Chapter 671: Chapter 671: Entering Summer

"My hair isn’t falling out anymore."

Evelyn Ford raised an eyebrow. "My healing hands work wonders."

Quincy nodded perfunctorily. "Yes, you’re the best. You’re Hippocrates reborn."

Having eaten and drunk their fill, Quincy grabbed a burlap sack and dragged back all the wild vegetables they had just dug up. The moon was already out, a last quarter moon that wasn’t very bright. But with the fireflies, the silent, dark night gained a touch of life, and a couple of cicada chirps echoed in the distance. Wendy and Evelyn Ford grabbed a flashlight, taking Annie and Zoe to catch cicadas.

"It’s not even fully summer yet, but there are already cicadas."

"Summer has already started. The base has experts who calculate the seasons. The Start of Summer was on the nineteenth of the third lunar month this year, and today is the twenty-seventh." Rhys Chase had long ago arranged for people to calculate the seasons and create a calendar. There was a bulletin board in the base’s main square, and he had someone update the date every day. To make it convenient for the residents to tell time, a giant sundial was also placed in the main square.

"Is the date based on the lunar calendar?"

Rhys Chase nodded. "Yes, the lunar calendar."

"So how many days are in this year? Is it a leap year or a common year? I’ve completely forgotten what zodiac year it is. If I remember correctly, it should be the Year of the Rooster, right?" Officer Graham started counting on his fingers, trying to figure out the current year, as the others watched him with anticipation.

"I haven’t actually asked how many days are in this year, but they said it’s the Year of the Dog," Rhys Chase said with a helpless smile.

"The Year of the Dog? Is it the Year of the Dog already? No way! I remember the apocalypse broke out in a Year of the Dog. Have twelve years really passed so quickly?"

Everyone found it hard to believe. But looking at Wendy, who was already fifteen, it made sense. The year the apocalypse began, she hadn’t even been three years old. Time flew by so fast; in the blink of an eye, a full zodiac cycle had passed.

"Calculating it like that really gives away everyone’s age." Quincy pulled out his small mirror again, gazing at his reflection with a sorrowful expression. "I’m actually forty? The years are truly unforgiving."

"Time is a butcher’s knife," Wyatt Vaughn quietly added, twisting the knife.

Quincy snorted. "At least it’s not pig feed. My birthday is in two more months. After my birthday, I’ll officially be forty-one. Heading for fifty."

Quincy’s birthday was in June. If they were using the solar calendar, his birthday would be in about a month.

"We’ll celebrate your birthday then, to commemorate you heading for fifty," Evelyn Ford said, patting his shoulder comfortingly.

"Please don’t. I’m afraid celebrating a birthday at only forty will shorten my lifespan. Besides, I don’t even know my lunar birthday."

Evelyn Ford tutted. "What’s the big deal? I can calculate it for you. There are three hundred and sixty-five days this year; it’s a common year. What day is your solar birthday again?"

"How do you know that?"

Evelyn Ford looked at everyone with a deadpan expression. "I have a calendar. In fact, I have calendars for the next thirty-eight years."

Everyone was speechless.

"Why didn’t you say so earlier?"

Evelyn Ford shrugged helplessly. "You never asked. My fault?"

"Hahahaha..." Wyatt Vaughn and Joelle Finch were the first to burst out laughing, while the others just stared at Evelyn Ford, completely speechless.

"My fault? My fault?" Evelyn Ford repeated, bobbing her head smugly. Her punchable expression made Quincy grind his teeth in frustration.

"Ronan Kendrick, get your wife under control."

Ronan Kendrick smiled. "Can’t do it. Why don’t you two just fight it out?"

"If we fought, you wouldn’t help her?"

Ronan Kendrick looked at Quincy with pity. "It probably wouldn’t get to the point where I’d need to step in."

"Oh, you, Ronan Kendrick, insulting me in such a roundabout way! Wyatt Vaughn, you’re strong. You help me fight Evelyn Ford."

