Chapter 87: The remains

Lin Xiang kept paying attention to Locke's movements. He adjusted his position flexibly. Every time he raised his gun, an extremely clear scream and burst sounded at the end of the tunnel. This keen perception ability shocked the mercenaries gathered nearby. Although he did not feel any breath of a psychic person from Lin Xiang, the mercenaries had already subconsciously regarded him as his most powerful teammate.

When he approached a frog-shaped zombie who was blown to the point of only half of his body, but was still lying on the ground twitching, Lin Xiang squatted down, took out several disinfectant syringes from the belt around his waist, inserted it into the heart that was still beating slightly in the chest of the zombie, pulled out the dark red blood that was still warm, and plugged the needle with a sealant. He stood up slowly, quickly exchanged a color with Locke, and walked straight towards the distant passage.

Quinier's squad was approaching the end of the tunnel. A dense rain of bullets and blazing flames enveloped every direction of the mutant's attack, and they could only cringe and retreat, leaving more and more space and wounded companions on the verge of death to this group of barbaric armed prospectors.

Lin Xiang and Locke's team followed slowly, keeping a distance of about 100 meters from Quinier's team. The three burly mercenaries held the machine gun pod high at a position flush with their waists, and could enter the launching state at any time with a command.

The remaining mercenaries were scattered on the cross section of the passage, and the distance between them was no more than half a meter. Under the darkness, it was impossible to see the expressions on their faces clearly. Occasionally, a fire flashed through the transparent oxygen mask, which shone with a strange cold gaze in their eyes.

Lin Xiang took a deep breath of oxygen coming out of his mask, with rubbery smell, looked at the battlefield with fierce gunfire in front of him, and said lightly: "It's almost done."

At this distance, it was clear that there was a dark gray steel gate at the end of the tunnel. Its appearance further stimulated the strong desire for wealth in the blood vessels of the mercenaries. No one urged them, and all the team members, including Quinnier, suddenly burst out with fanatical shouts and whistles. They accelerated the rate of fire of the weapons in their hands and the pace under their feet, like tanks filled with fuel, and excitedly crushed the mutant people who fled in a hurry. They were even fantasizing about stacks of thick banknotes, as well as graceful women in the bar and various expensive luxury goods.

"Swoosh--"

A black shadow lying against the wall suddenly rushed down, accompanied by a low roar, the closest mercenary had not turned around, and the sharp horny claws had penetrated his throat, with such a strong power that it almost completely broke its entire neck.

Quinnier stopped in surprise and subconsciously raised his head to look up at the top wall. He was shocked to find that this was a space that was connected to the tunnel, with a wider area and height. Since the two sections of the ground were completely flush and there was not enough light, it was difficult to find a structure different from the outside. The frog-shaped zombies who had suffered heavy losses in the tunnel retreated here one after another. They were close to the top wall more than five meters above the ground, staring at the ground with their red monster eyes, silently waiting for the fanatical attacker to enter the predetermined ambush circle by themselves.

Black shadows fell from the top wall, and mutants who had slightly adapted to the light rushed among the mercenaries. The sharp claws passed by the fragile human body surface, causing a shrill scream. The panicked mercenaries could no longer form an effective fire attack surface like they had just now. The threat of death hidden in the dark suddenly caused them to suddenly feel uncontrollable fear. They shouted desperately, and the assault rifles in their hands shot violently towards all possible zombies. The scattered bullets collided with countless dazzling Mars on the wall, but did not play any role they deserved.

A living zombie rushed up from the lying ground, and its sharp claws pierced into a mercenary's chest like lightning. It ripped the prey's body frantically, digging out its soft and tender liver from its cracked abdomen. With a howling of excitement or satisfaction, it flew back to the depths of the high cave top, swallowing its favorite food in big mouths.

