William heard screams, hoarse screams, coming from the sailors behind him. They were washed away by the vibrations that shook the rock formations. They were like cold currents extinguishing torches, drowning out these faint sounds. The latest frightened sounds were blocked under his tongue,
He realized that it was his own voice, transmitted from the cold hair on his neck into his head.
The rock passage made a crisp sound like dry vermicelli, and had a wave-like tendency, like a fish jelly rocking back and forth. He fell to the ground, cracks opened under him, and the misaligned section lifted up his shoulder blades, and he could no longer touch it with his fingers.
Shaped floor.
The source of the earthquake is still approaching, and the roaring sound waves and vibrations are continuously beating, wantonly rubbing the solid tunnel that existed before the arrival of humans and thought it would always exist.
One side of the cave wall was suddenly torn apart, and the earthquake source broke through the rock and came into the air, passing across and hitting the other side. The rock formation was regarded as nothing. It was like a fish leaping out of the sea, breaking through the water film, and then falling back into the water.
Something that looked like a continuous mountain ridge passed through this space. The form was invisible in the darkness. The sound of knocking and stirring reminded the link-like connection structure, and the unnecessary protrusions on the newly born cave were smoothed.
As if the trumpet sound from hell was wrapped around the stone flakes and rubbed against the nose, the eyelids flew away, and the cold current was like nails of death digging into the skin. The warm trickle lost its heat as soon as it dripped down, dried up beside the ears and hairline, and solidified and blocked the eyeballs.
.There were fine pains on the exposed skin, indicating the source of the viscous liquid. The terrifying vibrations disrupted the heartbeat and breathing rhythm, stifling the screams.
That rock painting was not enough to describe this length. It was traveling at a speed several times faster than a galloping horse. It was not the end until the long suffocation torture took away consciousness.
When William woke up from the dark coma and chaos, and his consciousness returned to the body in the lightless cave, the source of the earthquake had gone away, and the grid-like cracks under his palms reminded him that what he had just experienced was not a nightmare.
The trembling hands tried for a long time before they fired out a few sparks, lit the kindling, and put together a torch. The light returned here again.
A two-person-high cave appeared out of thin air, passing horizontally from where Old Goli stood, forming an underground intersection with the original mine. William remembered that the hunched old figure had no intention of moving, and looked calm.
The blowing out of the torch was followed by loud noises and vibrations.
That guy is probably dead, he thought. If he stood a little closer, the people here would disappear without a trace like the rocks in the new cave, but the only one who was taken away now was probably Old Goli himself.
Probably yes.
Dragging his trembling legs, William stepped back on his hands and knees and crawled towards the direction of the crew. He was probably the first one to wake up and did not hear the voices of the others.
Soon, he touched the first sailor's leg. His shoes were lost in the panic and were frozen by the cold current. However, he could still feel the pulsing blood vessels on the instep, which made people feel a little more at ease. Not to mention that they were in the same boat.
After years of love, no matter how brave you are, you won't want to stay underground with a few corpses without seeing the light of day.
"Wake up!" William held a torch in one hand and shook the leg vigorously, causing its owner to cry out in pain in a semi-conscious state of dissatisfaction.
"If you're not dead, just say something back."
After struggling to move back, he saw a scary face, with black and red scabs and bright red blood stains all over it, and clumps of hair like a devil's horn crown.
Opening his eyelids, he screamed the moment he saw William and struggled to push him away.
William wiped his face with his sleeve, brushing away the sticky dried blood from his eyebrows to his beard. The fine tingling sensation made him worry about his appearance for the first time in his life, "Damn it, it's me, William!"
The fool even screamed for a while, and then stopped after William wiped away the blood. This slow reaction was definitely his own fault.
"Ah, ah... Captain? Where are the others?"
It was okay, at least he could be recognized, it was not completely changed beyond recognition, just a small scratch. William could also vaguely tell that it was one of the crew members from the blood stains.
"I don't know. Just wipe your face before you talk." His legs regained a little strength and he could stand up with his knees up.
