Ning Hangyi: A game that must be fouled

Chapter 2 Invasion of Strange Diseases
prologue emergencies
200X年9月22日 晚上 9:25
Things always turn out unexpectedly.

None of the dozen or so people in the supermarket thought about what happened next.

This is an ordinary place.In fact, it is somewhat ironic to call this store with a total area of ​​less than 300 square meters a "supermarket".It is true that this place cannot be compared with those large shopping malls in the city, but the goods in the store are relatively complete, so in this remote suburb, it is already considered a very good store.

The store is generally quiet.More than a dozen customers who did not know each other silently chose what they needed.Only one woman was holding a shopping basket and talking on her mobile phone.

"No, I told you, you'll get tooth decay if you eat too much sugar." She lowered her voice and tried to use a serious tone. "Do you want to go to the dentist again?" Pausing, listening for a moment, she shook her head resignedly, "Okay, just a bag of chocolates and chips - but you have to promise me to keep brushing your teeth every day. What... Hey ...Oh, son, the signal here is too bad. Forget it, I'll talk about it when I get back."

She stuffed her phone into her handbag and picked out snacks from the shelves.

At 09:30, the gentle and sweet voice of the female clerk came from the small loudspeaker in the supermarket: "Hello, customers. The supermarket will close in 15 minutes. Please choose the goods you want to buy as soon as possible and pay at the cashier .Welcome to visit again tomorrow."

After hearing the notification, the customers speeded up their purchases.After a while, more than a dozen people came to the cashier one after another, queuing up to pay.

"Let's go, let's go." A rough, bearded man buzzed over from behind, unceremoniously pushed aside the people in line, and went straight to a pair of people who were about to put the goods on the cash register. In front of the men and women, he was the first to throw a few bags of food in his hands to the female cashier: "Follow me first, I have something urgent."

The one who was squeezed away was a young girl in fashionable clothes. She was about to say something when the boyfriend next to her gently pulled her clothes to signal her not to speak.The girl gave her boyfriend a blank look, and turned her face away angrily.The female cashier naturally felt that it was against the rules, but she glanced at the burly man, and didn't dare to say anything, so she picked up the price marker and scanned the prices next to the packages.The male clerk next to him watched all this helplessly.

At this time, something unexpected happened.

With a loud bang, the glass door of the supermarket was slammed open.A sweaty, panting man stumbled in.The female cashier closest to him saw what he was holding at a glance, and exclaimed, "Ah!"

"Don't move! You—all of you don't move!" The man raised his pistol and shouted frantically, his shrill voice filled the entire space. "Everyone stay where they are!"

The dozen or so people in the supermarket were all stunned. None of them had experienced such a thing before, and none of them dared to act rashly.The gangster seemed to have no time to further control the situation. While holding his gun, he looked back in panic.Suddenly, he pointed his gun at the male clerk by the door and shouted loudly: "Close the door! Quickly, lock the shutter door!"

"Okay, okay..." The male clerk turned pale with fright, and didn't dare to resist at all.Trembling, he walked to the door, picked up an iron hook leaning against the door, pulled down the rolling shutter door on top with a bang, closed it and locked it, then consciously dropped the iron hook, raised his hands, Looking at the man with the gun tremblingly.

Seeing that the iron rolling door was indeed closed, the man seemed a little relieved, his expression was much more relaxed than before, but he still raised his gun and pointed at the male clerk: "Go, stand with them."

The male clerk obediently complied, and stood beside the female cashier.

Now, all the people in the supermarket are gathered in front of the man with the gun, and the man finally let out a long breath, and said in his harsh and ugly voice, "Don't look at me like that, I'm not you guys!" Imaginary mugger. No mugger would be stupid enough to lock himself in a closed shop."

He paused, then said, "Now, listen up, I'm going to tell you something—I guess none of you know what's going on outside like this right now."

No one moved, and no one spoke.

The man's expression was nervous: "Listen clearly—an unprecedented and terrifying virus has erupted outside! This virus is spreading at an alarming speed. About ten minutes ago, people in the entire city Almost all of them were infected by the virus. I survived because I fled to this suburb before being infected by the virus—" He swallowed and stared at the people in front of him, "I can tell by the way you look You are not infected, which means that this area is still clean. But I know that it will not be long before... This place will be infected... So, do you understand? We are staying in this supermarket now, Wait for rescue! Don't try to go out! You don't know that people infected by this virus will..."

pong!With a muffled sound, the man with the gun shook twice before falling down in a daze.Behind him stood a young man with dyed red hair, dressed like a hippie, a street gangster to be exact.At this moment, he was holding a bottle of wine stained with blood in his hand, staring blankly at the man lying on the ground, seeing the blood slowly seeping out from the back of the man's head, he raised his head and looked at us in astonishment.

"Hey, good job, kid!" The rough man standing in front rushed over, knelt down and handed over the gun from the unconscious man, and said to the red-haired young man, "You subdued this lunatic!"

The people behind all rushed over, seeing that the gangster had passed out, everyone was relieved.The mother who bought snacks held her chest with lingering fear: "Oh my God, it's terrible. I really didn't expect to encounter such a thing in my life!"

Everyone became noisy and chattered.The fashionable girl's boyfriend shook his head and sighed: "This is a lunatic, a complete psycho! But the question is, where did his gun come from?"

"Maybe he did some other things before coming here." A fat middle-aged woman said with a frown.

"Maybe that gun was a toy gun after all," said the fashionable girl.

"No, it's a real gun." The big man held the pistol and glanced at the girl who spoke, "And I checked it, and there are indeed bullets."

Everyone took a breath, feeling terrified of the danger just now.A middle-aged man with glasses said: "No matter what, call the police."

"Yes, yes." Then everyone came to their senses and agreed unanimously.The saleswoman hurried to the counter and grabbed the phone receiver.

"Hey, wait a minute." The big man put the gun on the counter, and squinted at the female shop assistant who was about to call the police, "Whether you want to call the police, or how to deal with this lunatic on the ground, that's up to you .But before that, open the door, I'm going out—I said, I'm in a hurry."

"Ah... yes." The female clerk also realized that everyone was still locked in here, she nodded at the male clerk, "You open the door."

The male clerk nodded mechanically, took out the key from his trouser pocket, and was about to squat down to open the lock of the rolling door when he heard a woman's voice from behind: "Wait, don't rush to open it."

The male clerk turned his head in a daze, and found that everyone was looking in the same direction as him, staring at the fat woman who was speaking.

"What do you mean?" The big man stared at her.

The fat woman's dress was a little out of date. It was only early autumn, but she was wearing a black woolen coat and a cashmere scarf around her neck. It looked like she had just returned from a trip to northern Norway and hadn't been able to adjust her clothes in time.At this moment, she found that everyone's eyes were on her, which made her feel a little uncomfortable.The big man raised his voice again and asked, "Why don't you open the door?"

The fat woman hesitated and said, "I have a... bad feeling."

The big man stared at her for two seconds, let out a disdainful "hum", turned around and muttered, "Another psychopath." Then he said to the male clerk squatting at the door: "Don't pay attention to her, open the door!"

The male clerk hesitated for a moment, then inserted the key into the lock, turned it, and the ground lock opened with a "snap".With a "crash", he opened the shutter door half a person's height, revealing the pitch-black night outside.The male clerk squatted and turned his head and said to the customers: "Okay, the door is open, everyone can go out..."

Before he could finish his sentence, suddenly, in full view of everyone, the male clerk was suddenly dragged out by something outside.He had been holding the shutter door with his hands. With a "wow", it collapsed again, and with a "snap", the ground lock locked the rolling door again.

It was almost a blink of an eye, and the people behind didn't see what happened, and they realized that the male clerk had disappeared.Everyone was too surprised to react, and something even more shocking happened.They heard the heart-piercing screams of the male clerk outside the door, as well as the loud crashing sound of him struggling desperately and hitting the iron rolling door.The two voices interweave to form a terrible noise mixed with infinite horror and fear, which makes the listener feel horrified and heart-rending.

About half a minute later, there was silence outside the door, and no sound could be heard.When the people in the supermarket looked at each other in amazement, another scream pierced the silence. It was the fashionable girl. She pointed at the door with a pale complexion, and shouted in panic: "Blood—blood!"

All eyes followed her gaze, and a bone-chilling chill rose spontaneously from their backs.

Where the male clerk was dragged out just now, a stream of blood was slowly seeping in from the crack of the rolling door.

"Ah—" the female clerk covered her mouth in horror, almost fainting.The other people in the store, including the big man, were all stunned and stiffened by fright.

The air in the supermarket froze for about 1 minute.At this time, it seemed that everyone realized something in an instant. After they glanced at each other, they all looked at the unconscious man lying on the ground, and remembered what he said just now.The middle-aged man wearing glasses walked forward first, knelt down and shook the man's body, shouting, "Hey, how are you? Wake up!"

no response.The middle-aged man turned his body over, and felt his heart tremble—he didn't expect that the blood from the back of the man's head had already soaked the front of his body, and there was a big puddle of blood on the ground.The middle-aged man put his finger in front of the man's nose and tried it, and he was stunned with a thud in his heart.

A young man behind him asked, "How is it? He..."

The middle-aged man wearing glasses turned around, looked at the dozen or so people behind him, and said in a low voice, "He's dead."

For some reason, the moment I heard this sentence, I immediately felt a chilling feeling of fear in my heart, as if someone said to me in my ear: The nightmare has begun.

1. Closed state

For many years, I have always had a bad habit - I like to read while walking.Just because my life rhythm is too tight, it seems that even walking and reading books has become a kind of enjoyment that needs to be cherished. It makes me sad to think about it.To be honest, I didn't even think about going into a supermarket tonight.The reason why I walked into this unlucky store was purely because the street lights on the street were too dim, and the characters in the magazines were too small, which hurt my eyes.At this time, the light shining from the glass door of the supermarket in front is like a light that guides travelers in the dark, and it attracts me, a hungry reader, firmly.I was eager to read the interesting story in the magazine, so I entered this store in a daze.

When I walked into the store, I realized that it seemed inappropriate to just stand at the door and read a book, so I strolled among the shelves with a book in my hand, and casually grabbed two packs of instant noodles.But I didn't expect that just 5 minutes after I came in, the loudspeaker in this supermarket announced that it was closing, which really made me feel uncomfortable.In order to read the book, I was going to pay for two packs of instant noodles, but they couldn't even let me finish the story.

No way, I took the instant noodles and joined the queue for payment.While waiting, I was still immersed in the plot of the story, until the harsh "don't move" pierced my eardrum like a sharp sword, which made me tremble in fright, and the book in my hand fell to the ground. I raised my head in panic and saw a crazy man pointing a gun at us.

The memory ends here.Now, the man is already lying on the ground, and the middle-aged uncle wearing glasses told us that he has died due to excessive blood loss.I think that the previous sudden events just scared me out of my wits.Now, the sense of dread has returned, and it makes me shudder.

Apparently I wasn't the only one in panic.The most excited among us was the fashionable girl's boyfriend, who kept yelling, "Hey, did you see that? That clerk was dragged out by something? Did he get killed?"

"Shut up." The bearded man glared at him, "If you want to know the answer, go out and look for yourself."

The boy who looked like a little boy choked, and his face became even paler.

The middle-aged uncle wearing glasses stood up: "I just said, call the police first."

This time, of course, no one objected. The female shop assistant made a trembling call to the police. She listened for a while with the handset in her hand, then raised her head blankly: "No, I can't get through. There is only a busy signal on the phone."

The middle-aged uncle frowned: "Maybe the line is busy, keep calling until it gets through."

"I don't think the line is busy," the clerk said. "When I pick it up, it gives a busy tone. It's like...the line has been cut."

The middle-aged uncle walked over, picked up the phone and listened for a while, dialed a few more numbers, and finally put down the receiver with a frown.

"Try your phone." The mother who bought snacks reminded everyone, and almost everyone took out their phones from their bags.The middle-aged uncle said: "Don't fight together, let me do it."

A minute later, he put down the phone in frustration, shook his head and said, "No, there is no signal."

"Mine too, no signal box." "Neither mine." "No, no signal"...For a while, everyone had finished trying, and everyone was downcast.Of course including me.

The female clerk said: "This is a suburb, the signal is not very good, and now the door is closed, blocking part of the signal, so it is even more difficult to get through the phone."

"Hey, wait, I remember calling the police when the signal is weak," said the fashionable girl.

"That's right, but I just can't make calls right now." The middle-aged uncle said with a frown. "It's really weird."

"Then what should we do now?" the boy with a fair face asked worriedly.

The people in the supermarket looked at each other in blank dismay, and no one could think of any countermeasures.

"Fuck!" The bearded man suddenly roared, "I don't believe in this evil! Open the door! I want to go out and see what's going on outside!"

The female clerk trembled and said, "I'm afraid it won't work...I don't have the key in my hand, only he (the male clerk) has it. But...he just had the key in his hand...and was dragged out."

Hearing this, everyone's heart went cold.The big man stared at the bell-like eyes and said, "You mean, we are trapped here?"

The female clerk was too frightened to speak, so she just nodded slightly.

After a few seconds of silence, the bearded man shouted: "Then I'll just knock the door open! I can't get out if I don't believe it!" He said and walked towards the door.The uncle wearing glasses quickly stopped him, blocked him and said, "Hey, don't be impulsive! You have also seen what happened just now. Now we don't know the situation outside, so it will be dangerous to go out rashly!"

The big man was panting angrily, but he probably felt that the middle-aged man's words were justified, so he didn't make any further moves.The fashionable girl said: "Actually, the situation outside, didn't the man with the gun who broke in just now said that, he said that a terrible virus suddenly broke out outside..."

"Yes, he also said that this virus is spreading at an alarming rate. Many people in the city have been infected. He escaped to us specifically." The boy with a fair face added.

"Why did he carry a gun when he escaped?" asked the clerk.

"Maybe he was resisting, or defending himself. From my point of view, he must have been attacked in some way before." The fat woman said in horror. "And the thing that attacked him has now come to our place. The clerk just now... was dragged out by those things."

Her guess was so obviously logical that it gave us the creeps.In particular, she always uses "that kind of thing" to describe the murderer who killed the male shop assistant, which arouses our infinite fear fantasies.I shuddered several times in a row, and couldn't help joining the ranks of speculation: "Could it be...the ones who attacked the clerk were those infected with the virus?"

"That's what I was going to say too." The boy with a fair face nodded at me and said, "I remember that man said it before he was knocked out (in fact, he was beaten to death). What would happen to a person infected by that virus..."

"It's a pity that he was beaten to death just as he was talking..." I said in a regretful tone.

Unexpectedly, these words were like a cluster of flames igniting a certain fuse in the heart of the bearded man.He suddenly yelled at the red-haired gangster: "It's all you boy! You beat that man to death before he finished speaking!"

The red-haired gangster had an indifferent expression, as if he didn't feel uneasy or guilty about killing someone just now.He said coldly to the big man: "Didn't you just say that I've done a good job? You also praised me for subduing that lunatic-now you blame me for not shooting him to death?"

"But it doesn't look like he's crazy now!" the big man growled, "He may be about to tell us some important information, so you kill him!"

"How did I know?" The red-haired gangster didn't seem to be afraid of the burly man twice his size, and he showed a disgusted expression. "The thing in that person's hand is not a joke. I knew it was the real thing at a glance, and it might go off at any time. I risked my life to save you, but now that the situation has changed, you blame me for not making a move—" —Hmph, I should have continued hiding in that corner if I had known earlier——I don’t care if you live or die!”

The big man glared at the little bastard angrily, but couldn't find any rebuttal for a while.After a moment of silence, the fat woman in black asked, "When everyone is queuing up to pay, what are you doing alone in the corner?"

The little gangster was startled suddenly, his expression became extremely embarrassed.The female clerk seemed to have guessed something, she murmured: "You... Could it be..." But maybe considering the special situation now, some things are not so important, so she didn't say anything.

The middle-aged uncle smoothed things over at this moment: "Okay, now that things have come to an end, let's not blame each other, and don't bother with those trivial matters, let's discuss what to do now."

"We need to get in touch with the outside world!" said the mother in a panic. "We need to know what's going on outside!"

"How to contact the outside world?" The fashionable girl said, "Landlines and mobile phones are unavailable. Can you think of other ways?"

The fat woman was a little surprised and said: "Can't you see what happened outside? The clerk just now has been killed! Although I don't know what is outside, it is definitely very dangerous! And I want to Say—why didn't you listen to my advice at first? I said I had a bad feeling, but you didn't take it seriously, and the result was that the male clerk was killed!"

The bearded man obviously felt that the words were aimed at him, so he turned his head and stared at the fat woman viciously: "Even if it wasn't opened at that time, I don't believe we still haven't opened the door until now! If the male clerk was not killed, we How do you know there is danger outside?"

The boy with a fair face said anxiously: "What's going on outside now? It's not like what the man said, that terrible virus has invaded our place and infected all the people in our area, right?"

"Ah!" Hearing what he said, the mother yelled uncontrollably, with tears streaming down her face.She frantically rushed to the door, banging on the shutter door, the booming noise was mixed with her terrified cry, "No, I want to go out! My five-year-old son is still at home alone!"

Everyone was infected by her out-of-control emotions. They all thought of their family members and became flustered.The fashionable girl grabbed her boyfriend's hand and shouted: "My parents are still in the city, what should I do!" The fat woman grabbed her chest and muttered: "My husband is at home alone, God bless, he Don't let anything happen to you!" The saleswoman was also worried and at a loss.

Under such circumstances, my mood unexpectedly became complicated and contradictory.I don't know whether I should feel lucky or lost at this moment-each of them has relatives worthy of their concern and worries, but I don't.My parents and relatives are far away from home.I am a single woman who came to work in a different place with no worries.Logically speaking, I should have felt relatively relaxed, but at this moment, I was a little envious of them.In any case, when they are worried about their loved ones, they are also being missed by their loved ones.And I have nothing.

When I was in a daze, the middle-aged uncle walked to the door, carefully helped the grieving mother over, and comforted her and said, "Madam, please calm down." Then he raised his hand and said to everyone, "Everyone listen to me Said, don't rush, don't panic. I know everyone is worried about their loved ones, and I am no exception. My wife and daughter are also outside. If there is a real outbreak outside, anyone may be infected. But I think the situation is not that bad, we have to believe that there are doctors and police outside, they will help our relatives. We are infected ourselves. So, in this case, we should stay here quietly and wait for rescue."

What he said was calm and loud, which made everyone calm down a little, thinking that there was really no other way at present.But the big man didn't take it seriously, he squinted at the middle-aged uncle: "You mean to tell us to wait here passively, but let me ask you, this place is so remote, if no one comes to rescue us for ten days and a half months, what will happen? What should we do?"

"No, it won't." The female clerk said suddenly, "I remembered that tomorrow morning, our boss will definitely open the door with the key, and then we can go out."

The mother of the five-year-old child seemed to have seen the light of hope, and asked eagerly: "That is to say, we can stay here for one night at most?"

"It should be like this." The female clerk nodded.

Everyone was finally relieved, and I was also relieved.The big man said carelessly: "Okay, I'll sleep here for a peaceful night." It sounded like the place where he was going to sleep was not as good as here.

At this time, the fat woman said with a pale face, "I think, have you forgotten something?" She pointed to the corpse lying on the ground, and said tremblingly, "He... what should I do?"

2. Weird Two People
200X年9月22日 晚上 10:13
After some discussion, everyone decided to move the body to an invisible corner, and someone will deal with it tomorrow.After all, a dead body lying here always makes people panic.

"There is a storage room next to the bathroom." The female clerk did not dare to approach the corpse from a distance, pointing to it and said, "It's over there, you can carry him in."

The middle-aged uncle lifted the upper body of the corpse from behind and raised his head: "Who will help?"

The red-haired gangster walked over without saying a word, lifted the corpse's legs, and the two of them lifted the corpse and walked towards the storage room.It was the man who was killed by the gangster just now, and now he is dealing with the man's body again.I don't know if other people are like me. When I saw this scene, I felt a weird feeling in my heart.

After a few minutes, they were done and closed the storage room door.The middle-aged uncle took out a mop from the bathroom and cleaned up the blood on the door and the ground.Pointing to the pistol on the counter, the female clerk said hesitantly, "What about this thing?"

The middle-aged uncle pointed to the cash register and said, "Lock it in first and put it away. When the police come, I will hand it over to them."

The saleswoman complied.

Now, there is nothing uncomfortable in the entire supermarket for the time being, and everyone's mood is much calmer.The people dispersed and each found a place to stay, most of them sat on the ground against the wall.The female clerk was sitting on the chair in front of the counter in a daze; the big man lay carelessly on the ground and fell asleep with his arms folded on his chest; Worrying about her son.And I, sitting on the ground in front of me against the wall, was in a position where I could see everyone in the supermarket.

I sat blankly for more than ten minutes, not knowing what to do.sleep?How could I sleep after such a freak event.Extremely bored, I began to observe these people around me, and guessed their identities and occupations in my mind.