The mercenary carrying the flamethrower had his eyes widened like a cow. He was furious and controlled the weapons in his hand and poured flames desperately into the surroundings. More than a dozen charred zombies were howling and rolling back and forth on the ground. The blood and the smell of burning flesh strongly stimulated the mercenary's wild nerves. Just as he was trying to rush forward with a hideous face and rescued his teammate, a zombie lurking in the corner suddenly jumped up and waved

The sharp claws slashed from his neck, and the head wearing an oxygen mask and the last gaze in his eyes rolled down weakly from his shoulders. The uncontrollable body suddenly softened his knees and fell heavily to the ground. The flame spout tightly held in his hand also lost its direction, and the hot flames enveloped the closest mercenary, burning the complete human body into dry and shrinking coke in a heart-wrenching scream.

Looking at the Qunniel team ahead with heavy losses, Locke's eyes were full of irritability and hesitation. According to the plan, Qunniel, who knew nothing about the changes in the terrain at the end of the tunnel, and all his mercenaries must die in this place. Even if they were lucky enough to escape from the zombies, they would be attacked by Locke's team following him.

But Locke obviously doesn't want to do that.

He raised the assault rifle to his chest and aimed at Quinnier, who was looking at his back, but he did not pull the trigger. The explosion and fire illuminated the tension and hesitation behind the oxygen mask. The muscles on his face twitched, his heart was filled with violent impacts and entanglements, and his arms holding the rifle were trembling slightly. Finally, he gritted his teeth hard, put down his weapon with a depressed and angry expression, looked at Lin Xiang standing next to him with a complicated look, and said depressedly: "...I can't do it. After all, he... is my friend."

Lin Xiang nodded in a clear way, raised the ak100 that had been replaced with sniper mode in his hand, and put the back of the man who was fighting hard in the distance into the center of the sight.

"Hao—"

The bullet shot from the muzzle flew past Quinier's shoulder along the predetermined trajectory, and accurately drilled into the head of a zombie that was rushing down from above the hole wall, blowing the ugly gray-white head into pieces.

"When Weaverde threatened me, he stood on my side. More or less, I owe him a favor. As for the trouble in the end, it should be a headache for Glyfiz. Isn't it?" After looking at Rock with surprise, Lin Xiang smiled slightly, turned the AK rifle back to the sweeping mode, jumped, turned it into a gust of wind, and rushed into the end of the tunnel that was fighting fiercely.

The long-silent machine gun burst out again with a frenzy roar, and suddenly joined the subsequent troops of the battle, completely reversing the entire battle situation. Although the zombies stared at their red eyes, they roared hysterically, and rushed towards the group of suddenly coming invaders, they could only be torn into pieces of flesh and bones in the face of the dense rain of bullets.

Quinnier's body was covered with blood and flesh and blood, and his beautiful cream-colored hair was clumped into strands of thick and hard knots. He was like a fierce lion, swinging the assault rifle with bullets in his hand high, roaring and smashing it down at the zombie that was rushing towards him. He quickly pulled out the dagger from his waist with his right hand, stabbed it into the body of the zombie that was smashed to the ground, and tried all his strength to cut it down from the side ribs, and divided it into two pieces of asymmetrical meat.

The entire hall returned to silence again, and the blazing white light emitted by the searchlight made this space that should have been dark. The scattered rays formed a aperture at the top of the tunnel, and the surrounding light became wider and more scattered.

Sometimes weak moans came from the depths of the darkness, and even through the oxygen mask, you could hear heavy breathing between people's mouths and noses. Military boots were stomped in the scattered pieces of flesh and thick blood, and felt a very uncomfortable feeling of stickiness.

Quinnier, covered in blood, stood in the middle of the hall, with his blood-filled eyes wide open and stared at the tunnel behind him. In that direction, more than ten mercenaries from Locke's team formed a semicircle, surrounding him tightly in the middle.

He shook his scattered hair hard, Quinnill pulled off the oxygen mask from his head. He looked at Locke standing a few meters away and cleared his throat hard, his voice a little hoarse: "Why don't you kill me?"

Locke didn't speak, and the expression on his face was quite unnatural.

"Is Gliffiz who asked you to do this?" Quinnier stared at him with hideous eyes, as if he wanted to find the real answer from that face.

