40k: Midnight Blade

Chapter 54 54. Numbness and Hatred

The rain fell incessantly, in the shape of a terrible punishment.

The stench of acid rain will make anyone who smells it miserable for the first fortnight, mourning their tormented nasal passages.However, as long as the time passes, they will no longer care about this torture.

For a new torment has come.

factory.

In Nostramo, factory is four syllables.It's a mouthful, and, if pronounced in terms of the plant's full name, the syllables increase to a dire degree.

So the workers will only use four syllables to address them.

Anyway, what difference does it make in which factory you work in?The end result is that they all get sick and die in shanty towns.They had expected this for a long time, and they didn't feel so sad.

After all, most people have long been numb.

A skinny man squatted in a corner of his home, his back bent.

His posture is weird, if one wants to squat comfortably, one shouldn't bulge like that, but he does.

Not only that, he didn't even feel any discomfort.

Acid rain hit the broken planks above his head, invaded his home through the cracks, and created shallow puddles on the ground.The man's expression was dull, and he didn't intend to speak or do anything to the puddles formed by the rain.

He just suffers.

There was a vague cough and a footstep outside the door.In the rain, the two things grew closer until the sound of a door being pushed open overcame them.

"Joseph!" a man shouted hoarsely from the door. "More!"

".what?"

"There are more dead people!"

The person who called him said in a tone mixed with fear and some complex emotions. "He did it, there is absolutely no mistake! There is blood on the wall, and there are words!"

Joseph coughed and stood up slowly.His bony body unfolded slowly in the darkness, looking startlingly ugly.The man coughed and began to put on the only coat he had.

Then he asked, "Has the column gone?"

"Go, he also wrote down those words!"

"Just jotting it down," Joseph mumbled. "He is illiterate."

"Stop talking, come here!" The person who called him turned away excitedly, his ailing body had never been so excited.There was a light in his cloudy eyes, a light other than numbness.

But it is not hope either.

Joseph shook his head and walked out of his house slowly.

There are already many people walking on the road in the shanty town. They don't need to go to the factory to work recently, but at this time, it is quite confusing to see so many people walking in a certain direction together. thing.

Fortunately, Joseph will not.

He knew what they were going to do.

He followed the team silently, walking slowly in the acid rain.The foul-smelling rain wet his hair, wet his clothes, and burned his exposed skin to the point of pain, but he didn't care.

—and there was that light in his eyes, too.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, they arrived at their destination.A towering minaret loomed over the emaciated, scantily clad figures in the eerie rain.They looked up and stared at it.

Joseph heard some slight conversation at the front of the crowd, and he started to move on.This matter was not easy for his body, and he began to pant after squeezing a few people, but he didn't feel tired, just kept moving forward.

A few minutes later, he was at the head of the crowd.

"Eternal night above!" He heard a person muttering to himself, and there was an uncontrollable fear in his voice, but it wasn't just fear.

Yes, forever and ever.

Joseph's eyes widened - he didn't know how to describe his feelings at the moment, he only knew to see, and he could only see.

The steps of the deserted steeple were strewn with corpses, and gangs stared blankly at the sky.Acid rain fell from the sky, smashed into their eyes, shattered them, and brought a little blood.

A few lines of characters cast in blood stared at them silently on the wall next to the corpse.

"Joseph."

A voice called softly, and then, a person patted him on the shoulder.

Joseph turned his head and saw a pale and young face.

"List"

"It's horrible," Lew said. "He's been killing more and more lately, and everywhere, isn't he?"

"Yes." Joseph replied blankly, then turned his head back.Staring at the dead bodies.

After a while, Joseph suddenly asked, "Have you written it all down?"

"Yes."

"Calles and the others have found anyone who can read?"

"It is said that there is an old man in the east of the city. He used to settle accounts for the adults in the factory. He can read a little bit."

Lie said while shaking his head. "But we're not sure if it's true, because a lot of people have died in the east of the city recently, and we're leaving."

