Chapter 239 No Way Out
The flickering, mottled light came from a dusty light bulb—hanging forlornly on an equally dilapidated sign. Sheen pulled the car closer—and could clearly see it read, "Welcome to Sunset Hill Tunnel." The sign was filthy, covered in a mixture resembling entrails or rotting flesh, dried blood seeping from it—it was everywhere.
—Of course it's blood. She's not stupid; she can tell what flesh and blood look like when it's rotten to a certain extent. It might be animal blood, but the chances are probably very small.
Sheen felt he was worrying too much; ever since he left Black Goat Mental Hospital, things had started to go wrong in Block N23.
She reached for the cigarette pack, opened it, and found there were only two left. Deciding to hold off for now, she then asked the person in the back seat, "Speaking of which, how are we supposed to pass this so-called...test?"
“Just go in like this, and keep going until you see the end of the road,” Bell Hera said blankly.
Sheen couldn't help but glare at her, noticing her unusually blank stare at the snowflakes and dark background outside the car. Her gaze was so deep and lifeless that it was impossible to tell that there was absolutely no light inside, as pure as nothingness.
"Sure, just one more question: if we're just sightseeing and don't bother anyone, will we be able to leave safely?"
“You’re so funny, how could that be?” Bell forced a smile.
After saying that, she lowered her head again, looking somewhat lost, and started fiddling with the pockets of her cotton-padded coat, seemingly pondering something. Sheen saw her pick up the identity tag and draw something on it with a marker she found somewhere.
The lights ahead grew brighter and brighter, and it didn't look like a hellish place where some monsters lurked; it was just an ordinary tunnel.
Just then, a shadow flashed past on the right side of the car. Sheen immediately slammed on the brakes, leaned out the window to take a look, then lit a cigarette—fuck it, let's get this over with first—and jumped out of the car, preparing to walk in that direction.
"No... what are you planning to do?" the crazy woman in the back seat asked nervously.
“You’ve seen horror movies, right? At times like this, someone needs to go out and investigate to move the plot forward.” Sheen said without any pressure. In her opinion, no mobile life form could withstand the temperature inside a star. “Obviously, it’s deliberately trying to lure me out. How could I refuse?”
Right next to the tunnel entrance, in the median strip, she saw a small patch of bluish limbs. Most of the rest was buried in snow, but she could still vaguely recognize that it had been a person in life.
“It’s best not to go,” Bell Hera said tremulously, sounding very frightened.
"I swear I'll be back in two minutes. I'm just going over to check briefly. Even if it's still alive, I can burn it in less than a millisecond." Sheen casually reassured him, then grabbed a flashlight from the passenger seat and left.
The snow was so deep that she trudged through it, knowing that few people would be clearing it. She heard a few noises coming from the SUV behind her—Bell Hera was banging on the window. She could vaguely hear him shouting, but she couldn't make out a single word.
As they got closer, Sheen realized that it really was a corpse. Only the right side of its body was visible, covered by heavy snow. It was highly decomposed, and all its hair was gone. However, the degree of frost on its surface indicated that it hadn't been there for very long.
She hissed in her cigarette, then reached out and flipped it completely over.
"Wow... Resident Evil?"
—After seeing its face clearly, Sheen realized that it wasn't a human face, or rather, not a face that a normal person should have. Although it did have limbs similar to hers, its entire face... only had petal-shaped split mouths, inside which were large holes filled with sharp teeth, taking up the entire face. She could even see the remaining blood and chunks of flesh inside.
A... mutated zombie.
Immediately afterwards, Sheen discovered that the deformed creature's body was covered with tiny mouthparts, like parasites, and they were now slowly wriggling.
She flicked the cigarette ash, shaking it all into the car, then trudged through the snow again, climbed into the car, and slammed the door shut.
When Bel Hera saw that she had returned so quickly, she was now very well-behaved and didn't say a word, but just looked at her with a wronged expression.
Sheen carefully sorted out his thoughts and asked, "A zombie outbreak? Night of the Living Dead, or Resident Evil? Which movie did they come from?"
"Most likely... it's Resident Evil." The person in the back seat swallowed and said in a hoarse voice, "Ah—maybe some other genes were added as well. Sometimes you'll encounter a version of Jason from Alien Queen, or some other random hybrid."
"Speak like a human being."
“It’s not exactly a taboo, or rather… it’s just part of the Mirror of Eternal Dreams, such as the dark side of one’s personality,” Bel Hera continued. “Everyone has nightmares, I do, and of course you do too.”
"And then those nightmare creatures will keep appearing in this tunnel?" Sheen thought for a moment, then said, "What's the most terrifying monster you've ever seen?"
“Hmm… they’re all terrifying,” Bel Hera said. “Whether it’s the Lord of Hell or the Old Gods, those characters who came out of the tunnels were created solely for entertainment, for specific effects.”
Sheen's expression twisted like a bitter gourd as she glared at the person in the back seat, but the person in the back seat simply looked back quietly, as if they had just been talking about something extremely simple.
"For entertainment and effect?" Sheehan asked.
“Yes… I’ve seen another group of people who can move freely within Sunset Hills and call themselves… The Isolators.” Bel Hera’s expression turned to one of recollection. “They are the true masters of this hell, cruel and cold-blooded.”
"Yes...that's it, we can't escape."
"Ten minutes ago you were saying we'd definitely get out, it'd just be a disaster."
Bell looked at her blankly, as if Sheen had just said something strange.
“I never said that was me. Absolutely not… We’re shrouded in nightmares, and I’ve emphasized it many times: we’re going to have serious trouble.” She started talking incoherently again, saying, “We’ve arrived here, but we shouldn’t be here. It’s too dangerous.”
Sheen rolled his eyes, thinking to himself, "How did this guy, who's so crazy, manage to get into B01? He's totally like someone with brain damage!"
She fastened her seatbelt, restarted the engine, and drove straight ahead.
They had to do it; Bell was right, there was no other way.
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