Doomsday Wonderland c1-855

by N. Heller

  Right now, Lin Sanjiu felt like she was walking in a dark sewer. She knew she was surrounded by mice, but she did not know where they were. Worst still, Yu Yuan continued to stay unconscious. In the eyes of the citizens of Peanut Town, an unconscious man was like a stationary flesh factory.

  Chapter 769 - The Song Under The Morning Sun

  The sky was getting bluer as the sun gradually crawled up from the horizon. Lin Sanjiu continued to drag Yu Yuan forward, leaving a long trail behind. Her face was cold and bereft of any expression.

  She felt as if she had been walking for quite a distance, yet the armory was still very far away, despite looking close.

  Some time had passed after the speaker fell silent, but Lin Sanjiu couldn't be sure how long it had been since the time flow in the dream was rather erratic. There were more faces, wan and ashen-faced, shuffling in the corner and behind the building, while the line of people trailing behind her became longer.

  Even though the girl said her rifle had run out of ammo, nobody dared to pounce on her.

  After all, in their current situation where food was scarce and living conditions were just too bad, it was every man for himself. Nobody wanted to be the white mouse for the other, as no one wanted to get the short end of the stick.

  Lin Sanjiu noticed that the people who followed behind her were all men, with their own makeshift weapons held tightly in front of their c.h.e.s.ts: a bat coiled with wire, a sharpened shaver, a brick, and even one bow made from twigs and branches. Suddenly, Lin Sanjiu realized that, aside from the girl, she had not seen a woman or a child for a long while.

  She was like a wounded lion threading on the great grass plain, followed by a group of hyenas that were hell-bent on feasting on her.

  Suddenly, Yu Yuan g.r.o.a.n.e.d, which prompted Lin Sanjiu to cast her eyes downward. She saw that his brows were tightly creased as if he was in some kind of nightmare. Be that as it may, he showed no sign of waking up. Lin Sanjiu felt sore on one side of her shoulder, as she had to shoulder his weight. There were times where she could not hold him and he kept sliding down.

  After taking a deep breath, she stopped moving forward and gave the people a backward glance.

  The line of people stopped when they noticed her gaze, and hesitation flashed across their faces. Without giving them time to react, Lin Sanjiu raised her rifle and fired a shot. The bullet flew across the air and went through a person's t.h.i.g.h.

  A scream of pain and horror erupted and echoed through the air. The man fell to the ground, holding his leg as he squirmed in pain. The rest of the people hadn't expected such a maneuver from Lin Sanjiu. Like a swarm of disturbed ants, all of them skedaddled and dispersed. Nobody went up to help the man.

  Lin Sanjiu turned around and readjusted Yu Yuan's body as she continued her journey to the armory.

  The gunshot had successfully scared away part of the citizens that were hiding in the dark. The shuffling noise and glinting eyes had toned down by a huge degree and they did not show themselves after a long while. Suddenly, the man's pained scream rose a few octaves higher and became laden with despair. Lin Sanjiu turned her head around and saw several men with stocky builds dragging him away.

  Lin Sanjiu's feet were planted deeply on the ground; her jaw clenched. She remained standing still until the group of people went out of her sight and the screaming of the man out of earshot. After that, she scanned her surroundings, and wherever her eyes reached, the people would scatter as if her gaze would poison them.

  Just as she felt happy with the result of her plan and turned around to resume her journey, a speaker not far away from her came to life once again.

  "Dear brethren." The girl's voice rang out from the speaker, but it felt even more strange. "Listen to me! Don't fret! She has a gun only, but we have more bullets! On the first floor of the corner building No.15 at Town Hall Street, there is an armory. Inside of the armory, there is a great abundance of ammunition left over by the golden age, courtesy of our late great Mayor Orlean. Whoever can get a hand on her rifle, he will be the owner of the armory. Think about it, guys. You will have a gun and you will have an unlimited supply of ammo, what could stop you?"

  The voice was getting on Lin Sanjiu's nerve and she could not tolerate it anymore. She raised her rifle and silenced it with a shot. A hole appeared in the speaker as it sputtered sparks here and there.

