Chapter 13 Chapter Thirteen

The matter was not put to a vote.Days before Friday, Rhodes knew what the vote would be - fifty people would be against him, less than half would be for him, friends would vote for him, but only out of loyalty, Not because they believed in him... maybe they were against him in their hearts. He found Cowbell privately. "Grant, you've won me over again, and even Roy is on your side now, but you can still make them change their minds." "I doubt it, don't you understand, Rhodes? We have taken root, and you may have found a better place...but it's too late to change now. Besides, this is the place you chose first. ?”

"Not quite, it's...well, just by chance." "A lot of things in life happen by chance, all you have to do is try to make it better." "That's exactly what I'm going to do. Grant, I admit, it's going to be hard to move, but we can work on it. We can start with a couple of staging houses, and then we'll take the big stuff we don't want to throw away bit by bit. Move in batches. If necessary, you can send a person to each station with enough self-defense equipment." "If the city council votes, I will vote for it, but I can't convince other people. Look, Rhodes, you have now stubbornly believed that this place is dangerous, but you have no facts to support it. Look again What do we have now, water is brought in from upstream, garbage is distributed downstream. The environment is very comfortable, the climate is also very pleasant, and there is salt - is there salt there?"

"We didn't look for it—but it should be easy to get salt from the sea." "But it's more convenient here, and maybe we'll have metal soon. You haven't seen those rich iron mines yet, have you? Our facilities will be better and our living standards will be higher and higher. No one will pay for us now We are ashamed of the camp that we built with our own hands. We are not reluctant to bear such a camp, but why should we abandon everything we have and go to a cave to live a wild life?" Rhodes sighed. "Grant, if it's the rainy season, this place might be flooded—and it's pretty weakly defended now."

"But I don't see it. Even if it were, we'd find out in time. And it's the dry season right now. Let's talk about it in a few months until those conditions come." Rhodes was silent.But he refused to be the "City Defense Commander" again, and Caroline also insisted on refusing to serve again because Rhodes had already returned.In the end, Bill Kennedy became city guard.Rhodes became a hunter under Cliff. He slept in the single dormitory upstream and took turns standing guard with others every night.Night Hill was reduced to one man, whose job was simply to look after the bonfire.There has been talk of cutting back on the evening bonfires, as firewood is no longer readily available nearby, and many feel those wooden fences will suffice.

Rhodes didn't comment, he was still vigilant at night. There are still many herds, but they are becoming more and more vigilant.These animals no longer go to the original hunting circles as they did during the rainy season. In order to hunt, people have to search everywhere and drive them out.The carnivorous animals were also becoming more and more dangerous, but the first event in which these animals revealed their seasonal characteristics was through a small beast. When Mick Mohammad returned to camp with a bite on his foot, Bob Baxter looked at the wound and asked him about it. "You don't even believe it when you say it."

"Tell me." "Well, it's just a 'big-headed doll'. Of course, I didn't pay much attention. I felt something lying on my back, and I shook my body to shake it off. Before I had time to draw the dagger, it Just bit me. I had to kill him, break his jaw off." "Lucky enough, you didn't bleed to death." After Rhodes heard about Mick, he told Roy.Roy once had the experience of being attacked by this kind of animal. After hearing this, he seriously asked Cliff to warn everyone to pay attention.But none of them seemed to care much. Three days later, the animals began their great migration.

At first it seemed to be just aimlessly moving downstream along the river.The animals had been absent from the watering points above the camp for a long time, and the herbivores had rarely been in the streams, and now they all joined the migration.Sometimes they are often seen staying on the edge of the wooden fence.Not only herbivores, but also many "birds" with strange faces but no wings that humans have never seen, and animals that cannot be named have also joined the migration team.A lion-like carnivore had approached the wooden fence in broad daylight. It looked there for a while, shook its tail, pawed the ground with its paws, and then walked down the river again.

