Chapter 54 Section 53

D'Agosta crouched in the water and moved forward, his revolver pointed in the blackness ahead.He turned off the flashlight so as not to give away his location.Water rushed between his legs, and the smell of algae and limescale mingled with the stench of monsters. "Berry, are you up front?" he whispered into the twilight. Bailey's voice came from the darkness: "I'll wait for it at the first fork." "You have more ammo than I do. If you can get rid of the son of a bitch, you stand guard for a while, and I'll go back and knock the lock on the door."

"learn." D'Agosta walked in the direction of Bailey, his legs numb from the cold running water.All kinds of sounds suddenly sounded chaotically in the darkness, first there was a slight splash of water, and then another sound, which was much closer than the previous sound.Berry's shotgun fired twice, and several people behind him started whimpering. "Jesus!" he heard Bailey yell, and then with a muffled chew, Bairy screamed, and D'Agosta felt a churning in the water ahead. "Berry!" he called, but the only answer was the gurgle of water.He took out his flashlight and shone into the tunnel ahead.nothing.

"Berry!" Someone in the back started crying, someone howled hysterically. "Shut up!" D'Agosta ordered, "I can't hear you!" The shouting stopped abruptly.He shone the beam on the wall and ceiling ahead, but saw nothing.Bailey was gone, and the smell dissipated again.Maybe Bailey hit the damn thing.It may have been temporarily frightened by the gunfire.He moved the beam down and noticed that the running water around his legs had turned red.A rag from a blue uniform that once belonged to the NYPD floated by. "I need help!" he whispered over his shoulder.

Smithback suddenly appeared beside him. D'Agosta ordered him: "Light this passage with a flashlight." D'Agosta probed the stony ground with his fingers.The water level seemed to rise: it brushed against his chest as he bent down to feel it.Something floated past him: a part of Bailey's body, and he had to look away momentarily. He didn't find the shotgun. "Smithback," he said, "I'm going back and knocking the lock. We can't go back any further with that thing waiting. You look for the shotgun in the nearby water. If you see or smell anything Call me anything."

"Are you going to leave me here alone?" Smithback panicked. "Here's the flashlight. It's just a matter of a minute. Can it be done?" "Try it." D'Agosta squeezed Smithback's shoulder, turned around and walked back.As a reporter, the guy has guts. When passing through the crowd, one hand grabbed him, and a female voice sobbed: "Please, tell us, what happened?" D'Agosta gently shook her hand away, and he could hear the mayor comforting the woman.Vote for the old stuff at the next election. "Stand back, everyone," he said, posing in front of the door.He knew he should stand far away to avoid getting hit by a ricochet.But the lock was strong, and he had trouble aiming in the dark.

He walked a few feet to the door, moved the barrel of the .38 toward the lock, and pulled the trigger.When the gunpowder smoke dissipated, he saw a hole in the middle of the lock, but the lock remained unchanged. "Damn it," he muttered, putting the muzzle of the gun directly against the catch and pulling the trigger again.This time the lock was knocked flying, and he put all his weight on the door. "Somebody help me!" he yelled. Several people jumped up almost at the same time and slammed into the door.With a loud creaking sound, the rusty hinges finally started to turn, and water rushed into the door.

"Smithback! Found anything?" "Only his flashlight!" An ethereal voice came from the darkness. "Good enough. Come here now!" D'Agosta walked through the door and noticed that there was also a D-shaped cast iron hasp on the other side of the door.He stepped aside and urged everyone to enter the door quickly.Thirty-seven.Without Berry.Smithback was last. "Very well, let's close the door!" D'Agosta shouted. Against the heavy impact of the water, the door groaned and slowly closed. "Smithback! Give me a flashlight. Maybe find a way to bolt this door." He stared at the door for a second.If you can get a metal object to fit into the D-hap, chances are the door won't open.He turned to the crowd and called out, "I need something metal, anything. Anyone have something metal to latch a door on?"

