The sky became more gloomy than when we started, and the temperature seemed to drop a little. A gust of wind blew into the car, and Hill felt some coolness.
"Is it going to rain?" Hill leaned out and looked out into the sky. The clouds above seemed thick. The wind blows up the sand on the roadside, and the place where the sky meets in the distance is gray, making it impossible to tell where the sky is and where the ground is.
Large and small ponds began to appear on the roadside. Some water birds skimmed over the water. Several of them picked up a fish from the pond in a flash.
"A double crested cormorant?" Kim looked at these water birds with gray feathers. They had beautiful orange beaks, and the front end of the beak was curved.
"You are so knowledgeable, beautiful woman," Brandon, who was sitting opposite the gold, praised.
"Ha, I guess I was right," Kim laughed happily. "I've been to the Everglade before. I've seen many kinds of water birds here, but I don't remember their names very well."
Brandon also smiled, pointing to a pond that the truck had just passed by, and said, "Look at that. It's a crocodile."
In the direction Brandon pointed his hand, everyone in the carriage saw the crocodile at the pond. Its eyes seemed closed and its body did not move.
"Is it dead?" Hill asked.
"No, he just lies there to rest. Maybe he has just enjoyed a delicious lunch and is taking a nap there." Brandon looked at the scene behind the car, and the crocodiles near the pond gradually disappeared in his view.
"Speaking of lunch, how long have we been away?" Thompson touched his stomach and suddenly asked, "I feel hungry."
"Don't worry about cowboys," Jason's voice floated from the cab. "The Everglade Crocodile Farm is not far ahead. When we get there, we'll stop to rest and have lunch."
"There is another good news to tell you," Jason turned his head, but his eyes fell on Hill. "Let's add lunch at noon."
"With extra food, is it crocodile?" Tom said with a smile, and his questions aroused everyone's interest.
"Of course, crocodile meat is very delicious," Jason said. "If you want to eat something else, you can, if you can catch it here."
"I think the double crested cormorant just now tastes very good. I wonder if it tastes better than turkey." Ben licked his lips and swallowed the saliva. The people on the bus were hungry, especially the soldiers who went to the prison to carry out search and rescue tasks. Their physical exertion was relatively high.
"Ben, I don't mind if you try," Al laughed. "I heard that few people in China are willing to eat these water birds."
"I see. Let's eat crocodile meat," Ben nodded.
There are more animals on the roadside. The water birds fly to the railings of the car and look at the people in the car curiously. There are many tourists here at ordinary times, and the water birds are not afraid of people when they see more. Several crocodiles lie on the road in front of them and look at the truck coming towards them from a distance. When the truck is approaching, they quickly climb down the road. After the truck has passed, they climb back on the road.
"After arriving at the Everglade Crocodile Farm, we will be not far from Highway 9336. Although this road is different from the direction we want to go, we can use the first half of it to make the journey more smooth. Otherwise, once we leave the wide road, this marshy environment will be very unfavorable to the large vehicles in our team." Jason said to the people in the carriage, "You can walk along Highway 9336 until you get to the Pakeocci Gazebook, where we can turn around and change our direction."
"In the Everglade, only the northeast region is barely suitable for our trucks to pass through. The southwest region is full of dense water networks and marshes. If we go there, we must give up our trucks." Jason continued, "So the route behind us will be as close to the northeast as possible."
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Hearing that Jason had a detailed route plan, most of the people in the carriage relaxed and began to discuss the lunch they would enjoy later.
Some raindrops began to fall in the sky. Some of them fell on the window glass and some floated into the car.
"It's raining..." Jin reached out and picked up the raindrops with his palm. The rain fell on the palm, and Jin felt a slight coolness from there.
The rain began to fall more and more quickly, and a crackling sound came from the window glass. The sky darkened, the dark clouds rolled and the vision became blurred. The wiper is activated, the rain on the front window is scraped aside before it can flow down, and the glass is covered with rain again.
"Damn," Jason patted the door and began to get upset.
At the beginning of the journey, the weather changed, and the sudden heavy rain cast a dark cloud over everyone's heart. Although the rain shelter on the carriage blocked most of the rain, the clothes of the people sitting behind the carriage were still wet by the storm.