Cliff told his hunting party that if the herd came into camp, there would be no need to hunt. Rhodes felt that he was more irritable than usual, and the night was getting darker.He left his seat by the barbecue fire pit and walked over to Jimmy and Jacqueline. "What's wrong with this place? It's kind of weird." Jimmy's shoulders twitched and he said, "I feel it too. Maybe it's the animals' way of joking. Hey, did you hear they killed a 'big-headed doll' at camp?" "I know why." Jacqueline said suddenly: "No wonder there is no 'Grand Opera'."

"Grand Opera" was Jimmy's name for the grotesque animals that had scared Rod so badly the night he first got here.Every night when it gets dark, they will "grunt" and bark.Rhodes didn't take it seriously for a long time, and at most they could make a "purr" sound like an owl.He felt as though he hadn't heard that sound in weeks. Now they stopped barking all at once, which surprised him. Rhodes smiled sheepishly: "Yes, Jack. Once you get used to something, it feels weird that it disappears all of a sudden. Do you think they are on strike?"

"More like going to a funeral," Jimmy replied. "Maybe they'll come back tomorrow." Rhodes has been having a hard time falling asleep.The night duty officer suddenly issued an alarm, and he jumped out of the single dormitory with a dagger in his hand. "What happened?" Arthur Nelson was on duty that night. "It's all right now." He replied nervously, "A big buffalo broke through the fence just now. This guy killed it." He pointed to the carcass of a big beast on the ground as he said. "You're bleeding." "A little bit of meaning."

Others also gathered around.Cowbell made his way through the crowd and said, "Cut it up, Arthur. Bill... Where's Bill? Bill, put someone else on guard. We'll get this place secured at daylight." The east side has turned white.Margaery suggested: "You can wait a little longer, we'll make breakfast right away, and I'll start the fire first." After she finished speaking, she borrowed the kindling from a torch. Rhodes looked out through the broken fence, and there was a big buffalo lying there, as if at least six big-headed beasts were biting it.Cliff stood there and said calmly, "Is there any way to kill them?" "Only with a gun." "You can't waste bullets on it!" "No waste!" Rhodes thought for a while, and then he found a pile of bamboo poles he cut for building a house, cut off a section that was slightly shorter than himself, and then sat on the ground and tied "Miss Macbeth" with a rope. On the bamboo pole, he made a simple javelin. Caroline came over and sat aside. "What are u doing?" "Be a weapon for hunting big-headed beasts." She looked at it for a while, then blurted out: "I want to make one for myself too," and jumped up after speaking. At dawn, many animals were all gathered in the lower part of the camp.It was like being chased out by a forest fire.Due to the drought, the river bank retreated from a beach, which was less than one meter narrow and several meters wide.The water bank that was originally close to the camp has now retreated into a beach, and some wooden fences have to be built to set up a protective fence on this newly added open space, but the noisy herds occupy this place, constantly raiding this weak area . Everyone has worked hard, but there is no way to drive them away.The animals poured into the stream, forcing them to go elsewhere.The channel between the river and the bank became a safe zone, and it was because of it that the hoofs of the beasts did not trample on the wooden fence of the camp.Of course, there are also many small animals passing through the fence. They only care about their journey and don't care about humans at all. Rhodes leaned against the edge of the wooden fence and ate breakfast.After daybreak, he had killed six big-headed beasts.Caroline killed more than he did.Others also fashioned daggers into javelins and joined them.There were not many big-headed beasts at the same time, and most of them passed the camp