First of all, I think the easiest to judge is the big man with a swollen face.From his dress and manner there was no doubt that he was a coolie, perhaps a laborer on some nearby construction site.Contrary to him is the gentle middle-aged uncle, he is well-educated and calm, he may be a teacher, maybe a professor.The skinny, red-haired kid looked bohemian and cynical, and he looked like Bill Kaulitz, the lead singer of the band Tokio Hotel.Other than thinking he's a punk, the only thing I can think of is that maybe he's a rocker.The middle-aged fat woman in black clothes I really can't see what she does, I just think she looks like a Puritan.The couple looked about 20 years old, maybe they were college students somewhere.As for the single mother—well, I think so because I heard her say “my five-year-old son is home alone”—she was about my age, probably under 30.Could her occupation be similar to mine, as an ordinary employee of a certain company...

Suddenly, I stopped thinking and my eyes focused on the two people.I suddenly discovered that besides those people just now, there are two other people with very weak sense of existence in this supermarket.These two people have hardly said a word or made any special actions since they were engaged in publishing, so that I almost ignored their existence.

One of them was a handsome little boy, about fourteen or five years old, probably a junior high school student.I was secretly amazed at his poise and coolness, the smallest of our bunch being the least alarmed.I recalled that from the time the man broke in until now, the boy had always had a stern and gloomy expression on his face. He was neither in a hurry nor in a hurry, just like now, just leaning against a shelf and sitting quietly, It seemed that what happened to him tonight was not surprising to him, he just forgot to bring his house key and stayed here for a while.But in my opinion, this happens to be the strangest part.

The other person had the exact opposite of what the little boy had.First of all, in terms of age, this old woman may be five times the age of the little boy. Her hair is almost white, and the wrinkles on her face are like ravines.Compared with the calmness of the boy, what the old woman showed was another extreme.At this moment, she is far away from all of us, curled up in a corner between two walls, clasping her body in her hands, trembling constantly, she seems more frightened than anyone else.This made me wonder--of course, everyone should be frightened when encountering such unimaginable strange things.But now that she has calmed down after all, why is the old woman still so frightened?And I noticed that one thing, she was the same as the boy, that is, she didn't say a word from the beginning to the end.

While I was watching them silently and thinking to myself, the middle-aged uncle came over from the other side and sat beside me, and said hello to me, "Hi, hello."

"Hello." I smiled at him.

He lowered his glasses and asked gently, "Where are your parents?"

I replied: "They are all out of town."

The middle-aged uncle looked a little surprised: "You live alone?"

I shrugged my shoulders: "It can't be regarded as a person, I still have some friends here."

He nodded slightly and said to me: "You know? I have a daughter who looks about your age, so seeing you makes me feel kind."

I would say that seeing him was just as gracious to me.At least he is sitting next to me now, talking to me a few words has made me feel very warm—but I know that he is comforting me—looking at his age, he is in his forties at most, his How can my daughter be about the same age as me?But no matter what, his concern and comfort moved me endlessly.I looked at him and said, "You must love your daughter very much, don't you?"

He nodded slightly, with infinite love in his eyes: "I love my daughter and my wife, they are the most important treasures in my life."

"Then...you must be very worried about them now."

He sighed deeply: "Of course. But I know, it's useless to be anxious now. And I know they are thinking about me at the moment. So I have to be strong, or they will worry even more."

From what he said, there seemed to be some kind of telepathy between him and his wife and daughter.I was deeply touched by the power of this love.I don't want to talk to him about it anymore and make him sad.That night, he and I didn't talk anymore, we just sat side by side silently, imagining the star-studded night sky outside.

3. Horrible conjectures
200X年9月23日 早上 8:45
In my daze, I was awakened by the voice of a rude man.I opened my eyes and saw a bearded man standing in front of the counter and shouting at the female shop assistant: "Hey! Didn't you say that your boss will come to open the door in the morning? Why is there no movement yet?"

"I don't know either... Logically, it's time to come, but..." The female clerk looked embarrassed and at a loss.

"What time is it now?" the middle-aged uncle asked.

The fashionable girl looked at her mobile phone: "It's 45:[-]."

"When does your boss usually open the door?" The middle-aged uncle asked the female clerk.

"Usually it should be here at 08:30."

"Wait a little longer." The middle-aged uncle said to everyone.The bearded man hummed impatiently.

I got up from the ground and walked over to stay with everyone.I noticed that the only people who hadn't "woke up" at this time were the old woman and the red-haired punk in the corner.Everyone else was standing at the door of the supermarket.The most anxious one was still the single mother. Her face was swollen and her eye circles were darkened. She looked as if she hadn't closed her eyes at all last night.

I waited another 10 minutes, and it was already [-]:[-].The big man finally couldn't bear it anymore, and shouted: "Hey, how long are we going to wait here? I don't think that boss will come at all!"

Everyone looked at the saleswoman, but she seemed more bewildered than anyone else.She panicked and said: "No... The boss will never give up his shop. Unless..."

The sentence "unless" hangs in the air, and there is no more words for a long time.The fat woman took it and said, "You want to say, unless the boss has encountered an accident or suffered some accident, isn't it?"

The clerk's face turned pale.My heart also sank heavily.

After a few seconds of silence, the bearded man roared violently: "Damn, I don't believe that everyone outside is dead!" He rushed to the door, pounded on the rolling door with his big purple fist, and In the roar, he shouted: "Hey! Is there anyone outside! Go ask someone to open this damn door!"

He kept banging, yelling, and even cursing.This went on for 10 minutes, and we watched as he finally gasped and hoarse, and finally kicked the shutter door violently to let his breath out.

The boy with a fair face shook his head fearfully and said, "Oh my god, there is no response to beating the outside like this. Could it be that there is no one in the whole street outside?"

"How is it possible, where have all these people gone?" His girlfriend asked with staring eyes.

"Maybe they're all infected by a virus," said a trembling voice.All eyes were on the past—it was the fat woman in black. "That man said, it won't be long before our area will be attacked by that terrible virus."

"Hey, wait a minute." The boy with a fair face clasped his hands and said, "Do you mean they're all sick and in the hospital; or are they all already..."

"It's dead!" The big man sitting paralyzed at the door suddenly shouted, "I think the people outside are really dead!"

"Ah!" the single mother screamed in despair and pain, tearing up, "Don't say that! I beg you, don't say that!"

"Yes, don't say such depressing words." The middle-aged uncle said seriously, "This kind of thinking will only make us look more hopeless and helpless. In my opinion, we must first find a way to find out what happened outside thing."

"I agree." A soft voice came from behind me.I turned around and saw that red-haired little bastard was standing behind me at some point.He raised one hand carelessly, and said in a drawn out voice, "At least I want to know what that 'horrible virus' is."

"It's a pity that the damn mobile phone has no signal." The fashionable girl said dejectedly.

"If we can't get in touch with the outside world, try to obtain some kind of information unilaterally." This little bastard who always impressed me seemed to be calmer and more sober than anyone else.He walked around the counter slowly and asked the female clerk, "Is there a computer here?"

"No." The saleswoman shook her head.

"Where's the TV?"

"nor."

The red-haired gangster rolled his eyes and waved his hands in the air: "Great, this place is still living in the Middle Ages."

The middle-aged uncle walked over and asked, "So is there a radio?"

"No..." The female clerk was about to shake her head when she suddenly remembered something, "Ah, wait, although I don't have a radio, I have an MP3 on me, and I used it to listen to the radio before."

"Take it out quickly." The uncle said eagerly, "Try it on the radio."

The female clerk took out a small black MP3 from her purse, put the earplugs in her ears, and then pressed a button on the right to adjust the wave frequency.All eyes were on her.

After more than a minute, the female clerk shouted: "I have received a station!"

"What's inside?" The single mother rushed over and stared at her anxiously.

The female clerk frowned and shook her head, "It's a music station, where pop songs are playing, but no news."

"It's good if you can receive it!" The middle-aged uncle seemed a little excited, "I'll search for other stations, especially the local ones!"

The female clerk continued to debug, and everyone paid attention to her, but she couldn't help shaking her head and sighing: "It's an advertisement, no... this station doesn't have it either, it's telling stories... oh, it's still singing..."

After more than ten minutes, she took off her earplugs in frustration, and said to everyone: "No, none of the stations I received broadcast news. And it's strange, I can only receive stations from other places, not local stations. FM to At the local radio station, it was just noise."

Everyone looked at each other, and the fat woman in black said gloomyly from behind: "This means that there is no one on the radio station in our city now."

The middle-aged uncle did not give up hope: "It's okay, it's good to be able to receive stations from other places. And it may not be news time, try listening to it at noon later." He said to the female shop assistant, "If not, you can give the MP3 to Me, I am more patient, if you keep listening, you will always hear some relevant news.”

The saleswoman nodded and handed him the MP3.The red-haired gangster said, "This is the only way we can understand the outside world."

4. Boy's Secret

200X年9月23日 上午 11:05
"I'm sorry, that's... you have to pay for it."

The red-haired punk turned around and looked at the saleswoman who reminded him.He stuffed the remaining half of ham sausage into his mouth, chewing nonchalantly while laughing "giggle".The female shop assistant who was originally serious looked embarrassed instead.

After swallowing the sausage, the red-haired boy lowered his head and put his face close to that of the saleswoman: "To be honest, you are quite cute. If you look at me like this again, maybe I will fall in love with you."

"You..." The female clerk's face turned red, her eyes flickered, and she didn't know where to look.She emphasized again, "This is a supermarket, and you have to pay for food."

"That's what I call you cute." The red-haired gangster still looked cynical, staring at the female shop assistant with a mischievous smile, and whispered, "You still don't seem to understand the situation we're in now. In what situation, do you still care about money or not?"

The female clerk was at a loss for words for a while, and her face became even more embarrassed.

The red-haired gangster tore open another pack of beef jerky in front of her, and handed a piece to her mouth, but the female shop assistant blocked it with her hand.The red-haired boy said with a smile: "We are trapped here now, if we can live in peace, or last a while longer, we should thank God - what else do you expect? During this period of time, we can still maintain what we should. turnover, in order to be rewarded by the boss?"

These slightly sarcastic remarks made the female clerk's face turn blue and turn red, and she was about to refute something.The fat woman walking behind said: "This young man is also reasonable. We are not bad if we can live now, why bother about small things?" She went to the female shop assistant, "However, you can also eat us, Write down what things are used. If we can leave here safely at any time, it will not be too late to make up the money at that time."

The female clerk thought for a while, and seemed to think that there was really no need to take it too seriously in this special situation, so she didn't say anything.

While they were talking, on the other side of the shelf, the bearded man had already opened a bag of bread and began to chew.Now, the couple is also picking food from the food shelf.In fact, my stomach has been growling with hunger for a long time, but I just endured it just now, and seeing that everyone is choosing what to eat, I don't need to be polite anymore.

To be honest, I have always had a dream when I was a child, hoping that one day I could throw myself into a room full of snacks and candies, and eat it with my belly open—unexpectedly, this wish actually happened in this weird situation. Realized in disguise.It's a pity that I can't feel happy now, and I'm not in the mood to taste various snacks.I just grabbed two packets of cookies off the shelf, tore open the wrappers, and stuffed them into my mouth.After eating a few pieces, I saw that there were only three people in the supermarket who hadn't eaten the "lunch" meaning.Two of them are middle-aged uncles and single mothers. They each have an earplug in their ears, sitting by the wall and listening to the radio intently. From their expressions, it can be seen that they still haven't heard any useful information.There was one other person, the old woman who had hardly moved her nest so far.She was still curled up in a corner by herself.

I chose a few bags of cakes on the shelf, and took two cans of beef, walked to the middle-aged uncle and single mother, squatted down and handed the food to them: "Let's eat something first."

"Thank you." The uncle took the food, gave half of it to the single mother, and helped her open the lid of the can.But the mother shook her head and refused. It could be seen that she didn't care about anything other than her son now, and even the instinct of eating was ignored.After the uncle persuaded her for a while, she picked up a cake and reluctantly took two bites.I bet she could eat a bar of soap now and she wouldn't be able to tell the difference from a cake, because all her thoughts were on the station she was listening to.

"How, have you heard any related news?" I felt like I was asking knowingly.

"No." The uncle whispered, "But let's listen and see."

I nodded speciously, not having any hope in my heart.

I was really hungry, and I quickly finished the two packs of biscuits. I still didn't feel full, and I planned to go to the shelf to get some more food.At this time, I found that the gloomy little boy who had never spoken was choosing something on the shelf at the farthest end, far away from everyone.Suddenly I became very interested in this lonely boy. I wanted to try to get in touch with him, so I got up and walked towards him.

I walked slowly to his side, but he seemed like he didn't see me, just lowered his head and picked up snacks.I noticed that the bag of potato chips in his hand was a flavor I also liked, and I immediately developed a little affection for him.I tried my best to smile kindly and greeted him, "Hi."

The little boy looked up at me indifferently, and continued to choose snacks without talking to me.

His reaction was exactly as I expected, but I didn't give up and approached him again: "You know, I like cucumber-flavored potato chips too."

He still ignored me, didn't even look at me.This time, I feel a little embarrassed, and I think I'm just asking for fun if I stay here and talk to myself.Just when I was about to walk away, the little boy turned around suddenly, took something from the shelf behind him, handed it to me, and said to me, "You need this."

It was a fruit knife sold in a supermarket.

I was completely stunned, and even felt a chill down my back.I didn't understand what he meant, and was about to ask if he understood, but the boy had already turned and left, leaving me standing between two rows of shelves in a daze.

I stood there motionless for nearly a minute, my mind completely confused.I lowered my head and saw that I was still holding the fruit knife in my hand, so I quickly put it back in its original place and left the two rows of shelves.

After walking two steps, I suddenly saw the old woman curled up in the corner poking her head out and looking in my direction.I guess she just looked this way after hearing the conversation I had with the boy just now.When I met her eyes, I didn't know what to say.At this time, I remembered that he probably hadn't eaten anything, so I took a bottle of mineral water and two bags of bread from the shelf and walked over to her, and said to her, "Eat something, old lady."

At this time, I hadn't completely approached her, at least two meters away from her, but the old woman shook her head in confusion, clearly not wanting me to approach her, as if I was some kind of monster.I sighed, put the food and water on the ground in front of her, and walked away.

Poor thing, she's really freaked out—I thought to myself—but what's she afraid of?
And that boy, why is he acting so weird?Also, what did he mean when he said I needed that knife?
No doubt it was established in my mind--the old and the young were the most mysterious and eccentric of us.I even have a faint feeling—there may be some secrets hidden in these two people.

And it is related to the incident we are encountering now.

5. strange call
200X年9月23日 晚上 11:00
She was finally tired.Tired of crying, tired of shouting, tired of beating.And I'm tired, tired of listening, tired of watching, and bored.

The single mother listened to the radio for hours without hearing any news about the incident until the MP3 ran out of battery and charged it.And at this time, she seemed to be plugged in, and she suddenly entered a state of excitement.She has been standing by the door since the afternoon, screaming, crying, banging on the iron shutter door, and calling her son's name like crazy.I don't know what was holding this thin woman up from 11:[-] pm to [-]:[-] pm.However, now she is finally paralyzed, and I can feel the deep despair and chill from her prostrated limbs and slack eyes.

In fact, she was not the only one who felt hopeless?I think everyone in the supermarket, including me, is already chilling to the bone at this moment—this woman knocked and shouted for nearly ten hours, but there was no movement or response from outside—I try not to think about it, which means what.

Now, it seemed that everyone was disheartened. No one spoke in the supermarket, and it was strangely quiet.Everyone was lying on the ground in a mess, and the scene looked like someone ransacked a funeral home.

After the suffocating dullness lasted for a while, I saw the middle-aged man stand up from the ground, walk to the counter and ask the female clerk: "Do you have quilts in this supermarket?"

The clerk shook her head and said, "No. None of us have lived here before."

The middle-aged uncle said: "It's autumn now, and the temperature at night will be relatively low. If we always sleep with our bodies like this, we will catch a cold easily-I think you must have no medicine in it. If someone is born Sickness can be troublesome."

I was lamenting that the middle-aged uncle was thoughtful and considerate, but I heard the red-haired gangster opposite said in a sneering tone: "Uncle, it seems that you are planning to live here for a long time, right?"

The middle-aged uncle glanced at him, but ignored him.He stared at the saleswoman and said, "Think about it, is there anything that can be used instead of a quilt?"

"Let me think about it... Ah, by the way, there are some tablecloths on the shelf over there, maybe they can be used as a quilt."

"Okay, I'll get it." The middle-aged uncle nodded and walked in the direction she pointed.

After a while, the uncle held more than ten brand-new tablecloths and began to distribute them to everyone in the supermarket.When it was sent to me, he specifically said to me: "Wrap up tightly at night, don't catch a cold."

"Thank you." I said gratefully to him.He went to the opposite side and handed it to the red-haired punk. "Do you want it?"

The red-haired boy raised his eyebrows, but still took the tablecloth.

Next, the uncle went to the door to personally cover the "quilt" on the single mother who was limp on the ground, and said some words of comfort to her.Afterwards, he sat by the wall and fell asleep wrapped in a "quilt".

It was nearly twelve o'clock, and I'm not sure if everyone in the supermarket was asleep, but at least they all seemed to have their eyes closed.I found that since I was locked in this supermarket, I have some symptoms of insomnia.But I also knew I couldn't stay awake all the time, so I started counting silently from 1 to 100 in my head.Gradually, my eyelids became heavier and heavier, and finally they closed completely, shutting down all consciousness in my brain at the same time.

I don't know how long it took, and in a daze, I was woken up by someone, and I could barely open my eyes halfway under the harsh incandescent lights of the supermarket.I saw the single mother who was sleeping by the door just now in front of me. She stared at me with terrified eyes and asked, "Did you just... hear anything?"

I looked at her in confusion: "Sound? What sound?"

She put her finger to her mouth and gave a "shh", and said in a low voice, "Don't talk, listen carefully, outside the door."

I did as she said, pricking up my ears to listen to the movement outside the door.After a while, I heard a low, howling sound like some kind of wild animal coming from a place that seemed to be far away from the door.Although the sound was not loud, it made my hair stand on end. I couldn't tell what kind of animal it was, because I had never heard this strange howling anywhere before.I looked at the single mother in horror: "What the hell is that screaming?"

"I don't know." She shook her head in fear, "I heard it just now when I was sleeping by the door."

As we were talking, the monster's cry sounded again, and this time it was obviously louder than before, and I couldn't help crying: "My God, what the hell is that sound!"

My cry woke up several people nearby. They sat up from the ground, and the middle-aged uncle asked, "What's wrong with you? What did you hear?"

I pointed at the door in fear: "Listen... there is a cry outside."

At this time, several people got up again, and they all looked at the door, listening carefully to the movement outside.The monster's cry sounded again, louder than last time.Obviously everyone in the supermarket heard it, and they all stood up, all staring in panic.

"God, what kind of strange noise is this?" The fat woman was pale and trembling constantly.

This time, the sound made by the monster was no longer howling, but a roar.I could feel everyone in the supermarket overwhelmed with horror.The boy's face was as pale as the white tablecloth he covered, and he said tremblingly, "The voice...is getting louder."

The female clerk left the counter and stepped back: "I feel... this thing is getting closer and closer to us." In fact, all the people in the supermarket were just like her, walking backward unconsciously, trying to stay as far away as possible. The door is farther away.

"Hey, have you noticed that the sound is getting closer and closer to us, but... why can't we hear any footsteps?" The fat woman asked in horror.

At this time, another loud roar came.My beating heart was about to burst out of my chest.I clearly feel that this thing is already close at hand, to be precise, it may be at the door now.At this moment, the air in the supermarket stopped flowing, and everyone held their breath, staring at the iron gate motionlessly.

5 minutes, or 10 minutes later, I'm not sure.But in short, we heard no more roars from the monster.The fat woman's voice pierced the dead silence in the supermarket: "Did that thing... leave?"

"Don't talk." The middle-aged uncle said vigilantly, "Wait a little longer."

After waiting for about 10 minutes, finally no more sounds were heard, and everyone was slightly relieved, and their tense hearts were slowly relaxed.The fashionable girl pressed her heart in shock and asked, "You...does anyone know? What was that outside just now?"

"I think it's something beyond our cognition." The fat woman said solemnly, "The sound it makes obviously doesn't come from humans, nor does it look like some kind of animal."

"Do you think... this has something to do with the 'scary virus' that the man mentioned?" the boy with a fair face asked tremblingly.

This is obviously a question that no one can answer.After a long while of silence in the supermarket, the bearded man cursed angrily, "Damn it! What has become of the outside world!"

6. Shocking news

200X年9月24日 上午 9:00
When I woke up in the morning, I clearly felt that the shadow of horror from last night hadn't dissipated from everyone's hearts, and everyone still had expressions of horror and fear on their faces.And everyone is still like a frightened bird, focusing on the door from time to time, nervously judging whether there is another sound coming from outside.It's just that no one mentioned what happened yesterday, probably because no one wants to relive that terrible memory again.

Like everyone else, I scoured the supermarket shelves for something to serve as breakfast.At this time, the sound of rattling behind him attracted everyone's attention.Everyone turned their heads and saw that the bearded man dug out electric drills, hammers, rivets, and hacksaws from the storage room next to the bathroom. He held a large number of tools in both hands and walked straight to the iron rolling door.He inserted the plug of the electric drill into a wire slot in the doorway, turned on the switch, and "buzzed" the electric drill.

