Chapter 407 – Gunshots in the Cemetery

Chapter 407 – Gunshots in the Cemetery
In the cemetery, the old caretaker raised his head once again and glanced at the caretaker’s hut next to him.

He had already reported the restlessness of the dead in the mortuary to the cathedral in the form of a swift message, but so far there had been no response – apparently, in the present time when the entire city was covered by a weird thick fog and the sunlight in the sky had strangely disappeared, the cathedral no longer had the extra energy to pay attention to the abnormal situation in a small cemetery.

“We’ll just have to rely on ourselves ……” the old caretaker grunted, tightening his coat, which was lined with leather soft armor and metal inserts that made a slight scuffing sound, “This fog can’t be small in scope ……”

Clacking and knocking sounds broke the dead silence in the cemetery, and underneath the thick fog, the coffins on several nearby mortuaries seemed to emit a slight vibration.

“…… Seeing as I keep vigil for you dead people every day, can’t you settle down a bit at this time?” The old guard frowned and slightly raised his gun, he knew that these corpses that had been parked for a few days were suddenly “active” because of the strange fog, but he could do nothing about it.

He could probably just wait for them to get up, and then send them off one by one.

Just as this thought crossed his mind, a sound different from the agitation in the surrounding coffins suddenly caught the old man’s attention, and he was stunned for a moment, instantly reacting to it and looking up at the path at the entrance to the cemetery.

A small figure stumbled out from the other end of the path, her thick white coat and skirt looking like a leaping snowball in the dim surroundings.

“Grandpa Caretaker! Help me! Grandpa Caretaker! Are you there!?”

The leaping little ball of snow shouted down the trail, its voice sounding with panic and nervousness that it was trying to suppress.

“Annie!” The old guard couldn’t care less about being surprised, and subconsciously shouted to the girl through the fog, “Come here, don’t go that way!”

The little girl who ran into the cemetery in a panic finally saw the old man standing near the caretaker’s hut, a moment of relaxation appeared on that tense and frightened face, and immediately afterward she quickly ran over this way, “Grandpa caretaker! Great you are here ……”

“Why are you still running around outside at this time!?” The old caretaker, however, couldn’t be bothered to listen to the girl’s cheers, and immediately reprimanded loudly with a taut face, because today’s situation was different from the past, and the dangers of this thick fog weren’t like the usual snowy and slippery streets, “Do you know that the whole city is under martial law right now?!”

“I got separated from my classmates!” Anne was startled by the old man’s stern look and tone, but still waved her hand quickly to explain, “We went to visit the museum with our teacher, and when we came out we ran into a heavy fog, and the teacher said she’d take us to the nearest nighttime shelter, but as soon as I blinked they walked into the fog and disappeared …… “

The old caretaker stared, “Walked into the fog and disappeared?”

“Yeah, gone, in the blink of an eye,” Annie looked stunned but tried to explain her experience, “Then I went to look for shelter on my own, the museum was on lockdown, there were no adults to be found on the streets, all the doors were locked, and when I knocked as hard as I could, no one opened them, and then I thought about what Mr. Teacher said that if you are in danger go to the nearest priest, guardian or sheriff, the cemetery is the closest and I heard you say that you are a guardian veteran ……”

Listening to the girl’s crackling explanation, the expression on the old guard’s face flew and changed several times, he realized that he had just blamed the little girl a little bit in his haste, this child’s response is actually placed in the same age has been a calm move, but again, he couldn’t wipe out his face for a while, and could only continue to slate his face, “So you came to the cemetery to take refuge in the cemetery?”

Anne nodded vigorously, “Yeah, they all say that Guardian veterans are more powerful than ordinary Guardians ……”

“…… But the cemetery is not a suitable place to take refuge,” the old guard said in a deep voice, “Especially at a time like this.”

Anne panicked a little, “I …… I shouldn’t be here?”

“…… No, there’s no better choice now, you have a higher probability of having an accident if you run around the streets in the thick fog,” the old guard shook his head, “You should first hide… …”

No sooner had he finished saying that than a strange clicking noise nearby interrupted him, and the next thing he knew, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a shadow suddenly rise over the nearest morgue – the lid of a poorly made coffin was violently pushed open, and a restless arm struggled up from that coffin, followed by the restless dead rising from it!
There was no time to remind Annie to close her eyes, the old guard had already instinctively raised the double-barreled shotgun in his hand, and with a loud bang, the body that had just risen up staggeringly fell on its back, and rolled off the morgue due to a loss of balance.

“Ah!”

Anne who hid behind him was after all only a small child, and was immediately startled by the sound of the gunshot, but more than the sound of the gunshot, she was even more shocked by the …… corpse that had just sat up in the mist.

“That …… that ……” The little girl pointed at the mortuary table just now in horror, her tone stuttering.

