Chapter 179: Pumpkin Thief

"Mr. Vance, kick them out of the safe zone! Our community has no place for such malicious scoundrels." An older man stepped forward, walked over, and slapped Jack Shaw across the face.

"You monster! How dare you destroy food! You didn’t just try to ruin Evelyn Ford’s pumpkins; you also wanted to stop us from getting seeds. You’re black-hearted scum!"

Destroying food was something no one could tolerate. The situation was dire; everyone was rationing their food, and the water was already cut off. If the extreme heat continued, the trees would die, no more crops could be grown, and everyone would starve.

Yet these people had tried to destroy food during such a critical time. It was simply unforgivable.

Evelyn Ford didn’t need to say another word. The crowd’s fury had already erupted.

Evelyn Ford and Ronan Kendrick stood in the crowd, coldly watching Jack Shaw and his group.

"Evelyn Ford, we’ll never do it again! Please, don’t kick us out. We swear we’ll turn over a new leaf. Don’t make us leave!"

An older woman was shrieking hysterically. She was the person Serena Lynch had warned Evelyn Ford not to cross—Jack Shaw’s mother.

Because Evelyn Ford had previously refused to trade pumpkin seedlings with her, she’d been holding a grudge, just waiting for the pumpkins to ripen so she could steal a batch and destroy another.

Evelyn Ford said nothing, just stared at the woman. The other residents, however, couldn’t stand it any longer and surged forward to give the group a beating.

After a moment, Taylor Vance shouted for everyone to stop. Looking at the battered group, who were barely conscious, he announced loudly, "The safe zone has its rules! I’ve said it before: anyone caught thieving, if the offense is serious, will be expelled. You lot—take your families and leave the safe zone immediately!"

"No! We’re not leaving! On what grounds are you kicking us out? We didn’t break anything! Not a single pumpkin was damaged! We didn’t cause any losses, so you can’t throw us out!" the older woman wailed again. Seeing that her begging was useless, she began to curse everyone viciously.

"We’re all survivors here! Kicking us out is a death sentence! If you do this, you’ll all die horrible deaths!"

"You’re the one who’s going to die a horrible death! How dare you show your face after trying to destroy our food? I’ll kill you, you shameless bitch!"

The scene descended into chaos. The culprits began to writhe on the ground, their faces twisted in agony.

Evelyn Ford knew they had come into contact with the itching powder. ’If they don’t wash it off with cold water immediately,’ she thought, ’scratching their skin raw won’t do any good.’

"Let me go! I’m so itchy! AAARGH..."

"Still putting on an act? Mr. Vance, Mr. Lowell, let’s just throw them out now! People like them are a menace. They were stealing vegetables and melons before, and now they’re destroying staple crops. With how vengeful they are, we absolutely can’t let them stay in the safe zone."

"That’s right! I had a small run-in with Jack Shaw a while back, and he killed several of my chickens and ducks. He wouldn’t even admit it when I caught him red-handed."

Taylor Vance raised a hand, silencing the crowd. "Throw them out of the safe zone. And throw their belongings out with them."

"No! We won’t leave!"

"The pumpkins are poisoned! I’m so itchy! I’m not leaving!"

They rolled around on the ground, throwing a fit. Taylor Vance saw the red welts breaking out on their skin but said nothing, merely gesturing for the other residents to drag them away.

The group was still spewing curses at first, but as they were dragged away, their insults turned to pleas for mercy. However, just as someone had pointed out, these people were vengeful and jealous. They absolutely could not be allowed to stay in the safe zone.

"Patrol teams, be on alert. Don’t let them get near the safe zone."

"Yes, sir."

As the culprits were dragged off, many residents followed to watch the spectacle. Those who stayed behind started to comfort Evelyn Ford.

"It’s a good thing you caught them in time, or the damage would have been immense. Evelyn Ford, how did you get on their bad side?"

"They came to me asking to trade for pumpkins, and I refused. I told them they could trade for seeds, though. I suppose they held a grudge because I wouldn’t give them a whole pumpkin."

"Those people are just vicious. Trading for seeds is a perfectly good option—they could have planted their own. Why resort to sabotage? Ruining anything else is one thing, but destroying food? They’re less than human."

The rest of the residents gradually dispersed. Serena Lynch stood nearby, sighing deeply, and Evelyn Ford watched her with amusement.

"I’m not even sighing. What are you sighing about?"

"I’m just so angry. How can people be so horrible?"

"Well, I have you to thank for the warning. Otherwise, my losses tonight would have been substantial."

"Still, it’s good they were driven out. People like that are a menace to the safe zone. They’d steal from one house today and another tomorrow."

After Serena Lynch’s group left, Taylor Vance and the others departed as well. Evelyn Ford went to her backyard and carefully wiped the powder off the protective fence.

Meanwhile, Jack Shaw and his accomplices had been thrown out of the safe zone. But their food, water, and all their possessions had been confiscated by the very residents Jack Shaw had once stolen from and were being kept inside.

Jack Shaw clawed in agony at the itchy rashes on his body, his eyes fixed on the safe zone’s gate with a venomous glare.

"Jack Shaw, what do we do now? If you hadn’t egged me on, I never would have joined you in this stupid plan! This is all your fault."

"What’s the use of blaming me now? You think you can get back in? Let’s go find a place to lie low. I have a way to get back at them."

"How?" Steve Sullivan asked, miserable. ’If I had known it would end like this,’ he thought, ’I never should have thrown in with Jack Shaw.’

Jack Shaw gathered everyone and whispered, "We’ll set one big fire and burn the whole safe zone to the ground. I’m not just going to burn the place down... I’m going to burn all those bastards alive inside it."

At the thought of Evelyn Ford and Ronan Kendrick, a vicious glint flashed in Jack Shaw’s eyes.

"Aren’t you afraid of getting caught?"

"They had the nerve to kick my family out. They better be ready to face my revenge."

Evelyn Ford returned home and waited for over an hour before Ronan Kendrick got back.

"Are they gone?"

"Yes."

Evelyn Ford was surprised. "They really left that easily?"

"They were plotting to burn down the safe zone and kill everyone inside."

Evelyn Ford frowned. "They’re completely insane. I’m going out for a bit, you go ahead and sleep."

Evelyn Ford took a dagger from her dimensional space, put on her shoes, and was about to head out when Ronan Kendrick grabbed her arm.

"Don’t worry. I’ve already taken care of it."

Evelyn Ford looked up at him. "All of them?"

"Yes."

Evelyn Ford put down the dagger and looked at him quietly. "Leave no loose ends. You did well."

Two weeks later, the pumpkins were almost all harvested, with only a few hundred unripe ones left in the patch.

Evelyn Ford processed a few of the large pumpkins, washing and drying the seeds. Soon, residents started showing up with supplies to trade.

Evelyn Ford had no intention of planting more pumpkins; they were too water-intensive, after all.

The chayote squashes were also ready for picking. When Serena Lynch came by, Evelyn Ford gave her a dozen of them. Officer Graham also brought Wendy to trade for some, and Evelyn Ford gave Wendy a large, ripe pumpkin without taking any of their supplies.

A few days later, after a sandstorm, an older man went to a sandy area five kilometers away to dig for mushrooms. Instead, he uncovered the bodies of Jack Shaw and his group. He didn’t tell a soul, simply burying the corpses a little deeper.