The fat woman stepped forward and asked, "Hey, what are you doing?"

The bearded man puffed his eyes and said, "What are you doing? Isn't it obvious, I want to open this damn door and get out!"

The female clerk ran over and said: "These things... are used by our boss to repair shelves and cabinets, where are you..."

Before she finished speaking, the bearded man pointed at her viciously and said, "Little girl! You should have told me that there are still these tools in this shop. If I found out earlier, I would have smashed the iron door and gone out." !"

"You can't do this!" the fat woman said nervously, "Have you forgotten the strange noise you heard last night? It must be very dangerous outside now, and you will die if you go out rashly!"

"She's right, there may be very scary monsters outside!" The boy with a fair face also came over.

The bearded man snorted and said contemptuously: "Then you stay here, I don't want to stay with you cowards and bastards. I've had enough, no matter what's out there, I'm going to go out and see Look."

"But the problem is that after you break the door open, it's not a problem for you to go out alone. We lost the protection of this iron door, and those monsters and viruses will also take the opportunity to sneak in." The fat woman said seriously, "This It's not just about you, you can't be so selfish and harm all of us because of your own impulse!"

The bearded man shouted: "Then what do you think? Live here for the rest of your life? Sooner or later, the water and food in this supermarket will run out, and we will not be dead by then! Why don't we go out and die now to understand!"

"Let's stay here and wait, maybe someone will find us..."

"I found a fart! It's been more than two days, if someone passed by here, they should have found us long ago!"

"Stop arguing!" Just as they were arguing endlessly, the middle-aged uncle squatting by the wall suddenly yelled, holding the MP3 in his hand, and said sternly, "I heard the news reports on the radio Already!"

Everyone was taken aback, and quickly gathered around.The single mother was almost the first to jump in front of the middle-aged uncle, and hurriedly asked, "What did the news report say?"

The uncle frowned, and quickly gestured to everyone to stop talking.He said in a deep voice: "The signal is very bad, I can only hear some content intermittently."

"Then if you hear a sentence, say it right away!" the single mother said anxiously.

The middle-aged uncle nodded, and did as she said:

"...It has been found that a rather rare and special virus has indeed broken out in M ​​City in the eastern part of my country. The symptoms caused are terrible...The vast majority of people in the area have been infected by the virus...In order to control the epidemic, the Ministry of Health made a decision to transfer all survivors in the area and send them to major hospitals across the country for isolation and treatment. City M, which is the most severely infected by the virus, was also completely blocked and isolated yesterday...At present, all personnel have been evacuated...Until the virus is researched by the medical unit and measures for prevention and treatment are developed, no one will be allowed to enter City M ... Relevant experts said that the virus in the epidemic area may mutate and deteriorate, and it is still uncertain what will happen to the most severely affected city M in the next few days. Experts said that if the situation of M city once There is an uncontrollable trend and some special measures will have to be taken in the area..."

Everyone's hearts were in their throats, but the middle-aged uncle stopped talking at this moment.The single mother asked urgently: "And then? What's next?"

The middle-aged uncle listened solemnly for several minutes, and finally took off the earplugs in frustration, and said to everyone: "The signal is completely interrupted, and there is a lot of noise behind, and I can't hear anything clearly."

"Damn it! It's gone at the most critical point!" the bearded man roared angrily.

"City M! Isn't it the city we are in now?" The fashionable girl screamed, "The people in this place are indeed infected by the virus! And these people were transferred to other places yesterday? Isn't it a city outside now?" Empty city?"

The fat woman said with a pale face: "Oh my god, it's terrible. The news says that all the people in our city have been evacuated-so we are forgotten in this small supermarket in the suburbs!"

The boy with a white face said dumbfoundedly: "We have really been forgotten here... I guess the government must have sent people to this area before, but we probably didn't knock on the door for help, and the door was closed... So they thought there was no one inside, so they left..."

"You mean, we may be the only people in this city who are not infected by the virus. Just because of some accidental reasons, we are stranded in this empty city that has been eroded by the virus ?” The fat woman was horrified and the ground was completely deserted.

"I think it's more appropriate to say it's a 'dead city' than an empty city." A cold voice said.It's the redheaded punk.

The female clerk was so frightened that she burst into tears and choked up: "Then what's left outside now? Maybe the living people have all been evacuated, and only the... dead bodies that died of virus infection are left?"

"If that's the case, then what was the strange noise we heard last night?" The fashionable girl said tremblingly, "Why didn't this be mentioned in the news at all? Besides, the virus mentioned in the news has mutations and What does the possibility of deterioration mean?"

The red-haired gangster had a disgusted and disdainful expression on his face: "Have you not read through these so-called 'news'? He has always been ambiguous about such important events, concealing the facts, and avoiding the important ones. After listening to it for a long time, even this kind of news I don’t know exactly what the virus is doing. Huh, don’t say that we didn’t hear it all because of the bad signal, even if we listened to it all, we might not be able to figure out the real situation outside.”

"But, did you hear what was said at the end of the news?" The fat woman said tremblingly, "It said that once the current situation of our city shows an uncontrollable trend, we will take certain measures against it." some special measures..."

"Do you know what that phrase means?" the fashionable girl asked.

"I've seen an American movie before." The fat woman shuddered coldly, "It told about a city that was attacked by a terrible virus similar to what we are facing now. Finally, in order to prevent the virus from spreading to the whole country or even the whole The world spread, and the government had to choose to blow up the entire area..."

Hearing this, the clerk's face was distorted with fright.The fashion girl said in disbelief: "Blow up... Blow up? This is too exaggerated, we are not making a disaster movie now!"

I just listened to them guessing and discussing what you said and I said, and I felt a mess and buzzing in my mind.I think the more we hear them talk like this, the worse our situation becomes.My heart sank layer by layer, and I even felt hopeless and hopeless.At this moment, the bearded man roared fiercely: "If that's the case, then why are you hesitating? Since we were left here for no reason, of course we should smash the door and leave here!"

The middle-aged uncle stood up from the ground and looked at him and said, "Have you not figured out the situation yet? The virus is spreading outside and there are many dangers. If we go out at this time, we will undoubtedly seek our own death."

"Then what do you think we should do?" The bearded man asked sharply, "We have been left here, no one cares! Is it true that we are going to stay here to die?" He pointed at the fat woman, "And she Didn’t you just say that if the situation in our area continues to deteriorate, the government may blow up our entire place! Do you want to wait until that day? Ah!”

"I think that's just the most extreme conjecture. Besides, this lady also said that her conjecture came from a movie, and the plot in it was fictitious. In real life, how could the government easily dispose of a certain building?" The city was blown up? So we don’t have to worry so much.” The middle-aged uncle calmly analyzed, “Besides, I don’t think we’re really left here and no one cares about it. It’s said in the news, but now it’s just because the medical institutions are still No measures to prevent and treat the virus have been developed, so no one is allowed to enter our city. This means that once this problem is resolved, there will be medical teams or other organizations coming back here. I believe that by then we will There will be rescue!"

"But, who knows how long they will have to study?" The fashion girl said worriedly, "What if they don't research it for a year or so? Or, before they research it, the situation here has developed out of control To what extent, who knows what decisions they'll make at that point?"

"Then we can only wait patiently and act with the camera." The middle-aged uncle held up the MP3 in his hand, "Don't we still have this? We can use it to understand the changes of the situation every day, and then make decisions flexibly." He turned his head and looked around Walk around the entire supermarket and say to everyone, "At least we have to realize now that we are lucky in one thing-we are not locked in a garage or a gymnasium, but a supermarket. I just estimated , if we save the food in it, it should be no problem to last for a year or so."

The bearded man gasped, stared wide-eyed and shouted: "You really plan to live here for a long time! Let me tell you, if we really stay here for a year or so, we won't be suffocated to death." Will be driven insane!"

"I just said that the food here is enough for us to last for a year and a half, and I didn't say that we really have to stay here for such a long time. Maybe if we are lucky, we will be rescued if we stay here for another week or two!"

"Ah—" the fat woman suddenly twitched all over, shaking her head violently with a pale face, "No, no..."

Everyone looked at her in surprise, and the fashionable girl asked, "What's wrong with you?"

The fat woman trembled and pointed in the direction of the bathroom: "Did you forget... there is still a corpse in that storage room? After a long time, it will rot and smell, and then..."

Everyone was stunned, and a shadow shrouded their faces at the same time.

7. Voting
200X年9月24日 上午 9:35
I think I am the one who reacts the most to what the fat woman said.Because when I went to the bathroom to wash my face in the morning, I did already smell the rancid smell from the storage room next to me.Thinking about it now, this smell seems to linger around me.Thinking of this, something in my stomach rushed into my throat in an instant.I covered my mouth with my hand, desperately trying not to throw up immediately, and then rushed to the bathroom without any choice.

I vomited violently by the sink, my face was blue and black, and then I took a few mouthfuls of cold water to rinse my mouth, and left the bathroom in a hurry, not wanting to remember or smell that smell again.

After I walked out, I heard the bearded man still arguing with some people about whether he should slam the door and go out.They intensified, fighting red-faced.At this time, the middle-aged uncle waved his hands and raised his voice, shouting: "Everyone, stop arguing, we can discuss any issues - rashness and impatience will only harm us. I think the most important thing at the moment is that we are ten Individuals must be united..."

Ten people?But isn't there eleven people in the supermarket now?I froze for a moment, thinking that he must have missed me when I went to vomit, so I walked over and raised my hand and said, "Hey, there's me." The uncle looked at me and nodded Next, he continued: "We all calm down and analyze and discuss carefully to see what is the best way to do it now."

The bearded man stared at him, pointed at the middle-aged uncle as if he had saved his savings for a long time, and shouted: "Hey! Why do you always pretend to be a leader and want us to do what you say? What do you mean? How old are you?"

The uncle said: "I didn't ask everyone to listen to me. I just suggested that everyone calm down and discuss what to do next."

"What's next? I said - break open the door and get out! That's it! Nothing to discuss!"

The uncle looked directly at him and said, "You can't put us all in danger because of your will."

The bearded man met his gaze and said, "Then are you sure that staying here as you said would not put everyone in danger?"

The uncle and him looked at each other for a long time, finally lowered their eyes, and sighed: "Why don't we be more democratic, let's vote with a show of hands, and see whether we should stay here or open the door and go out, okay?"

The bearded man paused for a few seconds, then said in a buzzing voice, "Okay, let's do this!"

The middle-aged uncle glanced at the people gathered now, and asked: "Apart from him, who else agrees to go out, please raise your hand."

I thought that no one would be like-minded with that rough man, but unexpectedly, the single mother raised her hand and said, "I want to go out, I can't take it anymore, I have to go out and find my son."

"Maybe your son is safe now and has been sent to other places for treatment..." the fat woman said.But the middle-aged uncle waved his hands at her, signaling her to stop talking, and then nodded to the single mother, "Yes, I can understand. Then—" he looked at the others, "Who else wants to go out."

After a few more seconds, the fashionable girl slowly raised her hand.Her boyfriend exclaimed in surprise, "Hey Chia! What are you thinking? Are you sure?"

The stylish girl looks at her boyfriend, but her words say to everyone: "Listen, I think so. We should maybe try to go out, but not rashly, but carefully and prepared For example, we can use gauze in the supermarket to make some simple masks before going out, and we can also prepare some weapons for self-defense-don’t forget, there is a pistol in the drawer of the cash register , we can take it with us when we go out."

"Do you know how powerful the virus is outside? How can our simple self-made masks be useful? Besides, it is also said in the news that experts have not yet figured out how the virus is transmitted. Just cover your mouth and nose. What's the use? This is not an ordinary flu virus!" The boy with a fair face analyzed worriedly, "Besides, Jia, you heard that terrifying cry last night. I dare say that the monster that made the sound If not as big as a dinosaur, it's never smaller than an elephant—what's the use of your little pistol?"

"But we haven't heard that kind of cry for so long today, which means that the monster may have gone far." The fashionable girl looked at her boyfriend with some annoyance, "Okay, I don't want to argue with you now. In short, I think that if I stay here any longer, I will either die from suffocation or go crazy. Instead of this, I might as well go out and try my luck—and you don’t have to choose the same choice as me. You can stay here and wait for rescue , I won't blame you."

The boy with a fair face was stunned for a few seconds, and then he blushed as if he had been insulted and shouted: "What are you talking about, Jia! I won't let you take risks alone, I said I would stand by your side to protect you—" —Well, since you plan to go out, then I will go out with you!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the bearded man applauded and said, "Very good, good enough! I admire you all! Now, including me, four people have agreed to go out."

"Yes." The middle-aged uncle said, and asked the others, "Who else agrees to go out?"

My heart was pounding, and my palms were sweating nervously.I think that if one or two more people raise their hands in agreement, I am afraid that the side of the bearded man will win. This is obviously not the situation I hoped for.I anxiously peeked at the expressions on everyone's faces, and at the same time noticed that the red-haired punk was standing far away, chewing gum carelessly, as if he was watching some good show. It doesn't matter what you look like.And the gloomy little boy is farther away, and has no intention of participating in expressing his opinions at all. The indifferent attitude makes us adults seem to be staged a farce. I really don’t know the teenagers How could he be so cool.

Fortunately, after a long time this time, no one raised their hands anymore.The middle-aged uncle asked: "Is no one in favor of going out? Well, now, please raise your hand if you agree to stay in the supermarket and wait for rescue."

Me, the middle-aged uncle, the female shop assistant and the fat woman all raised their hands.At this time, we found out embarrassingly that the number of people who agreed to stay was exactly the same as the number of people who agreed to go out, all four people.The bearded man laughed out of nowhere and said, "Tie! Raise your hands to vote! What should we do now?"

The fat woman looked at the red-haired gangster with some reluctance: "Hey, young man, don't you want to express your opinion? You are still so young and handsome, you shouldn't be in a hurry to go out to die, right?"

"What do you mean by that?" The bearded man glared fiercely at the fat woman, "Which ones shouldn't die? Which ones should die?"

"No, that's not what I meant..."

"Stop arguing." The red-haired punk interrupted their conversation.He folded his hands in front of his chest and raised an eyebrow, "I won't express any opinions. Whether you go out or stay, I don't care." He spread his hands indifferently, "Anyway, I can do whatever , you just treat me as neutral."

The fat woman looked forward, her lips moved, as if hesitating to speak.Probably because he felt that the little boy was even more indifferent and unable to communicate at all, so he waved his hands helplessly and sighed.

The bearded man squinted at the middle-aged man and said, "Glasses, you said you want democracy, so I'll accompany you to make it democratic, but now the result of the vote is an equal number of people on both sides, what do you say?"

The clerk pointed to the old woman in the corner and said, "Isn't there an old lady over there, she hasn't come here, but we should ask her opinion, right?"

The bearded man snorted, "I think she's been scared out of her mind since the first night, so it's useless for you to ask her."

The middle-aged uncle said to the female clerk: "You are right, we should really ask her opinion." He tilted his head to that side, "Go and ask her."

The shopgirl walked over to the old woman in the corner.I observed that the old woman was still nervous and guarded, staring vigilantly at the people approaching her.The female clerk obviously noticed this too, and stopped a meter or two away from her, leaned down and asked: "Old lady, you should have heard what we just said, then—do you agree? Slam the door and get out?"

All eyes were on the old woman, she hugged her body tightly and shivered twice, then shook her head vigorously.

The female clerk turned her head and said, "It seems that this old lady doesn't approve of going out."

The bearded man suddenly roared furiously: "Damn it, what's going on! She didn't express her opinion, but you are going to ask her——of course she won't want to go out, you look at her. She looks like she’s not alive, she’s just planning to lie there and wait to die! It’s useless to ask her opinion!”

"Hey, you are talking too much." The middle-aged uncle said, "Anyway, she is also one of us, why doesn't she have the right to express her own opinion?"

"That's enough! I don't want to argue with you about these bird issues anymore!" The big man roared with blue veins exposed, "I've had enough fun, anyway, I'm going to smash the door out, and you guys..."

Before he could finish his sentence, there were two "cracks" in the supermarket, and then the incandescent lights above the ceiling flickered twice, and they all went out.We haven't realized what's going on, it's like being covered by a huge black curtain in the middle.

It took several seconds before I realized - there was a power outage.

8. Power off
200X年9月24日 上午 10:05
Suddenly plunged into the darkness, everyone became panicked in an instant, temporarily forgetting the dispute just now.I can't see anyone's face now, I just feel some figures moving in the dark.I heard the terrified voice of the fat woman: "What's going on? Is there a power outage! How could this happen?"

"Everyone, don't panic, and don't move in a hurry. Does anyone have a lighter?" The voice of the middle-aged uncle.

"I have it here." With the sound of the voice, there was a "snap", and a gleam of fire ignited in the darkness, and I saw the red-haired boy's dim yellow face.He lit a lighter and came to our side, the flames were dancing, and everyone's faces were changing in different shades of light and dark, making these faces look eerie, strange and inexplicable at this moment.

The middle-aged uncle asked the female clerk: "Do you have any emergency measures for power failure in your supermarket?"

"No, we're just a small supermarket here, and it's impossible to bring our own generator. And...the power has never been cut off before."

"Then what can be illuminated now, such as flashlights, candles and the like."

"The supermarket sells flashlights." The female clerk pointed to a shelf on one side and said, "It seems to be on the top floor over there."

The uncle said to the red-haired gangster, "Come on, let's get it." They held the lighter and walked towards the row of shelves.On our side, the fashionable girl took out her mobile phone and turned on the backlight, barely bringing in a little light.

After a while, the uncle and the red-haired gangster came back with a flashlight each. They turned on the flashlight facing upwards, and two beams of light came out, like two lighthouses in the dark illuminating our surroundings.

The fashionable girl asked the uncle: "Why don't you bring more flashlights? At least one person should have one."

"There are so many flashlights, but the batteries in the supermarket are limited. If we don't use them economically, there may be no light at all in the future."

The fashionable girl muttered: "Anyway, I don't intend to stay here any longer..."

At this time, the bearded man snatched the flashlight from the red-haired gangster involuntarily, and walked straight to the door. He shone the light on the electric switch on the wall, looked at it for a while, and cursed: "Damn, it didn't trip, really!" It's a power outage."

The little boy with a fair face looked at the middle-aged uncle: "From what you mean, this call won't come again?"

"Are you still asking such naive questions?" His girlfriend said in surprise, "Do you think the sudden power outage at this time is a coincidence? Don't you naively think that this is a temporary power outage?"

The fat woman reminded with a gloomy expression: "The news says that people in our area have been evacuated. Of course, the power plant... has stopped working."

The boy with a fair face opened his mouth blankly, his voice seemed to have left him.

"Damn it!" The bearded man by the door yelled again: "The electric drill is useless!" He paused for a moment and said angrily, "But it doesn't matter, I can open the door with just this hammer and a hacksaw !"

The middle-aged uncle walked over and said to him: "I know it's pointless to persuade you at this time. But, before you open the door, I want to make one last request to you - believe me, this is also helpful to you Good." The bearded man stared at him hesitantly: "What request?"

"Wait another ten hours. That is to say, wait until tomorrow morning before you break open the door."

The big man narrowed his eyes and asked, "What does this mean? Since the door is going to be smashed open, what is the difference between today and tomorrow? Could it be possible to stay here for one more day, so that you will be more comfortable?"

The middle-aged uncle took out the MP3 from his pocket and squeezed it in his hands: "At least, let's use it to learn about the situation for another day. If the situation has not changed by tomorrow morning, or the situation has gotten worse, then I will They will help you break open the door."

The bearded man stared into his eyes and said, "Let me remind you of one thing. The power is out now, and this MP3 player can no longer be charged. If you use it to listen to radio news, it can only last for a day or two at most."

"I know, that's why I said, wait another day."

The two of them looked at each other for a while, and the bearded man nodded slightly and said, "Okay, I'll listen to you again until tomorrow. But let me tell you, at nine o'clock tomorrow morning, no matter what, I'm sure I'll knock on the door with my hands."

He picked up the hacksaw from the ground, waved it twice in the air, turned his head and looked at the crowd viciously and said, "If anyone comes to stop me at that time, don't blame me for being rude."

9. First Dead

200X年9月25日 凌晨 1:14
For us now, there is no difference between day and night, anyway, any moment in this claustrophobic space is pitch black.We can only judge whether it is time to eat or sleep by the fluorescent hands of the wall clock.To be honest, if I say that I feel depressed and depressed in this dark environment, I would feel hypocritical.After a day, I have somewhat adapted to this kind of life like a nocturnal animal.I can barely see people's faces now without the dim light of that flashlight.I sat by the wall all afternoon wondering when I became so adaptable, but when I saw that other people in the supermarket were not much older than me, I kind of understood - people are in adversity When you are in the middle, you will always stimulate some potential.

Since it is time to sleep, there is only one flashlight standing upright on the floor in the middle of the supermarket, and the small, orange light it projects on the ceiling becomes the only difference between us and the underground insects.I'm staring blankly at that orange light right now, and I'm running a lot of silly fantasies related to this halo in my head-I'm really too bored to do anything.I've been leaning against the wall for a nap since nine o'clock in the evening, but I woke up now and started to suffer from insomnia again.But this kind of putting the cart before the horse has become commonplace.

