyn pulled her tattered coat tighter around herself, lowered her head, and walked quickly toward the truck.

Everyone had been incredibly busy lately. Besides harvesting medicinal herbs, they also had to clear the cotton stalks from the fields. The stalks were all given to Rhys Chase for free, as they could be used to cultivate button mushrooms, which would help supplement the food supply.

Setting down her medical kit, Evelyn grabbed a hoe and joined the others in the medicinal herb field. Ronan Kendrick handed her a thermos filled with a warm, nourishing soup that Taylor Vance had spent three hours simmering.

"How’s the weather outside?" Quincy asked.

"It’s great. Around seventy-five degrees today."

"Mr. Chase said he’d help us with the work, but right after the New Year, he vanished completely."

Evelyn chuckled. "He’s the base commander now, so he’s even busier. He doesn’t have time to do our work. If you’re complaining that we’re short on hands, I can have Ronan Kendrick find some people to help with the heavy lifting."

"What people? No way. We can’t let outsiders in here."

"The base has arrested a lot of people recently. Keeping them in prison wastes food, but killing them is too brutal. So, the plan is to exile them to the mining districts to work as laborers. What if we grab a few, make them work here while we rest? Wouldn’t that be great?"

"I disagree. If the base arrested them, it means they’re bad people. What if we let them into the space and they try to kill us?"

The others agreed with Quincy. Letting outsiders in was too dangerous.

"Have you all forgotten how much poison I have on hand? Who would dare slack off after being poisoned? Once the work is done, Ronan Kendrick can hypnotize them. They won’t remember a thing about being in the space. Then we can just send them off to the mining districts."

Hearing Evelyn’s proposal, everyone was tempted.

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