The Little Prince in the Ossuary

# Below Black Water (5)

Jubbuck, Jubbuck. Solid boots, cool emotions, clear footsteps. Winter walks to find the remaining cameras. The slow pace was a careful search. Don't miss a thing. To do anything, at least Chadwick can't see. It would be the next order to win the defeat.

There are many dead spots in the experiment area, flashing faintly every time a shot goes off. The dissonance between the varieties is rising every time. There is a close sound of iron in between. Heave-ho. An empty medicine chamber emerges between slides of retracted, fixed pistols. Winter, when you press the magazine stop and swoop your hands. Inertial magazines flew nervously. I loaded it before it dropped, and then I finished aiming in a series of motions.

“Just think again. ”

The hand holding the arm breaks the line of sight. The trigger, which was being pulled, stops shortly before it strikes.

“I understand enough about this winter. I don't want to die because of me. ”

The FBI agent who said this looked painful. Following you quietly, leaving a distance, the trail of hesitation is overwhelming. Cough. Zoey's hands are white.

“But you're not alone. Citizens will have little time to spare after winter passes. But what about people who are not citizens? This country will be as desperate as it was when the plague began. Who will protect the refugees? ”

The boy blinked his eyes and fixed his aim with pure force. Bang! As soon as the crushed target is scattered, Joanna's left hand grabs her collar. An agent drawn to the power that surpasses the beta ghouls. At a short distance, two surprisingly bitten eyes looked at the winter.

Silent time passes.

Slowly, Joanna's gaze lowers. Along with him, the power disappeared from Winter's hands. The end of the silent conversation. Joanna lets out a slow breath. And she turns her head still. Winter healed the broken parakeet. It's been a long time since I've been able to move with my emotions.

“I'm sorry I got angry. ”

“ ……. ”

“I didn't want to do this. Anne's a good person, and I know she still means well. ”

“Winter……. ”

“You can't do that. I told you? Don't ask for the impossible... Shall I say it again? That's me. It was the middle of the winter when I couldn't kill Anne, so I've been helping others. If I kill Anne with my own hands, I won't be able to help people like I used to. because it's not going to be the same. I can't take it. Limits, you know what I'm saying? ”

“I know.”

“First of all, being trapped here doesn't mean you're going to die. Last withdrawal was probably around midnight, right? There's still time. We can do something about it. The probability of failure is, don't think about it until it fails. ”

“I can't help it. ”

Johanna's subsequent words were almost monologue.

“Why didn't I feel that way? I just wanted to hold on to the possibility. It's a lot of lives at stake. But……. No, I can't... ”

Then she smiled depressingly.

“Very well. Winter's will is done." Let's find another way together. ”

“Thank you.”

The cameras start breaking again. The entire experimental area, which continued to talk, became silent at some point. Either he's tired of the sheaves or he's just watching.

Then it was the last time. One more spent magazine to go.

“Chadwick. Are you still there?" ”

The last closed circuit responded to the winter question. Ziing turns and focuses on this side. The fire has broken out. A signal that the sound here is transmitting to the other side.

[Have you changed your mind, lieutenant?]

“No way. I just wanted to say goodbye. ”

Say goodbye?

Disappointing but suspicious voice. Winter nods lightly.

“Yes. I hope we meet again. Don't die in a tough place, and stay healthy until then. ”

You hear a cry. The crooked patriot mourns deeply for the loss of the United States.

If I thought there was a chance of escape, I wouldn't be so relaxed. Is the quarantine in the area that obvious? It was a provocation I gave you from the beginning, and winter, when I didn't expect an answer, pulled the trigger. Phew! Broken substrates and glass shattered. The crotch. It crumples once more under the footing that passes through it.

Whew. After sighing, winter said.

“Well done on setting up the facility. ”

The coverage of the closed circuit encompassed the entire area. At the end of the search, there was nothing that winter hadn't seen. Unlike the usual movies, the vents were small enough that no one could enter, and at least the dense spears were layered on several layers.

Just in case, you see a pressure door inside the hole where the body was dumped.

