Long-term salvation

"Your words sound very strange, and there's 'business' involved. Actually, I was just talking nonsense last night at the bar. I had no idea what you were doing here."

Barney closed his eyes and puffed on his cigar. The wonderful fermented tobacco smoke penetrated his throat and went down his trachea, plucking the fresh cells of his lungs like a Cuban farmer picking tobacco leaves. In this way, the light gray smoke returned along the way it came, emanating from his nasal cavity and lips, making the strong man sigh with satisfaction:

"What a great cigarette! When I have money, I'll smoke it every day and drown myself in cigar butts and empty whiskey bottles... What do you think of me going to Cuba and smuggling cigars?"

"Just pay your taxes to the IRS, and those hyenas won't care what you do after you pay them."

Rod told a joke, which made Barney chuckle. In the laughter, Rod saw a lonely thin figure among the crowd of students who cast curious glances at him from time to time.

That Weaver boy, the eldest son, Lucas Weaver, poor kid. His father had encountered a monster in an abandoned mine, and emotionally, Rod wanted to say he deserved it—that man was a drug dealer, part of the town's criminal network, an essential part even—but intellectually, he was just a symptom of the town's decline. There would only be more and more people like him, impossible to kill or stamp out, just like in Mexico.

The drug dealer father, named "Frank Weaver", had two other children, the eldest son Lucas and the youngest son Aiden Weaver, who suffered the same tragic fate as his father.

Recalling the information provided by these fragmented memories, Rhodes stubbed out his cigarette, tossed the butt into the puddle on the ground, and began to walk away with a sizzling sound. Barney Ross, standing nearby, glanced at Rhodes, then scanned the crowd, easily spotting the boy, so thin that one could tell he was malnourished... and several other boys who had quietly followed him.

What a bunch of brainless and cowardly brats.

Barney sneered in his heart and followed Rhodes' footsteps. He suddenly became a little curious about how the man in front of him would deal with this kind of thing.

It didn't take long for Barney to see the older kids pressing the skinny boy against the thick glass wall at the edge of the school. They seemed to have searched his bag for something smelly—who would put something like that in a bag? Barney heard the sound of something like that, and the thing looked like the flesh of a small animal—the older kids were very forceful, their words and gestures revealing an acquired rudeness, while the boy could only roar in pain and helplessness.

The kids around were still cheering, hoping to see the two men fight, even though everyone knew who would be the winner.

Barney Ross saw Rod walking over. He was dressed like a killer in a movie today, as if he was prepared for this moment - under a long gray trench coat was an exquisitely crafted black suit and a pure white shirt, a black sci-fi style eye mask, and his silver-gray hair complemented his deep blue eyes that looked like icebergs hidden underwater.

As he walked towards the crowd, he used his black gloves to adjust his dark red tie. The color attached to it was quite bright, but it only reminded people of the venous blood flowing on the floor from the victims who died with their eyes open.

The crowd fell silent, everyone looking at the newcomer in fear. They whispered excitedly, and the older children, realizing someone was approaching, subconsciously stepped back, leaving the thin boy alone to face the unknown.

But the newcomer didn't address the boy first. Instead, he turned to the older children and calmly and gracefully recited each of their names, their parents' names, their jobs, and even the more private, sordid details that only happened within their families... This person knew everything! Who was he?!

The older kids who bully others feel like they are being peeled back bit by bit, revealing the parts of themselves that are most worthy of ridicule and humiliation to everyone. They may never be mentioned to their faces in the future, but in every glance from someone who passes by, in every casual eye contact:

There will be some real or fake, vague ridicule.

The older children ran away with low laughter, running away very quickly.

Then the thin boy saw that the foreign adult had his eyes on him.

"Lucas."

Rhodes softly called out the boy's name, making sure his voice could be heard by those around him. Then, facing the boy's eyes, red and swollen with anger and powerlessness, he continued, "I'm sorry I'm so late. None of this should have happened. Whether in the past, present, or future, you've endured suffering you shouldn't have to endure. This is a tragedy, especially for your brother."

This is the truth.

"I know your father. Although my memory is a little vague, I think he would be happy to have a friend like me."

This is also true.

"Now, let's go home. I have a lot to ask you."

And this is the purpose.