Just when I imagined the round orange halo into a golden moon cake, I suddenly saw a small figure appearing between the two rows of shelves in front of me.I took a closer look and saw that it was the little boy of fourteen or five years old, and he walked slowly between the two rows of shelves.I was very surprised, I didn't expect that there was no one else sleeping in this supermarket besides me. Of course, what I didn't understand was why this boy was still wandering through the supermarket in the middle of the night.Just then, he suddenly turned his face to stare at me.I was shocked - impossible.I was a good distance away from him, and I didn't move, I just looked at him.In this extremely dim light, I don't believe he can see whether my eyes are open or closed.When I was puzzled, the little boy turned his face away again, and his figure disappeared behind a row of shelves.I breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that he probably just got up to go to the toilet, and just glanced this way inadvertently.

Everything returns to a state of stillness and no change.I stared at the aperture of the flashlight for a long time, and gradually fell asleep again.Suffering from insomnia, I didn't dare to neglect, so I immediately lay down, and finally fell asleep after a long time.

For me, it was as if I had just fallen asleep and was awakened by that piercing scream.Of course I later found out that the time I actually heard that scream was around 03:30 in the morning.

It was a heart-piercing, terrifying scream of a woman.I was awakened from a deep sleep, and after a few jolts, I sat up from the ground in horror, not knowing what had happened.At this time, other people in the supermarket were also awakened like me, and everyone opened a pair of frightened eyes, looking around inexplicably.It wasn't until the second scream told us the direction of the accident that everyone surged up and ran towards the row of shelves closest to the door.

In the front is the middle-aged uncle, holding another flashlight in his hand.When he ran between the rightmost row of shelves and the wall, he stopped suddenly, dumbfounded in shock.With the light of the flashlight in his hand, we saw a terrifying scene in front of us: the bearded man fell into a pool of blood in a distorted posture, and the entire blade of a fruit knife was deeply inserted into his chest in the neck.There is no doubt that he must have died before he could even make a sound.The most frightening thing is that even though he seems to have been dead for a long time, his eyes like copper bells are still open, looking straight ahead, and his mouth is also open, as if he tried to shout before he died. What came out.The first impression of his strange death is that he saw something terrifying and amazing when he was killed, so that after death, his face still maintained this hideous expression.

I believe that everyone present gasped a few breaths like me, stupefied and shuddering at the sight.Not to mention the saleswoman who first discovered the body.She was curled up by the wall at this moment, her hands were tightly clutched in front of her mouth, and her whole body was shaking violently.After the two screams just now, she seemed to have lost all her strength to scream again, and she was completely frightened.The single mother picked up a tablecloth on the ground, stepped forward to wrap the trembling female shop assistant, hugged her tightly and helped her over, comforting her: "It's okay, it's okay, it's okay."

The fashionable girl took a bottle of mineral water from the shelf next to it, unscrewed the cap, and handed it to the female shop assistant: "Drink some, it will feel better."

The female shop assistant took the water tremblingly, took a few sips, her face was still as pale as a sheet of white paper.The single mother kept stroking her back.After a few minutes, she seemed slightly better.The uncle tentatively asked, "How...how did you find him?"

The female shop assistant swallowed her saliva, as if she was trying to swallow her fear, but she still shuddered: "I got up to go to the toilet, and I passed by here... I tripped over his leg... and I looked at him , I saw him... killed. I don’t know anything about the rest.”

Everyone looked at each other.The fat woman murmured in amazement: "He was killed...he was murdered, so..."

I knew what she was going to say - the murderer was among us - there was no doubt about it.Although no one in the room said this sentence, I know that everyone is thinking this way at the moment, because this sentence is clearly written on the faces of each of us.

"It seems that we all have to be careful tonight." The red-haired gangster sneered, "Things are really getting more and more interesting."

I was disgusted by his words and attitude.Although, I was not used to seeing that foul-mouthed, arrogant and unreasonable bearded man before, but after all, he is also a life, and now that he has been killed so cruelly, can't we accumulate some virtue in our mouths?I eyed the impassive red-haired punk in disgust—do you think it's funny when someone gets killed?It would be even more interesting if that paring knife was stuck in your neck right now.

Suddenly, I was startled, like a flash of lightning flashed through my mind, and my breathing stopped for an instant.

fruit knife?

You need this - I remembered, when the little boy said this to me, the fruit knife that was handed to me was exactly the same as the fruit knife stuck in the neck of the bearded man!
gosh.Cold sweat broke out on my back, and then I slowly turned my head to look back, and saw the little boy watching us silently in the darkness in the distance.It was too far away to see the expression on his face, but I could guess it—because I had seen that cold, consistent expression many times.

Is it a coincidence?Still... my mind was in a mess, I quickly turned my face back, and didn't dare to look in his direction again.I just feel like I have fallen into an ice cellar, and my whole body is cold.

10. Suspicion
200X年9月25日 凌晨 5:17
"Hey, hello, big sister, wake up."

With a slight call, the single mother opened her sleepy eyes, and saw the two young people in front of her through the dim light."What's the matter, you guys?" she asked.

"Someone has been killed, can you still sleep?" the fashionable girl asked.

The single mother smiled wryly: "What can I do if this kind of thing happens? I can't just stay up all the time."

The boy with a fair face blinked and said, "You don't seem to realize that the murderer is one of us, and we are still in danger."

"Of course I realize it. But we are already in danger. Why should we be afraid of another murderer?" The single mother said exhaustedly, "Besides, I don't know who he (she) is, and I have no way Watch out."

"We are always in danger. The previous threats were from the outside and didn't really hurt us. But this time, the danger is from within us and threatens our lives from time to time. We just We can no longer sit idly by."

Single mom stares at fashion girl: "So what do you want to do?"

"Do you remember what was the last word that murdered bearded man said last night?" the fashionable girl asked.

The single mother thought for a while: "He seems to be saying that at nine o'clock this morning, no matter what, he will definitely smash the door, and threatens none of us to stop him."

"Yes." The fashionable girl said in a low voice, "Think about it, after he said these words, he was quietly killed within a few hours, what does that mean?"

The single mother straightened up and seemed to understand: "You mean..."

"Of course it is. That big man was undoubtedly killed by one of those people who disapproved of smashing the door, otherwise, I can't think of any other motive." The fashionable girl looked solemn.

"Think about it, no one will propose to smash that door at nine o'clock this morning—of course, the premise is that the three of us no longer insist on going out." The boy with a fair face added.

At this time, the single mother fully understood the purpose of the two of them to find her, and she said: "I understand, apart from that big man, the only ones who agree to go out are the three of us. If we still insist on smashing the door in the morning If we go out, the next victim may be one of us."

"Thank God, you finally understand what we mean." The boy with a fair face let out a breath.

The single mother said: "Then you came to talk to me, just to let me stop talking about going out in the morning?"

"Not only you, we also need it." The fashionable girl said, "I think we have to take the initiative to show our attitude before the murderer wants to attack us, and let everyone know that we have given up the idea of ​​going out."

The single mother frowned and said, "I don't think it's so scary. After all, that big man is the main threat to them, and we are all just going along with him. Now that the big man is dead, it is necessary to put Shall we kill all three of us too?"

"Who knows? Anyway, the murderer has already started to kill. To him, killing one is not the same as killing several." The boy with a fair face said worriedly, "I'm afraid that he won't stop doing two."

The single mother sighed sadly: "Actually, I'm not afraid of him coming to kill me or something. Anyway, I'm a little hopeless. If he really kills me, it will set me free."

The boy with a fair face looked at her worriedly: "What do you mean by that... don't you insist on going out in the morning?"

The single mother shook her head despondently and said, "What's the point of me insisting on it alone? Even if I want to, I can't do it. With my own strength, it is definitely impossible to break that door open. Now , just leave it to fate."

The fashionable girl looked at her depressed appearance, and comforted her: "Don't be so discouraged, maybe we are lucky, just wait patiently for a few more days, and the rescuers will come."

The single mother smiled wryly and said nothing.

Then, the fashionable girl and the boy with a pretty face said some words of encouragement and comfort to each other.I don't have the heart to listen any more.

It's only past six in the morning, and I guess they must have thought their whispered conversation wasn't overheard by anyone who was asleep.But they didn't know that I, who was only two shelves away from them, hadn't fallen asleep at all since the murder, and I had heard all their conversations just now.

I think Fashion Girl's analysis makes a lot of sense.Indeed, the murderous motive was clearly one of those people who objected to getting out.I guess she and her boyfriend hid in another more secret corner at this moment, and further analyzed: middle-aged uncle, fat woman, female shop assistant, and of course me—who among these people is more likely to be the murderer?

I sighed sadly in my heart—her analysis was reasonable, but there were serious omissions—those who didn’t express their opinions may not really have no thoughts in their hearts.In fact, the kind of people who keep silent and hide their true thoughts are sometimes the scariest.

But the problem is that they didn't have the slightest idea that the murderer might be that teenage boy, which really disappointed me.

I suddenly realized that I might be the only one among these people who actually guessed the identity of the murderer.But what should I do?If I were to tell someone that I suspected the boy was the murderer just because I saw him walking around the supermarket in the middle of the night, it would be a little too convincing.Others will only think that he just got up to go to the toilet, and I really have no real evidence to prove that he killed someone.As for the fact that he handed me a fruit knife suggestively a few days ago, even I myself find it strange and inconceivable.So don't tell others.

But I thought, if I don't do something, will the boy continue to kill people?Or, will he attack me?Thinking of this, I feel panic, but there is nothing I can do.

I have been thinking hard, falling into deep confusion and embarrassment.

11. The Old Lady's Secret
200X年9月25日 早上 9:05
This is really an ironic thing. When the bearded man said yesterday that he would break down the door at nine o'clock the next day, he must have never imagined that at nine o'clock he would enter another door as a dead body—then A small door to a storage room.The big guy is heavier, and this time it was the middle-aged uncle, the red-haired gangster, and the boy with a fair face. The three of them threw him in together.

The rest of us watched the three of them move the corpses and deal with the blood in the dim light, and our hearts shuddered.After they're done.The fashionable girl couldn't wait and confessed: "I think we'd better stay here and wait for rescue. Maybe...the situation outside is really more dangerous than we imagined."

No one else responded, so I naturally understood her intentions better.Only the red-haired gangster lit a cigarette and laughed dryly from the sidelines: "Hehe, good, the right choice. Now you don't have to worry about those 'conservatives' who will kill you."

This sentence was astonishing, as if the previous layer of paper windows had been pierced, and everyone's expressions became shocked and nervous.When I thought about it, I was also classified as a "conservative", so what are those who agree to go out? "Radicals"?That's great, as long as there are people, there will inevitably be gang struggles, even if there are few people-this is the sad root of human beings' endless struggles for thousands of years.

The fashionable girl who was told her true thoughts by the red-haired gangster was so embarrassed at the moment, she turned her face aside and said nothing.On the contrary, the fat woman said angrily to the red-haired gangster, "What do you mean by that? Could it be that we killed that big man?"

The red-haired gangster snorted with his mouth tilted: "I didn't say it was you, why are you nervous? Don't you think this is a bit self-confident?"

"Don't tell yourself?" The fat woman gasped and screamed, "You...what are you talking about! You suspect it's me? God, how could I do such a terrible thing!"

"That's not certain." The red-haired gangster said coldly, "No one has the word 'murderer' engraved on their faces. If you look at the appearance alone, no one looks like a murderer. But the problem is that there are people If he was killed, it couldn’t be that the big guy stuck a fruit knife in his neck for fun, right?”

"Okay, now that we've talked about this, I'll say what I think." The fat woman said angrily, "But let me make it clear first, I'm not because you just said me, I The one who turned around to attack you, I don’t play that kind of child’s tricks. In fact, I think the only one among us who might do something like murder is——you!”

The red-haired gangster threw half of the cigarette butt on the ground and shouted viciously: "What are you talking about! Why the hell do you think I look like a murderer?"

"Just because of your villainous face!" The fat woman said without showing any weakness, "I think everyone else is serious, but you are an asshole. Besides, didn't you beat the guy at the beginning?" Did you die? You were ruthless and merciless at that moment, and you killed that person with one blow! Later, you found out that you killed him by mistake, and you didn't feel any guilt or..."

"Shut up, fat woman!" The red-haired gangster was already furious. He stepped over in two steps, pointed at the fat woman's nose and cursed, "I look like a gangster, you look like a good person? Don't forget, the big man yesterday When you said you were going to go out, you were the most opposed! I said yesterday that I remain neutral and it doesn’t matter whether I go out or stay. Why should I kill him? Huh, I think it’s you who pretends to be like A good person is the most likely murderer! Maybe you say that you suspect me in front of everyone, just to divert everyone's attention from you!"

The fat woman was panting heavily with anger, as if she was about to explode, she tremblingly said, "Yes, you mean to stay neutral, but who knows what you think! Maybe you just planned to put him in the back of your head." Killing, I said something neutral on the surface. To tell you the truth, the moment I saw the big man being killed yesterday, I guessed it would be you! Because this kind of thing doesn't look like a woman did it, and that gentle man It is impossible for a refined uncle and a boy in his teens to do such a thing, who else would it be if it wasn't you?"

My heart skipped a beat—you were wrong about that.I'm sure no other little boy would be able to do such a thing, but this weird, eccentric little boy in the supermarket just happens to be the most dangerous person among us.

At this moment, the little bastard didn't seem to want to yell anymore, and he returned to his cynical look, and said in a drawn-out voice with slanted eyes, "You're right, I don't think this kind of thing is too It was made by the kind of weak and slender woman, but not necessarily a fat woman like you with a big arm and a round waist and a strong mouth."

I believe that the fat woman has been pissed off by this intentionally humiliating statement, her face contorted with anger.She convulsed and said: "Well, I won't say anything anymore. But I believe that no matter what happens, there will always be some traces. I don't believe that someone killed someone in this closed supermarket. After a while No clues are left. I want to investigate this matter and see who is the real murderer!"

When she said this, she kept her eyes on the red-haired gangster. It could be seen that she was completely targeting him, and she just wanted to find evidence of his crime.This kind of disappoints me, because the person I suspect is not a red-haired punk.

At this time, someone beside me suddenly twitched, it was the female shop assistant who was overly frightened last night, at this moment she seemed to remember something after hearing what the fat woman said, raised her head tremblingly and said: "By the way, I think... ...Maybe someone knows who killed the big man."

Everyone was startled and all looked at her.The middle-aged uncle asked: "What did you say?"

The female clerk pointed to the shelf on the far right tremblingly and said, "Don't you think that the old woman who has been staying in the corner can just see the place where the big man was killed?"

Everyone's gazes gathered in the past.The fat woman said: "That's right, from the angle she stayed at, she could just see the scene of the crime, maybe she witnessed who committed the murder!"

"But who knows if she was just awake when the big man was killed?" said the boy with a fair face, "She might have fallen asleep at that time, so she didn't witness the murder."

The fat woman shook her head and said, "Generally, the elderly don't sleep very well and wake up easily. I don't think the murderer can be completely silent when killing people. As long as there is a little noise, in the dark corner The old lady in the house may open her eyes and see the murder scene!"

The fashionable girl said: "But I think this old lady has been shrinking in that corner, demented every day, as if she has been frightened a little delirious. In addition, she may be old and dim-sighted, even if she sees it, she may not be able to see it." It's clear—it's unlikely to get anything out of her."

"Anyway, we'll find out after we ask." The fat woman turned her face to the red-haired thug and asked provocatively, "How about it, do you dare let me ask her?"

"Please." The red-haired gangster shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, "However, you can't ask, you have to ask someone else."

I understand what he means, if the fat woman asks, she may ask some suggestive questions that are not good for the red-haired punk.So, I raised my hand and said, "How about...let me ask."

Everyone seems to have no opinion.I was about to go there, when the middle-aged uncle came over to join me, he said, "Let's go ask the two of us." I nodded at him.

Everyone else followed, and the middle-aged uncle and I walked towards the old woman in the corner.Based on past experience, I was prepared in my mind.But I didn't expect that we were only a few steps away from her this time, and the old woman didn't respond.Suspicious in my heart, I knelt down and stared at her. At this moment, with the help of the dim light of the flashlight, I saw that the old woman had her eyes closed, as if she was asleep.

The middle-aged uncle also squatted down, and he called softly: "Old lady, old lady."

no response.

I raised my voice and shouted, "Old lady, wake up." She remained motionless.

My uncle and I were stunned for a few seconds. Suddenly, we both seemed to think of something at the same time. We almost shivered together, and then looked at each other in horror.

Could it be that this old lady has...

After a little hesitation, I gently stretched my right index finger in front of the old woman's nose, testing her breath.Because the light was too dark, I couldn't judge the distance, and my fingers touched her lips.Suddenly, the old woman's eyes opened, which made me tremble and caught me off guard.The old woman was obviously frightened even more, she let out a turbid cry from her throat, her small eyes almost burst open, she shook her head desperately in horror, her body leaned into the corner where she could no longer shrink back Squeeze hard, as if trying to get into a crack in the wall.Everyone was stunned, not knowing why her reaction was so violent.

I estimated in my heart that the horrified reaction she showed this time was several times that of the last time.I think she probably woke up suddenly, and seeing so many people gathered in front of her, she was even more frightened.I managed to stabilize her mood, and said softly to her: "Old lady, don't be afraid, we're just here to ask you something."

Useless.She was still trembling and resisting.The middle-aged uncle also said to her in as kind a tone as possible: "Old lady, you don't have to be afraid, we are not malicious, can you calm down first?" But the old woman didn't listen to him at all, her panic expression was more than It was even worse before.

The middle-aged uncle sighed, turned around and looked helplessly at the people behind him.The fashionable girl said: "I'll just say it's useless, her mind is really not clear."

The female clerk said with some embarrassment: "Let's not surround her, it seems that she is so scared when we are in front of her."

I stood up with the uncle and left the old woman with everyone.I glanced back at her, and she was still staring at us vigilantly, trembling.

Everyone returned to the place where they stood at the beginning, probably feeling disappointed because they didn't ask anything, and no one spoke for a long time.

After several minutes of silence, the single mother who hadn't spoken for a long time suddenly said, "I think...the old lady seems to be a little bit wrong..."

The fashionable girl sighed and said, "Is there something wrong? I think it's very wrong. Her spirit doesn't seem to be normal."

"But that's the problem," said the single mother. "Why is she mentally disturbed? Or, how can she be frightened like this?"

"Maybe she has some mental problems." The boy with a fair face said.

"No, no." The single mother shook her head, "Before this happened, I saw her choosing food and daily necessities by the side of the shelf. Her demeanor and behavior were quite normal. Since the door closed, she has become weird and abnormal." gone."

"After so many terrible things happened, she must have been scared silly by those strange things." The fashionable girl said.

The single mother frowned and said: "Really... But thinking about it carefully, so far, we haven't seen any monsters with our own eyes. And even if a terrible plague broke out outside, we are still here for the time being." It's safe. Of course, each of us will feel panic and fear after this kind of thing happens, but no one is as afraid as she is. Her fear is dozens of times that of ours! I don't understand, what is she afraid of? ?”

"What the hell do you mean by that?" asked the red-haired punk.

The single mother hesitated for a moment and said, "I guess, does she know something that we don't know? Maybe...she knows exactly what's going on out there?"

After hearing her words, everyone looked at each other in blank dismay, with various indescribably complicated expressions on their faces.The boy with a fair face said suspiciously: "How is this possible? Didn't she come across this incident with us? How could she know something we don't?"

"I was just... guessing, not necessarily right," said the single mother, "but my gut told me that was it."

"So, it is true..." the fashion girl recalled, "For so long, she has never talked to us, nor asked what happened outside, but has been hiding in the corner, with a look of extreme fear. It looks like it knows what's going on outside—it's really suspicious."

"This old lady... who the hell is it?" the shop assistant asked in amazement.

"It seems that she really might know something." The fat woman muttered to herself, "I still have to get close to her and ask for something."

12. Monster attack
200X年9月25日 晚上 10:22
Throughout the day, I was like a voyeur in the dark, keeping a close eye on the little boy's whereabouts and behavior. Although no one except me suspected that he was the murderer, I trusted my intuition and judgment.Unfortunately, I watched him closely for a day and found nothing unusual about him.

He is cunning.Sometimes, I even suspect that he knows that I am watching him quietly.He never stayed in my line of sight for too long, and his figure always flashed for a few seconds before passing by.In the afternoon, I didn't see him for nearly three hours, so I got up and looked for him among the shelves, while pretending to choose something to eat.I thought I did it naturally, but what I didn't expect was that when I turned to a row of shelves, I was shocked to find that boy was waiting there, staring at me blankly, as if knowing that I was looking for him come.At that time, my heart trembled and I was amazed, but on the surface I wanted to pretend to be ordinary.I didn't dare to look him in the eyes, I picked up some snacks from the shelves, and hurried past him.

I was thinking, wouldn't he know that I was suspicious of him?In this case, I will be in danger.Thinking of this, a chill ran down my back.I didn't dare to stay alone anymore. I searched the people in the supermarket and found that the middle-aged uncle was the one I could trust and rely on most at this time.I walk over to him.

When I walked up to him, I saw the middle-aged man just took out the MP3 earplugs from his ears, then sighed in a low voice with a dazed expression on his face, I sat down and asked, "What's wrong with you?"

