Witnessing the unbelievable pale golden light seeping through the crack of his daughter's bedroom door, Sheriff Roy's heart almost leaped out of his throat.
This bizarre scene formed an extreme contrast with the twisted and terrifying foggy world outside.
With no time to think and ignoring his fear, Roy growled in a low voice, "Cover me!"
He then violently crashed open the door to his daughter's bedroom, holding his shotgun level, its muzzle rapidly sweeping across the room along with his line of sight.
The young officer Jack followed closely behind, raising his rifle, the muzzle vigilantly pointing at the hallway outside and other corners of the room, his back against the wall, providing flanking cover for the sheriff.
Meanwhile, the other two officers, Alan and Pete, nervously stayed behind by the two police cars, their muzzles aimed at the fog-filled street, protecting the few frightened children inside the vehicles.
The scene in the bedroom made the two men who rushed in instantly hold their breath.
The room was clean and tidy, with pink wallpaper, a corner piled with plush toys, and textbooks spread open on the desk...
Everything was no different from an ordinary middle school girl's room.
However, the source of that strange light was sitting upright on the bed.
Roy's daughter, Emily, wearing a set of clean pajamas, was sitting quietly with her back against the headboard.
Her eyes were tightly closed, but from beneath her eyelashes, a soft golden glow of the same origin as the light from the door crack was seeping out.
The light was not glaring, but it seemed to possess a life of its own as it flowed and rippled around her, illuminating the entire room and dispelling the grayish-white fog that seeped in through the window cracks, even filling the room with a fresh, tranquil aura.
What was most shocking was that when Roy and Jack stepped into the area enveloped by this golden light, a bizarre warm current instantly wrapped around them.
It was not a physical warmth, but a sensation that acted directly on the soul.
The continuously accumulated extreme terror, the grief of witnessing tragedies firsthand, the confusion and anxiety toward the future...
These negative emotions that were about to crush them, under the illumination of this golden light, unexpectedly melted and subsided as rapidly as ice and snow under the sun.
They felt a long-lost, almost luxurious peace and reassurance; their taut nerves unconsciously relaxed a bit, and the fingers gripping their guns were no longer white from excessive force.
This light seemed to be protecting the room, even able to soothe the minds of those who approached.
Roy stared blankly at his daughter in the light, falling into a trance for a moment.
But the vigilance from his years of police work immediately pulled him back to reality.
The scene before him was beyond comprehension, but the terror of the outside world was real.
This golden light...
Was it a blessing or a curse?
What had happened to his daughter?
He forcibly broke free from that comfortable sense of tranquility, his eyes becoming sharp and pained once again.
He turned his head and gave a low order to Jack, his voice hoarse from extreme tension and internal struggle: "Jack... listen, you stand guard here. If anything abnormal happens after I get close, if I... or Emily, show any sign of being like those things outside..."
He took a deep breath, as if exhausting all the strength in his body, before uttering that incredibly cruel command: "Do not hesitate, open fire, and take out both me and Emily."
"What?!"
Jack felt as if struck by lightning, nearly losing his grip on his rifle. "Sheriff! Are you crazy?! I... I can't do that!"
Shooting a possibly infected sheriff was already an unimaginably huge psychological burden, let alone pulling the trigger on an underage little girl!
This completely violated his basic moral bottom line of protecting the public as a police officer and as a human being.
"That is an order!" Roy's eyes were bloodshot as he stared dead at Jack. "You saw what it's like outside!
We don't know what this light is! We don't know what happened to Emily! If... if this is a more concealed, more dangerous precursor to infection, we cannot take the risk! We cannot let her turn into that kind of monster and walk out of here!"
He paused, his voice taking on an unconcealable tremble and despair: "Jack, Emily's mom passed away early, she is my everything.
If she is really gone, there is no point in me living either. So... if necessary, doing this is a relief and a responsible act for me, for her, and for anyone who might still be alive."
These words were so heavy they almost suffocated Jack.
He understood the deep-seated pain and resolve of the sheriff.
His wife died early, and the father and daughter depended on each other; his daughter was his whole world.
If this world collapsed, he would rather be destroyed along with his daughter than ever allow her to exist in this world as a monster.
Looking into Roy's bloodshot yet exceptionally determined eyes, Jack felt a lump in his throat. Ultimately, he gave an almost imperceptible nod and gripped his rifle tightly. The muzzle was lowered, but his finger was already resting on the trigger guard, prepared for the worst.
Receiving this silent response, Roy seemed to shed his final trace of misgiving.
He took another deep breath, leaned his shotgun against the wall by the door, and walked step by step toward the bed, toward his daughter radiating golden light.
Every step was incomparably heavy, as if treading on a blade.
His gaze was tightly locked onto Emily's face, trying to find any anomaly on that calm countenance.
As the distance closed, the golden light completely enveloped him, and that feeling of warm reassurance grew even stronger, almost making him drown in it.
He reached the bedside and knelt on one knee, bringing his line of sight level with his daughter.
He then reached out a slightly trembling hand, wanting to touch his daughter's forehead, but stopped in mid-air.
He lowered his voice, calling out in the softest, most emotional tone of his entire life: "Emily... it's Dad, can you hear me?"
The very moment his voice faded, Emily's tightly closed eyelids fluttered.
Immediately following, the soft golden glow in her eyes began to slowly retract and dim, receding like the tide.
A few seconds later, the light completely vanished.
Emily opened her eyes with some effort.
Her pupils returned to their normal color. Her gaze was initially somewhat bewildered and unfocused, as if she had just woken up from an extremely long dream.
Her eyes wandered around the room, eventually focusing on the face of her father, which was close at hand and filled with worry and fear.