while chasing herbivores along the lowlands of the river.Those who leaked into the camp were dealt with by javelins, which were much more advantageous than knives at this time. Cowbell and Kennedy checked the defenses, and when they reached Rhodes, they stopped, looking worried. "Rod," Grant said, "how long is this going to go on?" "How do I know? Wait until we get rid of all the animals. Seems like... Hey! That one, Shawdy, kill it. Looks like the big headed beast is driving them, but I don't think so, I think they're all crazy .” "Then why?" Kennedy asked. "How do I know? But I think I know where those bones by the sea came from, but don't ask me why, why do chickens walk? Why do lemmings look like this? What caused the locust plague? Watch your back! Get out of the way!" Kennedy jumped away, Rhodes dealt with the big-headed beast, and they chatted again. "Someone better throw these things in the water, Bill, before they stink. Look, Grant, it's all right now, but I know what to do." "How? Move to your cave? Rhodes, you are not wrong, but it is too late now." "No, it's not that, that's irreparable, forget about it! It's the little things that worry me, they don't move clumsily anymore, they move faster and livelier...they can go through fences .Now we can handle it, but what about after dark? There will have to be a continuous wall of fire in the fence along the river bank now, and I hope the fire will keep them out." "That needs a lot of wood?" Grant looked at the fence and frowned. "True, but it will get us through the night in peace. So be it! You give me the axe, and six more men with javelins, and I'll lead." Kennedy shook his head. "It's my job." "No, Bill," Cowbell said firmly, "I'm the leader. You stay here and take care of the camp." Cowbell led the two groups out before dark.Bill and Rhodes each took one.They tried to weave their way through the steady stream of animals, but Bill's team was forced to go to the cliff above (where they had been logging and the logs were thrown down through the mouth of the cave).They were forced to stay in the trees for up to two hours.Since the dead trees in the creek near the camp had been nearly cleared for months, they had to climb up into the woods to find some wood to burn. Gamemaster Clive Bowley went out with a fifth party in the evening, but they soon broke the handles of their axes and returned with only some firewood they had gathered with their daggers.As they were all leaving, a large herbivore they called the Big Buffalo trampled off the rock and fell into the camp with a broken neck.Four big-headed beasts were biting it tightly, and they didn't let go after falling, so they were quickly and easily killed. Jimmy and Rhodes were guarding the fence. Jimmy looked back at the girls who were disposing of the animal carcasses, and said worriedly: "We've made a mistake, these are the 'Stubbles'... the real 'Stubbles' Tab'!" "Ok?" "Those big guys are not 'stubbles', these things are the 'stubbles' that Mr. Masson warned us to pay attention to." "Well... as long as they're dead, I don't care what you call them. Watch out for the toes, man, they're at it again." As it was getting dark, Cowbell arranged the firewall and considered how not to endanger the water pipeline.The current structure is trembling, and the water pipes are no longer flowing.Something had washed into the water point upstream, smashing the flimsy water pipe. Water bladders are no longer used in camps.Now there are only a few liters of water in the stone jar for cooking, but the most urgent thing now is not the trivial matters of life, but the attack before us, and we must build a fire wall around the camp.Half a dozen people had been wounded, though luckily no one had died, except for a few bites and scratches from the little animals who were contemptuously called big-headed beasts.The antibiotics in the camp had run out as the months wore on, and Bob Baxter now only applied a little to the big wounds carefully. The pyre formed a long