The boy named Lucas Weaver was very smart and strong, but he was too young to realize the "sinister intentions" of the adults in front of him. When his panicked eyes swept over the people around him, especially the older children, the boy saw fear in their eyes, and a little bit of... envy?

Because they think it's cool that such a cool adult is talking to them? Because they think it's cool that they can be related to such a person?

Are you kidding me?! I don't know anything!

Unprecedented resentment and grievance surged in Lucas' heart. This pain was even more intense than when his head was pressed against the glass just now. Tears welled up in the boy's eyes. He wanted to scream, to cry bitterly in the arms of the man in front of him, to tell him everything out loud - his father who had a strange disease and was as crazy as a demon, his brother who suffered the same fate, and much, much more...

"Don't cry here, Lucas. The only places a man can cry are in the bathroom and in his father's arms."

The adult in front of him said this, and the voice seemed to have some invisible magic, forcing Lucas to grit his teeth. He sniffed and then heard new words:

"Good Boy."

He said.

The memory that followed began to become fuzzy and hazy. When Lucas came to his senses, he had already picked up half a beef burger and was eating it greedily, with the other half still in the packaging box. The man said that eating too much all of a sudden would upset his stomach. He called himself "Rod", and the burly man next to him, whose arms were ten times thicker than his, was called "Barney Ross", and the latter was now repeating:

“This is immoral!”

"Why is it immoral?" Rod, who was driving the Hummer, slammed the steering wheel angrily, making it bang loudly. "I didn't lie, not a single lie! I didn't mean to do anything to him, damn Stallone, I'm going to beat you up and put you in the ICU for four whole days!"

"Who is Stallone? And you said you never lied? You look like a fucking CIA interrogation agent, the kind who specializes in psychological warfare—oh→oh↑oh↑, am I going to be a grown-up like Rod in the future—a strong man like you who can knock down hundreds of pounds with one punch? Or a pretty boy like you?"

Barney said this while shaking his head like a spring toy, his face full of the joy of "finally being able to retort to Rod and get back at him for last night".

"You're the fucking gigolo! There are people in your damn team who would fuck girls on the street!" Note ①

"I don't care what they do on the street. Aha, I get it, you must have deceived a lot of beautiful women to have such eloquence... Wait, why are you silent? Hey, refute me, Rod, refute me!"

"Shut up!"

Amidst the two adults' angry quarrel, Lucas, who was sitting in the passenger seat, struggled to stay upright and glanced at the mixed looks of surprise and envy outside the car window - he knew that he would become a legend in the school and no one would bully him anymore.

So... what's the price?

Across the street, Hummers were coming toward Lucas's house, more than one, and from more than one direction.

Chapter 161: Antlers Grow Like Branches (3.5K)

The wheels of the Hummer rolled over the dirt road paved with stones and gravel. The road was full of potholes, and the dirty rain water in it splashed onto the body of the car, leaving patches of gray and black marks.

The roads, houses and other infrastructure here were all prepared for the mining industry. This area was very popular in the early years, but now it is deserted. Only a few decent-looking street lights stand, indicating that humans have not escaped from here.

Lucas looked out the window at the abandoned building that was rapidly receding. He felt a little uneasy. He was almost home. What would these two people do to his father and brother? They were sick, it was obvious... Gradually regaining consciousness, the boy realized that the man driving next to him was probably not his father's friend.

"Mr. Rhodes," Lucas began quietly, timidly asking amidst the bumpy ride, "What are you going to do when we get to my house?"

"It depends," Rod said calmly. "I'll try to avoid conflict. You're smart, Lucas, and you know what might happen."

"Are you a policeman?"

"Obviously not."

"A government agent? Dad told Aiden and me about the movies he and Mom went to see... He wasn't very good at it, but it was funny."

"Not at all."

"...You are..." the boy shrank his head and said in a smaller voice, "a killer?"

"In a way, yes, I am a killer—killing things that might endanger humanity and human civilization. But I prefer to call myself a 'savior,' doing a job I love. If you have the opportunity in the future, you can choose to be like me."

Rhode steered, skirting the largest puddle. His gaze fell on the slag heaps nearby. Gray and black slag piled up in various shapes. If there were enough children here, these useless waste would surely be given cool names like Black Castle and Ziggurat. But at its core, it was just a garbage dump emitting a dead atmosphere.