"Hill, you can sit here with me. Let's change the position. The situation inside is better." Thompson saw that Hill started to wipe the rain on his clothes with his hands. He stood up and moved to the rear of the car.
"Thank you, Thompson." Hill said gratefully that she sat in the position before Thompson, which should be closer to the inside, and the rain would be much less.
A flash of lightning flashed across the dark sky, and then thunder rumbled overhead. The wind started to blow fiercely, and the rain was blown into a very inclined angle. They were inserted into the carriage obliquely, and then poured on the people sitting inside.
"Kim, do you feel cold?" Hill saw that Kim's face was white and his lips were trembling slightly. She held Jin in her arms, and all the clothes that had been cashed in were soaked.
"Jason," Hill shouted into the cab, "how soon will we get to the Everglades Crocodile Farm?"
"It will take a little more time, honey," Jason's voice came from the front. He did not look back, but still focused on the road ahead
"Hill, I can still hold on." Kim felt warmer in Hill's arms. She pulled the clothes on her body to make her body a little more comfortable.
Outside the carriage was a vast expanse of grey, surrounded by water. The summer rain poured down like this, accompanied by rumbling thunder and lightning. The rain screen covers the road, the pond, and the crocodiles at rest. The water birds disappeared, and the creatures in the marsh seemed to disappear with the arrival of the rainstorm.
The truck behind turned on the fog lights one after another, and Hill saw the dense rain line passing through the light, like a nail into the water on the road. There was water in his wet hair running down his cheeks. Hill wiped the rain off his face with his hands and leaned against the back of the carriage.
Kim leaned her head on Hill's shoulder and stared at the gun in the opposite soldier's hand. Her eyes did not focus on any point. At this moment, Jin felt very uncomfortable, and his clothes and trousers wetted by the rain were all stuck on them, wrapping the whole person up. She felt that her temperature was gradually dropping, and the cold was surrounding her from all directions. The only warm place on her body was the part of her body next to Hill's.
Kim tried to concentrate. She tried to think about some people and things she was familiar with, but these pictures were vague in her consciousness.
Just as Kim was about to fall asleep, the car stopped, and the sense of braking stopped her.
"Here we are," Jason's voice came from the cab. When Kim heard these two words, he felt that the moment seemed to be sunny after rain.
Everyone got out of the carriage and followed the soldiers to the crocodile farm. Jason took everyone into the spacious wooden house inside. This is the performance hall of the crocodile field. Except for the open-air field in the middle, there are wooden houses covered with thick thatch all around. Rows of wooden benches were neatly fixed on the auditorium, and everyone sat down separately on them.
Sergeant Stephen brought two soldiers down from the truck to pick up several large parcels wrapped in plastic film. The three men took these parcels up to the wooden house and took out clean blankets from them to distribute to the people sitting on the bench.
They took the blankets and began to wipe the rain off their bodies. The flight attendants proposed to change their wet clothes. Jason arranged two soldiers to build a temporary locker room for them with blankets.
Hill and Kim also went there, intending to change their wet clothes.
Jennifer's face was a little red. She stroked her forehead with one hand and supported the pillar in the cabin with the other.
"Madam purser, what's wrong with you?" Sigourney, the stewardess of the flight crew, found something wrong with her, so she went over and began to ask about Jennifer.
"Maybe she caught a cold," Jennifer looked up and saw that Sigourney was standing in front of her. "Could you help me find Jason to get some cold medicine?"
"OK, I'll go right away," said Sigourney, holding Jennifer back on the bench. "Can you still hold on?"
Jennifer nodded and closed her eyes. The pain on her forehead made her feel very uncomfortable. She coughed a few times and found that her limbs were a little sore and she had no strength.
Jennifer knew that she had a fever. As a purser, she knew a lot about some simple medical knowledge. When she was in the car, she had already felt like catching a cold, but she didn't expect the fever to come so quickly.
Sigourney soon came back with cold medicine and a kettle. She helped Jennifer take the medicine.
"Madam, you should change your wet clothes. If you continue to wear them, it will only aggravate your illness." Sigourney said with concern, and touched her forehead again.
"You seem to have a fever, Madam purser."