  Be that as it may, there were more speakers along the roadside, and the girl's voice continued to ring through the town. "There are a lot of ways to subdue her if you don't want to hurt yourself. You can work together, pounce on her, or find some tools…"

  Lin Sanjiu clenched her fist so tight they were trembling. She could barely remember the last time she was this angry. Silencing one speaker did nothing, and it would only be a waste of her bullets if she were to destroy all the remaining speakers in a fit of rage. With that thought in mind, her anger soon evaporated. Slowly, she came around, her hands trembling to a stop.

  Block after block of buildings stood staunchly at the mercy of the morning sun. The windows on their bodies acted like their eyes and followed her movements everywhere she went.

  A layer of sweat was dewing on Lin Sanjiu's forehead. The echoes of the man's pained scream still lingered in her ears, and she wondered if her mind or her ears were playing a trick on her again, for the man was long gone. She shook her head to chase away the haunting scream, and as she raised her feet, ready to resume her journey, she suddenly sensed something and jerked her head back.

  A long figure was coming straight at her. She didn't even have time to think or look before she felt the wind on her face. With both her hands fully occupied, there were fewer things she could do. Pushing Yu Yuan behind her, she clenched her teeth and unleashed a spray of bullets at the figure.

  The air was instantly filled with the rattle of the rifle. The spray of bullets lodged into its target and turned it into a ragged doll in the blink of an eye. Be that as it may, the barrage of bullets failed to stop the figure's momentum. It smashed right into Lin Sanjiu, and together, both of them fell to the ground.

  Lin Sanjiu's eye went black for a second and the next thing she knew, she was on the ground with the figure sprawled on top of her. She kicked it away, and then she saw two bulging white cloudy eyes.

  It was the man who she shot earlier, though he was already dead now.

  Lin Sanjiu looked past the dead body and stopped her gaze on a double-story building behind her. To accommodate the rapid increase in population, the street had once again become narrow, as more buildings were built on it. The building she was staring at right now was very close to the street. The group of men who dragged the injured citizen away was looking down at her from the roof of the building. When she pointed her rifle at them, all of them ducked down and hid behind the bal.u.s.trade.

  No matter which world she went to, there was always a group of people who lived a better life than most of the populace. This flock of men was that group of people. They all had stocky builds and their eyes were sharp as eagles. They probably dragged the injured citizen away because they wanted to use him as a sandbag to throw at her.

  "Find me more people!" a distant voice erupted. "I want to see how long she can hold up! If you can't get more people, get me something heavy! I swear to god I am going to smash her to death here today!"

  Lin Sanjiu was greatly startled by the voice and she hastily leaped to her feet. She took a few quick steps and went to check on Yu Yuan's condition. The young man's face was as pale as a sheet of white paper, a stark contrast with his royal blue tattoos, which covered his entire exposed skin. It was lucky that Lin Sanjiu pushed him out of danger's way in the nick of time. Even though his breathing was shallow, he was otherwise fine. She quickly propped him up, but before she could move away, another black figure rammed into her face.

  Her heart skipped a beat and she recoiled two steps back. A round table smashed into the table, spurting shrapnels of wood all around.

  "Go now!" As sh
e closed her eyes to evade flying shrapnel, Mrs. Manas shouted.

  Lin Sanjiu's heart was in her throat when she forced her eyes open and realized where she was. Right now, Yu Yuan and her had retreated to the shadows of the building. Just as Lin Sanjiu thought they were safe, she raised her head and her blood turned cold.

  "Get lost now! Otherwise, I will shoot you!"

  Lin Sanjiu took two steps back, raised her rifle, and shouted menacingly. The group of people knew what she was capable of, so they ducked down. Just when Lin Sanjiu let out a sigh, a few arms popped out from the roof and began throwing things at her.

  By the time she saw a car seat, it was already too late. The thing had slammed and drilled deep into Yu Yuan's stomach.

  However, he did not even utter a m.o.a.n of pain. His limbs quivered, and then everything went quiet.

  In that instant, the fire in Lin Sanjiu's c.h.e.s.t rose to the top. Her brain turned to mush and she felt a tightness in her c.h.e.s.t. Sickened and disoriented, she staggered up, and then she heard Mrs. Manas shouting, "He is dead!"