“What do we have? Do you have any explosives? ”

Joanna who is troubled by the question of winter.

“A little plastic bomb (C4) I packed for Door Breaching, a little 50 grain detonator here.... Either way, you don't have enough power to break thick alloys. ”

The detonator was a strap made of nylon with explosives. 50 grains meant explosives. Johanna carried only 10 grams per meter - the weakest and lightest - to break a typical lock.

‘Is it hopeless to learn skills……. ’

Any skill where Talent Benefit was applied was limited. The higher the rank, the less often you have learned in the past winter. Even if it was' personalized skills', the highest was only in the middle of the superhuman realm, grade 17.

Of course, there were areas beyond superhumans, but they could not be reached by conventional efforts. This inefficiency was also the reason why winter did not intensify technology.

I wonder how long the silent space was.

Joanna leans against the wall and opens her mouth nervously.

“We might be able to use that trickster over there. ”

“How?”

“Trickster, who fought winter at Ataskadero State mental hospital, left the door unlocked. ”

That's what happened. the prisons before the disaster, the hospitals after the plague, the regional headquarters for disease control. Winter was a vivid reminder of that time. It was the first place Trickster and I met, so it was weird if it wasn't clear.

The cunning creature freed the trapped mutants and dug a trap using a locked door.

“This hypothesis still needs further verification, but the Defense Strategy Institute is wondering if Trickster can manipulate a simple mechanical structure into an electromagnetic field. If this hypothesis is true, wouldn't it be possible to open a locked pressure door? ”

The interior structure of the doors that seal off the area will be much heavier and more sophisticated than the bars on the asylum. I wonder if the Trickster who has become a wreck will be able to open it....

“It's worth a try. ”

I had to do something about it. Winter responded positively.

“We'd better deal with the other varieties first. Electric monsters are all over the place, but you can't just leave one of them out there and open the wrong cage. ”

“Then I'll go to the right. Why don't we turn around and meet back at the Trickster's? ”

“Fine. Let's hurry. ”

I turned around anyway, so now I decided it was more important to save time than safety.

Killing the trapped mutants in turn wasn't that hard. However, considering the balance of ammunition remaining, winter put the pistol in the middle and used the rifle.

‘We could be engaged as soon as we get out of here. ’

Despite its lack of power, the pistol is much better than the rifle at its reaction rate.

After finishing off all the deformed subjects worse than the normal mutants, winter arrived in front of the Trickster. Joanna shows up a minute later.

The trickster, lying like the first time, makes a boiling cry inside the gavel. Smooth, smooth. You chew your gag with your mouth full of teeth, but you hear a sharp hiss. The stained blood spills out while the dark blue gums are crushed.

“We welded the shackles together. Maybe it's the hypothesis Anne was talking about. but if you cut the chain with a detonator, that's it. ”

Though he had lost his electricity, he probably thought he didn't know. It was best to be as careful as possible when dealing with special variants.

As Joanna searches around, she finds a large body bag with a silver lining.

“That's a pretty big specification for a human corpse. Maybe it was used to capture the Trickster. It would have been difficult for an electromagnetic pulse to explode during the capture. ”

Winter offered.

“We'd better put some sensitive stuff in there before we let him go. Radios, night vision electronics, explosives as dangerous as the Grand Chamber. ”

It's hard to predict right now. How the free Trickster will behave. Experiments have driven me crazy, so I might overload myself as soon as I got released.

Winter puts a white robe hanging from the nearest chair on the cunning creature's face. It was a sleeve and toe, blindfolded. The creature shakes its head vigorously, but its resistance is meaningless. Johanna, who was about to take out the bomber underwater, wonders.

“What are you doing, winter? ”

“He's smart. They're going to suspect our behavior. At least to keep the bombers out of sight. Maybe they didn't know they let him go on purpose. It's just a wish.”

Johanna nods slowly to see if she thinks she has a point.

Now close the detonator and retreat. Two people crouching behind a compartment in the right distance.

Johanna warns you, small and low. Cover her ears. She covers her face with her elbows.

