The answer was obvious.
Mandy Donovan helplessly patted Etta Moore’s head.
“Captain Lewis, he was just talking.
I won’t see you out, you’re a busy man—”
The “busy” Leo Lewis was politely shown the door by the very kids he looked down on.
The door shut, leaving him standing outside, thoroughly aggrieved.
“You just kicked him out like that?” Gary Moore finally processed what had happened.
By the time he did, Captain Lewis was already gone.
“I didn’t!
He’s busy.
That’s right, the man’s busy!” Mandy Donovan waved her hand dismissively.
With the mature Gary Moore already in the house, she had no patience for Leo Lewis trying to lecture her.
At her age, she truly hated being preached at.
A woman who holds the truth is the truth itself.
Therefore, no explanation was necessary!
BANG BANG BANG!
Someone was banging on the door.
Mandy Donovan yanked the door open.
A gray-blue uniform filled her vision.
“Captain Lewis,” she said, annoyed, “is there something else?”
‘I just finished putting on my cool act.’
‘And this Leo Lewis just had to come and ruin it.’
Behind her, two wide-eyed, baffled puppies stared blankly.
“Didn’t you say Captain Lewis was busy and left?” one asked.
“Yeah, why’s he back?”
The two went back and forth.
A closed loop.
“Let’s add each other!
If you find more water, you can contact me,” Leo Lewis said, holding out his wrist to Mandy Donovan.
His squad members had told him to add the three kids’ bracelet numbers, so he had no choice but to come back.
He had been the one to take the well, so only he could handle the follow-up.
Forcefully ruffling the twins’ hair, Mandy Donovan raised her wrist and tapped it against Leo Lewis’s.
“Is there anything else, Captain Lewis?”
Leo Lewis tapped his bracelet with a bent finger.
“You can contact me if you need anything.”
“I don’t think I’ll have any reason to trouble the Defense Force.” Mandy Donovan gave him a nod and shut the door without a second’s hesitation.
Inside, Etta Moore had already forgotten about Leo Lewis.
He and Gary Moore were gathered around the water barrel Leo had brought, stroking it over and over.
“Is this really one hundred liters of water?”
“Isn’t that obvious?” Mandy Donovan rapped him on the head.
“You two, move the barrel into the kitchen.
We’ll use it as our water tank.”
Etta Moore and Gary Moore had to work together to move the barrel inside.
Gary had a realization.
“A hundred-liter barrel is too inconvenient.
Smaller containers would be easier to move.”
This was just the type of stackable container Mandy Donovan wanted—something like a jerrycan, with a built-in handle that you could use to lift it.
The heated brick bed was built, but they still needed a few bed boards.
Mandy Donovan started planning a trip to the Black Market.
She didn’t tell Etta Moore or Gary Moore about this plan.
“Let’s eat first.
After we eat, you two can practice making water containers.” There were still some bricks left, and Mandy Donovan wanted to build a few planters on the designated “balcony” space.
A gardener has a gardener’s soul; the first thing she wanted to do after settling down was to plant something.
After partitioning off a ten-square-meter bedroom, fifteen square meters remained in an L-shape.
The area by the window was the balcony, and the other side was for storage.
The spot where the three of them were currently sleeping on the floor would also be used for storage in the future, leaving just enough space for a walkway.
Mandy Donovan wanted to set up a planting area, which meant she needed soil.
Regardless of whether the soil outside the city was arable, she was determined to bring some back.
When Leo Lewis returned to the camp, everyone, friend and stranger alike, crowded around him, chattering all at once.
“Squad Leader Two, we heard you stole a well from some people.”
Leo Lewis was the leader of Squad Two, Fourth Battalion, in the Defense Force.
The moment he heard the word “well,” he knew the squad members he’d taken on patrol had sold him out.
He rubbed his nose.
“Ahem!
I gave them one hundred liters of water!”
This was met with a chorus of “Tch!”
“You stole from them and that’s all you gave?
Did you even add them as a contact?
You only gave them a hundred liters of water?
How are we supposed to face them the next time we see them?”
“We heard they’re just kids who are new to New Sharn District.
Squad Leader Two, you’re a patrol captain!
A hundred liters is way too stingy—”
Someone immediately grabbed Leo Lewis and forced him to open his bracelet.
“Just add the kids so we can get to know them.
If we can look out for them, we should.”
They couldn’t offer much else, but when the kids went outside the safe zone, those who weren’t on patrol could offer them protection.
Leo Lewis was no match for the whole group.
“Just look at her bracelet number and remember it.