  "No… no, no, no… That is not possible…"

  "He is dead! If people die here, they will die outside as well! There is nothing you can do now!" Mrs. Manas shouted again. "If you don't go to the armory right away, you will be dead too! Get moving!"

  Lin Sanjiu clenched her teeth so tight her jaw ached. She knew everything that Mrs. Manas was saying, it was just that she refused to believe it. After a few seconds of hesitation, she turned away from Yu Yuan and rushed towards the corner of the road at her top speed.

  Ever since she entered the Reverie Libretto, everything looked very clear in her eyes.

  She did not know why but her vision was getting foggy. It was like looking through the water, as the scene in front of her was getting bent out of shape. Her bones, her brain, and her thoughts were screaming painfully as if there was a sledgehammer hammering her head.

  Lin Sanjiu wanted to shout. She wanted to thrash about and make herself bleed. She daren't look back at Yu Yuan, who she had abandoned, but there was a voice inside of her that kept telling her to take a glimpse. When she arrived in front of the armory, she gave in to the voice and cast her eyes back.

  The car seat was lying next to the young man. Lying lifelessly on the ground, Yu Yuan looked like a doll. Through her blurry vision, she could see that there was a crowd of scrawny figures moving towards Yu Yuan.

  Lin Sanjiu forced her head back and shattered the lock by spraying a deluge of bullets at it. Then, she kicked the door open.

  Judging from her past experience of interacting with the people of Peanut Town, Lin Sanjiu was almost certain that the girl was just bluffing. She charged into the armory and swept through the racks like a lunatic on the loose. Even though she knew there was a high possibility that there wasn't any ammo here, it did not stop her from searching frantically. Right after she pushed a row of boxes onto the ground, Lin Sanjiu finally found what she had been searching for.

  Ammo.

  Perhaps the girl was too eager to form an interim governing council that she told the truth.

  With a faltering arm, Lin Sanjiu reloaded her rifle and saddled a box full of ammo on her back.

  When she stepped out of the armory, she was welcomed by a group of people. Her opponents did not expect Lin Sanjiu to come out so fast, so they were stunned. Looking at their bodies' figures, Lin Sanjiu was confident that they were the group of people from the roof.

  Pillars of blood sprayed into the air, dying everything in her vision red.

  The group of men plopped to the ground like marionettes with their strings cut. Some of them still twitched while others already died.

  The speakers went live and buzzed with static. Just when she was anticipating that the girl would say something, a woman's voice, deep and hoarse, but bewitching, wafted into her ears. It sounded as if she was sleeping on her lover's l.a.p, coquettishly and delightfully humming a song.

  Chapter 770 - Massacre

  The woman's voice was pleasant and enchanting, like when the fingertips of a maiden c.a.r.e.s.sed one's eardrums and nerves, causing their skin to tingle and burst into gooseflesh.

  When Lin Sanjiu heard the singing, an image of two slithery snakes entwining together popped up in her mind. She tried to search through her memory about the song, but her brain was lulled and stupefied by the song. The thought was washed away like smoke dissipated by wind the moment it rose.

  She shuffled her feet and trudged forward, her steps heavy as if she was plodding through a mud.

  The sun had fully risen, floating coldly in the sky. No matter how long she walked under the sun, it couldn't warm her up.

  Lin Sanjiu raised her head and scanned her surroundings. She felt like she was seeing things through a veil of water. Then, at the corner of her foggy vision, a humanoid color clump sprang up from the ground and began running away. Staring blankly at the figure that was getting smaller and smaller, Lin Sanjiu brought her rifle up and pulled the trigger.

  She didn't even need to take aim. A spray of crimson spurted into the sky, looking like a red scarf thrown skyward.

  Blood. That was the only thing clear in her eyes.

  A half-suppressed sharp cry rang out somewhere to her left. It sounded like the final chirm of a bird that got shot down from the sky. Keeping a neutral expression on her face, Lin Sanjiu turned and looked at the residential buildings.