Passing through the slag heaps, one could see the house where the boy lived, and behind it, the rolling hills and the forests covering them. Some dilapidated houses could be seen sticking out from the woods, and it was obvious that someone had lived there before.

This place is rarely visited by outsiders - today is different.

"Someone arrived before us, and they're not one of us... Wait, I seem to have some impression."

Rod frowned and stopped the Hummer. He saw a car parked outside the house with fresh tire tracks, obviously it had just arrived.

As some fragmented memories surfaced, Rhode's face changed. He ignored the bewildered Barney Ross and the boy Lucas and directly pulled out a rifle and a chest mount filled with magazines from his storage space and threw them to the burly man. He rushed towards the house and shouted to the two people who were astonished by his creation out of nothing:

"protect yourself!"

"Wait, I'll go with you... Tsk, why is this chest mount so small?" Barney Ross threw the struggling Lucas into the Hummer and warned seriously, "There might be a gunfight. Don't run around and don't cause us any trouble. Think about it! This is your home. You still have family here, right? You have to take care of them!"

"...Yes, I will take good care of them."

Nodding, Barney closed the car door, and then saw Rod jump directly out of the second-floor window, smash the window with a punch and rush in!

"Fuck, is this guy some kind of android... a soldier?"

Just as Barney, who was running towards the house, saw, the moment Rod rushed into the house, he heard a woman's scream - in the attic on the upper floor - and when he rushed to the stairs, the scream soaked in pain and fear stopped abruptly, leaving only a faint, horrible sound like a beast tearing flesh from its prey.

Without hesitation, Rhodes rushed into the open door and ran up to the attic on the dirty and greasy stairs.

Then, pull the trigger!

Rhode, holding his M4 rifle, unleashed a fierce barrage that instantly knocked the emaciated man to the ground. Even so, the man continued to devour the flesh of the woman beneath him—the rifle's short bursts of fire were no longer enough to kill him. As Rhode pulled out his revolver, the man's chest suddenly exploded, his ribs splayed out like arms, and spikes like deer antlers protruded from his throat.

With each breath, the antlers grew out like branches.

From the man's body.

The man named Frank Weaver had disappeared, a captive, a slave, a part of that supernatural dimension, which roared at the intruders, spraying foul-smelling saliva mixed with blood, corroding small holes in the wooden floor.

Rhodes responded with gunfire, and the bullet spun and tore through the air as it flew towards the monster, but the latter easily dodged it - it jumped onto the roof like a spider, then leaped onto the wall next to it, dodging the attack that could obviously cause harm to itself, and gradually approached its attacker.

"Hey, hey, hey, you're not this strong in the movies, Frank."

Dodging the claws' blow, Rhodes quickly reloaded his revolver. At the same time, he saw the little boy huddled in the corner, looking at everything in front of him with horror - Aiden Weaver, the youngest boy in the Weaver family - but at this moment, there was a hint of desire in his eyes, a desire for human flesh and blood.

The boy was looking at the body of the woman who had been the headmistress of Lucas's school and who had now suffered such an unforeseen tragedy.

Rhodes was a little annoyed. He should have come earlier... This thought flashed through his mind for a moment, but was quickly overshadowed by the dangerous situation.

He casually shot the boy who was about to come over and eat flesh and blood during the fight between the two monsters. After the latter was temporarily sobered up by fear, Rhodes turned sideways and let the monster miss him. The evil claws only left an ugly, barely detectable claw mark on his coat.

Seizing the opportunity, Rod shot the monster in the back. Perhaps it should be called a "Wendigo"? The man-eating monster originated from the legends of the Algonquin Indians in the United States and Canada.

The Wendigo's stomach is like a bottomless pit, never satisfied. The Algonquins believe that if a person is too greedy and has no self-control, or commits cannibalism, he or she will also degenerate into a Wendigo... However, in this small town, the Wendigo has been given a new reflection and the ability to "expand its own kind", just like the spread of drug addicts.

The bullet that hit its back made the Wendigo roar in shock and anger. It swung its slender arms and threw the old furniture in the attic towards Rhodes. When the latter rolled forward several times to avoid it and just stood up, he saw a broken sofa rapidly enlarging in front of him.

"Fvck! Fvck! Fvck!"