The mayor closed a circle, came to Dagosta, and stuffed a small handful of metal objects into Dgosta's hand.Smithback held up the flashlight, and D'Agosta examined them one by one: the brooch, the necklace, the comb. "It's useless," he muttered. Suddenly there was the sound of splashing water outside the door, followed by a low grunt.The stench blew through the grille towards the crowd.There was a soft snap, the hinges creaked, and the door was pushed open a crack. "My God! Everyone, help me close the door!" People rushed to the door just as before, pushing it shut.After a click, there was a bang on the door, and the thing not only withstood their strength, but pushed everyone back.The door gap got wider.

D'Agosta uttered a cry, and more men stepped forward. "Push hard!" There was another roar, and there was a loud bang outside the door, shaking everyone back again.The door groaned under the wrestling, and kept opening, six inches at first, then a foot soon.The stench was unbearable.D'Agosta watched as the door was pushed open inch by inch, and three long claws came in silently. They first touched along the door frame, then poked forward, and the claws came out from time to time. The sheath is sometimes withdrawn. "Holy Son, Holy Mother, and Joseph." D'Agosta heard the mayor sigh indifferently.Someone began to pray in a strangely monotonous tone.D'Agosta brought the barrel of the gun closer to the monster and pulled the trigger.After the sky-shaking roar.The shadow disappeared into the gurgling water.

"Flashlight!" yelled Smithback. "Just the right size! Insert it!" "Then we'll only have one flashlight left," D'Agosta gasped. "Any better ideas?" "No," D'Agosta whispered, and then shouted at the top of his voice, "Everyone push!" There was a desperate push, and the door slammed against the cast-iron frame, and Smithback inserted a flashlight into the D-hap.The flashlight goes through the buckle and the end snaps into the metal buckle.D'Agosta held his breath, suddenly there was another bang, and the iron door trembled, but remained motionless.