arc in the fence along the bank and bent back just below the cave.The day's hard work didn't seem to have much to gain, and the firewood pile looked so small after it was rolled out that Bill Kennedy looked at it and said, "Probably won't last all night, Grant." "Should last a while, Bill, light the fire." "If we go back from the fence and the river bank, we can fence the whole place - you see?" Cowbell considered the changed shape of the firewall. "Well, it's not much better. All right! Don't light the downstream end first, bend them here. Go now, it's getting dark." He ran to the stove, got some kindling, and started a little Lit the fire chain bit by bit.Kennedy also went to help, and soon the camp was surrounded by a wall of burning fire.Cowbell threw the torch into the fire as well, and said, "Bill, divide these men into two groups, and let the women all go into the cave, and let them huddle a little." "Thirty women might be a problem in there, Grant." "They don't have to sleep, just sit. Send them up. Oh, and the wounded." "Of order." Kennedy started to make arrangements, and after a while, Caroline rushed over with a javelin in her hand. "Grant, what do you mean by letting women go to the cave? Don't let me participate in the 'game'? Then you have to think about it!" Cowbell looked at her sullenly and said, "Caroline, I don't have time to reason with you. Shut up and do as you're told." Caroline opened her mouth and closed it again, so she had to do as she was ordered.Bob Baxter's complaints caught Cowbell's attention, and Rod found him displeased. "Grant? You sent all the women into the cave?" "yes." "I'm sorry, Carmen can't go." "You have to take her with you. She's also the person I care about most when I'm making the decision to move." "But..." Baxter paused, pulling Grant aside.Then he went on to insist on his request calmly, and Grant shook his head. "It's not safe, Grant," Baxter went on, his voice raised. "I don't want to risk it, but Carmen's going into labor and there's only nineteen minutes between contractions." "Then... well. Keep a few women by her side, let's keep Caroline, okay? This will also keep her away from me." "Okay." Baxter ran away immediately. Kennedy led several people to stand in unison along the firewall, and they stood on the first shift.According to Cliff Bowley's arrangement, Rhodes stood on the second shift.He comes to Baxter's house to see how Carmen is doing, and Agnes tells him to be quiet.After that, he went back to the single dormitory to sleep. A burst of screams woke Rhodes from his sleep, and he saw a lion beast at least five meters long passing by the camp and disappearing in the lower reaches of the river.It jumped over the fence first, knocking the log off the ground and knocking a gap in the fire wall. Rhodes yelled, "Is anyone hurt?" Shordy-Dumont replied, "No, it didn't turn in." Shordy's left calf was bleeding, but he didn't seem to realize it.Rhodes backed away again, and he planned to sleep for a while. Not long after, Rhodes was awakened by the shaking of the house again."What's the matter?" he cried. "It's you, Rod? I didn't know anyone else was in there. Help, we're going to tear it down for firewood." It was Baxter's voice, standing in a corner, chopping the pillars that would support the house. Rhode stood up with the support of the javelin, then drew out another dagger and went out, and he also started to help demolish the house.The building is made of bamboo and mud, and has a roof of hay and mud, and it can burn in many places. "How's Carmen?" "Fortunately, the reaction is normal, and I can't help you there. They don't need me." Baxter pulled down a corner of the room with force, and then he picked up a bunch of usable things and ran away quickly .Rhodes also hugged a bunch and followed. The stores of firewood were exhausted, and a man was tearing down the roof of the Town Hall, throwing the thatch on the ground and shaking off the clods.The walls of the house are made of earth bricks, but