The old guard spoke subconsciously, “Don’t be afraid, that’s just ……”

“It’s told in book three, chapter six of Supernatural!” Anne finally smoothed out her breath and cried out quickly, “The teacher said that at this point you should immediately say Bartok’s name in your mind, then whip the agitator with a branch of sourwood or a smoked rope, and then look for an opportunity to run to the nearest church for help ……”

The old guard froze listening to the little girl’s crackling words, and after two or three seconds suddenly raised his shotgun quickly, pushed and loaded it again, and without looking back turned to aim at the other morgue platform, and with a “bang” another manic, which had just crawled out of the coffin, lay back where it should have been sleeping.

“You guys don’t have the same textbooks now as I did back in the day, when we put this lesson after high school.” He said casually.

Anne subconsciously clutched her head, her small body shaking a little at the shock of yet another gunshot, her fear and nervousness still showing rather honestly despite her quick reflexes from memorizing the text earlier. “You hide in the house,” the old man said as he immediately covered the little girl to the front of the caretaker’s hut, opening the door with his backhand and pushing Anne inside, “and no matter what happens out there, don’t ever leave – as long as you don’t go out, this hut is as safe as the iconostasis hall of a church, understand?”

Anne’s eyes widened in horror, and she nodded subconsciously as she looked out into the fog, and as she watched, one by one the morgues in the fog came to life, shadows wriggled between the platforms, invisible hissing echoes reverberated through the cemetery, and one by one the nailed coffins crumbled and opened, and terrifying figures were coming out of the “sleeping beds” that were supposed to be for people to rest in. “beds” where they were supposed to rest, and the terrifying figures were awakening and sitting up.

The old guard pushed Anne toward the hut, closed the door behind her, and turned to fire another shot.

The caretaker’s hut was sturdy and protected by charms, but if all the dead of the cemetery rose up, the small, thin shelter might not be able to hold back the entire attack – even if it did, the psychic stimulus of a siege might penetrate the hut’s protection and affect the child.

Take out as many as possible, and Annie would be safe.

“By the God of Death, I’ve been retired for ten years!”

A muddy grunt escaped the veteran’s throat as he pulled the bolt skillfully in his hand, tossing off the cartridge and pushing it back into the chamber, but it was as if his already cloudy eyes held a fire, and with barely a moment’s aiming, he was already taking aim at the next uneasy occupant.

With a bang, the dead rest in peace, smoke rises, and souls go to life.

“The gatekeepers on the ‘other side’ are going to have their hands full today, let’s hope they have time to deal with so many souls who have gone on their way early.”

The old guard muttered, but his hands didn’t stop moving, a few of the restless ones had already begun to move in the direction of the guard’s hut, and he loaded his bullets and fired his guns again and again, sending his “residents” on their way ahead of time.

More and more shambling bodies appeared around the trail.

The shadowy figures even caused the old guard to be confused for a moment….

Were there this many bodies in the cemetery? Could all the mortuaries combined hold this many bodies?
Did they appear out of thin air from this thick fog?
Bang!
After another gunshot, the old guard heard a hissing roar coming from the vicinity, he didn’t even raise his head, his left hand then touched into his chest in a smooth manner, a short sword then appeared in his hand, the next second, his body seemed to have disappeared and reappeared as if out of thin air moving to a few meters away next to the doorway, the short sword chopped down in the air instantly, a corpse fell, a swollen and deformed head rolled down to the ground.

The old man looked down and saw that there was clearly only one large eye on that head.

The dismay in his heart lasted only an instant, and the old man had already returned to the doorway of the hut once more, while raising the muzzle of his gun and pointing it at yet another shadow that was staggering in the mist and rushing this way.

Pulling the trigger, the gun didn’t go off, only the clicking sound of the gun hanging empty.

The old man’s eyes shifted slightly, and he quickly put his short sword away, using his free hand to feel for the pouch of bullets at his waist – it was empty.

After a moment of silence, the old guard sighed, “It’s just as well, the number is about right ……”

He put down the shotgun that had already been emptied, reached out to touch his own short sword once more, and looked up at the individual figures that had emerged shakily from the mist.

A slight creaking sound came from behind him.

The caretaker’s hut had been opened from the inside.

The old man turned his head in dismay to see Anne watching him carefully.

The young girl was clutching a loaded large-caliber rifle in her hand – it was his backup weapon.

And at the little girl’s feet were several pouches of bullets and ammunition boxes, large and small.

Obvious scratches could be seen on the floor, and these heavy things were obviously dragged from the corner by Annie with a lot of effort.

“Grandpa Watchman, with this,” Annie raised her hand and with some effort handed the rifle to the old man in front of her, “will it come in handy?”

“…… It will,” the old man nodded after a moment’s silence, reaching for the rifle while tossing the double-barreled shotgun to the girl, “Load it.”

(End of chapter)