Chapter 30 Chapter 29

That same night, Larry Underwood and Rita Blackmore fell asleep together; Frannie Goldsmith lay alone dreaming strange dreams; De, he has been waiting for three days, Elder will not let him down tonight. At noon that day, Elder and two male nurses came to take the TV away.Elder stood by, pointing his gun at Stu.All Stu could do was stand at the barred window and look at the town by the river.As the tape says: "You don't need a weatherman to tell you what wind is blowing." The chimneys of the textile factories no longer smoke, the river no longer sees the swirls of colorful clothes and dyes, the water becomes crystal clear, and the cars are shiny and look like toys from here.As of yesterday, the occasional car was seen zigzagging along the toll highway like a slalom racer.There were no ambulances to tow away vehicles that had been left on the road.

The city is like a model map, lifeless.The big clock that has been beating on time in the city has been on strike since 9 o'clock this morning. The soft prelude before the beating sounds dull and weird, like the sound of a submerged underwater music box.I don't know whether it was a cafe on the side of the road or a warehouse on the outskirts of the city that caught fire. It burned all afternoon, with thick smoke billowing, covering the sky and the sun, and there were no fire engines.If the building hadn't been built in the middle of an asphalt parking lot, Stu figured it would have suffered too.It rained all afternoon, but the fire continued to burn slowly until this evening.

Stu felt that Elder's ultimate goal was to kill him—why not?He is no longer useful, and he still knows their secrets.They could find no other way to deal with him, and they knew that he was not of the same character as those who were begging for mercy.They didn't expect him to tell them little secrets. Stu believes that the protagonists in TV dramas or novels will have the idea of ​​running away, and some people in real life will also have the idea of ​​escaping, but he is not this kind of person. De. An alien force sometimes called "Blue," sometimes called "The Captain's Journey," has broken the set, and Elder is a clear sign of that.The nurses called him Dr. Elder, but he wasn't a doctor at all.He was in his fifties, with deep-set eyes and no sense of humor.Before Elder came, no doctor had felt the need to point a gun at him.Stu was a little afraid of Elder. He could neither reason nor pray for such a person.Elder is on standby and will carry out orders as soon as they are given.He has a gun in his hand, and like the mafia, he has a plan so well executed that he will have no problem executing it.

Three years ago, Stu bought a novel called "The Boat Sinks" and gave it to his nephew in Waco. He didn't like reading books, and he hated wrapping gifts even more. Before putting the book in the box, he flipped through it , I thought that I could understand what was written by flipping through it.In fact, that was not the case. After reading the first page, and then the second page... He was fascinated, and he stayed up all night, drinking coffee and smoking, and read it carefully.He is not used to reading only as a pastime.This book is about rabbits—the stupidest, most cowardly creatures on earth.Whoever wrote this book made them seem so exotic that you really miss them while you're reading them.It was a good story made up, and Stu watched it at a snail's pace for two days, and finally finished it.

What impresses me the most is the sentence "will be exhausted", or just "exhausted".Because he has seen many exhausted animals running on the highway. A few exhausted animals were lying in the middle of the road with their ears drooping. Seeing a car approaching quickly, they were powerless to escape the approach of death.The blinding light of an airport searchlight can send a deer running around, exhausting it; loud music can exhaust a raccoon; and pounding on a cage can exhaust a parrot. Elder made Stu feel like these animals, and when he met Elder's pale blue eyes, he felt all his will vanish, and Elder didn't even need a gun against him, he just What's the point of beating a guy like that when it takes karate, French boxing, and a little trickery?Just thinking about Elder can dissuade him from trying. "Exhausted" is a good word to describe an extremely poor state of mind.

Just after 10 p.m., the red light came on, and Stu felt sweat dripping from his arms and face, as he did every time the red light flashed, because one of them, Elder, came alone and he didn't want to be there. Witnesses, there may be a blast furnace somewhere to cremate these victims.Elder was going to shove him in without leaving a trace. Elder walked in through the door.one person. Stu sat on the hospital bed, one hand resting on the back of the chair.At the sight of Elder, he felt nauseous, and something fell from his stomach.He felt a familiar longing that poured out the words of humiliation and begging, even though he knew the begging would be futile.There was no mercy on the face with the clear goggles.

It was all too clear to him now.Stu stared at Elder as he entered the room: Elder was tall and muscular, his white coat tight on his body.He held a pistol with a thick barrel. "How does it feel?" Elder asked, not loudly, but Stu could hear the nasal tinge in Elder's voice.Elder was ill. "It's okay," Stu said, his voice flat, surprising even himself. "When can I get out of here?" "Soon," Elder said, pointing the gun casually at Stu, who covered his mouth and sneezed, "Don't you want to talk about something more?" I just learned this from you 20 minutes ago, Mr. Redman, it's not a dangerous order. But I'm sure you'll be all right."