Lock hesitated for a moment and nodded silently.

"I should have guessed it was the despicable and damn fat bastard-" spat hard on the ground, Quinnier turned his fierce face to Lin Xiang, and hissed and roared in anger: "What about you? Beautiful little white-faced, don't tell me what the so-called discovery of conscience you are. I don't believe that kind of dirty excuse at all."

"When you were in the restaurant that day, if you were on the side of Weaverde, you didn't even have the chance to speak."

Lin Xiang took off the oxygen mask from his face, quickly changed the empty magazine, kicked a zombie still twitching body on the ground, and looked at him seriously: "I owe you a favor, but I have returned it to you now."

Quinnier's face stagnated. Obviously, these words were completely beyond his expectations.

"Don't stand there stupidly. Locke and I just did what we should do. As for the problem between you and Gliffiz, after we go back, we have plenty of time to solve it slowly."

With the sound of "click", Lin Xiang pulled the bolt hard: "Now, let's see what is hidden in this dark cave-"

The dark gray door walls were covered with moss, and dense moss covered most of the ground layer by layer along the wet corners. A waterline dripping from above the top of the cave formed a shallow concave silt in the corner of the tunnel.

The military green paint coating on the gate was almost completely peeling off, and large pieces of rust stains and moss overlapped with each other. The fingers touched it, giving it a damp and slippery feeling.

The entire door has completely rust and cannot be opened unless violent means are used or the control equipment inside the base is activated.

In the corner to the right of the hall, there is an auxiliary passage about four meters wide, and a heavy steel gate is blocked across the road. Like the gate of the front tunnel, its surface is also occupied by dense moss and rust. Fortunately, it seems that it has some kind of fault during the closure, leaving a gap of nearly three meters wide on the road that should have been completely closed.

The foul air in the air was very heavy, and the remains of corpses everywhere emitted strong blood. Lin Xiang put on his mask again, took a deep breath of oxygen mixed with mold and rubber smell, and after confirming that there were no dangerous creatures within the perception range, he held the assault rifle and gently jumped through the gap next to the gate, without making any sound under his feet.

Unlike the semi-arched tunnel outside, the passage inside the gate has a regular square shape, and the angle is slowly tilted towards the ground. This means that it has passed the load-bearing part of the outside of the ruins and has gradually penetrated into the interior.

This should be a large-scale base. After walking along the downward passage for about 500 meters, the cement floor under his feet finally became smooth. At the same time, a car wreckage that overturned in the middle of the road and occupied two-thirds of the width of the road surface also entered Lin Xiang's sight.

It was a truck dedicated to the army in the old era. It was tilted to the top of the front of the car, and there was still a vague and identifiable "East Wind" sign. The wooden part on the car had completely rotted, and a few small insects similar to cockroaches hid in the wet corners of the car and swayed their tentacles. Some rusty gun parts were scattered on the nearby ground, and two human bones with moldy spots were curled up next to the wheels. Vacant shells could be seen everywhere in the overturned car.

The mercenaries carefully bypassed these ancient relics. This is not done to respect the dead. The wreckage itself may contain viruses and pollution sources that have not been completely released. It is easy to cause unnecessary damage when touched at will.

At the end of the passage is a completely open metal door. Under the illumination of the searchlight, you can see that there is a large space of hundreds of square meters inside the door. Dozens of heavy alloy cabinets were pushed down on the ground, hundreds of metal folding chairs were piled up towards the door wall, leaning against each other to form a simple fortification. More than ten human skulls with clear tooth marks on the surface were scattered on the ground, and a severely rusted 12.7 mm machine gun was placed obliquely at the top of the cabinet, and the ammunition box next to it had been brittle. Next to these ancient human wreckage, there were more than ten "Nine Five" assault rifles that had been damaged and two 80mm rocket launchers that shot in the air.

In addition to the scattered human bones, the most numerous things in the room are the large number of shells densely spread on the ground and corners.

"There should be a fierce battle here."