the roof can be burned.Rhodes took a closer look and found that Cobell was destroying the building representing the power of the community, and he seemed to be full of anger. "Let me do it, Grant. Haven't you rested at all?" "Well, no." "Go and rest! It's been a long night! What time is it?" "I don't know, maybe it was midnight?" Copper's face was illuminated by the fire, and he wiped his face with his hands. "Rod, go to the second shift and replace Bill. Cliff was scratched, and I'm going to send him up." "Okay, burn everything you can?" "Burn them all, except the Baxters' roof. Don't burn too fast, though, till morning!" "Understood." Rhode ran to the wall of fire, and he saw Kennedy. "Hey, Bill, I'll take your place—Grant's orders. Go to sleep! What's the matter?" "It's nothing serious, don't go too far!" The flames shone on Kennedy's javelin head, which was covered with dark blood. "I'm not tired, and I don't want to sleep. Rhodes, find a place and take care of yourself." Rhodes shook his head, "You can't stand still, go! It's Grant's order." "No!" "Then... look there, take your people to demolish those old girls' houses, so that at least you can change hands." "Um... alright!" Kennedy left, almost staggering away.At this moment, the animals did not rush up, and Rhodes did not see a single animal outside the fence, which gave him time to reorganize the team.He drove away those who had been on guard since sunset, and let them rest.They also sent people to call for those who left the team.Rhodes put Doug Saunders and Mick Mohammad in charge of fueling the fire, and since the fire started no one has been dedicated to tending the wall of fire. When he returned from his rounds, he saw Bob Baxter, javelin in hand, standing guard in a place near the middle of the wall of fire.Rhodes raised a hand and put it on Bob's shoulder: "The medical officer does not need to participate in the battle, we are not so bad." Baxter shrugged. "The baby is about to be born. It's useless for me to stay there. I can help a little here." "Aren't you worried?" Baxter grinned foolishly: "It's better than walking around on the ground. Rhodes, they're starting to stir again. It's best to fix the fire quickly." "Well... it doesn't matter if you do it in the end, I don't think they will break through from there." Baxter didn't speak, a big-headed beast stubbornly got in along the fence, trying to climb over the fire, Baxter's javelin was thrown out.Rhodes shouted loudly: "Fix the fire, don't worry!" "Watch out, Rhodes!" Rhodes jumped, turned around sharply, and stabbed a little monster. "Where did it come from, I didn't see it." Before Bob could answer, Caroline came running out of the darkness panting, "Bob... Bob Baxter... Where is Bob Baxter?" "Here!" Rhodes replied loudly. Baxter was so nervous that he couldn't speak for a moment, "Is there something wrong with her?" His face was full of nervous expressions. "No, no," cried Caroline. "She's fine, everything's fine, a girl!" Baxter was stunned for a moment, and the javelin in his hand fell to the ground.Caroline grabbed him, lest he fall into the fire.He opened his eyes wide and said, "Sorry, I was freaked out by you, are you sure Carmen is okay?" "Mother and daughter are safe, I promise. The baby weighs three kilos. Give me the javelin—Carmen needs you." Baxter sprinted off, and Caroline took his place.She smiled at Rhodes and said, "It's really touching! How is the performance, Rhodes? It's great, right? Have you killed eight or nine little monsters?" Within a few minutes, Cowbell came over.Caroline called out to him, "Grant, have you heard the good news?" "Yes, I just came from there." He pretended not to know that Caroline was on the cordon, but turned to Rhodes and said, "We are going to use bamboo sticks to make a stretcher and send Carmen to the cave. Then they'd throw the stretcher down and you'd burn it." "OK." "Agnes is sending the baby up. Rhodes, how many people can the cave hold?" "Hey!" Rhodes looked up at the cliff