Inside the room, Andy and Adam each stood in a corner, their expressions solemn as they aimed their guns at the center.
The scene before them was a male high school student in green hiking gear, kneeling over the corpse of a female high school student, and...
And that male high school student, with his back to them, was vigorously devouring the female student's corpse.
The female student's legs were twitching uncontrollably; she seemed to have only just died.
Clack, clack—Sean rushed over.
When the Sheriff saw the scene before him, he couldn't help but hold his breath.
Hearing the commotion, the male high school student turned his head and smiled with a blood-stained mouth:
"Delicious! She's so delicious. Won't you... have a taste? Quick... it's fresh..."
Blegh!
Adam finally reached his breaking point and vomited up the pizza remains in his stomach.
"Officer!"
Andy placed his index finger on the trigger and asked, "Permission to fire?"
"Wait." Sean narrowed his eyes, half-squatting in front of the male student to test him, "Kevin? Is that you?"
"Huh?"
The smile on the student named Kevin stiffened, and his originally clouded eyes gradually cleared. He asked in confusion, "Uncle Patrick?"
Seeing this, Sean signaled Andy to remain on high alert, then slowly approached and helped Kevin up, saying:
"Son, what are you doing? Do you know that you're eating (looking at the corpse) Diana?"
"I... I know..." Kevin covered his face and wept, shaking his head.
"But I was so hungry, I couldn't help it. I really couldn't help it."
"It was right in my ear, it told me to eat (his voice grew smaller and smaller)..."
At this time, Adam wiped the saliva from his mouth, gripped his gun, and straightened up, saying sorrowfully to Sean:
"Officer, (looking at the corpse)... sigh, there are still six more children waiting for us to find them."
Hearing this, Sean patted Kevin on the back, trying to soothe his emotions.
After a moment, he asked, "Kevin, where are your companions? Where are they?"
"No!"
Kevin, who had just calmed down, suddenly broke free from Sean and ran to a corner of the room. He crouched down with his head in his hands and yanked his hair violently, muttering to himself:
"I don't want to eat them! I... I don't want to! I..."
This unexpected situation put the three Agents back on high alert.
Andy aimed his gun at Kevin and said with slight agitation, "Officer! I told you this kid wasn't normal!"
"Officer?" Adam made the same move, looking at Sean for instructions.
...
Sean frowned deeply and regripped the rifle hanging from his chest, but before he could order them to fire—
"I want to!" Kevin suddenly roared.
The crazed high school student stopped struggling and slowly turned around.
His—or rather, its—teeth were protruding and sharp, and its eyes had become completely clouded.
"Roar!!!"
It opened its mouth to an unbelievable width and hissed loudly at the three Agents.
"Fire!"
Bang! Bang!
Three.308 caliber rifles spat brilliant tongues of fire, and bullets were unleashed entirely onto Kevin's body.
Whiz—crack—wood chips and brick fragments flew everywhere.
Hit by the large-caliber rounds, Kevin's body convulsed for a moment before he fell face-down onto the floor.
"What the *** is going on! Fuck!"
Once Kevin showed no more movement, Andy couldn't help but curse while changing his magazine.
"Officer... what happened to them?"
Adam, who had also finished changing his magazine, looked at the corpses of the two young people, unable to bear the sight.
"I don't know, and I don't care," Sean said grimly.
"The primary mission now is to ensure we stop these anomalies from spreading as much as possible before the Containment Troops arrive."
(Looking at Kevin and the girl's corpse) "If things continue like this, there should be four more anomalies."
However.
"Grrr..."
Kevin wasn't dead; or rather, he hadn't died at all.
Its hands and feet began to grow rapidly, and its skin gradually turned gray, appearing even more emaciated.
"Officer, that was a.308! A.308!" Andy's emotions were spiraling out of control.
.
.308 is the full name for.308 Winchester, a 7.62 caliber ammunition developed by the American Winchester Repeating Arms Company.
It has a maximum pressure of 62,000 psi, which is 5,500 psi less than a standard 7.62 NATO round.
It possesses better ballistic stability and accuracy.
It is commonly used for civilian hunting in North America or as ammunition for marksmen in the U.S. military.
Being hit by a.308 round at such close range would tear an ordinary human or animal into chunks of meat.
But...
The thing before the three Agents could actually stand up again.
This exceeded their understanding, and the index of what their sanity could endure plummeted.
"Roar!!" The completely mutated Kevin threw his head back and roared loudly at the ceiling.
"Roar—" A faint responding cry came from the corridor outside the room.
It had companions!
Sean quickly pulled out an incendiary grenade he carried with him.
Click~ He pulled the ring.
Clang~ Clang-clang~~ The incendiary grenade bounced 'cheerfully' on the wooden floorboards, finally rolling to Kevin's feet.
"Go!"
"Yes!" (x2)
Boom!!
Just as the three ran out of the room, the sound of the incendiary grenade exploding came from behind them.
"Howl... roar..." and the mournful wail of that thing.
But the three had no time to check if the thing was dead.
Because in the narrow corridor, with the three Agents in the center, there were three identical Containment Objects in the direction of the lobby.
Looking back.
There was also one in the direction of the stairs leading to the second floor.
They were completely surrounded.
Seeing this...
The three Agents stood back-to-back; Adam and Andy faced the lobby, while Sean faced the stairs alone.
With just a cursory glance, Sean guessed the general situation.
Of the four Containment Objects, three were wearing modern cold-weather gear or hiking clothes; they were definitely those children.
But the one Sean was facing was dressed in tattered clothes that could vaguely be identified as 20th-century miner's attire.
It seemed that among those thirty miners from fifty years ago, there was actually a'survivor.'
It was unknown what method was used to make the eight high school students kill each other and turn into anomalous Containment Objects.
"Officer, please give the order," Adam said with a smile.
"Yeah, Officer, the two of us are still waiting to go to the bar!" Andy was still as unreliable as ever.
As Sean watched the 'miner' gradually approach, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly as he said boldly:
"Agents! Behind us is our hometown! Behind us are our loved ones! So we will never retreat!"
"Hold them off until the Containment Troops arrive!"
"Yes, Officer!" (x2)
"Roar!!" (x4)
Bang! Bang! The sound of.308 caliber gunfire erupted.
Squish!
And the dull thud of sharp claws piercing into flesh.
-------------------------------
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