Locke walked up to him, used the rifle in his hand to pluck a cracked skull, and said to himself in confusion: "Who are their opponents? Are those mutants like jumping frogs?"

Lin Xiang walked slowly on the wet and cold ground, his calm expression as water covered the trembling sadness deep in his heart.

Locke guessed correctly that these long-dead base guards, the enemies they were fighting against, were the same kind who had mutated after being infected by the virus. The gnawing marks left on the surface of the bones have clearly proved this.

Lin Xiang seemed to see more than ten guards relying on this simple temporary fortification and desperately pouring bullets. The dense mutants swarmed in from outside the unclosed gate. They broke through the unstable obstacles and tore the terrified guards to pieces. Amid the shrill screams, they opened their sharp teeth and gnawed on the flesh attached to their bones.

The memory sealed in the brain was redisassembled again - the captain who roared and asked himself to cut off his head after being infected, General Xie Zhiping, who stood in the court building to ignite gasoline, Major Hogan, who was swallowed up by the corpses in front of the Capitol, and the corpses of civilians piled up in Chengdu, and the infected and mutated humans... They were covered in blood, shaking towards themselves, getting closer and closer, and their blurred faces became clearer and clearer. The eyes shot out from those eyes were confused, fear, hideous, and desperate...

"Cut off my head, please don't turn me into that terrible monster-"

"Goodbye. If there is a next life, I will still be in the army-"

"Long live the will of Great Germany, the motherland, long live—"

Lin Xiang, with a pale face, leaned against the corner of the wall, and he felt a little chilling when he was trembling. He wanted to take out a cigarette from his pocket on his chest, but his shaking fingers could not be reached in. In the end, he could only lean on the cold wall powerlessly, and silently looked at the empty gray skeletons on the ground.

Suddenly, he was like crazy, picked up his backpack and poured out all the things inside. He pulled out the dagger from his waist, cut off a piece of it from his expensive combat uniform, half kneeled on the ground, picked up the skull closest to him, hugged it tightly in his arms like a treasure, and used a smooth fabric to wipe it carefully on the surface of the mold-spotted bones.

"What's wrong with you?" Seeing this, Locke squatted down and asked strangely.

"Don't worry about me, do what you should do." Lin Xiang wiped the skull in his hand, carefully put it into his empty backpack, and picked up another one from the side.

The mercenaries stood around and stared at him with strange and puzzled eyes.

Lin Xiang was unmoved at all and continued his seemingly meaningless actions.

After a long time, Locke finally stood up, breathed a long sigh, shook his head and sighed: "Let's go! Everyone has his own choice."

A few hours later.

The night shrouded the world into darkness.

The mercenaries who had explored the entire base gathered in front of the entrance of the tunnel outside the mountain, looking at Lin Xiang, who had just dug up the dirt pit and gently placed his remains.

He swayed very slowly and lightly, as if it was not a piece of lifeless bones, but a group of sleeping souls.

When the last piece of remains in his backpack was put into the pit, he held the soil in his hands, raised it high above his head, and evenly spilled from his fingers.

He did not use any tools, so he slowly and firmly covered the loose soil on it. The expression on his face was solemn and peaceful.

Lock stood behind Lin Xiang, held his hands and looked for a long time. Suddenly he walked up, grabbed a handful of soil from the ground, and slowly sprinkled it down like him.

Gradually, Quinnier joined the ranks.

Immediately afterwards, the fourth person, the fifth person, the sixth person...

"I have to admit that you are a very strange person." Looking at the grave piled up in front of you, Locke looked at Lin Xiang seriously and handed him a lit cigarette.

“This is not surprising.”

After patting the soil on his hands, Lin Xiang took a light breath of smoke: "Just you said, everyone has his own choice."

"Oh?" Locke was a little surprised: "So what is your choice?"

Rubbing the dirty fabric in his hands, and finally taking a look at the black skull pattern embroidered on it, Lin Xiang suddenly remembered a long-standing saying in the old era.
Chapter completed!