Wyatt Vaughn rolled his eyes. "I refuse."

Evelyn Ford beckoned to him with her finger. "Come on. If you want a fight, I’m ready whenever you are."

"I think I heard Zoe calling for me. I’m going to go check." And with that, he scurried away.

Quincy was still fun to have around. Just as Officer Graham said, a forty-year-old man with the brain of a four-year-old—so new it was like it had never been used.

"Mr. Chase, there’s something I’d like to ask. About those patients previously diagnosed with syphilis and AIDS—have any of them been cured?"

Evelyn Ford had heard the base dispatched a medical team to treat those patients, and she wondered if the special medication was effective for those in the early stages of infection.

"None. The medical team has already been withdrawn. We have soldiers standing guard there now. That place is about thirty kilometers from here. Some people became extremely agitated after being taken away, even biting and attacking the medical staff. Those people are doomed to die. No amount of medicine can save them, so I ordered the medical team to pull out. The base’s doctors are too precious to be lost to people like that."

What Rhys Chase said made sense, so Evelyn Ford simply nodded and didn’t press the matter.

"Is something wrong?" Rhys Chase asked, noticing her unusual expression.

"Oh, it’s nothing major. I ran into a child at the hospital a few days ago. She said her family had been taken away for quarantine and treatment, and she asked me when they would be able to come back. I felt sorry for her, so I promised I’d try to find out for her."

Rhys Chase nodded. "How about this: give me their information, and I’ll have someone check on them."

"There’s no need. If not even the special medication can cure them, I suppose all they can do is wait to die."

At eleven o’clock at night, the wind began to pick up. Wendy and the others returned, guided by their flashlight. It seemed their luck was good tonight; they had managed to catch a large bag of cicadas. Although summer had begun, the nighttime temperature was still a bit low, and Zoe was sneezing from the cold. Evelyn Ford glanced at the time and told everyone to pack up and prepare to leave.

"You all go into the space first. Ronan Kendrick and I will take Mr. Chase and Ryan Rowe home. Zoe is already yawning. Once you’re back in the cabin, get washed up and go to bed." Evelyn Ford stored the tables and chairs in her space, collected all the trash from the ground, and packed up the tent. Then, with a wave of her hand, she sent the others back to the cabin.

Only a motorized tricycle remained on the grass. As usual, Ronan Kendrick was driving with Evelyn Ford beside him, while Rhys Chase and Ryan Rowe sat in the cargo bed.

"Once the base is completely stable, I’m moving to the courtyard too. Evelyn Ford, Ronan Kendrick, remember to save some vegetable seeds for me. I want to start a garden patch of my own."

Evelyn Ford nodded. "No problem."

Ronan Kendrick helped Evelyn Ford with her hat. The trike started off slowly, then began to accelerate. Rhys Chase and Ryan Rowe quickly grabbed the edges of the cargo bed, afraid they’d be thrown out.

They arrived back at the base an hour later. After dropping the two men off at the administration building, the trike continued racing toward their courtyard.

"It’s so cold."

"We’re almost there."

Evelyn Ford turned her head to look at Ronan Kendrick, her eyes sparkling. They were filled not only with admiration but also deep affection and appreciation. Unable to meet her intense gaze, Ronan Kendrick reached over and pulled her hat down over her eyes. Evelyn ducked her head, stifling a laugh, and poked him in the small of his back.

The trike soon arrived at their courtyard. Even at this hour, people were still coming and going from their shifts. The supermarket was closed, but a sound-activated light had been left on by the entrance. As the trike passed, the light suddenly flicked on, allowing Evelyn Ford to clearly see the words written on the blackboard by the supermarket door—a list of the vegetables and meats that would be for sale the next day.

With a CREAK, the vehicle stopped at the courtyard gate. Evelyn Ford took out her key to open it, and the two of them slipped into the dark courtyard.

"We’re finally home."

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