The uncle glanced at me and said gloomily, "This MP3 has finally run out of battery."

My heart also sank.Originally, we all relied on this MP3 to understand some trends outside, but as its battery ran out, the last bright light that could guide us went out.From now on, we will be at a loss as to where we will go.I tried my best to control my sadness and despair, and asked with the last glimmer of hope: "So today... have you heard any new news reports?"

The middle-aged uncle shook his head thoughtfully and said, "No, it wasn't mentioned in today's news at all."

I asked in surprise: "How is this possible? How could such a big event not be reported in the news at all?"

The single mother sitting nearby heard our conversation, tilted her head and said, "It hasn't been reported in the news, which shows that this matter is much more serious than we imagined."

I looked at her in amazement: "Why?"

"If this matter is still under the control of the government, then it is not afraid to let everyone know. In my opinion, it is precisely because the situation has become very serious and has reached the point where it cannot be controlled and contained, so the government can only choose to avoid it. Talk about it, for fear that it will cause widespread panic if the public finds out.”

After listening to her analysis, I felt chills all over my body: "You mean, there is no cure here, and the government intends to cover up the truth?"

The single mother shrugged her shoulders blankly, indicating that she had no comment.

I looked at the middle-aged uncle. In the past, at such times, he would say some words of comfort or encouragement, telling everyone not to be discouraged and feel sorry for themselves.But this time, he just lowered his head and said nothing.I can't believe it, even his heart is dead.

Just when I was about to be devoured by despair, the fat woman walked over from one side and said angrily: "The old woman was really scared and stupid, I think she can't even speak now!"

I almost forgot that she said that she would investigate the murderer, and now it seems that she really did not just talk about it.Perhaps to change my mood, I stood up and asked, "How about it, did you find anything out of your investigation?"

The fat woman sighed helplessly: "I haven't been able to find any definite evidence yet, but I won't give up. I will continue to investigate."

I wonder if she still has a grudge against the red-haired punk, or if she's just too bored to play detective games, but I don't have much hope for her, because I think her suspicions and investigations are wrong in the first place. of.

The fat woman seemed to have seen through my thoughts. She approached me and said in a low voice pretending to be mysterious: "Although I haven't completely identified the murderer, my investigation is not without any gains. Let me tell you, I have There are some clues, as long as we follow this clue, we will definitely find out the true face of the murderer!"

I was a little surprised, and my curiosity was also ignited. I was about to ask what happened, when the single mother suddenly stood up and gave us a "shh", and said nervously, "Listen—outside."

The fat woman and I also immediately became alert and listened carefully, but did not hear any unusual noises.After a while, I asked suspiciously: "What's the matter, is there any sound outside?"

The single mother looked horrified and shuddered all over: "I heard... that monster's cry again!"

I was startled, and everyone else heard what she said, and they all gathered here.Everyone held their breath and listened, and there was a dead silence in the supermarket.Suddenly, a loud roar came from the door abruptly. The scream was harsh and shocking, which scared us out of our minds.The fat woman screamed, "My God, it's at the door!"

"Don't talk!" The middle-aged uncle shouted in a deep voice, and then said to everyone, "We all retreat!"

Needless to say, everyone also instinctively stepped backwards.Another roar.What's even more frightening is that this time it was accompanied by a heavy impact, the sound of a huge thing hitting the iron rolling door!I was so scared out of my body that I felt like I was going to pass out.

"Bang--bang!" The impact was louder and louder each time, and each time it hit our hearts heavily.We people are like mice cornered by a vicious cat, helpless and terrified.The female shop assistant couldn't hold on anymore, she passed out and was supported by the middle-aged uncle.The fashionable girl flung herself into her boyfriend's arms, her voice changed in fear: "That thing... knows there are people in it!"

The red-haired gangster suddenly remembered something: "The pistol! Where's the pistol?"

The middle-aged uncle said: "It's locked in the drawer of the cash register, and the key is on the body of this female clerk!"

The red-haired gangster rushed over involuntarily, took out the key from the female clerk's clothes pocket, then bravely walked to the checkout counter near the iron gate, opened the drawer tremblingly, took out the pistol, and then stepped back quickly. The pistol was pointed at the door.

We and that "monster" faced each other across an iron gate.The monster seemed to know that the people inside had drawn out their weapons, and the roaring and crashing stopped.We waited for a few minutes to make sure it was quiet outside.The fashionable girl tentatively asked, "Is that monster... gone?"

No one answered, and everyone was still nervously staring at the door.After another 10 [-] minutes, everyone was sure that there was no sound outside, so they breathed a sigh of relief.The red-haired gangster slowly put down the pistol he had been holding up.

"The other day... who said that this monster had gone far away?" The fat woman said in shock, "I don't think it has left at all, it has been guarding here! As long as we go out, we will die! "

"There are such terrifying monsters outside, so the government really doesn't care about it?" the female shop assistant came to her senses and said with tears.

"Who knows how bad the situation outside is? Maybe the government can't control it anymore." said the boy with a fair face.

The red-haired gangster went to the cashier and put the pistol in the drawer, then walked up to the saleswoman, handed her the key, and said, "Don't lock the drawer this time, I think the monster may come back again at any time." Come back, we have to have that gun ready to defend ourselves."

"My God, don't we have to stay here in fear all the time?" the fashionable girl said anxiously. "When will such a day end?"

I close my eyes and take a deep breath.Fear swelled through my body like a poisonous bubble, and I didn't have the time to think about other discomforts.I meditated in my heart-there are murderers inside and monsters outside.God, I'm going crazy, I'm going to die.

13. Footsteps in the dark night

200X年9月26日 凌晨 12:05
I thought about it carefully, and now I have two choices: the first is to stay alert all the time, to be vigilant and pay attention to any changes around me, and to react immediately as long as there is a slight sign of trouble; Sleep, just do what you want, and leave everything to fate.

I have considered the consequences of both options. If I choose the first option, it is possible to save my life temporarily, but if I live in a state of neurosis all day long, it is inevitable that I will not become a neurotic one day; Kind of, although I am not so tired, but I am not sure when I will become a guest of the mortuary.Originally, I planned to be like a single mother who said that I would be relieved when I died, but when I really wanted to do this, I found that I was actually not so free and easy.

I was frowning, in great pain, and didn't know what choice to make.

I looked at the clock, it was past 12 in the morning, is everyone else in the supermarket asleep?Or are some waking up, facing tough choices like me?

I was lost in thought, when suddenly I heard heavy footsteps coming from the bathroom.

Is someone going to the bathroom?But, why did he walk so slowly, and it took him a long time to hear the second footsteps, as if he had to struggle to take a step, who the hell...

and many more.

My breathing stopped suddenly, and my blood seemed to stop flowing temporarily.I suddenly realized a problem - if someone went to the bathroom, then I should be able to hear his footsteps "going" to the bathroom before, instead of just hearing his footsteps coming out of the bathroom like now.

Who would just come out of the bathroom?Moreover, why is this person's footsteps so strange, step by step, step by step... without any change... walking slowly and dullly, like a walking dead.

The walking dead?There was a chill all over me, the hairs on my face stood on end, and my hair stood on end—God, how could I come up with such a terrible but so apt word?

The heavy and slow footsteps continued, and the fear in my heart had reached its peak.I don't get it, didn't everyone else hear it?Or did someone hear it and not pay attention like I did?
I was horrified and terrified to hear the footsteps going in a certain direction, and I judged in my heart how far the walking person was from me, would he suddenly appear in front of me?
The scary thing is that the sound of footsteps makes it difficult for me to judge - it is far and near, sometimes weak and sometimes strong, and the only constant is the slow rhythm.There is no vitality, no change, not even a breath of life.My fragile nerves were tortured to the point of collapse.

Suddenly, the terrifying sound of footsteps stopped abruptly again in an instant, just like when it happened just now, coming and going without a trace.

I waited quietly until 12:30, and the footsteps did not sound again. My heart was relieved, but my whole body softened as if I had been drained of strength.I felt exhausted for a moment, but I didn't know what to do next, whether to stay alert or sleep soundly-that conflicting choice was placed in front of me again.

I suddenly felt that facing a choice is not the most painful; it is the most painful when you seem to have a choice, but in fact you cannot choose.It's like the question of who do you choose to save when your mother and wife fall into the water at the same time.

14. The Second Dead

200X年9月26日 早上 7:50
Half asleep and half awake, I heard shouts and screams.Opening my eyes, I saw several people surrounded by the wall in front left, and my intuition told me that something happened again.

I threw off the "quilt" on my body, stood up from the ground, walked over quickly, stepped forward to have a look, and my brain exploded with a "buzz".

Another new victim was born, the fat woman.Her death looks almost exactly the same as that of the bearded man - distorted face, terrified and staring eyes, and open mouth.The only difference was that the deadly fruit knife was not stuck in her neck, but in the middle of her heart.

Although I was somewhat prepared, I still felt a shock and dizziness when I saw another victim who died tragically.

Almost all the people in the supermarket gathered around now, several of them covered their mouths, their fear was palpable.

"Who discovered her first?" the middle-aged uncle asked.

"It's...it's me." The boy with a fair face said with a shocked expression, "I woke up early and thought I'd come here to get something to drink, when I saw her... was killed."

The middle-aged uncle knelt down and touched the hands and feet of the corpse, and said: "Her limbs are completely stiff, and it seems that she has been dead for several hours—she was killed at night."

The fashionable girl seemed a little unable to stand, her body shook: "She... how could she be killed?" Her tone sounded a little funny, as if the big man before was supposed to be killed.

"We have a murderer here, and he doesn't need a reason for killing people." The single mother said in a low voice.

"Oh my god, how could this happen..." The female clerk covered her mouth with tears in her eyes, "So, any of us may be killed?"

Her words made my heart tremble and I felt shuddering.For a moment, I was really almost misled by her words, believing that there was a perverted murderer among us who didn't need a reason, but anyway, I calmed down in time and let the rational thinking in my mind take the lead.I was able to do this because a few words from the fat woman yesterday came to my mind at this moment:

"I believe that no matter what happens, there will always be traces. I don't believe that someone murdered someone in this closed supermarket without leaving any traces. I want to investigate this matter clearly and see who is the real one. The real murderer!"

I took a deep breath and thought, I sort of understand why she was killed.

Suddenly, my heart shook again—by ​​the way, the fat woman told me mysteriously last night that she had already investigated something, and as long as she followed the clues, she would find out who the murderer was. The real face-she was killed by the murderer within a few hours after she said this.Obviously, the murderer also felt her presence was a threat.But—I became a little confused again—if I guessed correctly, the investigation of the fat woman should be aimed at the red-haired punks, that is to say, the red-haired punks are the greatest threat.Now that she was killed, could the murderer really be...

My eyes rolled a few times in their sockets, and then I involuntarily glanced at the red-haired little bastard. Unexpectedly, he happened to see me too.I was startled and quickly looked away, but he stared at me fiercely and asked, "Hey, what do you mean by looking at me like that?"

Everyone looked over at the two of us, and I argued nervously and awkwardly: "No... I just... looked over by accident, it's not interesting."

The red-haired gangster raised his eyebrows and said, "You don't think I'm a murderer, do you?"

I trembled, and the horror in my heart was even worse.The middle-aged uncle came over and said to the red-haired gangster: "Hey, people have said that it doesn't mean that, why are you still holding on?"

The red-haired gangster lit a cigarette, turned around and said coldly, "Hmph, anyway, you don't think I'm a good person, do you?"

I don't want him to dwell on this issue any longer, lest he feel resentment towards me.I changed the subject and asked everyone, "By the way, did you hear footsteps last night?"

The boy with a fair face said: "Someone gets up to go to the bathroom at night, of course they will hear footsteps, what's wrong?"

I shook my head and said, "No, that's not an ordinary footstep, but a slow, dull, lifeless, weird footstep."

The fashionable girl shuddered: "Don't say it so scary, okay? The current situation is scary enough."

"But, the footsteps I heard are really like this..."

The single mother, the fashionable girl and the boy with a fair face looked at each other with blank faces.The boy with a fair face shook his head and said, "None of us heard the weird footsteps you mentioned."

I was very surprised: "How is this possible? Although the voice was not too loud, it was very clear. How could it be that I was the only one who heard it?"

The boy with a fair face said, "You can't be sleepy, can you?"

When he said that, I was really not sure whether what happened last night was real or unreal.I just remember being a bit half asleep.But in any case, I was very impressed by the terrifying footsteps, but now I can't tell whether that impression came from a dream or reality.I regret not pinching my thigh to make sure.

As I was secretly annoyed, I accidentally glanced at the female shop assistant next to me, and found that she lowered her head, and there was a slight look of confusion on her face—clearly reacting to what I just said—but it was only for a moment , this unnatural expression was covered up by her, and she returned to that lovely and pitiful appearance.I was secretly suspicious. I didn't know why she had such a weird behavior, let alone why she deliberately covered it up.

The middle-aged uncle said at this time: "Forget it, don't talk about it now, let's carry her to the storage room first."

I sighed in my heart-now the situation is getting more and more complicated.The target of my doubts began to be erratic, and now I don't even know who I have more doubts about.But I know that time is running out for us to solve the mystery - there are already three bodies in the storage room.

15. Three shots
200X年9月26日 晚上 9:45
"Hey, Jia, where are you going?" The boy with a fair face sat on the ground and looked at his girlfriend who stood up.

The fashionable girl turned her head and said: "I'm a little hungry, go get something to eat, do you want to eat?"

"I won't eat." The boy with a fair face tightened the tablecloth wrapped around his body, "You have to come back soon."

The fashionable girl looked at him and sighed: "Look at you, you've been huddled there all day, wrapped in a tablecloth, you're more scared than me, do you still have a bit of manliness?"

The boy with a fair face defended, "I'm not afraid, but because I feel a little cold, so I wrapped it in this cloth."

"You're cold because you're scared."

"Jia... Someone was killed again, aren't you afraid?"

"Of course I'm afraid. I'm still counting on you to protect me. Didn't you say that you would stay by my side and protect me? But look at you now, how dare you tell me to rely on you?"

The boy with a fair face blushed and said, "Jia, don't say that, don't look down on me! I will do what I say."

"Is it because I want to look down on you? You want to impress me, but you have to do something. You've been nesting here all day..."

The voices of their conversation gradually dropped, and I couldn't hear the rest of the conversation clearly—in fact, this kind of small quarrel between lovers should not be heard by others, it will make others laugh.It's a pity they didn't realize it until now.

But having said that, without the wonderful dialogue of the "young couple" as an adjustment, I feel bored and can only stare blankly at the front.After a while, a single mother came and sat next to me and said, "Shall we chat for a while?"

"Okay." I moved a little to the side - obviously I am not the only one who is bored.

"I have a lovely five-year-old son," she said, looking at me with loving eyes.

"I know." I said nodding.

"No, you don't know it all," she said sadly. "My son, was born with a disabled foot. He... can't walk."

I opened my mouth slightly.

She was obviously lost in memory, staring at the opposite wall in a daze, and said in a low voice: "When I was pregnant with him for seven months, the doctor who performed the B-ultrasound told me that the child's feet were deformed and advised me to do artificial surgery." Induced labor, aborted the child. But I was reluctant, I love him too much, I paid too much for this unborn little life. So, despite the dissuasion around me, I insisted on giving birth to him. For this reason, My husband and I are divorced. He can't face my paranoia and irrationality, nor my son's deformed right foot - the child's right foot has no toes, and the right leg is obviously much smaller than the left leg. The doctor said , this child can only live in a wheelchair forever..."

She looked up to the sky and took a deep breath, trying not to let the tears flow down, but she couldn't hide the choking and hoarseness of her voice: "But I don't believe it. I don't believe that my son's foot is really incurable. In order to treat him, I I went to every major hospital in the country and tried all kinds of treatments, but with little effect. I spent all my money and even sold my house in the city and moved to a small house in the suburbs But I don't care about these, as long as my son's foot can be cured, then everything is worth it."

I felt sore in my heart, and couldn't help asking: "Then, are your son's feet better now?"

There was a gleam of light in her dim eyes: "Yes, it's getting better. I listened to an old doctor's suggestion that we should strengthen the passive movement of the weak side and give proper massage to promote the development of the weak side. I insisted on doing two For three years, I walked with his right foot every day, and massaged his foot for an hour before going to bed. It really had some effect. Now my son can walk a few steps while supporting the furniture at home. It was indescribably happy, but my son was still not satisfied. He said to me confidently, "Mom, I still want to continue exercising. I have an ideal, and I want to be a sprint champion in the future!"—he even told me not to Tell others that this is a little secret between me and him..."

Hearing this, I was already in tears, and the softest part of my heart was gently lifted.Unexpectedly, the single mother didn't cry. She let out a sigh of relief, looked at me and said, "I'm sorry, I've been talking to you so much, has it bothered you?"

"No." I shook my head and said, "Thank you for sharing with me the joys and sorrows in your heart, and——your son's little secret."

The single mother stared into my eyes for a long time, then whispered to me, "Let me tell you another little secret."

She slowly put her mouth close to my ear, and said softly, "I think I understand what's going on. I know what's going on outside and inside."

I suddenly widened my eyes and looked at her in astonishment: "What? How do you know?"

She said dully, "It's been so long, we should figure it out, shouldn't we?"

My numb brain turned mechanically: "What the hell is going on?"

The single mother stood up from the ground and said: "I also guessed, and I'm not completely sure, so I don't want to tell you. I'm afraid...it will affect you."

I think the more she said, the more confused I became, and I was trying to get to the bottom of it.The single mother looked at me sadly and said, "Thank you for talking so much with me. From now on, you can do it yourself." After she finished speaking, she turned and left, walking around to a few rows of shelves.

I stood there dumbfounded, unable to react for a long time.What did she mean by saying we should all figure it out?What do you mean by being afraid of affecting me?What did she realize?Now that she has figured it out, why can't she tell us all?A series of problems spiraled sharply in my restless imagination and became bigger and bigger, weighing down my heart and making me unable to breathe.

Just then, I heard a "bang" gunshot.There was some sort of explosion in my head as well with the gunshot.I seemed to foresee what was going on, and my eyes went black for a while.I struggled to get up from the ground and staggered to the place where the gunshot was fired.The scene in front of me makes me feel dizzy - the single mother who was talking to me a minute ago is now lying by the wall, and there is a pool of blood on the wall behind her.The bullet was fired from her mouth to the back of her head.And the red-haired punk knelt beside her, holding the pistol in his hand.

"No—!" I yelled hoarsely, tears welling up in my eyes.

The sound of hurried footsteps - several other people in the supermarket also ran over at this moment, staring at the scene in front of them with gaping mouths.

At this moment, the red-haired gangster seemed to realize something. He slammed the pistol away and explained hastily: "No, I didn't do it! I was just the closest. After I heard the gunshot, I ran here , I saw that she had shot herself! I stepped forward to confirm, and picked up the pistol that fell at her feet..."

"That's enough! You murderer!" The fashion girl yelled sharply, "The facts are all in front of you, what else do you have to argue about! You haven't had time to escape this time, so we let us arrest you!" in force!"

She couldn't help but say to her boyfriend and middle-aged uncle beside her: "What are you guys doing standing there in a daze! Go forward and subdue him!"

As if he wanted to prove something to his girlfriend, the boy with a fair face mustered up his courage and took two steps forward.The red-haired gangster picked up the pistol in a panic and pointed at the boy with a fair face: "Don't come here!"

Everyone didn't dare to move, they froze there.I think I was so overwhelmed with grief that I didn't react.In fact, I should be able to deduce from the signs of the single mother who talked to me a few minutes ago, especially the decisive look she showed when she said the last sentence to me, that she did indeed die by suicide.If I had said a few words at this time to prove that the red-haired gangster should be telling the truth, maybe the tragedy that happened next could be avoided.Unfortunately, the grief and confusion in my head prevented me from doing anything.

The little boy with a fair face didn't know what bewitched or stimulated he had been, but instead of his usual timidity and cowardice, he was still trying to get closer to the red-haired gangster.He stretched his hand forward, and at the same time moved forward slowly, and said in his mouth, "Hey, don't be impulsive, you put the gun down first, okay?"

"I said, don't come here!" growled the red-haired punk, shaking his pistol, "Don't make me shoot!"

"If you shoot, you will really be a murderer." The boy with a fair face looked directly at him.

"Shut up! Stop being so hypocritical!" the red-haired gangster yelled, "Don't you think I'm a murderer? You've always suspected me, haven't you? Because I dress like this and my hair is dyed like this , You don’t regard me as a good person! You bastards who judge people by their appearance, don’t listen to my explanation at all, and convict me in a self-righteous manner!”

"We didn't convict you." The boy with a fair face moved forward slowly, "What happened just now, let's sit down and talk slowly, okay? Put the gun down first."

"Don't take a step closer!" The red-haired gangster has already retreated to the wall, his face has become extremely crazy, and the hand holding the gun is trembling with tension, "You think I don't know what you are thinking now Is it? You hold me steady first, and when I relax a little, you will rush up and subdue me. Stop dreaming! I will not let you succeed..."

"boom!"

A shot went off.