"What order?" "I was ordered to..." Stu's eyes swept over Elder's shoulder, looked up, and his eyes fell on the door frame, "God!" He exclaimed, "Damn mouse, where do you think the mouse went?" Elder actually turned around.Unexpectedly, he managed to make a small plan and unexpectedly succeeded. Stu was almost stunned. He immediately got up from the bed and grabbed the chair with both hands. At this time, Elder had turned around and rushed towards him.Elder's eyes widened and he panicked. Stu raised the chair over his head, rushed forward, and smashed it with all his strength.

"Stop!" Elder yelled, "Don't!" The chair hit Elder's right arm, the gun fell to the carpet, and the bullets fired roared to the ground. Stu hoped to hit Elder with the chair again before he came fully awake, so he raised the chair high and threw it with all his might.Elder struggled to lift his injured right arm, a chair leg was lodged in his white hat, and there was a splinter of a plank over his eye.He screamed and fell. Elder rolled around on the floor, fumbling to pick up the gun that had fallen on the carpet.Stu swung the chair one last time and hit Elder on the back of the head, knocking Elder unconscious.Panting, Stu reached for the gun and poked Elder, who was lying face down.Elder didn't move.

A terrible thought suddenly came to mind: did Elder come to kill him, or to let him go?If he's coming to let him go, why isn't there some hint in the conversation?Why did he call the order "less dangerous"? Elder didn't come to let him go, he must have been instructed to come here to kill him. Stu looked at Elder lying on the floor, trembling all over.If Elder got up at this time, Stu might miss five shots even at such a short distance. He thought that Elder would not wake up, not now, nor in the future. He felt the urge to escape there so strongly that he almost flew towards the pneumatic door, he had been locked for a week, he just wanted some fresh air, and run away, away from this horrible place .