If you all add her, won’t that just cause trouble for her?
No one is to add her, you hear me!”
“We hear you, we hear you!
We won’t add her.
We’ll just take down the name for now.
The captain stole their well, so they probably don’t have a great opinion of us Defense Force guys anyway.
Mandy, that’s the one, the new contact the captain just added…”
Someone else struck a contrary note.
“It’s just a well, isn’t it?
What are you all so worked up about?”
“Then don’t you dare drink the water,” someone shot back, landing a punch on him and emphasizing, “Don’t you dare drink it.”
The water from the well had been drawn and was settling, growing clear.
Everyone in the camp yearned for that well.
The children of the families here were rationed only 100ml of water a day; adults got 450ml.
When the elderly received their rations, they couldn’t bear to drink it themselves, saving it for the children, for the workers, and for their family members in the Defense Force.
The extreme water shortage had already caused several deaths from thirst.
Who wouldn’t feel for their own family?
The man who was hit didn’t say a word.
Everyone knew New Sharn District was short on water.
His stubborn defiance seemed to be a way to dilute his own pain.
But no matter how tough you talked, the dead wouldn’t come back.
For now, it was the elderly who were dying.
Soon, it would be them.
The future was a heavy topic.
“Alright, that’s enough!
A few more of you, go guard the well and prevent the vagrants from swarming it.
I’ve already submitted a request to build a garrison post there.” A middle-aged man stood at the door, his authoritative gaze sweeping over the group of Defense Force soldiers.
“This well’s groundwater reserves are good.
Priority goes to the Defense Force.
We’ll open it to the vagrants for…
hmm, let’s say two hours a day, with a 200ml limit per person.”
“Send men over now.
The vagrants are already gathering.”
Back at the well, which was still just a water-filled pit, a few Defense Force soldiers were surrounded by a large crowd of vagrants.
“This well belongs to the Defense Force!
Don’t cause trouble!”
“Don’t come any closer!
Stop!”
A life-saving well was just steps away.
Who could possibly listen to the shouts of the Defense Force?
The only thing in the vagrants’ eyes was the well.
The soldiers were quickly pushed to the very edge of the pit.
One soldier used his bracelet to send an urgent message.
“Send backup, quick!
We’re about to be overrun!”
The vagrants were past reason.
They wouldn’t listen to persuasion and instead pressed closer, step by step.
A malicious voice rose from the crowd, “Look at them!
They have food and drink!
What kind of lives are we living?”
“Why does the Defense Force get to claim any well they find?”
Someone jumped directly into the earthen pit, excitedly scooping up water and drinking it.
“Without water, we’re all going to die of thirst—”
More and more people pushed past the Defense Force soldiers and jumped into the pit.
The clear water that had just begun to settle was trampled by countless feet, turning back into muddy sludge.
The farce was only brought under control when Defense Force reinforcements arrived.
By then, the original few soldiers had already been beaten half to death by the vagrants…
Mandy Donovan was oblivious to all of this.
She made two marks on the reserved doorway.
“Gary, make two nails and put them right here.
Where’s Etta?
Why is he so quiet?”
“Etta’s in the kitchen,” Gary replied.
After clarifying what kind of nails she wanted, he began to condense them while asking, “What are the nails for?”
“For hanging things, of course.
Don’t hammer them all the way into the wall; leave about half a finger’s length sticking out.” Mandy Donovan walked out of the bedroom and peered into the kitchen.
Etta was indeed obediently making water containers, but he had made one to use as a stool and was sitting right next to the barrel of water, as if afraid someone would come and steal it.
‘That silly kid.’
Mandy Donovan shook her head.
“If someone really wanted to steal it, you wouldn’t be able to guard it like this.”
“Then what should I do?
This is a hundred liters of water!
I can’t feel at ease with it just sitting in the house if I’m not watching it.” Etta Moore spread his arms wide.
“I’ll just live in the kitchen and watch the barrel!”
‘Back at the secret base, there was an untold amount of unpolluted, natural water lost every day.
This one hundred liters of moderately polluted water meant nothing to her.’ Mandy Donovan didn’t give it a second thought.
She walked over and patted his head.
“You don’t have to guard it like that.
Tomorrow, we’re going to the collection zone.
We need to dig up some more soil.”
But if no one’s home, who will watch the water?
Etta reluctantly caressed the barrel.
“But what if—”
Mandy Donovan quickly cut Etta off.
“There is no ‘what if’!” ‘Why is this brat so annoying?
Naughty kids are the worst!’