Everyone was stunned, including the red-haired gangster, who looked at the pistol suspiciously, as if he didn't know what he had just done.The little boy with a fair face in front of him also slowly looked at his chest with the same suspicious eyes, then covered his heart in pain, his legs softened, and he knelt down.The fashionable girl let out a scream, flew over, supported her boyfriend's body, and shouted: "Heng! What's wrong with you? Oh my god, don't scare me!" She raised her hand to see that it was covered with blood, and then Looking at her boyfriend's chest—there was a blood hole in her heart, she shook her head in pain, hugging him and crying loudly.

"Jia..." The boy with a fair face looked at his girlfriend with difficulty, his voice was weak and hollow, "I am in your heart... am I a man?"

"Yes... yes, of course you are." The fashionable girl held his face, weeping uncontrollably.

"Really... That's great... Unfortunately, I can't protect you in the future... You have to... protect yourself... I love..." Before the last word "you" could be said, he suddenly He choked out a mouthful of blood, tilted his neck, and drooped his head weakly to the side.

"Heng...Heng?" She yelled twice in panic and helplessness, shaking her body holding her boyfriend from side to side, crying and shouting again, but nothing helped.She put down her boyfriend's body in grief, and suddenly her expression changed, she raised her head, and pierced the red-haired boy with two eyes full of resentment and resentment like sharp knives, and said word by word: "You murderer!"

"No... I didn't want to shoot." The red-haired gangster explained hastily, "The gun went off..." At this point, he seemed to realize how pale his defense seemed at this moment.And the fashionable girl had already stood up from the ground, as if she was about to rush forward to fight him desperately.The red-haired gangster suddenly yelled: "Okay! I know it's useless to say anything now! Damn it, I can't live anyway, and I will die sooner or later!"

He brought the pistol in front of him, opened the chamber, glanced at the bullet inside, and said to himself: "The last bullet will be given to one of you." After speaking, he raised the pistol and pointed it at the bullet. Looking at us in astonishment from his own temple, he finally said:

"Actually, you guessed it right, I am indeed a fucking street gangster. But let me tell you, I have never intentionally killed anyone—except myself!"

"Bang!" The gunshot rang out for the third time today.He fell down in a daze among the bloody fireworks.

This time, I finally really passed out.

16. Amazing Requests

200X年9月26日 晚上 11:10
When I woke up, I saw the uncle staying by my side.Seeing me open my eyes, he asked, "How are you doing, are you all right?"

I nodded slightly, and glanced at the place where the series of tragedies happened just now—the three corpses were gone.I thought of that storage room, and my heart tightened.

The middle-aged uncle sighed and said to me: "We seem to have really misunderstood the red-haired young man. Just now the female clerk told me that she remembered seeing the mother wandering in front of the counter for a while this afternoon—— It may have been at that time that she quietly took the pistol from the drawer, which she intended to use in suicide. Alas, the result was a series of misunderstandings and confusions that resulted in the loss of three lives!"

I felt a burst of blockage in my heart, as if I was suppressed by some invisible things.I dare not tell the middle-aged uncle that the disappearance of those three lives is more or less related to me-if I can make some judgments and actions in time, maybe I can save their lives.Too bad it's too late now.

I didn't want to be in self-blame and regret all the time, so I changed the subject and asked the uncle: "Where is that girl? How is she?"

The middle-aged uncle sighed: "She was hit hard. After her boyfriend died, she kept holding his body and crying by the wall. We persuaded her to put the body down and cheer up, but it was completely useless." The uncle looked Glancing at me, she tilted her head backwards, "Why don't you try to persuade her again."

I looked towards the place the uncle pointed, and sure enough, the fashionable girl was sitting on the ground against the wall, holding her boyfriend's body tightly in her arms, sobbing sadly with her head buried, looking extremely pitiful.I hesitated and said, "It's useless for you to persuade her, but will it be useful for me to persuade her?"

"Try it. Even if you can't persuade her to let go of the corpse, it's always good to talk to her."

I thought about it and said, "Okay."

I brewed and organized some comforting words in my heart, and walked in the direction of the fashionable girl.When I came to her, I found that all the comforting words I had prepared were blocked in my throat and I couldn't speak them out.I feel that in the face of great grief, any consolation is powerless.I wanted to go back and let her stay quietly for a while, but then I thought I agreed to uncle, so I reluctantly squatted down and said, "Don't be too sad, okay? After all...we are alive No better than the dead."

She buried her face in her elbows, twitching, sobbing, completely unresponsive to my words.

I said again: "I remember what your boyfriend said to you, asking you to take care of yourself. Just treat it as fulfilling his last wish, don't be sad, or your boyfriend will be worried underground .”

She still maintained the same posture, without even raising her head.I sighed: "Okay, maybe you want to be alone for a while, then I won't bother you here, but I hope you can cheer up as soon as possible."

I stand up and prepare to leave.Unexpectedly, the fashion girl suddenly stretched out her hand to hold me, raised her head and said to me: "I want to ask you to do me a favor, can you?"

I immediately nodded and agreed: "Of course, what do you want me to do?"

"Please... go get that gun and shoot me to death."

I was shocked, stepped back, and shook my head again and again: "This...how can this be done!"

"Please..." she begged, "I could have committed suicide, but I just lacked the courage for that moment. So, please grant me, let me end this endless torture, and be completely free!"

I squatted down and looked at her, and said solemnly: "Don't say such things, and don't think like that! I know you must be sad and distraught when you lose the one you love. But you can't let this kind of emotion occupy you all the time. You, make you give up hope of living. You have to be strong and live a good life for your boyfriend, that is the best consolation for him!"

"No..." She shook her head in pain, "I didn't want to die just to follow him. I just couldn't stand this kind of torture. I know, sooner or later I won't be able to escape... Rather than being killed in fear It would be better to die early on your own."

Startled, I asked, "Why do you say that?"

She looked at me: "Didn't you hear the last sentence that red-haired bastard said before he died? He said that he had never intentionally killed anyone—when a person is about to die, his words are good. I Do you think he would lie to us before he shot himself? Do you know what he said?"

I stayed for a moment, and then my heart tightened: "You mean, the real murderer is still among us?"

"Isn't it?" she asked rhetorically, and then pleaded with me, "That's why I beg you, please help me out! I've had enough, tired of living with this endless suspicion and panic, suffering This kind of physical and mental destruction and torture, and you don't know when you will be killed by the insane murderer, such a life is worse than death, so... please, please?"

I bounced off like an electric shock, shook my head with my back to her and said, "Stop making such horrible demands to me again, I don't care what you think, but you can't force me to be a murderer! "

She was silent for a few seconds, as if desperate.After a long while, she said in a low voice: "Since you are all unwilling to help me, I have no choice but to choose another way to protect myself - when the time comes, don't blame me for losing my mind and doing extreme things."

I slowly turned my head to look at her, and felt that her words were obviously threatening and crazy, which made my heart feel chills. "What do you want to do?"

She stopped talking to me, lowered her head and pursed her lips tightly, and merged with her dead boyfriend again.

I stood there for a while, then turned and left with an inexplicable panic.Just a few steps away, I caught a glimpse of a row of shelves on the slanted side. The little boy was looking at me steadily. I guess he heard all the conversations we had just now, and his face still had that weird and unpredictable expression.I can never read his expression, just like I can never meet his eyes.I walked quickly to the uncle's side, avoiding him like a plague god.

The middle-aged uncle saw me come over and sit down with a gray face, and asked, "Why, you persuaded her, but it still didn't work at all?"

I said sadly: "Not only did it not work, she also made a very terrible request to me!"

"any request?"

"She said she couldn't bear this torture anymore, and she asked me to find the pistol and shoot her to death, so that she could get out of it!"

"Oh my god, this is ridiculous." The middle-aged uncle was also shocked.

"Yeah, how could I do such a cruel thing?"

The middle-aged uncle shook his head hastily and said: "That pistol is too dangerous to put in the counter drawer." He thought for a while, as if there was no other suitable place to put it, he muttered to himself, "It seems that we have to take Just a little bit of precaution..."

I was thinking of another thing.I hesitated whether to tell the middle-aged uncle all my guesses and doubts about the little boy, so that he would also be alerted.But I forcibly swallowed the words again, and I remembered that the boy who existed like a ghost might hide in a dark place to spy or eavesdrop on us at any time, if I let him know that I suspect him to be a murderer , then I might be the next victim.

The middle-aged uncle noticed that I hesitated to speak, and asked, "Do you want to tell me anything?"

"Ah..." I was embarrassed for a while, and when I didn't know how to answer, I suddenly remembered the last sentence that the fashion girl said to me just now. "By the way, the girl saw that I refused to 'help' her, so she said something puzzling. She said that in this case, she had to choose another way to protect herself, and told us not to blame her Lose your mind and do extreme things."

"What does she mean by that?" the uncle asked with wide-eyed eyes.

"I don't know either, but it makes me uneasy."

The middle-aged uncle frowned and thought for a moment, then said in horror: "The extreme act of losing her mind she said, could it be that she killed us all in order to protect herself?"

I was shocked: "No way? That's... too crazy!"

The middle-aged uncle said worriedly: "It is impossible to say. People may become distorted and abnormal psychologically after staying in such a dark closed space for a long time. It’s time to do it.”

Hearing what he said, my face turned pale with fright, and I asked in fear: "Then what shall we... do?"

The middle-aged uncle sighed and said: "What can I do, just be more careful and be careful everywhere."

I want to tell him that I've been doing it for a long time, and most of the others are doing the same, but the problem is that people are still getting killed, which shows that it is impossible to prevent it-but, as he said, we have what way?You can't really obey the girl's request and shoot her dead, can you?

After hesitating for a while, I suddenly summoned up the courage to say to the uncle: "How about we break the door open! I think the danger inside is almost the same as outside now."

The middle-aged uncle slowly turned his face to look at me with an elusive complex expression.

I think he still hesitated because of lack of confidence, so he said: "We rushed out to ask for help, at least there is still a way of life. Staying here is tortured and killed each other, and in the end it is a dead end."

The middle-aged uncle suddenly looked sad and said: "Help? I'm afraid... there is no help."

I stared blankly at him: "What do you mean?"

The middle-aged uncle was depressed for a long time, and finally let out a breath from his chest with difficulty: "There is one thing that I have been keeping from you. At that time, I was afraid that after I told you, everyone would become sad and hopeless in an instant, completely lost. The belief in living. But now it seems that the general trend is set, and it doesn’t matter if you say it.”

He turned his face away, deliberately not looking at me, as if he didn't want to see my expression after listening to him say this. "Remember that MP3? The last day it died, and I tell you I didn't hear anything about it in the news. That's not true. The truth is... all the stations went off that day I don't get any of them at all."

I freeze like a lifeless sculpture.I couldn't feel any body temperature, and my mind went blank.I've lost the energy to think about what this means to me or anyone else, because for a long time I didn't even feel like I existed.

17. The Third Dead

200X年9月27日 凌晨 2:05
She wasn't completely asleep.In the current situation, she couldn't help being alert and alert all the time.

It's the right thing to do.Her ears had just caught a tiny sound, which was very close to her, within a range of a few meters for sure - which immediately put her on high alert.

come yet?Has the murderer finally found me?Her heart was beating wildly, and her hairs stood on end with nervousness.She gently put down her boyfriend's body, fumbled for a sharp knife prepared for self-defense from her feet, and slowly stood up.

She slowly approached the place where the noise was made, and the hand holding the knife was sweating due to tension, making the handle slippery, as if she couldn't hold it steady-but she had to hold it firmly and hold it in her hand Yes, is their own life.

"Crack, click, click..."

What is this strange sound?She judged nervously—like a mouse gnawing at something in the dark, but all too regularly.Is it the sound of human footsteps?It doesn't seem like either...

Now, there is only a row of shelves between her and the sound, and she can accurately perceive that the sound comes from the opposite side of the shelf.

She swallowed, tightly gripped the knife in her hand, lifted it up, and then mustered up her courage to jump to the opposite side of the shelf.

nobody.She froze for a moment, looked down, and found the source of the sound—it was a gadget sold in the supermarket, the kind of bear toy that would walk forward when the clockwork on its back was twisted.It was blocked by the shelf, but it was still moving forward mechanically, so it made a "click, click" sound after hitting the shelf.

She stared blankly at the little thing, puzzled in her heart—who was playing with this wind-up toy in the middle of the night?Moreover, in this predicament, who still has the mind to play with this thing?

At this time, the teddy bear stopped with a "click", and the spring's return force was exhausted.At this moment, she suddenly realized something, turned around quickly, and suddenly saw a person standing behind her!Her brain exploded with a "buzz", she was frightened out of her wits, and shouted: "Ah, so it's you..."

Before she could scream, she was covered by that person, her voice was blocked in her mouth.At the same time, a sharp fruit knife was inserted into his chest.Her wide-open eyes were bloodshot in an instant, and after a while, her body slowly collapsed, and she slipped and fell into a pool of blood. The posture she fell on the ground was almost the same as her boyfriend who was a few meters away. exactly the same.

18. Who is the murderer?

200X年9月27日 凌晨 4:50
Fashion Girl's death was the only thing that didn't surprise and shock me, I almost expected her to be the next victim.

Perhaps it is because we have witnessed too many deaths in the past few days. When the middle-aged uncle and the female shop assistant and I stood next to the tragic death of the fashion girl, we did not show too much horror. A dazed and numb mood takes over.We seem powerless to grieve or feel sorry for others, and when we see their dead bodies, we also see our own sad fate.

The clerk was the first to turn her head away, and sobbed—again, she was the first to discover the body.But the way she handled it was much calmer and more stable than last time. She no longer trembled and screamed. She just woke up the middle-aged uncle and me and brought us to the scene.

I don't want to take a closer look at the tragic death of the fashion girl, it's almost the same as the previous two people who were killed.The only thing that caught my attention was the murder weapon—the same kind of fruit knife was used in the three murders.There is no doubt that the murderer is the same person.As for who this person is, I think there is no need to question it at this time.

I searched around, and the little boy was out of sight, which made me even more sure that he was the murderer—he almost never once faced the dead body after the murder.

As I was thinking to myself, the saleswoman finally cried out: "She is right... She told me yesterday that the little gangster is not the real murderer. The real murderer is still among us, and he hasn't stopped yet... …My God, the girl was killed after saying this, so now, is it my turn?"

The middle-aged uncle tried to comfort her, but she cried even harder, and turned around and ran towards the counter.The uncle was probably afraid that she would do something stupid, so he followed her closely.

I stood there for about 10 minutes, and finally made a decision - I want to tell the middle-aged uncle and the female shop assistant that the little boy is the murderer, and I want to form a united front with them to subdue the boy together. And forced him to speak out about the crime he had committed.Yes, I have to do it now!If I still do not speak out about the situation I have suspected for a long time because of fear, it is tantamount to indulging the hateful murderer, which is tantamount to digging my own grave.

Making up my mind, I headed over to the counter.When I was about to get there, I suddenly heard the middle-aged uncle and the female shop assistant talking in a low voice.I stopped and judged that they were whispering by the shelf on the far right. This mysterious and hiding situation made me wonder what they were talking about—I held my breath and stood up. Listen carefully to their conversation.

"...Actually, I have been suspicious for a long time, but I just kept holding back. Now it seems that it must be him (her)." The voice of the female shop assistant was a little trembling.

My heart tightened—who was she talking about?

"But after all, we're all guessing, we haven't witnessed him (her) murder, so we can't be [-]% sure it's him (her), right?" said the middle-aged uncle.

"Now there are only a few of us left, who else would it be? If we don't take action, we will be the next victim."

"Are you really so sure?"

I heard the female shop assistant say clearly: "Yes, I'm sure the murderer is that little boy!"

That's right, it's him!There was a burst of excitement in my heart, and I almost wanted to jump in front of them immediately and tell them that I also thought so, but the next sentence of the middle-aged uncle seemed to throw me into an ice cellar, my whole body was cold and I couldn’t move .

"But what if it's her?" he said.

God!I was horrified that he suspected me!
"Her? I don't think...is it possible?" said the saleswoman.

"You can't tell. Sometimes, the most unlikely things are the most likely."

"Then tell me, what shall we do?"

After a while of silence, I heard the middle-aged uncle whisper: "There is no other choice, we have to take action against both of them, and in this case, either you die or I live!"

I took a deep breath, the chill behind my back made me shiver several times.It's like countless bees are flying into my mind, buzzing.I didn't hear their voices at this time, I don't know if they had already discussed it, and then they were walking towards me.I was flustered and didn't know where to go for a while-no matter where I hid, they will find me!Finally, I caught a glimpse of the corner of the doorway, where the light was the darkest, almost completely out of reach of the feeble flashlight.I didn't have the time to choose, so I hurriedly hid in that dark corner and curled up into a ball.

I couldn't stop shaking, and my whole body was icy cold. It was the first time I was scared like this since I was trapped here.Not only because of the fear of death - desolation, chilling, grievance, anger, all kinds of negative emotions intertwined and circling towards me, making me feel unprecedented sadness and despair.I thought that if I regarded the middle-aged uncle as the most trustworthy and reliable person among these people, he would more or less treat me the same way.Unexpectedly, in the end he even suspected that I was a murderer, and planned to attack me in order to protect himself!I was going to form an alliance with him, but he has already joined with the shop girl, and regards all others as enemies and is ready to destroy them together-this is really a great irony!Thinking of this, a bad breath surged in my chest, which made me clenched my fists unconsciously, and my body also twitched.Unexpectedly, my elbow touched the iron rolling door and made a "crash".

Oops!I screamed in my heart - I have exposed my position!
Sure enough, within five seconds after the sound was made, the middle-aged uncle and the female shop assistant appeared in front of me.See me curled up here.The middle-aged uncle pretended not to know and asked, "Why are you hiding in this corner?"

I stared at him in horror, leaning against the wall tightly: "Don't...don't come over!"

Instead, he squatted down and leaned towards me: "What's wrong with you?"

My throat seemed to be blocked by something, I couldn't make a sound, I just shook my head in fear.He stretched out a hand to try to touch my forehead, but I quickly blocked it with my hand.At the moment when my head turned to the right, I suddenly saw the hand behind his back, holding a gleaming sharp knife in that hand!

In an instant, I felt dizzy and breathless, and I thought he was about to strike!At this critical juncture, my hands subconsciously searched the surrounding ground for something that could save my life—I found it, an iron hook!It was the iron hook that the male clerk used to pull down the shutter door!I had no room for hesitation or choice, so I picked up the iron hook and swept towards the middle-aged uncle with all my strength——

Time seemed to have paused, and the middle-aged uncle and I met each other's eyes, staring at each other in a daze, but blood oozed from his eyes, and his face lost his vitality.Only then did I see that the pointed end of the iron hook was nailed to his right temple impartially.

I was so frightened that I dropped the iron hook dumbfounded. The body of the middle-aged uncle fell obliquely to the left like a scarecrow that had lost its support, motionless.The female clerk took a step forward, seeing the tragic death of the middle-aged uncle, she let out a heart-piercing scream.Then, she looked at me, screamed and ran towards the counter.Before I could do anything else, she came up to me again with the pistol tightly in both hands.She was shaking violently like chaff, the pistol might go off at any moment.I didn't want to make the same mistakes as the boy with a bad face, so I tried my best to explain: "No! Don't shoot, I didn't mean to kill him! I just... just want to defend myself!"

What I didn't expect happened, the female clerk didn't listen to my explanation at all, pointed the pistol at my body, and pulled the trigger!
I am dead!
I closed my eyes tightly, but instead of hearing the gunshot, I heard a "click".I opened my eyes and saw the saleswoman staring at the pistol in astonishment, as if she didn't understand what was going on.In fact, I thought the same as her - shouldn't there be the last bullet in the chamber, why would it be empty?
Suddenly, I understood.I remembered that when I told the middle-aged uncle last night that the fashionable girl was going to commit suicide with a pistol, he said that some precautions should be taken with that pistol—he must have dropped the last bullet in the chamber!

Seeing that the pistol was useless, the female clerk threw it away in horror. At the same time, she walked backward slowly, looking around and searching for something that could be used to attack me.I stared at her, and an unknown fire ignited in my heart-this woman is too much!They completely ignored my justification and shot at me indiscriminately.If it wasn't for the bullets in the gun chamber being fired, wouldn't I have become her ghost now?With a yell, I held the iron hook again and pulled out the end that was inserted into the uncle's head. I stood up and walked towards the female clerk.

The woman was completely insane with fright, she lost control completely, grabbed whatever was at hand recklessly and threw it at me.I was hit by some food and small items she threw at me.When she grabbed an iron pan on the shelf and was about to throw it at me, I couldn't bear it any longer, and with a loud cry, I swung the iron hook in my hand towards her.The blow hit her head again, and she fell to the ground with a scream, unconscious.I can't judge whether she was knocked out or died, I only know that she was luckier than the middle-aged uncle, but was hit by the back of the iron hook and was not injured by the sharp hook.

The threat in front of me was finally lifted, I gasped heavily, and my emotions gradually calmed down.After standing there for about two or three minutes, I completely regained my composure and rationality.At this time, I raised the iron hook in my hand, saw the blood stains on it, and then looked at the two lives killed by it, I couldn't help but my heart was broken.I threw away the iron hook, my knees softened, and I knelt down, crying bitterly.