above, "I'm afraid it's crowded to the entrance of the cave now." "I suppose so, but I'm afraid they'll have to squeeze in, and I'd like all the married men and young children to go up there. Bachelors stay here." "I'm a bachelor," put in Caroline. Cowbell ignored her. "We'll do it once Carmen is safe—our fire won't last long." He turned and looked up at the cave. Caroline whistled lightly and said, "Rod, are you kidding me?" "This joke wasn't my idea, let's execute it! Carlo, I have to make arrangements." After speaking, he informed who should go up and who should stay along the defense line one by one. Jimmy yelled at him, "I'm not going. I'm not going as long as someone stays. I can't stare at Jackie all day." "Shut your mouth and do what Grant says, or watch out for your full teeth, do you hear me?" "Yes, but I don't like it." "You don't have to like it, just do it. See Jack? How's she?" "We just separated and she was fine, just throwing up a bit, but Carmen's news made her feel too good to care about herself." Rhodes didn't disperse the personnel strictly according to the age standard. For those married men, the wounded and all women, he must all go up, and those who he thinks are too young or have very unskilled skills, he simply said to guarantee They leave.That left about five or six people, plus himself, Cowbell, and possibly Caroline—it would be difficult to convince Caroline. He turned and found Cowbell. "Carmen is going up." Coubell said to him, "Now you can get everyone else up." "Let's burn Baxter's roof down too!" "I knocked it off when they escorted her." Cowbell looked around. "Caroline, up!" Caroline stomped her heels: "I won't!" Rhodes said softly: "Caroline, listen to him, go up—immediately!" Caroline cried, bit her lip, then sobbed, "For you, Rod Walker!" and ran away. Rhodes put his hands in the shape of a cylinder to his mouth, and shouted: "Attention everyone, except those who are notified, all others go to the cave. Quick!" Half the group was about to leave to go up the hill, when Agnes suddenly called out, "Hey! Slow down, this pushing and pushing, someone's going to get pushed down." The procession paused, and Jimmy called out, "If you can Just take a breath." Someone else shouted: "Then just throw Jimmy down." So everyone started to move slowly again.Within ten minutes, they squeezed nearly seventy people into a cave that could only accommodate twelve or three people.The cave was too crowded, someone stood on the protruding rock outside the cave, and the girls were all crowded in the cave, either sitting or squatting, almost out of breath.The outermost boy stands on the edge of the hole, which is very dangerous. If he is not careful in the dark, he will step on the air or be squeezed down by his elbow. Grant said, "Rhod, just keep an eye on it, I'll go up and have a look." Then he disappeared.A few minutes later, he came back. "Crowded like sardines," he said. "They can no longer stand back, otherwise it will be very uncomfortable for the wounded inside. Carmen has to sit up. She is lying down now, but for the time being That's it. After the fire is extinguished, the rest of the people have to go, we squatted under the protruding rocks at the top of the road and shot the javelin heads out, and we should be able to hold on until dawn, don't you think?" "It can only be this way." "Okay, then you will be the second to last, and I will be the last." "Well... I'm with you." Cobell suddenly said stubbornly: "I am the leader, I am the last. Let's look for it now and throw the last ones into the fire, and then we will gather here. You look for the shore and I will take a look." Fence." It didn't take long before the rest was thrown into the fire.Then they -- Roy, Kenny, Doug, Dick, Charlie, Howard, and Rod and Grant -- formed a circle at the intersection, waiting.A group of migratory animals came towards this side, but the fire stopped them, and they went around here and went away along the river bank. Rhode felt his right hand was