Raising the light source to illuminate another guy who fell to the ground, William stepped forward, but the dull pain on his back prevented him from bending down.
I pulled back my strength and kicked him twice, not out of conscience, but because my knees were so painful that I couldn't exert any strength.
There was only the last one left, and it wouldn't be too far according to the previous formation. William rubbed his shoulder blades and raised the torch, lighting the way, preparing to find all the people and leave quickly. Kraft was right, they shouldn't be like this
Come here. The unknown thing worshiped by the mountain people is moving under the mountains. Now they know it, but they are already in danger.
There was no fourth person, only a small patch of relatively clean ground remained, proving that someone had been lying here. It seemed that he was not the first person to wake up.
"Damn it, you're walking around at this time! Have you seen that kid Walker?"
The two newly awakened sailors had just climbed up from the ground and carefully wiped the wounds on their cheeks. It was obviously impossible to know. There was no need for them to say anything. A series of clear footprints were displayed on the ground of the crushed rock.
Point to the way forward.
William frowned and followed the strangely clear footprints, which were evenly spaced, without even stopping or bumping into the wall. Their owner did not move blindly, but may have lit a torch after waking up, and accurately walked around the still sleeping ones.
The man passed by where William fell to the ground and still didn’t stop.
The sailors instinctively followed the torch to William's side and paused. They were already standing in the middle of the intersection, and the series of footprints extended toward the new hole, stepping into it with steady steps.
To be honest, William was really scared. That kind of thing didn't look like a creature that should exist in the world. He didn't think anyone would step onto it while being conscious after just witnessing such a terrifying experience.
The track we just passed.
"Are we going to find him?" asked the sailor behind him, his voice distorted like a pretentious warbler in Solace Harbor. For any business that requires cooperation to fight against the harsh nature, leaving behind your companions is a taboo. But
At this moment, we can still be in the same boat in the storm, but facing a moving mountain ridge underground is too... beyond the limit.
That thing should have left, but who knows? Just recalling the horrifying momentum, imagining flesh and blood being involved in the rocks, or being sealed underground forever like a miner who suffered a landslide, is terrifying.
"captain?"
William could hear what they meant. As long as his captain said a word, he would immediately turn around and leave. No one would stay here for a while.
"Walker..." The beard trembled, and his lips were ruminating on the name behind its cover, recalling the memories related to it. A passionate and capable young man who never slacked off. Everyone on the ship knew his name.
, including of course the three people present, which is why William chose to take him with him.
"Maybe he just went the wrong way, and he can catch up by himself in a while." He lifted his boots and took half a step back with his heels. William heard a sigh of relief.
That's it. He cast one last glance into the darkness and planned to leave.
However, a certain rhythmic sound stuck to his footsteps.
Two materials are colliding, one of which is rocky ground, which makes people feel happy, thinking that their companions have found their way back, so that they don't have to bear the guilt and the discussions behind the scenes of everyone on the ship. William thought of those equidistant footprints, which fit this
footsteps.
But the sound was too hard. What came into contact with the rock was not like the braided soles or wooden soles worn by the crew, but another material. To put it bluntly, it was like a large crab's feet hitting the rocks. It seemed to be getting closer,
But there was no torch light to illuminate the steps in the darkness, and it suddenly seemed a little strange.
But William vaguely felt that this was not important, and the hope in his heart that Walker would come back overshadowed his doubts.
He imagined that the young man carelessly lost the torch and had to hold on to the cave wall to come back in the dark. Fortunately, this moment of hesitation gave the young life a chance.
There was a slight sense of dissonance, like picking out fish bones from the crab paste and feeling a suction cup-like dissonance on the fish bones, but it was all forgotten when that familiar face appeared.
The footsteps stopped and stopped moving forward.
They all recognized that it was Walker's face, with a vague and indifferent smile, leaning towards the edge of the torch's aperture. Perhaps due to insufficient lighting, the young man's face, which was already a little baby fat, was enlarged and his facial features were lacking.
Three-dimensional, it looks like a wide flat floating ladle floating in the dark water.