Chapter 11

Irene put the man’s hands behind his back and took out a bundle of tape from the space before wrapping it several times around his wrists. After going through all of that on a hot day like this, Irene was soaked in sweat again. She wiped the sweat off her forehead and squatted in front of the man as she looked at his heaving chest thoughtfully. She could put living things in her space, and other species could survive in there the same as in the outside world, but it was different for humans. Every time she was in the space for too long, she would feel dizzy and weak in her limbs. Irene had never stayed in the space for a long time before. Thus, Irene thought that she could make good use of the three lab rats that were delivered to her door. She did a body search on all three of them and confiscated all their weapons before sturdily tying them all up and tossing them into the space. After she was done, Irene glanced at her watch. It was 27 minutes past three in the morning. She would throw these people somewhere off the beaten track someday. The daytime temperature had exceeded 70 degrees now, so if people were exposed to the sun, they would dry up in less than an hour, which was why everyone went out at night. That would make it easier for her to ‘dispose’ of the bodies. Irene put all the tools into the space and turned to look at the door that they broke into. It seemed like these people were professionals as they pried it open with just the keyhole. However, it would still be difficult for ordinary people to open it. Irene was wondering when the electric gate she installed would come in handy, but it seemed like today was the day. She went back into her home to plug in the switch of the electric door and turned on the lowest setting. As she got closer, she could hear the buzz of the electric current. Irene grabbed a rabbit from the space and tossed it into the corridor. The sudden change of environment frightened the rabbit, so it ran toward the door without thinking. Boom! The rabbit foamed at the mouth and fell to the ground with stiff limbs. Irene touched it to see that it was still alive. Great. The door was strong enough to injure someone but not strong enough to kill them. Irene was satisfied. Since she could not go back to sleep, Irene might as well clean up her traces. She carried the electrocuted rabbit into the kitchen and was ready to kill it to make a delicious meal for tomorrow. Her grandmother was from the countryside, so Irene might have grown up in Sherwood, but she was brought up by hunters. She often felt that she had been influenced by her family’s methods. Irene stared at the rabbit in front of her, and her mind drifted. Edric and Lina were born and raised in Sherwood, so she wondered how they felt eating her flesh in her previous life. When she snapped back to reality, Irene rubbed the edge of her nose, picked up the knife, and pointed it at the electrocuted rabbit. She waved it left and right a few times, but she could not do it. Why was that? She had killed people before, but not rabbits. Killing people was way easier. She sighed resignedly and took out her phone to watch a tutorial on how to kill a rabbit. She followed all the steps and even skinned the rabbit. Rabbit fur was valuable, so Irene planned to dry it and make a rabbit fur scarf out of it for cold weather. After slaughtering and washing the rabbit, she cut it into small pieces and soaked it in clear water and alcohol to remove the gaminess. When she was done, she realized that it was already dawn. She looked at the time. It was 52 minutes past six. Irene wiped the water off her hands with a paper towel and was curious about what the people in the space looked like right now. However, she suppressed her curiosity and took a shower. She then changed into new clothes and put on sunscreen before heading out with the car keys. As soon as she left the residence, the glaring sun hurt her eyes. Even her shades did not help. Irene then drove to the suburbs with her sunglasses on. Thanks to her fondness for outdoor adventures, she was very familiar with Sherwood. It was quite easy for Irene to find a place with no one around. When she arrived at an abandoned reservoir, she parked her car, put on a sun hat, and got out of the car. A wave of heat that could burn someone to ashes came as soon as she got out of the car. Fortunately, Irene had been trying her best to adapt to the law of nature the past few days, or else she would have fallen flat on her face by now. After getting out of the car, Irene looked around to make sure that no one was around. She opened the trunk of the car as a cover and dragged them out from the space before tossing them on the ground. Irene had been suppressing her curiosity, so she did not check on them. Only after throwing them out of the car did Irene have the chance to assess their condition. When she saw their faces, her eyes widened in shock. All of them had gray hair and wrinkles all over their faces as if they had been given aging agents. They all looked like they were in old age. Irene did not know how old the other two were, but she knew that Dan was still under 40 years old! They had completely transformed in less than six hours. How did the space do that? What about her? What would happen to her in the end? Irene stood there in bewilderment with her wild palpitations. She knew that it was too good to be true. Irene did not know what kind of disasters the space would bring, but from the looks of it right now, the good still outweighed the bad. She withdrew her gaze and got into the car. Then, she drove the car under a big tree to escape the heat, but her efforts were in vain because it was still sweltering. After having three ice creams in a row, the dryness in Irene’s throat was relieved. She reclined her seat, closed her eyes, and turned on the music while enjoying the wind from the air conditioner as she waited quietly. After ten minutes or so, she got out of the car with a stethoscope and walked up to Dan and the others. She squatted down to take their heartbeat. Their skin started peeling off from being exposed to the sun, and the skin that came in contact with the ground was scorched. Irene turned away and pressed the stethoscope to their chests to listen carefully. After confirming that the three of them were dead, she untied them and headed back to the car. She stayed at the reservoir for no more than 30 minutes before driving away in her modified Hummer. She came and left in a hurry, so she did not notice that there was a man on a watchtower less than 5 meters away, frowning as he looked away from the telescope. His walkie-talkie was buzzing, so he picked it up and put it beside his ear. He replied that he had acknowledged the statement and put it back on his waist. Then, he straightened up his heat insulator and jumped off the watchtower in a couple of big steps before striding toward the three unconscious people on the ground in his military boots. As he got closer, the pungent smell of burnt flesh attacked his senses. He bent down to check the pulses on their necks. All of them were dead. The man frowned and gazed intensely in the direction where Irene left.