Deep Sea Embers

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In the cemetery, the old guard raised his head again and glanced at the guard's cabin next to him.

He has reported the agitation of the dead in the morgue to the cathedral in the form of a dispatch, but has yet to receive a response - apparently, now that the entire city is covered by a strange thick fog and the sunlight in the sky has mysteriously disappeared, The cathedral has no extra energy to pay attention to the abnormal situation in a small cemetery.

"You can only rely on yourself..." the old guard muttered, tightening his tight coat. The soft leather armor and metal panels lining the coat made a slight friction sound, "The scope of this fog is not small... …”

The clicking and tapping sounds broke the dead silence in the cemetery. Under the thick fog, the coffins on several nearby morgues seemed to vibrate slightly.

"...For the sake of keeping vigil for you dead people every day, can't you be more at peace now?" The old guard frowned and raised his gun slightly. He knew that these corpses had been lying there for several days.

The reason why his body suddenly "activated" was because of the strange fog, but he had nothing to do.

Probably we can only wait for them to get up, and then shoot them away one by one.

Just as he was thinking this, a sound that was different from the commotion in the surrounding coffins suddenly caught the old man's attention. He was startled for a moment, then reacted instantly and looked up at the path towards the entrance of the cemetery. .

A small figure stumbled out from the other end of the path. The thick white coat and skirt looked like a jumping snowball in the dim environment.

"Grandpa Guard! Help me! Grandpa Guard!

Are you here? ? "

The little jumping snowball shouted on the trail, and the voice sounded full of panic and nervousness that it was trying to suppress.

"Annie!" The old guard immediately ignored his surprise and subconsciously shouted to the girl through the thick fog, "Come here, don't go that way!"

The little girl who ran into the cemetery in a panic finally saw the old man standing near the guard's hut. There was a moment of relaxation on the nervous and frightened face, and then she ran over quickly: "Grandpa Guard." ! Great you are here..."

"Why are you still running around outside at this time!?" The old guard didn't care to listen to the girl's cheers, and immediately scolded loudly with a sullen face, because today's situation is different from the past, and the danger of this thick fog is not like snow on ordinary days. Slippery streets, "Do you know the whole city is under martial law now?!"

"I got separated from my classmates!" Annie was startled by the old man's stern look and tone, but she quickly waved her hands and explained, "We went to visit the museum with the teacher, and we encountered heavy fog when we came out. Teacher He said he would take us to the nearest night shelter, but in the blink of an eye they disappeared into the fog. The old guard stared at him: "They disappeared into the fog? "

"Yes, it disappeared in the blink of an eye," Anne looked shocked, but still tried to explain her experience, "Then I went to find a place to hide by myself. The museum was blocked, and no adults could be found on the street. All The doors were locked, and I knocked hard but no one opened the door. Then I thought about what the teacher said: if you are in danger, go to the nearest priest, guard or sheriff. The cemetery is closest. I heard you say, you He's a veteran of the Guardians..."

Listening to the girl's crackling explanation, the expression on the old guard's face changed rapidly several times. He realized that he had made a mistake in blaming the little girl just now in his desperation. The child's response was actually a calm one among his peers, but For a moment, I couldn't save my face, so I could only continue to keep a straight face: "So you came to the cemetery to take refuge?"

Annie nodded vigorously: "Yes, they all say that veteran guards are more powerful than ordinary guards..."

"...but the cemetery is not a suitable place to take refuge," the old guard said solemnly, "especially at a time like this."

Annie was a little panicked: "I...shouldn't I be here?"

"...No, there is no better choice now. You are more likely to get into trouble if you run around in the thick fog in the streets." The old guard shook his head, "You hide first..."

Before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by a strange sound from nearby Kerala. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a sudden rise on the nearest morgue.

A shadow - the lid of a shoddy coffin was suddenly pushed open, a restless arm struggled to lift up from the coffin, and then, the restless deceased stood up from it!

There was no time to remind Annie to close her eyes. The old guard instinctively raised the double-barreled shotgun in his hand. After a "bang" roar, the body that had just staggered up fell to the sky and fell from the morgue due to loss of balance. Rolled up and landed on the ground.

"ah!"

Anne, who was hiding behind him, was just a child after all, and was immediately startled by the gunshot. But compared to the gunshot, she was more shocked by the... corpse that sat up in the mist just now.

"That... that..." the little girl pointed at the morgue in horror, stammering.

The old guard subconsciously said: "Don't be afraid, it's just..."