He grabbed Joseph by the shoulders and led him back.Some violent shouting and cursing came from behind them, even mixed with a few violent gunshots.Joseph trembled all over and buried his head deeply.

"It seems that we are unlucky this time." Lie whispered. "It's raining for them too, don't they not go out?"

"Stop talking." Joseph responded in a low voice, his tone hurried. "Let's go now."

"Afraid of what?" Lie said in a forcedly calm tone. "He's looking for them."

They stopped talking, just followed the crowd, wriggling little by little in the acid rain.And the scolding still didn't stop, but the crowd didn't resist either.

They have long been used to it.

Walking—keep walking, the neighborhood where they came, was driven back to the original shantytown little by little under the malicious or indifferent gaze of the gangs.At the moment of entering here, Joseph finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He grabbed Lie and said in a low voice, "Don't say that kind of thing next time."

"Which?"

"You know what kind, Rye, and if they hear you, you'll die."

"Then die." Lieman said indifferently. "They're going to die anyway, and he'll kill them for me."

"How do you know if he will?"

"He will." Lele said firmly. "Did you ever see him kill anyone else? No. Right? It was all gangs, and those two from that day"

"Only a few of you saw it." Joseph said in a low voice. "To be honest, even I don't believe it very much. How could those adults die?"

"It's fine if you don't believe me, Joseph."

Lie shook his head: "Anyway, that's it."

"and many more."

"what happened?"

"Isn't your wall already covered?" Joseph asked. "Is there room for those words on your walls?"

Lie was stunned for a moment, he thought for a while, then nodded: "It's full."

"Then come to my house." Joseph turned around and began to lead him to his own house.

There are many coughing people on the roadside who are being baptized by acid rain. Some people have died, while others are still alive.They were indifferent to the burning of the acid rain, just staring at the gloomy sky coldly, without saying a word.

They didn't look at them.

A few minutes later, Joseph opened the door, and Lie walked in, avoiding the puddles on the ground, and Joseph did not close the door.He knew that what he was going to do next needed a tiny bit of light.

"Your wall is not bad," said Lew.

"Rotten wood." Joseph smiled. "It's not bad."

Rie laughed too, stooping and pulling out a coal from his shoe—which he had bought from another man in exchange for three days' worth of food rations.

Coal can leave marks on walls.

He approached the rotten wooden wall and began to write meticulously, with every stroke being careful.

".Do you think he's really, uh, a ghost?" Joseph asked suddenly after a while.

"I don't know." Lie replied in a low voice.

"You do not know?"

"Of course I don't know, Joseph, I haven't seen him but he must exist, no?"

"That's it," grumbled Joseph. "He must exist."

He nodded, and then smiled unconsciously. "He must exist."

"Besides, they couldn't find him." Lie also smiled. "They're looking for him every day, but they just can't find him."

"So, he's a ghost?"

"I do not know."

"He must be," Joseph said firmly. "I heard Thumbtack say that only ghosts can do this kind of thing."

"Thumbtack's been dead for a long time, Joseph."

"Anyway, he did."

Lie sighed. "Well, he said it - I'm done."

Joseph was taken aback, and he immediately stepped forward, stammering and waving his arms: "I can, I—can I see?"

"Of course." Lie bent down and stuffed the coal into his heel.

He said dully, "But you can't understand either."

"Don't you also understand?" Joseph said unconvinced.

"Nobody can read it—so, if you want, just watch it."

Lie stood up and sighed.

They stood side by side like this, observing the wall in the narrow and dilapidated hut with a bit of broken light projected from the outside world. The three lines of black characters were so obvious and so hard for them to understand.

They cannot understand the language they use.

After a while, Lie spoke softly.

"I hope they're all dead," he said softly. "What about you, Joseph?"

". Me too." Joseph said blankly. "But will he help us?"

"He will." Lie used that certain tone again. "He's already helping us."

The rain continued, and from a distance beyond the hearing of these poor workers, there were alternate sounds of gunshots and screams.

　Fuck, forgot to post mine regularly.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)