Chapter 632: Soft-hearted

Seeing Evelyn Ford, the children’s faces were filled with wariness and fear. Evelyn squatted down and looked intently at one of the girls. Clay Gable had said his daughter was twelve, but due to malnutrition, she was small and looked to be only eight or nine years old. Evelyn took the sketch from her pocket and compared it to the grimy little face before her.

The eyes were a perfect match. The girl’s face was too dirty to make out her real features, but Evelyn already knew the answer.

"I’m Dr. Ford from the convoy. I’m not here to take your biscuits, so don’t be afraid." Evelyn helped them to their feet and handed the sketch to the girl.

"Are you Dotty?"

Hearing this, the girl snatched the sketch paper. She was frantic, but her face was covered in injuries, and blood trickled from the corner of her mouth. It looked like a tooth had been knocked out during the earlier beating.

Her speech was a bit muffled. Evelyn patted her on the shoulder. "Don’t worry, I understand what you’re trying to say. I know you’re Dotty. You want to know where your father is, right?"

Dotty nodded, large teardrops rolling down her cheeks. Her friends watched her and Evelyn, anxious and uneasy.

"I’ll take you to your father. He’s in one of the trucks further back."

Evelyn led her away to find Clay Gable, with the other children limping along behind them. Arriving at a truck, Evelyn knocked on the driver’s side door. After a brief exchange, the driver opened the rear cargo door and called Clay Gable’s name a few times.

His injury was mostly healed. As long as the wound didn’t get infected, he would have to get down and walk. But having lost a leg, traveling on foot was bound to be difficult.

"Clay Gable, Dr. Ford is looking for you! Get down here, quick!"

Clay Gable, who had been resting with his eyes closed inside the cargo bay, scrambled out frantically at the sound of Dr. Ford’s name.

When he saw the raggedly dressed child standing behind Evelyn, Clay Gable nearly lost his footing. He staggered a couple of times and was about to jump down when the driver stopped him.

"Are you crazy? You’ve only got one leg and you’re trying to jump?"

The driver’s shout snapped Clay Gable back to his senses. His eyes were bloodshot as he stared at Dotty, afraid that if he blinked, she would disappear.

Several other injured men nearby came over to help, carefully lowering Clay Gable from the truck. The driver glanced at his severed leg, gave him a piece of his mind, and then went back to the cab to rest.

Clay Gable reached out and wiped the tears from Dotty’s face.

"Dotty, it’s Dad."

Dotty threw herself into his arms. The force of the impact nearly made Clay Gable fall, but Evelyn reached out and steadied his arm.

The father and daughter clung to each other, sobbing uncontrollably. Dotty’s cries were filled not only with the joy of their reunion but also with boundless sorrow, grief, and panic. She had never imagined that the earthquake would cost Clay Gable a leg. He could barely even stand steadily now. His lower leg had been amputated below the knee. And though his thigh had been saved, conditions were so harsh now that he would probably never have the chance to get a prosthetic.

Dotty was already twelve; she understood everything. The terror of being separated from Clay Gable over the past weeks slowly faded in that moment, but seeing his severed leg, she couldn’t stop herself from crying again.

"Don’t cry, you silly girl. With so many injuries on your face, you must have suffered a lot. I’m sorry. If I hadn’t been hiding in the truck, I would have found you sooner, and you wouldn’t have had to go through all this."

Dotty shook her head. "I wasn’t suffering. I was just afraid I’d never find you again. Dad, does your leg hurt?"

"It doesn’t hurt. It stopped hurting a long time ago. Once I make a crutch, I’ll be able to walk normally. It won’t affect me at all."

To put his daughter’s mind at ease, Clay Gable hopped in place a couple of times on his single leg. Seeing this, Dotty couldn’t help but start crying again.

"Dad, from now on, I’ll be your crutch. When I get a little taller, I’ll be able to carry you on my back."

Clay Gable’s eyes welled up as he nodded. "Okay."

After their emotions subsided a bit, Clay Gable and Dotty looked at Evelyn. Words couldn’t express Clay’s gratitude. He wanted to kneel and kowtow, but he couldn’t even do that, so all he could do was repeat his thanks over and over.

"Dr. Ford, I really don’t know how I can ever repay you. From now on, if there’s ever anything you need, I, Clay Gable, will go through hell and high water for you, no matter the cost."

His daughter was his life. Before finding Dotty, Clay Gable had looked at his severed leg and lost all hope of surviving. But now, that hope had returned.

"It was nothing, really. Many people in this convoy have been separated from their families. I’m just happy that you two were able to reunite."

Evelyn glanced at the time. The convoy would be setting off soon, and she had to get back. After reuniting, Clay Gable and Dotty were all smiles, while the other children beside them looked on with faces full of envy and sorrow.

A thought crossed Evelyn’s mind. She took a box of anti-inflammatory pills from her pocket and gave two to each of them.

The children were stunned, all of them staring blankly at Evelyn.

"These are anti-inflammatory pills. Don’t wash your faces for the next few days to avoid your wounds getting infected and festering. In this convoy, fighting gets you kicked out, no matter if you’re a man, woman, old, or young. If anyone gives you trouble, you can go to the group leader. Don’t be afraid. The group leader and the captain are both soldiers; you can trust them."

The children quickly put the pills away and thanked Evelyn in unison.

Although the children were timid, their eyes were pure. When they looked at her, there was only curiosity, and they didn’t stare or size her up inappropriately.

"I have to go back now. Take care."

You can help someone for a moment, but not for a lifetime. The world was a harsh place now; how they would survive in the days to come was up to them.

The midday mealtime ended, and the convoy set off once again. The temperature hovered around 26°C (about 79°F), which was neither hot nor cold, but very comfortable.

Evelyn was now only responsible for pregnant women, new mothers, and infants, so she was surprisingly less busy. Occasionally, she would see Lily West and the others bustling through the convoy, and Evelyn felt a sense of gratification.

After resting for two days, Quincy and the others started picking cotton again. Having been delayed for so many days, the work in the space was piling up. Annie and Zoe weren’t idle either; they put on gloves, grabbed small sacks, and went into the fields to help with the harvest.

Whenever she had nothing to do, Evelyn would enter the space to work. After picking the cotton, she still had to dig up medicinal herbs. Then she would till the black soil so the second crop of grain could be planted.

The road conditions in Varden were complex. Some days they could cover fifty kilometers (about 31 miles), while on others, they only managed twenty or thirty (12-19 miles). Evelyn noticed that the path they were taking was different from the one she had traveled years ago. After the tectonic shifts, many of Varden’s high mountains were gone, replaced by numerous lakes, rifts, and deep chasms.

The landscape was a scene of devastation as far as the eye could see. Occasionally, they could spot the remains of one or two earthen houses, but they were all collapsed beyond recognition.

Many people in the convoy had sallow complexions. After traveling for so long, a lot of them were at their breaking point.

The Varden region was completely desolate. For days, they hadn’t seen a single person, a wisp of smoke, an animal, or even a single green plant. The view in every direction was nothing but yellow earth and withered grass. Looking at such a bleak landscape, everyone had a bad feeling.

Quincy was still worried about Langley and his family. He had hoped that by passing through Varden, he might run into his old acquaintances.