“Explode. Three, two, one. ”

The vibrations were intense. The linear blasting of the interior was the size of a dull bone. I feel like I'm crying from my head to my teeth. The only living monster follows behind like an echo. Maybe he was injured in the aftermath of the explosion. The winter when she looks out, she can see the shattered chains dancing. It was a fierce struggle.

The prowler finally takes off his mask. Screaming at the pain of the electrode pulling out of the seedling death, I lie down and look around. Is it emitting an electromagnetic pulse? Irregular noise emanates from the surrounding speakers.

Now it's time to push it towards the entrance.

Tatattan! The deliberate triple shooter fires a spark from Trickster's feet.

Gaaaak!

The creature retreats in reflex. Whether the body is imperfect or discovering winter and showing aggression, we choose to retreat first. The ligament is severed, and one arm with no bone extends like a tail. However, it was subtly different from the entrance.

The frowning winter aims beneath Trickster's feet. And shook off just before his feet hit the deck. The creature growls in flames.

With continuous threat shooting, the Trickster finally approaches a fixed end point.

At last, the creature reaches the pressure gate. There were five rounds left in the second magazine.

Shhhhhhh! Pleasure!

Every time I heard the sound of boiling spinach, there was blood everywhere. Trickster was desperately clinging to thick alloys. Dig, dig, dig. Every time I stubbed my hand, a small discharge arose.

“Please…… Cheer up, monster. ”

Joanna's support is full. She was flawed, too. I can't believe we're cheering for a mutant.

There seems to be a strange friction sound coming from inside the door.

But at some point, the mutation stopped moving.

He seems to have realized something. Take your hands off the door and stare in the direction of winter. I didn't crouch anymore. Rather, open your arms. Shoot me if you have to.

Did you notice he missed on purpose? ’

You want me to put a bullet in your body right now? Won't that be enough? Winter is upon us, but the Trickster's condition is not normal. Johanna kicks her tongue and scratches her rifle with a spear. A chain of gunfire made sharper by indoor resonance. He had doubts like winter. Three of them were hit by a variant's leg.

However, it was a blunder. Seeing too low accuracy compared to the distance, the creature familiar with the human weapon was finally convinced. The evidence was a disgusting smile that lifted the tail of his mouth.

Ugh, ugh, ugh, ugh.

Looking at the closed door, looking at the two of you, looking at the closed door again…….

A monster smiling like that grabs my collar with his holy hand.

“No! ”

Joanna's scream was also void.

Trickster's fingers dig into the dirty skin. Pow, pow, pow. The sound of torn flesh and vocal cords falling out. The fluttering heads are deformed. Knng. The creature kneels. Blood gushes from the arteries to the ceiling. The bloodshot eyes look this way. Winter vision was enough to see the creature's yellow pupils dilate.

Trickster died like that.

Artwork Reviews

Q. Chun-gu: The more I look at @, the more I really can't dream or hope... Will winter ever be so happy?

A. Yes. Because the writer's life is hard, and I want to write a story that makes the person who's suffering happy. Haha.

Q. Karphis: If you can't be @ Ada, you're really cheap with 12 out of 10 points! What about Doom, the scourge of hell? Oh, you said you had a lightning man or a grandfather...

A. Due to the different genres of novels, Doom is struggling to tear and kill. The unlimited power grandfather was a strange old man, Park Woo-cheol.

Q. Crysis2: @ Winter is supposed to be winter, Writer. Make a Noble payment for this piece/@ You may go back now. To people who didn't want to leave. Awesome!

A. Thank you so much for having so much fun while you're gone.

Q. Nalim: @ oh interesting.... I have no idea what will happen.. How many episodes will be completed??

A. Well, in this trend, I'd say over 300, but I'm not sure exactly. The more I want to finish it quickly, the more desperate I am.

Q. Karen: You're @ a self-proclaimed psychotherapist... You've already noticed she's not really a psychotherapist in winter. Do you know who he is? Well, winter can quickly be a metaphor for the environment.

A. He's quite clever and sensitive to people's minds... and he didn't have much of a relationship in winter in the first place.