a little numb, so he switched the javelin to his left hand.The fire wall that was about to be extinguished could only be ignited by the remaining charcoal.He saw the dawn rising in the east.Howard Goldstein said suddenly, "There's an animal over there that broke through the fire." "Leave it alone, Gordie," Cowbell said, "if it doesn't come over, leave it alone." Rhodes put the javelin back on his right hand again. The firewall has gone out in many places.Not only can the big-headed beasts pass now, but what's worse, because there is no fire now, it is difficult to find them.Copper turned around and said to Rhodes, "Okay, let's all go up now, you arrange them." After finishing speaking, he rushed to the top and shouted: "Bill! Agnes! Make room, I want them to go up!" Rhodes glanced at the fence, turned around and said, "Okay, Kenny leads the way, Doug follows, don't squeeze! Gody, Dick, who else? Roy..." He turned around and suddenly realized that the situation Something was wrong, Grant was no longer behind him.Rhodes found himself bent over a dying fire. "Hi, Grant!" "I'm all right, take care of yourself." Cowbell picked up a twig and put it into the fire. He leaped over the coals, carefully passed the pickets to the side of the prickly fence, and put the torch in. The dry wood met the fire. It burns right away.He walked slowly to the other side, stepping over the pickets with the same care. "I'll help you!" Rhodes shouted, "I'll go to the other end." Cowbell turned, the firelight reflecting on his serious bearded face. "Stand back and bring the others up. This is an order!" Those people also stopped.Rhodes yelled, "Go up, you fools, hurry up." He swung his javelin, then turned around. Cowbell lit the fire again at the other end.He walked straight down the fence, further down.Suddenly he turned around, crossed the wall of fire that was about to be extinguished, and stabbed at something in the dark... Then he let out a scream. "Grant!" Rhodes jumped down and ran towards Grant.Grant had already collapsed before Rhodes arrived.When he fell, a big-headed beast was biting his leg, and more monsters came up.Rhodes aimed at one and stabbed out the javelin in his hand.He jabbed at the other one, trying not to hurt Grant.He felt that a big-headed beast had bitten his leg, and he thought that the injury should not be serious. But in fact, he was seriously injured, almost unable to support himself, and fell to the ground, the spear in his hand had been thrown out.But at this moment, he suddenly touched another dagger.Colonel Bowie finished off the monster that bit his ankle. The outlines of some objects finally appeared in the night. The bushes and eye-catching flames allowed him to see a big-headed beast that was crawling towards him. He killed the big-headed beast, then turned around and tried to stand up. The sun shone on Rhode's eyes, waking Rhode up. He was about to move his body, but found that his left leg was injured.He glanced down and saw that the leaves were tied tightly around his legs. He was in the cave, and several people were lying parallel to him.He turned his elbow, "Hey, what..." "Hush!" said Hugh Kennedy, crawling over and kneeling beside him, "the boy is asleep." "Oh……" "I'm in charge of nursing, what do you want?" "I don't think it's needed just yet. Well, what's the baby's name?" "Herbe, Herbe Roberta Baxter. It's a nice name. I'll tell Caroline you're awake." She turned and left. When Caroline came in, she knelt down and peeked mockingly at his ankles. "This is the lesson you learned from not inviting me to a banquet." "What's the matter? Caroline, how's it going?" "There are now six people on the sick list, about twice as many ambulatory, and those who are not injured are gathering wood, chopping brambles, and we have repaired the axe." "Oh, but... we don't have to fight them anymore?" "Didn't Xio tell you? N herbivores are wandering around, as if a little at a loss, that's all." "They may be on the move again." "If that's the case, we'll