Chapter 44: Snowing
Luna Dawson was a bit surprised. ’People are still giving such extravagant gifts in these times?’
"Huh? This much? It all looks pretty expensive."
Mrs. Dawson said helplessly, "Sigh... We tried to refuse several times, but it was no use. The bodyguard just stood at the door holding the gifts and said he couldn’t go back if we didn’t accept them. We had no choice but to bite the bullet and take them..."
Once one or two families sent gifts, others followed suit. All sorts of presents arrived one after another, but Luna Dawson didn’t dare to touch any of them.
They weren’t short on supplies now, so everyone could afford to be generous. But what about later? After marking them, she tossed them all into a distant corner of her space to gather dust.
After all, her original goal was to train her skills and collect Crystal Cores, not to help others. If people came asking for the gifts back in the future, she didn’t want the trouble. She’d just return everything.
One day, Luna Dawson looked up at the gloomy sky and murmured, "It looks like it’s about to snow..."
In her past life, about a month after the zombies appeared, it had also snowed in Southen. Back then, Luna Dawson had nearly frozen to death in her home.
She had only managed to survive by snuggling with the warm bodies of Rollo and Little Tiger.
After the snow began to fall, the green plants in the community’s landscaping began to grow and spread at a visible rate. At the time, Luna Dawson had rubbed her eyes hard, unable to believe what she was seeing. She even thought something was wrong with her Spirit.
Even the city roads and the exterior walls of buildings were covered in unfamiliar green branches and leaves. Some thick roots pushed right through the pavement.
Some survivors who tried to chop away branches blocking their windows were impaled by writhing vines and left hanging outside, swaying in the wind—a truly grotesque and horrifying sight.
The moment she thought of this, Luna Dawson immediately gathered everyone. Over the next few days, they were to dig up all the turf inside and outside the two villas and cut down all the nearby trees and shrubs.
The sub-zero ground was frozen solid, hard as a rock, but everyone worked with brute strength. With the help of an excavator Luna Dawson provided, they dug everything up by the roots.
Rollo was also let loose. Luna Dawson had him help dig up tree roots, and he worked diligently and with great effort.
One day, Nancy Sullivan, who was out walking her blue merle border collie, ran into Rollo. Everyone was pleasantly surprised to learn they both had dogs.
No wonder the two siblings had been in such a hurry to get home back then. It seemed their little border collie was quite clever, managing to survive being locked up alone for a few days without starving.
The border collie’s name was Tina. She was a two-year-old female with heterochromia and was very beautiful. Seeing how happy the two dogs were playing together, Nancy Sullivan brought her over to play with Rollo for several days in a row.
Tina had awakened a speed superpower and often herded Rollo as if he were a sheep. Rollo would puff up his fur in frustration but still couldn’t catch her, getting run around every day.
Seeing Rollo having so much fun, Luna Dawson made a point to remind Nancy Sullivan, "You should probably go back and deal with the plants around your house. Humans and animals are mutating now, so I’m worried the plants might go out of control one day."
Nancy Sullivan had been clearing out zombies with the group for a while, and they had grown more familiar with each other. She and her brother lived nearby in villa 106, were two years younger than Luna, and had a lively, generous personality. Luna Dawson quite enjoyed walking their dogs together.
Thanks to the dogs, her relationship with the two siblings had grown much closer recently.
Nancy Sullivan even happily revealed that, like Luna Dawson, she had also awakened a Space Ability but didn’t dare tell anyone else.
’Those two siblings are quite cautious,’ Luna Dawson thought. She nodded in understanding, genuinely happy for them and their dog.
After all, Tina could only live well if her owner was surviving. And Luna Dawson really wanted Rollo to have more doggy friends.
Nancy Sullivan said gratefully, "Thank you, Luna Dawson. My brother noticed you guys digging up your lawn early on. A lot of the more cautious families have started following your example."
After removing the plants, Luna Dawson took herbicide from her space and sprayed the area several times before she felt at ease. In the current situation, all they could do was mind their own business. The 300-meter radius around the two villas was now completely bare.
Miles Dawson, his back aching from exhaustion, complained, "Good thing we’re strong! Otherwise, there’s no way we could’ve finished all this physical labor in just a few days!"
Less than two days after they finished clearing the lawns, Kensington was hit by its first major snowstorm of the apocalypse.
The cold winter wind carried snowflakes to the ground, howling like a wailing ghost. It whipped the roadside branches and leaves into a frenzy, making them creak and groan mournfully.
Before noon, the sky had turned as dark as ink. White snowflakes covered the ground, but they strangely vanished layer by layer, silently seeping deep into the soil.
The snow fell for a whole week. There was some accumulation on the roads, but not much. The earth seemed to be thirstily absorbing the snow.
The world was constantly shrouded in a blizzard. As soon as the snow began to fall, Luna Dawson made a decisive call, telling Kevin Keane and the other three to move into their villa.
She told them bluntly that the other villa only had basic renovations. These were special times, with plants and animals undergoing explosive evolution. They had to be careful about everything. Living together would allow them to respond to emergencies more quickly.
Of course, she would never admit that this arrangement also happened to save a considerable amount of diesel fuel for the other villa’s floor heating. Resources were precious in these times; she had to be frugal wherever she could.
Everyone watched as withered trees that should have been dormant for the winter sprouted new buds. Their trunks visibly thickened, and their branches grew more lush, leaving everyone utterly shocked.
The villa complex had several scenic lakes of various sizes, surrounded by shady trees and dense flowers and grasses.
Now, the flowers, grasses, and trees had all grown into unfamiliar forms. The once somewhat desolate winter scenery had transformed into a dense forest environment.
Occasionally, they would see giant insects and squirrel-like animals scurry past the security cameras, growing larger and larger over time...
It was just absurd!
Watching this scene that defied the laws of nature, everyone was so shocked that they started making wild, off-the-cuff predictions.
"Boss! Do you think humans will still be at the top of the food chain in the future?"
Lynn Shelby, holding Little Tiger and pretending to take off like an airplane, chattered at Luna Dawson.
The scenes from the past few days had completely overturned everyone’s understanding of the world!
Besides, Luna Dawson’s words had always proven reliable. During this time, the group had collected a number of Crystal Cores by clearing out zombies in the villa complex and the surrounding area.
Evan Olson, Mrs. Dawson, and Grandpa had gathered enough elemental Crystal Cores to all advance to the first rank.
At the time, Luna Dawson had given each of them twenty-five Crystal Cores, and they had all really advanced after using around twenty-one or twenty-two!
Her predictions were so precise. Everyone knew that Luna Dawson was hiding a big secret.
Evan Olson looked at Lynn Shelby helplessly. "What? You want to go toe-to-toe with all the plants and animals in the world?"
Hearing talk of flying, Aaron Palmer immediately got excited. "Hey, you guys think we’ll be able to talk to them after they gain sentience?"
Kevin Keane let out a soft laugh. "You can give it a try."
Miles Dawson said excitedly, "That would be so cool!"
Kevin Keane was secretly alarmed. ’Cool? It’s dozens of degrees below zero, and snakes are still slithering around...’
Blake Blue watched the now enormous plants and animals and mused for a moment, "We don’t just have to guard against zombies. These enlarged animals are also a major hidden danger..."
Luna Dawson watched them discuss. "Alright, whether we’re at the top or the bottom, we have to find a way to stay alive."
After speaking, she leisurely took out some protective gear from her space and put it on.
She believed that life would find a way, and humanity would surely be able to adapt to this apocalypse as well.