"Run, everyone!" D'Agosta shouted, "Run!" They ran through the murky water, falling and slipping.D'Agosta was pushed from behind and fell face-down into the running water.He got up and continued running, trying to ignore the roar of the monster and the banging on the door - if he listened carefully, he was afraid he would go crazy.He forced himself to focus on the flashlight.The flashlights issued by the police are strong and durable.He prayed to God that the flashlight would hold up.Everyone stopped before the second fork, weeping and trembling.Time to call Pendergast on the walkie-talkie and find out how to get out of this maze, D'Agosta thought.His hand dropped to the holster of the walkie-talkie and was horrified to find it empty. Coffey stood in the forward command post, staring gloomily at the monitor.Both Pendergast and D'Agosta lost contact, and only Garcia in the command center and Waters in the computer room were still answering in the security circle.Did everyone get killed?Thinking of the murder of the mayor, and the newspaper headlines that must appear next, made his stomach feel weak. At the east end of the rotunda, acetylene torches flashed brightly in front of the silver metal security doors, casting eerie shadows on the high ceiling.Then came the pungent smell of molten metal.The rotunda became eerily quiet.The field amputation in front of the security gate was still in progress, and the other guests went home or to the area hospital.The reporter was finally stopped outside the police barrier.A mobile intensive care unit has been set up in a nearby side street, and an ambulance helicopter is on standby. The commander of the SWAT team came over and put the bullet belt on the outside of the black tactical suit. "Ready," he said. Coffey nodded: "Tell me about your tactics." The commander pushed aside a row of emergency telephones and unfolded a blueprint. "The spotter showed us the way on the walkie-talkie, and he had the architectural details of the museum. In the first stage, we made a hole in the ceiling at this location, and then descended to the fifth floor. According to the specifications of the security system, one blast can blow Opening this door lets us into the adjacent divider. Next, we head downstairs to this item storage room on the fourth floor. Right above the Sky Hall, there is a flap trap on the floor for the maintenance crew to clean and Maintain the chandelier. The team goes down here and lifts the wounded up on the canvas chair. In the second phase, go to the lower basement to rescue the mayor and his group of guests. In the third phase, look for others who may still be in the security circle. I know there are people trapped in the computer room and security command center. The curator, Ian Cuthbert and an unidentified woman are probably somewhere upstairs somewhere. Don't have any of your agents in the perimeter? New Orleans Field Service The guy in the office-" "You don't mind him," Coffey interrupted. "Who made these plans?" "We formulated it with the assistance of the security command center. That Allen is very familiar with the layout of the separation zone. Besides, according to the specifications of this security system—" "Fine. Who's in charge here?" "Sir, as you know, in an emergency, the SWAT squad commander—" "I want you to go in and kill that son of a bitch. Got it?" "Sir, our priority is to rescue the hostages and the wounded. Then we will deal with one by one" "Commander, do you think I'm an idiot? If you can get rid of that thing, wouldn't the problem be solved? Commander, this time the situation is different from what you are used to solving, and requires creative thinking." "In the case of hostages, as long as you can rescue the murderer's hostage, you will remove his source of power—" "Commander, were you sleeping during the crisis control briefing? The murderer is most likely not a human, but an animal." "But the wounded—" "Split some people to rescue the damned wounded, but others will find the murderer for me. After killing it, you can save people calmly and don't have to worry about it. This is a direct order from me." "Sir, I understand. But I suggest—" "Commander, don't give any more bullshit advice. Go in according to your plan, but use the right method to solve the problem: kill that bastard." The commander looked at Kofi curiously: "Are you sure the murderer is an animal?" Coffey hesitated for a moment, and finally replied: "Yes. Although the specific situation is not very clear, it has killed several people." The Commander stared intently at Coffey for a few seconds. "Well," he said at last, "whatever it is, we've got enough firepower to beat a pack of lions to a pulp." "That's good. Find that thing and kill it." Pendergast and Margo looked down the narrow maintenance tunnel into the lower basement.Greasy black water billowed beneath, and Pendergast's flashlight cast a circle of light on the surface. "It's getting deeper," said Pendergast, and then turned to Margo. "Are you sure that thing can climb this shaft?" "Almost a hundred percent," said Margot, "it's extremely agile." Pendergast took a step back and tried calling D'Agosta on the walkie-talkie again. "Something went wrong," he said. "The vice-captain has been out of touch for fifteen minutes. They haven't heard from the locked door." He looked down the steep shaft leading to the lower basement again, and asked Margo : "The bottom is full of water, how are you going to spread the smell?" "According to your estimation, they were here some time ago, right?" Margot asked. Pendergast nodded. "The last time I contacted D'Agosta, he said that they were between the first and second fork. As long as they didn't return along the same road, they must have passed this position long ago." "Let me say," continued Margot, "sprinkle some fibers in the water, and the current will carry them over the thing." "Only if the thing is smart enough to realize that the fiber is coming from upstream. Otherwise it's likely to keep chasing downstream." "I think it has this intelligence," Flock said. "You can't treat this thing like an animal. It might be as smart as a human being." Pendergast scooped up a handful of fiber from the parcel carefully with a handkerchief, sprinkled it over the top of the shaft, then grabbed a second handful and sprinkled it down. "Don't sprinkle too much," Flock reminded him. Pendergast looked at Margo and said, "Sprinkle a few more to fully establish the upstream trail, then drag the package back to safekeeping to wait. Then your trap will be done." He sprinkled a few more Pull the fibers, then re-bundle the wrap. "At the speed of the water," he said, "it'll catch up to that thing in a few minutes. How fast do you think it's going to react?" "If the extrapolator program is right," Flock replied, "it will move at an astonishing speed. Thirty miles an hour and faster in an emergency, and its thirst for plant fibers seems to be Unstoppable. It can't run at full speed in those passages below, and the scent trail we left behind is also difficult to track, but the current of water probably can't slow it down. On the other hand, the safekeeping area is very close here." "I see," replied Pendergast, "that is disturbing. 'Whoever is determined to fight, let him fight, for the time has come.'" "Aha," Flock nodded, "Alekios." Pendergast shook his head: "Anacreon. Doctor, shall we go?"