19. The world outside the door

200X年9月27日 凌晨 5:47
So far, I have nothing to worry about or be afraid of.I figured it out, the middle-aged uncle was right, now we have reached the point where either you die or I live.Anyway, I also started the killing ring, why not fight with that boy, the real murderer!
I don't know where the courage came from. Holding an iron hook in one hand and an open flashlight in the other, I searched for the boy in the supermarket and screamed: "Hey, boy! Come out! I know What have you done, you murderer!"

No one answered me, and the boy was nowhere to be seen.The flashlight in my hand was dangling around, and the iron hook was also waving up and down left and right like crazy.I quickly shuttled between the rows of shelves, smashing a lot of goods to the ground.But after turning the whole supermarket upside down, it was a mess, and I still couldn't find the boy.I was panting in despair, I don't know if he is hiding from me, or hiding in a dark corner, anyway, I can't find him - but I don't believe he can be in this secret room Disappeared out of thin air!I yelled loudly again in the empty supermarket: "Coward! What are you doing hiding? Come out, are you afraid of me!"

I stood there for 5 minutes, the flashlight was shining in all directions, and there was no movement.I realized that the boy would not come out on his own initiative, so I started a second round of searching in the supermarket with anger.

When I walked to the far right corner, the flashlight caught a person who was almost forgotten by me—the old woman.When the light fell on her face, I thought it was the most terrified face I've ever seen in my life.There is no doubt that her fear and panic at this time have reached the point where it cannot be added.I don't know if she was frightened by the series of murders before, or by my crazy behavior at the moment.But this is not my concern, anyway, she has that expression as always, and I am too lazy to pay attention to her.I stayed by her side for only a few seconds before I started looking for the boy again.

After tossing about for about half an hour, I was exhausted physically and mentally, and my voice was hoarse, but the boy really seemed to have evaporated from the world and disappeared completely.I don't have the mind and energy to spend with him anymore. Before my energy is exhausted, I have one more important thing to do.

I've already figured it out-it's death anyway, I want to die to understand.Before the lamp of my life ran out, I decided to unravel all the mysteries - what virus broke out out there?What are those terrifying giant monsters?Is this area really empty?What does the world outside the door look like now? ——It is not difficult to know these questions. There is only one way: break open the door and go out.

Now I have no worries and fears.There was only one thought in my mind—if only it would give me one more glimpse of the outside world, I would not hesitate to die immediately afterwards.At least what I do is to understand ghosts, which is much more cost-effective than those people who died for no reason in the supermarket.I didn't hesitate any longer, and a huge force of sorrow surged in my body.I found by the door the tools the bearded man had taken out of the storage room.I held a thick flat-head rivet in one hand, and raised a hammer in the other hand. With a loud cry, I knocked hard on the iron rolling shutter door.

Suddenly, there was an earth-shattering loud noise in the empty and dead supermarket.Like going crazy, I used all my strength to slam the hammer against the rolling door again and again.Finally, the rivet pierced a hole in the iron rolling door, and I smashed it wildly along the gap, and a small crack of about ten centimeters appeared on the rolling door.I stuffed the hacksaw into the gap, screaming and sawing the door vigorously. After about a hundred times of sawing, the gap on the rolling shutter door expanded to half the height of a person.I saw hope, and hit the left and right sides of the gap dozens of times with a hammer-oh my god!A gap that can squeeze out of my body finally appeared!
I couldn't suppress the ecstasy and excitement in my heart. I stretched out one leg first, and then squeezed my whole body out desperately.The sharp part of the crack ripped my clothes and hurt my arms and back, and when my last leg came out, I lost my balance and fell to the ground, but I felt no pain at all— — I'm finally out!
It's only after 6 in the morning, and it's still dark and foggy—or so I thought when I fell to the ground.At first I was so focused on how to get out that I didn't notice what was around me at all.When I got up from the ground and looked around intently, I saw everything in front of me.

At the moment when I looked around, time seemed to be frozen, and the whole world stopped turning at this moment.

Before I came out, I had imagined countless pictures of the outside world in my mind, but what I see now is not any of them.

I can't believe what I'm seeing now anyway.

With me as the center, or this supermarket as the center, within a radius of 50 meters, there are more than a dozen police cars, ambulances and more than a hundred people densely surrounded, all of them are waiting in line and staring solemnly. I.Several nurse-looking people seemed to be coming towards me, but one stopped them with a hand gesture.Facing my direction, a few policemen behind a police car were whispering something on their mobile phones.In addition, I also noticed that the background behind them, that is, the streets, buildings, and shops, were all exactly the same as before I entered this supermarket, without the slightest change or difference.

Faced with this situation, my brain feels like a rusty gear that can't turn - what the hell is going on?Didn't the news say that everyone in this area was moved and evacuated due to the outbreak of the virus?The city has also been blocked and quarantined.What are these people in front of you doing here?Were they already here, or just now?If they were here before, why didn't anyone come to help us when we knocked on the supermarket door for help?Also, am I— am I dreaming?

No, it wasn't a dream, there was pain—the wounds on my arms and back reminded me at this moment.So, what's going on here?I stood there blankly, falling into an unprecedented confusion.

20. The truth
200X年9月22日 晚上 9:29
He had no choice, and he knew very well that his whereabouts had been exposed.Soon, those "monsters" will surround him from all directions, and he will become the turtle in the urn—no way!Never sit still!He looked around in a panic, and suddenly saw a light of hope not far ahead.

supermarket?There is also a supermarket open there!His heart beat wildly——I'm saved!
He rushed over, the glass door of the supermarket was closed, he slammed into it, and at the same time raised the pistol on his waist to face the people who lined up to pay, and shouted: "Don't move! You - all of you, don't move!"

The situation was successfully brought under control!Everyone in the supermarket was petrified, and no one dared to act rashly.He glanced back hastily, and knew in his heart that before those "monsters" came after him, he had to take action!He pointed the gun at the male clerk by the door and shouted, "Close the door! Quickly, close the shutter door!"

"Okay, okay..." The male clerk obediently agreed, walked to the door, picked up an iron hook, and hooked it to the iron rolling door at the top, with a "wow", the rolling door was pulled down, "snap" It was locked by the ground lock.

Almost at the same time, several police cars sped up, just in time to witness the closing of the shutter door.A young policeman driving in the leading car slapped his thigh in frustration: "Oh! It's just one step too late!"

He turned to ask a middle-aged policeman wearing a leather jacket sitting next to him: "Captain, the target escaped into the supermarket and forced the clerk to close the door. What should we do now?"

"Let's talk after getting out of the car." The captain of the criminal police ordered, and pushed the door decisively.

The policemen in the police cars behind also got out of the car and gathered around the captain. One of them asked for instructions: "Captain, do you want to shout inside?"

"Don't be busy." The captain made a gesture and took out his mobile phone, "I will report the situation to the director first."

The captain of the criminal police took the phone and walked to the side to talk to the director. After he briefly reported the current situation to the director, he listened carefully to the instructions given by the director. After a few minutes, he replied solemnly: "Okay, I will Got it...know!"

Putting down the phone, the captain of the criminal police said to his subordinates: "The director just said that this time is quite special. The target we are tracking is not a certain suspect, but a patient who may be carrying a highly contagious virus. People who have been in contact with him before One doctor and three nurses were all infected without exception. In other words, the current infection rate is [-]%, which is quite dangerous."

"What virus is he carrying?" a policewoman asked.

The captain of the criminal police shook his head and said: "I don't know. It is said that it may be a new vicious virus. After being infected by this virus, there will be no physical discomfort, but mental lesions and disorders. Specifically, as long as the infected person Under certain hints or psychological influences, there will be corresponding hallucinations and conjectures..."

"That is to say, there will be some mentally ill conditions?" the young policeman asked.

"That's almost what it means." The captain of the criminal police said, "And the director said that the infected doctors and nurses will interact with each other, and the same imaginary picture will appear-general mental patients don't do this."

"No wonder..." the female policeman recalled, "I said why he kept running away. When he saw our car chasing him, he was scared out of his wits. Maybe he regarded us as some kind of monster."

"Captain, what shall we do now?" Another policeman asked.

"The director just gave instructions, telling us to stand still for the time being and wait and see what happens. As long as no one inside comes out, we should not disturb the people inside, let alone force our way in."

"Captain, that man has a gun in his hand!" The young policeman reminded, "If we ignore it completely, the people in the supermarket will be in danger!"

"I know, but this is a deadly order from above, and we must obey." The captain looked stern.The young policeman looked at him suspiciously, as if he couldn't figure out why.

The captain turned his face slowly and looked at him: "Don't you understand yet? The person carrying the virus escaped into the supermarket, and most of the people there are now infected. And this new virus is now a medical expert. Its transmission route and treatment method have not yet been studied. In other words, if we open the door of the supermarket now and come into contact with anyone inside, then we will also become infected, and then infect more people People, the final situation will get out of hand, and even completely out of control."

"So, do you all understand?" The captain glanced at all his subordinates, "Our task now is not to do nothing, but to guard this small supermarket on the outskirts of the city 24 hours a day. Strictly prevent anyone in this supermarket from coming out until further instructions from superiors. Once the situation changes, we must take corresponding measures. Simply put, people in this supermarket are now quarantined. Listen understand!"

"Yes, I understand!" More than a dozen subordinates responded in unison.Only the policewoman bit her lip and said, "Captain, what we do...don't we just ignore those people in the supermarket? What if the man with the gun loses control and shoots the people inside?"

The captain thought for a moment: "I don't think so. Judging from the current situation, the purpose of the man holding the gun is to target our pursuit of him. Now that he has escaped in, he should be considered safe inside, and there is no reason to report to the supermarket. The people in there shot."

The policewoman sighed worriedly: "It seems that people in the supermarket can only ask for their own blessings."

As they spoke, two ambulances pulled up.Several doctors in white coats and seven or eight nurses got out of the car.The captain of the criminal police hurried forward and asked, "How is it? Doctor. Do you know how to deal with this virus?"

The leading male doctor shook his head and said, "It's not so fast. The experts in the hospital are still studying it. We came here to make some emergency preparations in advance. If someone comes out from inside, we can only act accordingly."

The captain of the criminal police nodded slightly and said: "It seems that your purpose is the same as ours, now..."

"Captain!" The policewoman exclaimed suddenly, "I heard the sound of unlocking the lock in the supermarket, they seem to be planning to come out!"

"Quick!" The captain's face changed, "Go forward and stop them!" The doctor who led the team also ordered immediately, "Get your masks, tranquilizers and infusion bottles ready, and let's go!"

More than a dozen people flocked towards the entrance of the supermarket. As soon as they reached the entrance, the rolling shutter door opened half a person's height with a "crash", and the two policemen in the front saw the male clerk squatting at the entrance at a glance. He was facing them with his back facing in. talking about something.At this moment, the two policemen suddenly had the same idea—their usual professional ethics and moral standards prevented them from pushing this person who was about to escape from danger alive!With sharp eyes and quick hands, the two stretched out their hands almost at the same time, and pulled the male clerk who was squatting by the door out.In just a split second, the iron rolling door collapsed again with a "squeak", and was locked with a "slap".

The male clerk didn't see who was dragging him out, so he let out heart-piercing screams and struggled desperately, kicking the iron rolling door with both feet and making a loud crash.With his kicking feet, he overturned a bottle of medicine held by a female nurse closest to him. The bottle of dark red medicine was knocked to the ground and slowly seeped in through the crack of the rolling door.

The policemen and doctors at the door did not expect the male clerk to struggle so violently like mad.But the person has already been dragged out, and it is impossible to send him in again.Several police officers rushed forward and suppressed his hands and feet respectively. The male doctor forced a mask on his face, and another female nurse quickly rolled up his sleeves and injected a sedative into the male clerk's muscles. middle.After a few minutes, he finally calmed down and closed his eyes as if falling asleep.

The stretcher was brought up.The male doctor ordered another doctor and two nurses: "Pick him into the ambulance and go back to the hospital quickly. Don't contact anyone on the way, and send him directly to the isolation ward!"

Several medical staff complied.The policemen, doctors, and nurses who had gone through the dangerous situation just left the door and wiped the sweat from their foreheads.After waiting for more than ten minutes, everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that there was no movement on the rolling shutter door.

At this moment, the captain of the criminal police seemed to have remembered something, turned around and angrily reprimanded the two young policemen who dragged them out: "It's outrageous! What's the matter with you two? It's good for you to stop them from coming out, but you put them away." The person was dragged out! It’s not bad, only one came out. But we have all had physical contact with that person just now, what if we also contract the virus? What if the virus spreads? Huh?”

The captain of the criminal police scolded the two young policemen so that they dare not make a sound.After a while, seeing their innocent expressions, and seeming to feel that this task is really embarrassing, and they can't blame them, they only sighed secretly, turned and went back to the police car.

The policewoman walked to the window and asked, "Captain, should we call the people in the supermarket, tell them the current situation, and tell them to stay calm?"

The captain of the criminal police straightened up from his seat: "By the way, you reminded me! Now tell someone to cut off the telephone line outside the supermarket, and at the same time ask the relevant personnel to use a mobile phone jammer to block all mobile phone signals near this supermarket! "

The female policeman was puzzled: "Why, Captain?"

"If you think about it, if people in the supermarket contact the outside world and know the current situation, that is, they have been infected with an unknown virus and are still in isolation without any treatment, they will stay in there willingly. I will definitely do everything possible to get out! If people in the supermarket rush out like fleeing for their lives, what should we do? We dare not contact them rashly! So you understand, we are now trying to prevent them from getting anything from the outside world. Get in touch—you can only expect them to be trapped inside, unable to figure out the situation, and not dare to come out easily!"

"I understand, captain. I'll do it now." The policewoman nodded and left quickly.

200X年9月23日 早上 9:11
The police who had been stationed in front of the supermarket all night heard a loud bang from inside the supermarket—it was clearly someone inside hitting the iron shutter door.At the same time, it was accompanied by rough abuse and cries for help.The young policeman said nervously to the captain: "It seems that they are a little bit impatient."

"Just hold your breath." The captain of the criminal police stared at the shutter door intently, "Pay close attention to their every move. If someone wants to force it out, use that if necessary."

The young policeman opened his mouth and glanced at the tranquilizer guns in the police car.

200X年9月23日 晚上 11:55
"God, she finally stopped." The female policeman pinched her forehead sadly and said, "I can't stand that woman beating like this. If this continues, I will have a nervous breakdown."

"She should be tired since the afternoon knocking." The young policeman said to the female policeman, "You are tired too, go sleep in the car."

"And you, don't you want to take a break?"

"I took a nap in the car just now—oh, this mission lasts day and night, if we don't take turns to rest, we will all collapse in the end."

"Okay, then I'll go to sleep in the car." The female policeman was about to get into the police car when she looked up and saw a dilapidated cargo tricycle driving towards her on the road ahead.I don't know if there is something wrong with the engine of this motorcycle, or the cargo loaded is overweight, and the whole fuselage emits a harsh and unpleasant roar.In the stillness of night, the loud noise sounded like the roar of wild animals.As it slowly drove towards this side, the roar of this tattered motorcycle became louder and closer.The female policeman couldn't help frowning and plugged her ears: "What kind of rotten car is definitely not allowed to enter the city, and it is only allowed to drive in this suburb."

The young policeman stared at the direction of the three-wheeled motorcycle: "It seems to be heading towards this supermarket."

"Come on, let's stop it and ask, don't let it come near here again. This earth-shattering noise may alarm people in the supermarket."

The young policeman nodded, and the female policeman hurried forward to stop the three-wheeled motorcycle on the road ahead.

The policewoman showed the driver her police ID and asked, "What are you doing here in the middle of the night with this rotten motorcycle?"

The driver of the three-wheeled motorcycle was an honest-looking middle-aged man. He also saw several police cars and ambulances surrounded in front of the supermarket. Obviously, he had never seen such a battle before.He widened his eyes and said irrelevantly, "Officer, what happened here...?"

"We asked you what you're doing here?" The young policeman said with an emphasis.

"I... I am in charge of delivering goods to this supermarket, and I used to deliver goods at this time." The driver asked cautiously, "Why, officer, is there any problem?"

The female policeman said to him: "Let me tell you, this supermarket has been temporarily blocked for some special reason. You drive your car back now, and don't come to deliver goods during this time-also, the exhaust of your rotten car You can’t continue to use it anymore. If I catch you driving this broken three-wheeled motorcycle next time, I will immediately notify the traffic police to collect your car. Do you hear me?”

"Yes, yes, yes... I see!" The driver nodded hastily, and hurriedly drove the three-wheeled motorcycle to turn around and drive back.The two policemen had to endure the huge roar of the broken motor again, and watched it drive further and further away.

200X年9月24日 上午 9:11
A policeman hurried over and said, "Captain, I heard the sound of an electric drill coming from the entrance of the supermarket, and the people inside probably want to break through the door!"

The captain of the criminal police stood up from his chair: "Electric drill? Is there such a thing in the supermarket?"

"This is terrible, captain. If they use an electric drill to destroy the shutter door, they will be able to break through the door in about 10 minutes!" said the young policeman.

The captain thought for a moment, and ordered: "You guys, go find the external wires connected to this supermarket, and cut the wires!"

"Ah, cut off the power?" One of the policemen asked hesitantly, "Will it cause panic to those who know nothing inside?"

"No way, if you don't do this to stop them, there will be panic outside soon." The captain of the criminal police broke the cigarette in his hand into two pieces.

200X年9月25日 晚上 10:41
A silver-white car came quickly and stopped 200 meters away from the supermarket.Several policemen were about to go up to question the visitor.Two middle-aged men with anxious faces got off the car, like a couple.They walked quickly towards the nearest police officers and asked hurriedly, "Is my daughter in this supermarket?"

A square-faced policeman replied decisively: "Regardless of whether your daughter is inside or not, please leave now. No one other than the police and medical personnel can stay here."

"Why? Why do you lock my daughter up here?" The middle-aged man in a suit had a hot temper, and he asked sharply, "My daughter is not a prisoner. What right do you have to lock her up?"

The captain of the criminal police came over with the policewoman, and the captain asked, "What's going on? Who are you?"

"We are the parents of a girl inside!" The man in the suit said, pointing to the supermarket, "My daughter is studying in college in your city. I haven't contacted her the day before yesterday! I called the school to ask, and the person in charge of the school actually Tell me that my daughter went to this supermarket to buy things, but was imprisoned by the police, and said that my daughter may have contracted some disease-I still have to ask you! What is going on here?"

The captain of the criminal police patiently explained to them: "The person in charge of the school is right. Your daughter probably went to this supermarket to buy things three days ago, and happened to meet a man carrying an unknown virus there. When I entered this supermarket, and closed the door forcibly. In other words, your daughter may have been infected by the virus. And now the hospital experts have not yet developed an effective way to prevent and control the virus, so We temporarily quarantined the supermarket in order to prevent the virus from expanding and spreading. I hope you can understand."

After hearing these words, the girl's mother burst into tears: "My daughter is really infected with some unknown virus? Then you locked her inside, wouldn't you be desperate to save her?"

The female policeman took a step forward and said, "Two, let me explain three points to you. First, according to what the doctor told us, people infected with this virus will not experience any physical discomfort, but will be affected mentally. , so you don’t need to be too anxious and worried; second, our captain just told you that the experts in the hospital have not yet developed a cure for this disease, so even if we let her come out, we can’t treat her. Healing, on the contrary, will spread the virus. Third, dozens of people have been here, including supermarket owners and relatives of those people in the supermarket. After listening to our persuasion, they They all expressed their understanding and understanding of the government's actions. So I hope you can also restrain yourself, support and cooperate with our work, okay?"

It is difficult to refute what the female policeman said, both emotionally and rationally.But the girl's mother still cried and begged: "Officer, we came here from other places in a hurry. Even if we can't see our daughter, let me talk to her through the door. The head office? Just let me know that she is still fine." That's enough."

The female policeman said embarrassingly: "I'm afraid it won't work. If I let her know that you are at the door, she will definitely... well, I won't be able to tell you clearly for a while."

The girl's father suddenly yelled furiously, and shouted: "This is not allowed, and that is not allowed! I don't understand why I have to get your approval if I want to see my daughter!"

After saying this, he suddenly pushed away the two policemen in front of him, and ran towards the entrance of the supermarket.Several policemen didn't expect him to be so irritable and impulsive, and they stood there for a while.The captain of the criminal police yelled: "Stop him quickly!" The policemen came back to their senses and quickly chased after him.But already half a beat slow.The man in the suit rushed fast, and he had already reached the door of the supermarket. He couldn't help but punched the door, and after a few hard punches, he opened his mouth to call his daughter's name.Several policemen rushed up at this moment, and a tall and burly policeman covered his mouth, hugged him and dragged him back.The man seemed to have gone crazy, his upper body was dragged away, and his lower body was still kicking the door violently with his feet.It took a lot of effort for several policemen to drag him away, but he didn't stop, and continued to struggle and resist.

The captain of the criminal police couldn't stand it any longer. He took out the electric baton from his waist, pressed the switch, stepped forward and aimed a blow at the back of the neck of the man in the suit.The man yelled and passed out.The captain of the criminal police turned around with an angry face, and said to the two policemen, "Drive him to the bureau! If he tries to make trouble again, he will be detained for obstructing official duties!"