be prepared." "Okay!" He wanted to sit up. "Where's Grant? How bad is his injury?" Caroline shook her head: "Grant didn't make it through, Rhodes." "what?" "Bob performed amputation on both knees and was about to amputate one of his arms, but during the operation, he died." She made a heavy final gesture, "Just in By the river." Rhodes wanted to say something at first, but finally turned his head away and buried his face.Caroline put a hand on his shoulder and said, "Don't be too sad, Rod. Bob shouldn't have tried to save him, it would have been a better way for him to go." Rhodes agreed with Caroline's point of view - there is no frozen limb bank on this planet.But that didn't comfort him."We don't know him," he said to himself. "Stop it!" Caroline snapped suddenly. "He's a fool." "What? Caroline, I'm ashamed of what you said." Suddenly he noticed two lines of tears rolling down Caroline's cheeks. "You know he's a fool. Rod Walker, we all know...but we all love him, I even wanted to marry him, but he never asked me." Caroline wiped away tears , said: "Have you seen the child?" "No." Her expression returned to life. "I'll show you, she's beautiful." "Hugh said she was asleep." "Hmm...Okay! The purpose of my coming is to ask, what do you want us to do now?" "What?" He thought for a moment.yes!Grant is dead. "Isn't Bill his deputy? Bill is still alive?" "Didn't Hugh tell you?" "tell me what?" "You're the mayor now. We elected you this morning. Bill and Roy and I want to bring it all together." Rhodes felt dizzy for a while, Caroline's face was blurred and clear for a while, and he felt as if he was about to fall. "...a lot of wood..." Caroline was still going on. "We're going to fix the fence before sunset. We don't need to hunt now. Margery is killing the big buffalo that fell and broke its neck. Before you, We can't transfer until Carmen and others can walk, so we can only do this for the time being, is there anything else you want us to do now?" Rhodes thought about it: "No, not yet." "Okay, you'd better have a rest." Caroline retreated to the entrance of the cave, stood up straight and said, "I'll see you later." Rhodes relaxed his legs, lay down, and he was quiet for a while Down, gradually fell asleep. Hugh brought Rhodes a bowl of soup, she supported Rhodes' head to feed him, and then brought Hope Baxter to Rhodes to see.Rhodes said some clichés, wondering why all newborns looked the same. He pondered for a long time the next time. Caroline and Roy enter. "How do you feel, sir?" Roy asked. "Ready to bite the rattlesnake." "The foot isn't too bad, it should be fine. We boiled some leaves, and Bob added some sulfa." "I feel fine, I don't seem to have a fever." "Jimmy always said you were going to die." Caroline said, "Want something, Rod? Shall we do something?" "There's something wrong." "what?" “带我离开这里，帮我到路上去。” 罗伊连忙说：“嗨！不行，你现在身体状况不允许。” “不行？要么帮我，要不别挡我的路，召集大家，我们马上召开市政会议。” 几个人面面相觑，然后退了出去，正当罗德手撑洞顶准备向外挪时，巴克斯特来了。“罗德，回去，躺下，立刻。” “给我让开。” “听着，伙计，我不想对一个病人动粗，但是如果你逼我，我会的。” “鲍勃……我的脚踝究竟伤得怎么样？” “它会好的……如果你听话。如果你不——哼，你看过坏疽什么样吗？你就等着它变黑、发臭吧。” “你别吓唬我了，在我手臂下放根绳子，把我放下去。” "That……" 他们用了两根绳子托着他，另用了一根绳子来使他的伤腿自由放松。他们从底下托着罗德，把他带到了做饭的地点才放下来。“谢谢！”他喘着气说：“所有能来的都来了吗？” “差不多，罗德，要我点点吗？” “不用了，我知道你们大家今天早上选了我做头儿——我的意思是'市长'。” “是的。”肯尼迪应声道。 “嗯，另外还有谁可能选上？我得了多少票？” “啊哈！投票结果无疑义。” 罗德叹了口气说：“谢谢，我不知道我在这里能不能胜任这个职务，我考虑了一些事情，我理解你们希望我带你们搬到罗伊和我找到的那些山洞中去，是吗？卡罗琳说了一点……” 罗伊有点意外。“我们没对这件事投票，罗德，但是有这个意思。从昨天晚上开始，大家都知道这里不能再呆了。” 罗德点了点头。“我明白，你们全都明白我的意思吗？我有些话得先说，我知道在我和罗伊不在的时候，你们通过了一部宪法。我还没有看过，所以我不知道这是不是合法，但是如果我接受这件工作，我希望事情进展顺利。如果有人不喜欢我的做法，而我们又都顽固地坚持自己的意见以至摊牌，你们可以投票。你们可以把我再抬上去，或者让我呆在下面你们再选个其他人。怎么样？你说呢，哥迪？你是法律委员会的，不是吗？” 霍华德·哥德斯坦皱了皱眉头：“你的话不太好听，罗德。” “也许是不太好听，那又怎么样？” “不过你说的内容正是议会制的信任投票，那正是我们宪法的主心骨。我们将简化程序，但依然保持民主的精神。这也是格兰特的见解。” “我很高兴。”罗德平静地说：“我不想破坏他辛苦工作而建立起来的法律系统。一有机会，我就会仔细学习它。我保证！但是关于搬到山洞里的这个动议——我们最好还是立刻进行信任投票。” 哥德斯坦笑着说：“我可以现在就告诉你结果，我们都很信服你。” 罗德拍了拍地面：“你们还不明白！如果你们想搬家，那么就搬吧！但你们得找其他人带领你们。罗伊可以，或者是克里夫，或者是比尔。如果你们要把这个任务交给我，去一个没有这些一嘴牙、没脑子的肮脏小野兽的地方，不被它们赶着跑。那么我要说，我们是人……人不能被别的东西驱赶着到处跑，更何况被这样的野兽？格兰特为这片土地付出了许多——我的意见是留在这里，为他保护这片土地！”