Chapter 759: Survival Plan

With the food and water distributed, the residents could finally breathe a sigh of relief. Seizing the opportunity, Rhys Chase asked Evelyn Ford for a roll of hose and organized some young people to build a simple filter by the lake. They gathered charcoal and plant ash from the base. The hose drew water from the lake into the filter, and after passing through the plant ash and charcoal, the murky water was drinkable. Though it wasn’t perfectly clear, drinking the disinfected lake water no longer caused diarrhea.

Although they had found Roy Henderson and the others, Flynn Hansen and Leo Denton were severely injured. Flynn Hansen had blast wounds on his right leg and right shoulder. Leo Denton’s legs were injured, and his entire back was covered in shrapnel wounds and burns. Evelyn Ford and Wendy quickly debrided their wounds. While they managed to save their limbs, the burned skin could not be healed.

Quite a few survivors moved from their temporary shelters downstream to be near the tents where Evelyn Ford and her group lived. They saw Rhys Chase as their savior and pillar of strength. Rhys had previously said he wanted to give up his position as base leader, but unexpectedly, after the food distribution incident, he was once again forced to become the survival strategist for all the survivors.

Ronan Kendrick had already told Rhys Chase about the Undercity. After they discussed it, Rhys planned to take fifty thousand people inside. But how to select those fifty thousand became the cruelest of choices.

Ronan Kendrick’s proposal was to let children under the age of thirteen into the Undercity. He reasoned that once the polluting fog and carbon ash particles covered Azure, all life on the surface would die. But as long as the young survived, they could emerge from the Undercity one day, after the fog dissipated.

Rhys Chase agreed with Ronan Kendrick’s proposal, but he knew people weren’t likely to be selfless when faced with life and death. Giving preferential treatment to the young would surely cause resentment among the others. There was another issue: the Undercity required oil and electricity to operate, and right now, only Evelyn Ford could provide them. Rhys had no idea if she would be willing to. The Undercity’s doors required his fingerprint and iris scan to open and close, so he would naturally have to go inside. Plus, maintaining order and security would require a dedicated team. Rhys had his own selfish desires, too—he’d rather see the people close to him find refuge there than a crowd of strangers.

There was one more thing. The Undercity’s capacity was fifty thousand people, and that number could not be exceeded. If it was, the structure couldn’t bear the load and might be at risk of catastrophic failure. To ensure its safety, Rhys decided to reduce the population cap to thirty thousand.

The number of children under thirteen among the base’s current survivors already exceeded thirty thousand. Rhys felt defeated. He had no idea how to make this choice. Before meeting Evelyn Ford and Ronan Kendrick, he’d been a refined egoist. He never thought he would spend his days agonizing over how to keep more people alive.

The grain from the warehouse only amounted to a few pounds per survivor. The water in the lake would run out eventually. Unless they could immediately change their environment or the dense fog overhead dispersed, humanity had but a slim chance of survival.

Inside the tent, Evelyn Ford fell silent after Ronan Kendrick relayed Rhys Chase’s concerns to her.

"Ronan, are you saying that if we don’t go into the Undercity, every living thing on Azure will be dead in as little as six months, or at most, a year and a half? Is that it?"

"My body has a defense mechanism that activates whenever I come into contact with toxic substances. I can feel the amount of toxins in the air increasing. Both the dense fog and the carbon ash particles carry toxins and low-level radiation. With long-term exposure, people’s internal organs will fail, and they will die. Unless the fog disperses and a heavy rain washes all the toxins away, hiding in the Undercity is our only path to survival."

After hearing Ronan Kendrick’s explanation, Evelyn Ford felt that things weren’t quite so hopeless yet.

"Ronan, if we change the environment and the ecosystem, if the toxins are cleared, is there still a chance for us?"

Ronan Kendrick knew Evelyn better than anyone. The moment she spoke, he knew exactly what she was thinking.

"You want to change the ecosystem?"

Evelyn nodded. "It’s the only way now. Send thirty thousand children into the Undercity, and what about everyone else? Do they all just wait to die? That’s too cruel."

"Tell me your plan."

"The black soil." Evelyn’s expression was perfectly calm. "The soil on Azure is now a wasteland, but the black soil from my space is inexhaustible. If I bring it out and plant trees, they will definitely survive. The black soil can also accelerate plant growth. Of course, I don’t know yet if it will still have that effect after leaving my space."

Her eyes grew determined. "If everyone outside dies, it’s meaningless for just thirty thousand to survive. If we’re going to die, we might as well all die together. If we’re going to live, then we all live together."

Ronan Kendrick took her hand and chuckled softly. "You know I’ll support whatever you decide. If we’re going to live, I’ll live with you. If we have to die, we’ll die together."

Evelyn’s eyes welled with tears. "Ronan, thank you."

Ronan tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "You’re welcome."

—

After Ronan Kendrick relayed Evelyn’s idea to Rhys Chase, Rhys called a small meeting. He laid the choice out for everyone: stay behind to try and change the ecosystem, or retreat into the Undercity. The decision was theirs.

"I’m staying." Officer Graham was the first to raise his hand. "I’m just not the type to sit still. As long as I’m alive, I’ve got to be working. I get antsy if I’m not doing anything. I’m staying."

After Officer Graham spoke, Quincy, not to be outdone, added, "I’m staying, too. Don’t even think about leaving me behind. I only pulled myself together because of you guys. Evelyn’s right: we live together, or we die together."

One by one, the others raised their hands, all choosing to stay and change the ecosystem by planting trees together. This included young Zoe and Annie. Even Flynn Hansen and Leo Denton, lying immobilized on their beds, grunted anxiously to show their agreement.

Rhys Chase stood. He looked around at everyone and said solemnly, "Alright. Someone has to take action to change things. If we don’t, our children will have to. Let’s give it our all. We’re all going to die sooner or later anyway. You can run, but you can’t hide forever."

"Should we mobilize the survivors downstream to join us?" Liam Sterling asked, worried they wouldn’t cooperate. "Everyone is just focused on surviving right now. No one has the spare time or energy to plant trees."

"Not yet." Evelyn disagreed with mobilizing the other survivors.

"Many hands make light work, it’s true, but a large group would be hard to manage. Also, if you want them to work, you have to pay them, and we don’t have anything extra to offer as payment right now." ’Although she had food in her space, Evelyn didn’t want to use it yet. More importantly, giving out food now might foster an attitude of entitlement.’