200X年9月27日 凌晨 6:12
The captain of the criminal police was lying in the car with his eyes squinted. Through the window glass, he watched a white ambulance speeding with its lights on.The captain of the criminal police instinctively felt that the arrival of this ambulance meant something changed and ended.He opened the door and walked out of the car.

The ambulance stopped very close to his police car, barely stopped the car, and a middle-aged male doctor jumped out of the car.The captain could see that he was the male doctor who first talked to him.After staying here for two days, he went to the hospital and is back now.At this moment, he strode up to the captain of the criminal police and said hastily: "Captain, the experts in our hospital finally came to a conclusion after treating and observing several patients who were previously infected and the male clerk who was later sent to the hospital. !"

The criminal police captain's eyes lit up: "What is it? Say it!"

The male doctor helped the spectacle frame, shook his head and sighed: "Oh, I was completely wrong... The guess and judgment made by our hospital before was completely wrong."

The captain of the criminal police looked at him, waiting for him to continue.

The male doctor lowered his head in thought, as if he was considering how to express himself clearly. After a while, he raised his head and said: "The man who broke into the supermarket is a patient who escaped from the mental hospital in our city. The reason why he escaped from the mental hospital is , because a doctor and three nurses who had been in contact with him before had symptoms of different degrees of mental illness at almost the same time, which led to lax care. Captain, you know, although the cause of the mental illness has not been very clear until now, But it is obviously not transmitted by bacteria, that is to say, mental illness is not contagious. But in this case, how to explain the situation that four medical staff and the patient have symptoms of psychosis at the same time? Therefore, the experts in our hospital thought There is another possibility, which is a newly proposed concept in the world-the virus infection theory."

The male doctor paused for a while, and then said: "The theory of viral infection is that mental illness is also caused by a certain virus. It's just that this statement currently lacks actual basis, so it is not authoritative, but this incident makes us I can't help guessing—could there really be a contagious mental illness virus in this man? Based on this consideration, the hospital attaches great importance to it. In order to prevent the virus from spreading, the government asked you to be temporarily isolated here This supermarket. But after observing and treating several patients so far, we have gone in the wrong direction—the sick man is not a virus carrier at all, but a very serious sensory psychopath![1]”

The captain of the criminal police stared straight in his eyes, and asked dully: "Inductive psychosis? What do you mean?"

"This is not a new concept. To put it simply, an inductive psychopath is similar to a disease communicator. Under the influence of certain factors, he (she) can transmit mental illness to normal people." The male doctor gestured Say, "Let's put it this way, when patients with inductive psychopaths have certain delusions, if they come into contact with normal people, they will often describe and instill their fantasies to the people around them as if they are real, and their expressions, actions and The language is very provocative and suggestive. If the person in contact with it has a good psychological quality, it may not be affected; but if it is not psychologically prepared, is frightened, and happens to be in a special environment Under the influence, there is a great possibility that he will be affected by psychological suggestions, and thus have the same mental symptoms as that person. And previous cases have shown that the younger the person is, the easier it is to be affected, and in severe cases, even mental disorders will occur. Secondary The emotional tension of the patient, coupled with self and mutual suggestion, will cause a collective hysteria attack..."

"Wait a minute," the captain of the criminal police frowned and interrupted the male doctor, "Listen to you, if we isolate these people in this supermarket, don't we just provide them with an 'excellent' environment for them to work in the supermarket?" Does it imply and influence each other?"

The male doctor wiped the cold sweat from his forehead: "This is indeed caused by our misjudgment... This is a serious and terrible mistake. I later learned that the man who fled into the supermarket was encountered by a mental hospital. One of the most vicious influences is an induced psychopath, so that even professional medical staff have been 'infected' by it... In fact, if we sent all the people in the supermarket to the hospital on the day of the incident and sent them Separately, they probably wouldn't have any problems; but now, nine out of ten people in the supermarket have become secondary to induced psychosis... But fortunately, this disease can be cured, and It's not life-threatening."

"Really..." The captain of the criminal police lowered his head, looking dazed, "Maybe they were treated in isolation from the beginning, so their lives are not in danger..."

The male doctor didn't hear clearly: "Captain, what are you talking about?"

The captain of the criminal police slowly raised his head and looked at the male doctor: "The research results you brought may be too late for the people in the supermarket. You have been away for two days, and I don't know what happened in these two days... ..."

The male doctor stared at him blankly: "What happened... what happened?"

The captain of the criminal police said with a sad expression: "During the hour between 10:11 and [-]:[-] last night, we heard three gunshots in the supermarket—doctor, do you still think that these people's lives are not in danger?"

The male doctor stood there dumbfounded, his whole body seemed to be stiffened by the cold.

At this moment, all the police and medical staff, including the two of them, heard crazy beating sounds coming from the supermarket, and a deafening sound of hammers hitting the rolling shutter door was like knocking directly into the door. broke their hearts.

"There are still people alive, and finally there are still people alive in the supermarket..." the captain of the criminal police murmured, "He (she) finally couldn't take it anymore, and was going to break the door out."

The male doctor said with a guilty expression: "After the people inside come out, I will go up to communicate with them first—you should stay away from it for now, and don't scare them anymore."

21. Terrible conclusion
200X年9月27日 清晨 6:44
"Did you understand? Did you -- did you understand what I meant?" He said and gestured at me, "You don't have to speak, just nod or shake your head."

I stared blankly at the middle-aged male doctor wearing glasses in front of me.He came up to me alone, and told me a lot of obscure words, what kind of inductive psychopaths, people in the supermarket were all affected, causing mass hysteria... What he said was the same as what I said before What I understood is completely different from what I guessed. I really can't be sure if I understand everything.

Just when I was puzzled, I suddenly heard a policeman wearing a leather jacket reporting to someone on his mobile phone not far ahead: "A boy came out of the supermarket."

boy!I was startled—almost forgot about him!I turned around abruptly and searched around, but I didn't see the "boy" he said.But I saw another scene - a male policeman carried the old woman out of the supermarket, and shouted: "This old lady is the only one left alive in the supermarket, and everyone else is dead!"

With the male policeman was a young female policeman, they went to an ambulance and said to several nurses: "This old lady is probably the only one in this supermarket who is not affected. She is deaf. I can speak a little dumb, and I communicated with her just now, and she told me with gestures that everyone in this supermarket is crazy and is constantly killing each other!"

I stared blankly at them, confused in my mind—deaf-mute?The old lady turned out to be a deaf-mute!No wonder she never said a word to any of us, why didn't I think of that before?What did the policewoman mean when she said she was the only person in the supermarket who was not affected?My mind is getting more and more confused, and I can't understand everything at all.At this time, I thought of the murderer again, he has not been caught yet!I yelled to the male doctor in front of me: "Where is that boy? Quickly tell the police to catch that boy! He is a murderer!"

The male doctor frowned and asked suspiciously, "What did you say... a boy? Why, besides you, are there other boys in there?"

I'm completely stunned - what is he talking about?
Seeing that I was stunned again, the male doctor probably felt that it was very difficult to communicate with me, so he said, "Why don't we go to the hospital first, okay? Or, tell me who your parents are, who are they?" Where do you work?"

I stared at him like I was watching an alien from space, but he continued to ask: "Why don't you tell me which middle school you study in, okay?"

It was a strange and horrifying feeling—I was sinking slowly in an ice cave full of ice and snow.First, my feet were frozen into ice cubes, and then gradually upwards, the cold air spread to my whole limbs, freezing my blood, limbs, and thinking.I was completely turned into an ice sculpture that couldn't think.After a while, it seemed as if something in my brain was torn apart by a sudden thought.Driven by this thought, I suddenly felt like going crazy, and staggered towards the police car closest to me. In the rearview mirror on the left side of the police car, I saw the person in the mirror——

It was the face of a boy in his teens, exactly like the boy I saw in the supermarket!
In an instant, I understood everything.While the world was spinning, some clips that happened in the supermarket reappeared in my mind like a fast-playing black and white movie——

"You know? I have a daughter who looks about the same age as you. So seeing you gives me a sense of intimacy." (middle-aged uncle)

"The most important thing right now is that the ten of us must unite as one..." (middle-aged uncle)

"Actually, I had some doubts a long time ago, but I just held back and didn't say anything, but now it seems that the murderer must be that boy..." (female shop assistant)
Along with these memories came to light, the answers to all my previous questions.At this moment, my mind suddenly became very clear, which made me understand everything. On the night of the accident, I went to study by myself in the evening, and after I came out of school, I read a magazine and went home.When passing by this supermarket, I walked in, and even while waiting in line to pay, my whole body and mind were still immersed in that wonderful story.The story was so beautifully written, it was called "A Single Woman's Life in a Different Place", and I was completely drawn into it by the author's writing style.It wasn't until the man with the gun broke in and threatened us not to move that the book in my hand fell to the ground.But I didn't realize it at all. After being extremely frightened, my mind was in a mess, and then I became a "single woman living in a different place".

And what happened in the supermarket in the next few days, I also understood-the arrogant and unreasonable bearded man desperately wanted to smash the door out the next day, and I was against doing this; Find out who the murderer is, and say she has found clues, which is obviously a threat to me; and the fashion girl is a ticking time bomb, even revealing that she will use extreme methods to protect herself. How can she be reassured if she solves it?Obviously, the subconscious "boy" in my head would not allow these threats to exist. "He" got up quietly and killed them with a fruit knife while I was asleep!

Now, I have finally come to a terrible conclusion - the crazy murderer who killed three people in the supermarket is myself!

Now, my whole body is limp on the ground.What the doctors and policemen were saying to me was like the north wind howling, fleeting.I didn't catch a word of what they were saying.There is only one question on my mind right now - what should I do?Do you want to tell them all the truth, let them know what happened in the crazy five days and six nights in the supermarket, and then bow your head and confess.Of course, I believe that even if I don't say anything, they will draw conclusions from the on-site investigation and analysis, not to mention there is an old lady who has not been infected with the virus, and she will also describe everything she has witnessed in the past few days" Saying "come out - when the time comes, what will be my result?
However, at least one thing is worth consoling—the world is still there, the flowers, trees, and creatures are still alive, and I saw the sun rise again—maybe for me, this is enough.

(End of the first story)

The story of Yu Chicheng was finished. This story conceived in the afternoon was told from 7:10 pm to [-]:[-] pm.The excitement of the story exceeded everyone's expectations, and they secretly admired it in their hearts.So much so that after the story ended, everyone in the hall was still immersed in it, and no one spoke for a while.

Nan Tian now understands that the mysterious host said that he "invited" 14 of the best suspense novel writers in China, which is indeed true.Just the first story made him feel a strong challenge.At this moment, he almost forgot the situation he was in, his blood boiled all over, and he even thanked this incident in his heart for giving him the opportunity to compete with these suspense masters.

As the first storyteller, Yu Chicheng is very smart——Nan Tian sighed secretly——the story he told called "Invasion of Strange Disease" used the most classic "Blizzard Mountain Villa Mode" in suspense mystery novels.This kind of story mode in which strange events occur in a closed state is the most attractive and the easiest to shine in suspense novels.The important thing is that after he used this mode, the people behind him could no longer tell this type of story.

This is a game of "fighting wits" to the extreme, and Nan Tian's heart is full of turmoil.

"The story is very good." Araki Zhou broke the silence. "Well, let's start scoring now."

"How?" Lake asked.

Ryoma said: "The host has prepared it for us a long time ago—there is a stack of white paper and more than a dozen pens in the cabinet where the food is stored. The meaning could not be more obvious."

Beidou said: "I'll get it." He stood up and walked towards the cabinet, and came back after a while holding a pen and blank paper.He handed out paper and pens to everyone next to each other.

Except for Yu Chicheng, the other 13 people wrote a number on the white paper.Yu Chicheng swallowed his saliva, looking a little nervous.

Nan Tian scored 9 points for Yu Chicheng.

After everyone finished writing, Beidou put away the 13 sheets of paper again and asked, "Who will help me count together."

Nan Tian and Long Ma said together: "Let me come." They both walked towards Beidou together.Under everyone's gaze, Nan Tian added up the numbers on each piece of paper.

Because it was a secret ballot, Nan Tian didn't know who scored which score.But he can feel that everyone is fair, and the scores are basically 8 or more, and only one person scores 6-it seems that most people think this is an excellent story.

After adding everything up, Nan Tian divided the number by 13 to get the total score of the first story."The final average score for this story is 8.8 (rounded to the second decimal point)," he announced.

Yu Chicheng nodded to Nan Tian, ​​it seems that he is quite satisfied with this score.

"The score of the first story is so high, the people behind us are under pressure." Beidou stuck out his tongue.

At this time, Xu Wen suddenly expressed a little anxiety, and said: "Tomorrow is my turn..." He stood up from the chair, looked down, as if talking to the floor, "I want to Go back to your room and get ready."

Xu Wenwu walked up the stairs, entered his room, and closed the door tightly.Xia Houshen said, "Let's go back to our room and rest."

The people in the hall dispersed one after another. Sajia and Nan Tian walked together and whispered: "I think that person named Xu Wen is a bit weird. He seems to be more anxious than all of us. In fact, even if his story If you don’t get a high score, don’t worry about it.”

Nan Tian stopped in his tracks: "Could it be...he has any reason to win this 'competition'?"

Sajia showed a puzzled expression: "Why does he have to win?"

Nan Tian waved his hands and said, "Not necessarily, I'm just guessing. The specific reason, I plan to find a chance to ask him tomorrow."

The next morning, everyone gathered in the hall, took out food and water from the cabinet, and ate a simple breakfast.

Nan Tian gnawed on dry bread while watching Xu Wen who was sitting opposite him.

He looked more anxious than yesterday, his brows were furrowed all the time, his eyes were darkened, and his face was haggard. It seemed that he didn't sleep well last night.He only took two bites of the bread in his hand, and seemed unable to eat it anymore.Those two protruding eyes stared blankly at a certain place, with a preoccupied look.

Nan Tian saw Xu Wen wrap the unfinished bread in plastic paper and put it aside.He got up from his chair and went to his room again.

Nan Tian knew that once Xu Wen returned to the room, he would lock the door tightly again, and it would not be so easy for him to open it.He hurried up.

At the corner of the stairs, Nan Tian walked quickly around to Xu Wen, and said with a smile: "Mr. Xu Wen, I want to talk to you, can I?"

Xu Wen looked at him alertly: "What are you talking about?"

Nan Tian pretended to be casual and said: "It's nothing, isn't it your turn to tell a story tonight? I want to ask if you have a good idea."

Unexpectedly, Xu Wen didn't seem to care about this issue at all: "One day is enough for me to conceive a story. There is nothing to worry about." After finishing speaking, he was about to walk towards the room .

Nan Tian hurried to catch up: "Since this is the case, please forgive me for being blunt - why have you been anxious and preoccupied since last night? It seems that you are worried or afraid of something."

These words seemed to hit Xu Wen's mind, he raised his head, stared into Nan Tian's eyes, and suddenly shivered.

Nan Tian was stunned, he didn't know why Xu Wen had such a reaction.

Xu Wen looked around nervously, and found that there were only the two of them at the corner of the stairs. He grabbed Nan Tian's hand and said, "Why do you ask me this question? Do you have the same premonition as me? thing?"

Nan Tian looked at him in astonishment: "...What happened? What happened?"

"I don't know exactly what will happen." Xu Wen's bloodshot eyes widened, as if they were about to pop out of their sockets. "But I just have this feeling... That madman gathered us here, and mixed with us, not as simple as letting us tell stories every day. He must have done something else, and today... Trust me, my instincts have always been better than anyone else's."

Nan Tian stared at Xu Wen and saw the fear in those eyes.This made him inexplicably believe that Xu Wen's intuition was not without reason.Just when he was about to ask more questions, Xu Wen suddenly found someone walking towards the stairs.He shook off Nan Tian's hand, walked quickly into his room, and then closed the door with a bang.

Looking at the closed wooden door, Nan Tian stood at the corner of the stairs in a daze.

He didn't realize that in the hall downstairs, someone had been watching them since just now.

At noon, everyone went to the cabinet in the hall to get something to eat.Nan Tian noticed that Xu Wen didn't come down.

He didn't eat much in the morning, isn't he hungry now?Nan Tian thought.Or, the sense of fear has made him lose his appetite?
When Nan Tian was in a daze, An Huo next to him bit a piece of sausage and cursed, "Damn it, we're just like prisoners now!"

"What's like', it is." Lake said with a wry smile, "However, you should be thankful that we are not sentenced to life imprisonment."

"After 14 days, can we really go out?" Darkfire said.

With a puzzled expression on his face, Lake chewed the biscuit and said, "We'll know when the time comes."

At this time, a cold voice came from the side: "Anyway, I can go out."

Several people were startled and looked over there at the same time.

The speaker was Araki Boat.

Lake stopped eating and opened his mouth blankly.

Araki Shuu walked up to him and said close to Lake's nose, "Don't treat this as a boring prison, and don't waste every minute. Use your eyes and heart to observe carefully, and you will definitely find something."

Lake whispered in astonishment: "You mean... the identity of 'that person'?"

"Yes. I don't believe that for so many days, 'that person' will have no flaws at all. As long as you are a human being, you will make mistakes, and it is impossible to be perfect. Remember this." Araki Zhou put the back of his hand on Lake's chest Take two shots.

"Why...why are you telling me this?"

"Because according to my observation, you are not 'that person'." Arakaki snorted, and approached Lake's ear again, "And I should be sure that 'that person' will show his feet sooner or later, there is no need to wait 14 God, I can catch him."

After saying these words, Araki Zhou sneered mysteriously, turned and left.

Darkfire was always by their side, watching them intently, listening carefully to their conversation.

Nantian is the same.He felt surprised——When Araki Zhou said these words, he didn't shy away from the people beside him at all.Could it be that he already has some clues about the identity of "that person"?

With guesses and doubts, Nan Tian walked towards his room.The people in the hall basically finished their food and went back to their rooms one after another.

Yu Chicheng lay in his bed and took a nap, now he is the most relaxed among the 14 people.

A light knock on the door woke him up.

Yu Chicheng sat up from the bed and asked, "Who?"

The people outside the door did not speak.Yu Chicheng felt strange, walked to the door, opened the door slightly, and saw the person standing at the door.

"It's you, why are you looking for me?" He asked wonderingly.

"Can I come in and talk?" the man said softly.

Yu Chicheng hesitated slightly, and opened the door: "Come in."

After the man came in, he turned around and locked the door of the room.

"Why do you need to lock the door, can't you just say that?" Yu Chicheng became a little vigilant.

"What I'm going to say, I guess you don't want others to hear."

"What exactly is it?" Yu Chicheng frowned.

The man made a gesture to signal Yu Chicheng to come closer, then put his mouth close to his ear, and whispered a few words.

"What! You said...how, how is this possible!" After hearing what the man said, Yu Chicheng suddenly became short of breath, terrified.

"Anyway, I told you. As for what you think, that's up to you." The man said flatly.

"It's impossible...impossible..." Yu Chicheng shook his head, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead.He repeated this sentence over and over, with a look of horror on his face.

"Don't lie to yourself, in fact, you are also aware of this problem now."

"Okay, I don't want to talk about this issue now. Please go out, I'm a little tired and want to be alone for a while." Yu Chicheng waved his hand in annoyance.

"Okay." The man walked to the door, opened it with a slight movement, and walked out.

Yu Chicheng stepped forward quickly and closed the door.

He turned around and tried to control his emotions, but he still couldn't help trembling all over his body.

Seven o'clock in the evening.

Everyone has already sat in their seats, except for one person.

Xia Houshen looked at his watch: "It's already seven o'clock, why hasn't Yu Chicheng come down?"

Beidou said, "How about I call him?"

"Go." Xia Houshen said.

Beidou went up to the second floor, came to the door of Yu Chicheng's room, and knocked on the door.

After a while, Beidou came down from upstairs and spread his hands: "Mr. Yuchi said he was not feeling well, so he won't come down."

"What, won't come down?" Xia Houshen frowned. "Does he think that after telling the story, it doesn't matter to him? He still has to rate other people's stories."

"Forget it, since Mr. Yuchi is not feeling well, let him rest. Anyway, I am recording, and I can show him the story after I finish telling it, and then retell the content with him." Ryoma said.

Xia Houshen snorted, as if he was very dissatisfied with Yu Chicheng's loose attitude.

Long Ma asked: "Mr. Xu Wen, is this okay?"

Xu Wen shrugged his shoulders: "I don't care."

Araki Shuko looked at his watch: "Then let's start, it's already 7 past 10 o'clock."

Xu Wen nodded, but looked at Long Ma: "Young man, can I make a request to you?"

"You say."

"When I speak later, I will try to slow down my speech. That's because I hope you can record this story in as much detail as possible."

Longma agreed: "Okay. Do you hope that when I show it to Mr. Yuchi, he can understand the story in more detail?"

"No, that's not the reason." Xu Wen hesitated for a moment, then said, "I think, after I finish telling this story, something might happen...and this thing...is related to the story I told .”

"What do you mean?" Qian Qiu frowned and looked at him, as if he didn't quite understand.

"...Forget it, it's nothing." Xu Wen said solemnly.He took a deep breath and collected himself. "I'd better tell the story first."

He began to speak.

(End of this chapter)