"Anne finally regained her breath and shouted quickly, "The teacher said that at this time, you should immediately recite Bartok's name silently in your heart, and then beat the restless ones with rosewood branches or smoked ropes, and then find an opportunity to run away. Go to the nearest church for help..."

The old guard listened blankly to the little girl's crackling words. After two or three seconds, he suddenly raised the shotgun quickly, loaded the gun again, turned around and aimed at another morgue platform without looking back, and there was a "bang" sound. After the roar, another restless body that had just crawled out of the coffin lay back down where it should have slept.

"Your current textbooks are different from mine back then. We put this subject after high school," he said casually.

Anne subconsciously held her head, her little body shaking a little from the impact of another gunshot. Although she reacted quickly when reciting the text just now, her fear and nervousness were still expressed quite honestly.

"You hide in the house." The old man immediately covered the little girl to the guard's cabin, opened the door with his backhand, and pushed Annie in. "No matter what happens outside, never leave - as long as you don't go out, this room The cabin is as safe as the iconostasis of a church, got it?"

Anne's eyes widened in horror, and she nodded subconsciously while looking at the thick fog outside. In her sight, the morgues in the thick fog seemed to come to life one after another, with shadows on the platform. The room squirmed, invisible roars echoed in the cemetery, the nailed coffins cracked and opened one after another, and horrifying figures were waking up and sitting up from the "beds" that were supposed to be for people to rest in peace.

The old guard pushed Annie into the small room, closed the door, turned around and shot her again.

The caretaker's hut is very strong and protected by talismans, but if all the dead in the entire cemetery really get up, then this small and flimsy shelter may not be able to block all attacks - even if it is physically blocked, the Siege of the Dead The mental stimulation brought about may also penetrate the protection of the hut and affect the child.

Kill as many as possible and Annie will be safe.

"God of Death, I have been retired for ten years!"

The veteran let out a muddy grunt in his throat. He skillfully pulled the bolt of the gun, threw away the cartridge case and loaded the bullet. There seemed to be a ball of fire in his already cloudy eyes. He had already taken aim without even taking aim. The next restless guest.

The gunshot rings, the dead rest in peace, the smoke rises, and the soul passes away.

"On the other side, the gatekeepers are very busy today. I hope they have time to deal with so many souls who are on their way in advance."

The old guard muttered, but his movements did not stop at all. Several restless people had begun to move in the direction of the guard's cabin. He loaded the bullets again and again, fired again and again, and sent his "guests" on their way in advance.

More and more rickety bodies appeared around the trail.

Those shadowy figures even confused the old guard for a moment -

Are there so many corpses in the cemetery? Can all the morgues combined be able to accommodate so many corpses?

Did they appear out of nowhere out of this thick fog? !

boom!

After another gunshot, the old guard heard a very close roar nearby. Without raising his head, he touched his chest with his left hand, and a short sword appeared in his hand.

In seconds, his body seemed to disappear and reappear out of thin air and moved several meters away from the door. The dagger was cut in the air instantly, a corpse fell, and a swollen and deformed head rolled to the ground.

The old man looked down and saw that there was only one huge eye on the head.

The shock in his heart only lasted for a moment. The old man had already returned to the door of the hut. At the same time, he raised the muzzle of his gun and pointed it at another shadow that was staggering towards this side in the fog.

When the trigger was pulled, the gun did not fire, only the click of the bolt being idle was heard.

The old man's eyes changed slightly, he quickly put away his dagger, and used his free hand to touch the bullet bag at his waist - it was already empty.

After a moment of silence, the old guard sighed: "Okay, the number is almost there..."

He put down the empty shotgun, reached out and took out his dagger again, and looked up at the figures that emerged from the mist.

A slight creaking sound came from behind.

The guard cabin was opened from the inside.

The old man turned his head in surprise and saw Annie looking at him cautiously.

The little girl clutched a loaded large-caliber rifle in her hand - that was his backup weapon.

At the little girl's feet were several bullet bags and ammunition boxes, large and small.

Obvious scratches could be seen on the floor. Anne had obviously spent a lot of effort dragging these heavy objects from the corner.

"Grandpa Caretaker, use this." Annie raised her hand and handed the rifle to the old man in front of her with some difficulty. "Can it come in handy?"

"...Yes," after a moment of silence, the old man nodded, reached out to take the rifle, and at the same time threw the double-barreled shotgun to the girl, "Load." \u003c!--over--\u003e