  After that, she aimed her rifle and sprayed a massive shower of bullets in that direction. The windows were instantly shattered into pieces and fell to the ground like snowflakes. Lin Sanjiu continued her shooting until she reduced most of the articles in the building into smithereens. Then, another cry rose up like a specter's shriek as the person barreled around, trying desperately to run for his life. Suddenly, the despairing cry came to an abrupt end amid a horrible crashing sound as a human figure smashed into the wall and slid down, leaving a trail of blood behind.

  Obviously, it wasn't her blood, but she couldn't remember when the blood found its way and splashed onto her face. She looked behind her, and everything that greeted her gaze was crimson red. It was a slaughterhouse. Dead bodies laid here and there along the street or on the roof. There were even one or two corpses hanging down from the speakers, looking like strips of pork on sale. The only difference that set them apart was that there was a sea of blood underneath the dead bodies.

  The soft, silvery singing continued to ring inside her ears. She turned her head over expressionlessly. Accompanied by the enthralling female voice, she resumed walking down the street.

  Reload, target, pull the trigger.

  She repeated the three steps again and again and again; the clank of the bullet shells dropping onto the ground filled the air. People were running hither and thither in search of safety. Some of them hid behind the corners of buildings while others went indoors and took cover behind a couch. Be that as it may, no matter how well they were hidden, so long as she caught sight of them or heard something, a bullet would pierce through a forehead or a c.h.e.s.t.

  The gunshots and the beguiling woman's voice weaved and rose into the sky before getting carried away by the wind into the distance. Wherever Lin Sanjiu went, silence followed.

  Suddenly, a series of desperate and hurried footfalls rang out from an alley not far away. Whoever the person was, he seemed to be heading towards a building ahead. Lin Sanjiu had never once stepped into a residential building ever since she began her massacre, so perhaps for the citizens, the residential buildings were safe.

  Lin Sanjiu stopped walking and hid behind a building. As soon as she stopped, she could clearly hear the footsteps becoming faster and faster. Very soon, the man appeared from the shadows in the alley and pounced on the door. Just as he was about to open the door, Lin Sanjiu popped out and shot him right in the back.

  She looked on silently as the man squirmed like a worm on the ground until the light slowly left his eyes. However, rather than saying she was expressionless, it was be
tter to say that her face could not make any expressions as if she was sleepwalking.

  Oh yeah, she was indeed walking in a dream.

  Lin Sanjiu took a step forward and pulled out a box of matches from the man's pocket. She stuffed it into her pocket and resumed walking again.

  When she had been holding back the murderous part of herself from emerging and taking control of her body, the people of Peanut Town did not appreciate her goodwill and were instead hell-bent on taking her life. However, when she began her slaughter and turned one citizen after another into lifeless bodies, none of them dared to make any attempt against her. All of them just hid in the dark and prayed that she wouldn't find them.

  If this weren't a dream right now, would she still be doing what she was doing right now?

  The question suddenly flitted across Lin Sanjiu's mind. As if to answer her own question, she shot the window of a residential building next to her. As a mixture of blood and shattered glasses spilled into the air, and the person that was standing behind the window swayed and fell out of the window.

  It was at this moment that a woman's shrilling scream finally pierced through the fog in her mind. She did not know how long the woman had been screaming.

  Slowly, ever slowly, Lin Sanjiu turned around and looked toward the direction of the sound. Then, her eye fell on a black speaker.

  "Come out, you guys! Don't hide anymore! Let's work together and defeat her! She is alone and she only has one gun…"

  Lin Sanjiu stood waiting beside the speaker for a long while, yet nobody came out. A little disappointed, she raised her rifle and shot the speaker. She watched as sparks hopped around the speaker. Then, she lit up a match and threw it into the pile of wasted steel.

  As the woman hit a high note, the speaker exploded and burst into flame.

  Afterward, she continued and set the rest of the speakers ablaze. The flames rapidly spread across the street, and not even the thick layer of blood on the ground could stop them. The town had no water for a long time, so the dilapidated buildings corroded by the wind were soon engulfed with the contorted flames, which danced high into the morning sky. Black smoke curled and twisted upward, blotting out the sun.