Stu presses the button labeled Loop.The air pump ran for a while, and the outside door opened.There is only a desk in the small room outside.On the desk was a pile of drug charts...and his clothes.Some of the clothes he'd been wearing on the flight from Braintree to Atlanta.Fear overwhelmed him again.There was no doubt that those things were going to be put in the crematorium with him.Charts, and clothes. Stu heard a slight sound behind him, and he turned quickly.Elder staggered toward him, his upper body straightened, his hands flailing limply, his eye bleeding from a jagged shard of plastic.Elder was actually laughing. "Stand still!" said Stu, his hands shaking on the gun. Elder ignored him and walked over. Stu pulled the trigger as he stepped back.Elder stopped in his tracks, the smile on his face froze there, as if suddenly gassed.There was a small hole in the chest of the white coat. After a while, he swayed a few times and fell straight to the ground.Stu stared at him blankly, then stumbled to the small room where all his personal belongings were stacked on the desk. He tried the door at the end of the room, and it opened, revealing a foyer, adorned with dim fluorescent lights, with a trundle bed leaning against what might have been the nurses' lounge on the way to the elevator.He could hear faint groans.Someone was coughing, and the screeching sound seemed endless. He walked back into the room, picked up his clothes, and tucked them under his arm.Then, he walked out, closed the door casually, and walked out along the hall.The hand holding the gun was hot and sweaty. When he walked near the cart, he looked back. The silence and emptiness made him restless, and the coughing stopped.Stu kept wanting to see Elder crawling behind him, trying to give him one last shot.He found himself eager to remember everything in the room. The moaning started again, louder this time.There was a man leaning against the wall to the right of the elevator passage, whom Stu recognized as his nurse.His face was swollen and dark, his chest heaved and heaved, and when Stu looked at him he began to moan again.Behind him, there is a curled up male corpse, and there are 3 other corpses in the distance.Nurse Vic—Stu remembered his name was Vic—was coughing again. "God," Vic said, "God, what are you doing out there? You can't stay out there." "Elder came to me, and I got to deal with him," Stu said. "Luckily he's sick." "Poor man, you'd better trust God to bless you," Vic said, coughing again, weakly this time, with phlegm stuck in his throat and coughing like a broken gong. "Hey, how can I help you?" Stu asked awkwardly. "If you're going to help me, shoot me in the head and blow me to pieces." He started coughing again, followed by a helpless groan. Stu couldn't do it because Vic's heavy moaning continued.With a nervous breakdown, Stu ran to the elevator, hoping to get away from the dark face of pain, but hoping that Vic would call him from behind. voice shouted.But Vic just kept moaning, and somehow it got louder and louder. Once the elevator is started and runs at a normal speed, it may be poisonous gas.It may also be that the safety device has failed, and the elevator has been rushing downward.He walked to the middle of the elevator, looking nervously around for hidden vents or peepholes.The phobia of loneliness caressed him like a rubber hand, and the elevator suddenly seemed to shrink into a telephone booth, then into a coffin.Was he to be buried prematurely? He stretched out a finger to press the "stop" button, he didn't know if the elevator was between the two floors.The elevator reached a slippery surface and stopped normally. What if someone outside has a gun? But when the elevator door opened, only a female corpse in a nurse's uniform was seen. The female corpse was squeezed into a fetal shape by a door marked "Ms." Stu stared at her for so long that the elevator doors closed again.He stretched out his hand to block it, and the door obediently opened again, and he walked out. The hall was in a T shape, and he walked towards the hall, trying to make room for the female corpse. There was a little noise behind him.Quickly raised the gun and turned around, it turned out that the elevator door was closed again.He looked at it for a while, swallowed hard, and walked on.The rubber hand was behind, patting him on the back, telling him to stop walking and get us out of here as soon as possible before someone...something...gets us.The echoes in the dimly lit corridors of the outpatient wing sounded too much like a creepy devil's party.Come on, Stu?Great.Frosted glass doors passed him, each bearing a number: Dr. Sloane, Printing Room, Mr. Barrigo, Darkroom, Archives, Mrs. Wiggs.This, Stu thought, might be the workspace. At the T-junction there was a spout faucet, and the water was warm, and the chlorine-treated smell made him sick to his stomach; there was no exit to the left, and an orange arrow on the tiled wall read "Library Wing" directly below; the hallway For miles, there seemed to be another male corpse about 50 meters away from the one in the white coat, like a monster floating on the beach. His self-control was getting worse and worse. This place was much bigger than he had imagined. He guessed it was a relatively large hospital in the capital.Here he staggered for hours, echoing his footsteps, stepping over a corpse, as if walking in a meeting place of the dead.He remembered that when his wife was diagnosed with cancer, he took her to a large hospital in Huston, and every wall he passed had small maps with arrows at the dots, and each arrow said: "Where are you now?" s position".These street signs are made so that people will not get lost.As it is now, lost.Oh my gosh, that's too bad. "Don't walk too exhausted, you already have a comfortable place." He comforted himself, the echo was calm and strange, he didn't want to speak loudly, otherwise it would get worse. He turned to the right, with his back to the library wing, and walked past the offices into a hallway.He began to turn his head frequently to reassure himself that no one was behind him.Elder, it is impossible to follow him, but he is still worried.The hallway ends at a door that says "Radiology," and a handwritten notice hangs from the handle: Open until further notice.Randall. Stu walked back, carefully watching every corner he passed.The body in the white coat was so small it was almost a point, and he lay there motionless.Stu wanted to leave as soon as possible. He turned right, turned his back to the library wing, the aisle diverged into another branch, 20 meters away, Stu turned right, walked past many offices, and the aisle ended in front of the microbiology laboratory.In an ad hoc hut in the laboratory a young man in jockey shorts lay sprawled on his desk, unconscious, blood streaming from his nose and mouth, breathing like the October wind. The ground rings. Stu really started to run, running from aisle to aisle, more and more convinced that there was no way out, the echo of his footsteps following him every moment.It seemed that Elder, or Vic, had been revived and was organizing a devil's gendarmerie to follow him. Then, another vision appeared before his eyes. For some reason, he thought of the strange dream he had been having for the past few nights again. Afraid that if he left, he would see the shadow of a white coat swaying behind him, there seemed to be a faceless man in a white coat behind the plexiglass panel, many scary ghosts, and the shadow of a professional murderer. Gasping for breath, Stu circled and ran at full speed for 10 feet before realizing it was a closed passage, and accidentally bumped into a marked door, only to have the "Exit" sign displayed. He pulled the handle, made sure it didn't move, and the door opened.He went down 4 steps, there was another door, and to the left was a horrible dark staircase.Above the second door was glass reinforced with crossed wires, and outside was a beautiful, soft summer night, all the freedom a man had ever dreamed of. Stu stared outside as he let go of his hand from the dark banister.Suddenly someone grabbed his ankle, and at this moment a thorn pierced Stu's throat, gasping for breath, too frightened to move.He looked around and shuddered, there was a bloody face in the darkness, eyes rolled up, grinning. "Come down and eat chicken with me, beauty," struggling before dying, his voice hoarse and weak, "It's too... dark here." Stu screamed and clutched at the banister.The grinning thing in the dark struggled to stand up, talking and grinning, blood and bile dripping from the corners of his mouth.Stu kicked and stomped on the hand that was clutching his ankle.The face hanging in the dark staircase disappeared, followed by the sound of something shattering...and then the screaming began, whether it was pain or anger, Stu didn't know.He didn't care, he slammed his shoulder on the outer door.The door was knocked open, and he staggered out, swung his arms, took a deep breath, in short, he had thrown him off, and he fell on the cement road. He sat up slowly and carefully.The screaming from behind had stopped, and the summer night breeze brushed against his face, drying the sweat from his brow. He looked at all this in amazement, there were lawns and flower beds, he seemed to have never smelled such a fragrant smell.A crescent moon hangs in the sky.Stu turned his face in relief, crossed the lawn, and walked on the road leading to the small town of Stoveton.Condensation began to form on the lawn.He seemed to hear the wind whispering in the pines. "I'm alive," Stewart Redman said to the night sky, and then he started screaming, "I'm alive, thank God, I'm alive. Thank you, God, thank you..." He wobbled for a while, then began to stride along the road.