Barney Ross screamed in shock. When he rushed to the attic where the gunshots were heard, he saw a huge monster nearly 20 feet tall pressing the sofa horizontally on Rod. Rod held the sofa tightly with his legs, holding a revolver in both hands, and madly poured fire at the monster hiding behind the sofa.

The flickering gunfire turned the entire attic into a weird and funny stage play scene. The violent vibration caused the tools piled there and the nails in the wooden boxes to fall to the ground, making a dull tinkling sound.

"What are you looking at, you damn monster Fvck! Doesn't the muzzle energy of that fire stick in your hand exceed 1.8 joules per square centimeter?!"

Rhode responded angrily. He hadn't expected the Wendigo to be so powerful after just feasting on human flesh. Logically, shouldn't it be at its weakest right after its transformation?! Not to mention, the mess of springs and wooden planks in the tattered sofa slightly reduced the bullet's power, allowing the monster to barely endure the pain and damage.

Wait a minute, Frank turned into the Wendigo in front of us. Is there another one in the abandoned mine that caused his transformation?

Gritting his teeth, Rod seized the opportunity under Barney's cover and shot the monster at the base of its antlers, directly breaking the newly grown antlers. The resulting severe pain forced the monster to throw away the sofa and retreat into the darkness howling - it wanted to take Aiden away, take the boy away!

Rhodes pulled out the dagger and spun the weapon in his palm. The next second, the sharp blade had pierced the Wendigo's leg joint, causing the latter to stagger for half a second, making the close distance no longer reachable.

As the evil and blasphemous flesh squeezed out of the dagger and healed rapidly, the boy Aiden had been picked up by Barney Ross, who was closest to him, and he fired the gun in his hand repeatedly, causing blood to splatter on the deer head with Frank's face.

After loading new bullets, Rod raised his gun and aimed at the monster - but it was too late. The Wendigo smashed through the corner of the attic and fell into the forest outside... Or maybe it wasn't too late. Several car lights illuminated the forest, and the sound of heavy machine guns rang out!

"Vultures never miss an opportunity to feed—it looks like we arrived just in time, Boss."

A reassuring voice echoed through the communication channel, causing Rhode to breathe a sigh of relief. He walked over to the broken area and looked at the Wendigo pinned to the spot by several lines of fire. He replied:

"First, weaken its mobility and break its joints. Don't get close. Where are your bazookas and flamethrowers? Take them out and act quickly! Killing this monster is by no means the end!"

Amidst the clamor of gunfire, the flames were brighter than the car lights.

The faint sound of painful howls from humans made Lucas, who had quietly gotten out of the car and walked into the attic, turn pale. He had seen the monster, and the face that still showed some of its past appearance. What should he do now? What should he and his brother Aiden do?

Looking at his brother who kept trying to pounce on the female corpse, Lucas, realizing the outcome, trembled. He walked up to Rhodes, who had an obviously embarrassed look on his face, knelt down, and banged his head hard on the floor, shaking the pool of blood apart.

"Please let my brother go!" the boy shouted at the top of his lungs. "I can do anything!"

"Then... who will take this responsibility?" Rhodes asked.

"..."

"Your brother has been infected. For the rest of his life, he can only eat fresh flesh and blood from living creatures. He will never be satisfied. And when he swallows his first bite of human flesh and blood—do you see? Those antlers that look like bushes will emerge from his body and turn him into something like his father."

"..."

"If he kills and eats people, threatening human civilization, how will you take responsibility for it? You only have one life, child. Only one."

“…I will take responsibility.”

Lucas suddenly raised his head. He stopped crying. Love for his remaining family, responsibility, and tenacity supported his frail body, allowing him to roar and swear an oath to the savior of mankind:

"I swear to you, I will make sure that the last person Aiden kills is me! If Aiden kills people, eats people, and turns into a monster, I will find him, kill him, and then commit suicide! Please, have mercy on him and let him live, at least until he can't hold on any longer!"

"In that case."

Rod motioned for Barney Ross to carry the trembling Aiden forward. He looked into the sturdy man's eyes and asked seriously:

"Will you be a witness to this oath, John James Rambo?"

"……Yes I do."

"So."

Rhodes bent down and picked up an iron nail that had fallen off in the battle just now, and stabbed it into his palm, letting his blood drip down the nail into the boy Aiden's mouth - he knew that his blood was special and he had never experimented with it before, so now was a good opportunity.