The camp is not very big, behind a barren mountain. The main reason for choosing this place is that there is a natural spring nearby, so you can get clean drinking water.

In the beginning, there were about 500 fugitives who took refuge here, almost an entire village or town. Now there are less than 200 people left, and there are only about 50 young and middle-aged laborers who can go out to find food, most of them are elderly people and children who cannot work.

Memphis tried its best, but it still couldn't satisfy everyone's belly.

Since last month, Memphis has had to regulate food and distribute it to minimum standards. Young people who were able to go out in search of food received the lion's share, while the elderly and children received only the lowest share of subsistence. Even so, the food that can be found cannot satisfy so many mouths. In the intervening months, Memphis's team has searched all the surrounding villages, and the village where they were originally located is the last one. According to Memphis estimates, if no new food source is found, everyone will go hungry for another month at most. What would happen at that time, he could not imagine, and did not think about it.

Hungry people can do anything.

Even if there is no food yet, because a lot of unfortunate things have happened to food.

Just last week, two fugitives, a man and a woman, went out in search of food. They are a couple, very young, and the woman is still very beautiful. It's just that the disaster that lasted for a few months made "pretty" a very unfamiliar word. They had been out for three days, and by the time Memphis led someone to find them, they were already two white bones. Judging by the imprints on the scene, they encountered the desert wolf at night and became the wolf's dinner.

In addition, many people are unhappy with the forced distribution system implemented in Memphis.

Memphis also has no way, if the food is not forcibly distributed, at most, a few days later, there will be bloody clashes over food.

In any case, at least there is no shortage of food, at least this time the harvest is not too small.

Thirteen men, as best they could, brought back food from Memphis's cellar, which would ensure that everyone would be fed for the next ten days.

There is no way to get to this point.

Memphis had thought that the disaster would soon be over, and that he would be able to use the food hidden in the cellar to start a new life so that his family could live a good life. Unfortunately, the war is not over, and every time I go out, I always encounter fugitives from other places, or dry bones on the side of the road.

No one knows when the war will end.

In addition to food, there are many problems that need to be solved, especially medicines.

Of the hundreds lost, half died from disease. Although the villages and towns are located in remote deserts, there is a well-developed medical system in peacetime, and even serious illnesses can be treated in time, and few people die of diseases, and even few people suffer from diseases because of the environment. The problem is that this is not a time of peace, and not only is there no well-developed health care system, but people are also more susceptible to diseases in harsh environments.

Only the strongest can survive.

The food they brought back from Memphis gave everyone hope and eased the atmosphere in the camp a lot.

Although the war lasted only half a year, almost everyone gave up their original ideals and beliefs, and had to live in the present under the pressure of the environment. For those who are still alive, the most important thing is to live every day, eat every meal, and sleep well.

As for the future, not to mention others, not even Memphis has thought about it.

In the past, this was almost unimaginable. But now, no one is sure whether there will be any hope of survival tomorrow or a few days from now.

Smoke rose from the camp, emitting a strong stench.

It is not wood that burns, nor oil, but the dung of desert horses.

For humans, deserts are forbidden areas for life. There are very few people like Memphis who can survive being cut off from the outside world. But for other creatures, deserts are not off-limits. There are many animals in the desert, including desert rats that hide underground.

The animal was small, less than half a fist in size, and hid in deep holes. Although the meat of the desert rat is very tender and delicious when cooked, it is very laborious to dig them out of the burrow. An effective way to catch desert rats is to set a trap near the entrance of the cave, as the desert rat will leave the burrow at night and come to the surface in search of food and dew.

Of course, there are also large animals in the desert, such as desert horses and desert wolves.

Desert horses are larger than the average horse, and adult males weigh more than 300 kilograms. It's just that it's almost impossible to catch a desert horse, and even more so for people who don't have weapons. Desert horses are social animals, with dozens, or even hundreds, gathered together, and there are some responsible guards at all times. As soon as danger is detected, the entire herd will flee as fast as possible. It is impossible for even the strongest man to catch up with a desert horse capable of running at a speed of eighty kilometers per hour for a whole day. In addition, most desert horses live in the hinterland of the desert and rarely go to places where humans gather, let alone actively approach people.

For fugitives, the greatest benefit of desert horses is the fuel they bring.

The desert horse's diet is a dryland algae that grows in gravel, and because it is extremely difficult to digest, there are many plant residues in the desert horse's excrement.

Horse manure burns with a very pungent smell, but it cooks food and keeps it warm at night.

The latter is more important than that.

Without food, people can survive for a few days, but as long as there is no warmth, no one can survive a night in the desolate desert.

Soon, the aroma of the cooked food suppressed the stench of the burning horse manure.

For people who have been hungry all day, there's nothing more appealing than hot cooked food, and no one cares about the smell of cooking.

Because there is no seasoning, the dinner is not delicious, and it can only be said that it can barely be swallowed.

Soon, the hot charcuterie caught everyone's attention, and even Memphis let his guard down and focused on the bowl of broth.

It wasn't until the three men came out of the darkness and came to the edge of the camp that they were seen by the guards in charge.

Memphis arrived at the first time.

Three travelers, or fugitives, a man and two women, a man in his forties, a woman in her thirties, and the other who appeared to be less than twenty years old. Presumably after spending too much time in the desert, and the temperature had begun to drop, they fell unconscious when they arrived outside the camp.

Perhaps, they were attracted by the smell of food.

Over the past six months, Memphis has encountered many fugitives, and some have come to the vicinity of the camp, and the situation is similar to that of all three.

The fugitives who were able to make it here were exhausted and were not far from death.

It's just that, here, fugitives from other places are not welcome. It's not that one more person has one more mouth to eat, if it's a young person, it means that there is one more labor force, and one labor force can feed several people. Mainly, not all fugitives are willing to join this collective. Over the past six months, Memphis has rescued many fugitives, but few have remained. What's more, some fugitives, after receiving help, do not know how to be grateful, but instead try to seize what does not belong to them.

Such fugitives are a potentially great threat.

"Lock them up and send people to guard them in turn."

Memphis did not dare to be careless, he had paid a very heavy price for it. Until the true identities and purpose of these three people are known, they must not be allowed to pose a threat to the others. Even if there will be misunderstandings because of this, even if it will miss the opportunity to absorb fresh blood.

Watching his men escort the three fugitives away, Memphis's energy returned to his job.

The night had fallen, the temperature was rapidly decreasing, and there was still so much to do at night, there was no reason to spend too much time with these three fugitives. Judging by their appearance, they must have walked a long way, and they are starving, and they will not wake up for a while.

After dinner, the camp fell silent.

It's short, but it's the most joyous time of the day. For the more than 100 people who survived, dinner was the most cherished.

Soon, there was no sound in the camp except for the crackling and burning pile of horse manure.

Memphis is the leader of the team and doesn't need a vigil. In fact, except for the occasional fugitive, no stranger ever came to the camp. Memphis insisted on arranging for people to take turns keeping vigils, and even more so to let everyone know that the danger is not far away, and that it is necessary to continue to be vigilant. In a sense, keeping people vigilant at all times is also an effective way to maintain unity and hope. On the other hand, people have very poor vision at night, and even if they find danger, they may not have time for everyone to escape. Besides, where is there to escape in the desert? The most immediate result of leaving the camp at night is to freeze to death before dawn. Even if they were attacked, they had to stay in the camp, and the night watchman would at best wake the others from their sleep.

It's just that for everyone, it might be better to be killed while awake, or to die in your sleep, at least that way there won't be too much pain.

As for those who were on vigil's turn, they had long since let their guard down and soon fell asleep.

Of course, not all of them fell asleep.

While everyone in the camp was asleep, the three fugitives who had been "rescued" woke up and left the camp lightly.

They were none other than Chu Tianjiang, Iska, and Soya.