"...Dad?"
Her voice was extremely weak, carrying the hoarseness of just waking up and an indescribable exhaustion.
Then, seemingly having exhausted all her strength, she closed her eyes and her body slumped to the side.
"Emily!"
Roy exclaimed in alarm, hurriedly reaching out to catch his daughter and holding her tightly in his arms.
He immediately checked his daughter's breathing and pulse. Her breathing was faint but even, her pulse was a bit slow but had a steady rhythm, and her body temperature was normal.
Apart from extreme weakness and unconsciousness, there seemed to be no other abnormalities, let alone any signs of impending mutation.
His nerves, taut to the extreme, suddenly relaxed. Massive relief and lingering dread crashed into Roy like a tsunami.
His legs gave way, and he almost fell to his knees holding his daughter, only managing to support himself by leaning against the edge of the bed.
Cold sweat instantly soaked his back.
Jack at the door also silently let out a breath, as if a heavy burden had been lifted.
He slowly lowered his muzzle and wiped away the cold sweat that had somehow appeared on his forehead.
Thank goodness...
He didn't have to make that nightmarish choice.
"She just passed out. She looks fine."
Roy's voice still trembled a little, but he had regained some composure and carefully scooped Emily up in his arms.
"We are leaving here," Roy said to Jack.
Jack nodded, raised his rifle again, and led the way.
Roy held his unconscious daughter, freed his left hand to hook his shotgun, and followed closely behind.
The two quickly and vigilantly exited the bedroom, crossed the living room, and went outside.
Seeing the sheriff come out unharmed, carrying his seemingly sleeping daughter, Alan and Pete, as well as the children in the cars, breathed a sigh of relief.
Although that bizarre golden light was baffling, at least Emily looked 'normal'.
"Where do we go next, boss?"
Middle-aged officer Alan asked, his gaze sweeping over the twisted figures faintly visible in the fog, looking deeply worried.
Roy placed his daughter in the backseat of the police car, letting her lie flat, and took off his own jacket to cover her.
Then he straightened up and looked deep into the thick fog, toward the main road leading out of town.
"Leave Ronda Town." He said firmly. "We can't stay here anymore. The more people there are, the more monsters there will be. We have to find a wider, safer place, maybe somewhere we can find other survivors or official rescue."
The group had no objections.
This was the most reasonable choice at present.
The two police cars started up again, the roar of the engines exceptionally piercing in this dead silence.
They drove along the road from memory toward the outskirts of the town.
However, as they gradually drove away from the town center, an even more bizarre phenomenon occurred.
Those twisted monsters that had previously wandered in the fog and madly lunged forward once they detected the scent of the living, were now unexpectedly...
No longer approaching?
When the police cars drove past, the mutants by the roadside would still let out roars and face the direction of the vehicles, but they seemed to be blocked by an invisible wall. They could only scratch and roar in vain on the spot, unable to rush onto the street and attack the vehicles like before.
Some even just stared blankly as the vehicles drove past, without any intention to attack.
"What the hell is wrong with them?" Pete looked in the rearview mirror at the monsters 'frozen' in place, finding it hard to believe.
"I don't know, maybe their movement range is limited?" Alan guessed.
"No..."
Roy looked through the rear window at those stalling monsters, then looked down at his sleeping daughter in the backseat, an unbelievable thought sprouting in his mind.
Could it be that golden light?
Did something lingering on Emily dispel these monsters? Or make them afraid to approach?
This idea was too bizarre, so he didn't say it out loud.
But regardless, this bizarre phenomenon was excellent news for them.
Thanks to this inexplicable 'safe passage', the two police cars encountered almost no substantial obstruction. They traveled all the way through the dead-silent streets, 'watched' by the monsters, and finally drove past the old road sign that read 'Ronda Town, Have a Safe Journey', completely leaving this town shrouded in fog and nightmares...
The fog seemed to thin out a bit after they left the town limits, but it was still there, just no longer so dense that it couldn't be dispersed.
The scenery on both sides of the road changed from houses to wilderness and sporadic farms. It was still desolate, but at least more open.
As their taut nerves relaxed slightly, exhaustion and hunger surged over them.
It was nearing noon.
"There's a gas station ahead." Alan pointed at a silhouette vaguely appearing in the fog ahead. "We need gas, and we also need to rest and eat something."
It was an old, standalone gas station.
Unattended gas pumps, a convenience store with floor-to-ceiling windows, and not much cover around.
But under the current circumstances, this could already be considered a rare 'sanctuary'.
The two police cars slowly drove into the spacious parking area of the gas station, the tires crunching over the gravel.
The group didn't get out immediately, but vigilantly observed their surroundings.
The fog was much thinner here, with visibility reaching around a hundred meters. Surrounding them were empty fields and distant woods; temporarily, there were no moving things to be seen, be it humans or monsters.
Dead silence was still the main theme.
But at least, there wasn't that omnipresent, suffocating feeling of being spied upon like in Ronda Town.
"Alan, Pete, you guys stay outside. Watch the cars and the kids, keep an eye on the surroundings, and sound the alarm immediately if there's any movement."
Sheriff Roy ordered in a lowered voice, his eyes scanning the empty gas station and the misty fields in the distance. He then used the walkie-talkie: "Jack, come with me."
The two who were called nodded, quickly got out of the cars, and used the police cars as cover, pointing their rifles in different directions.
The children were told to stay inside the cars, lock the doors, and curl up in the backseat.
Jack took a deep breath, raised his gun, and followed behind Roy. The two, one in front and one behind, slowly approached the convenience store in a standard tactical formation.
The door was ajar, a few glass panes were shattered, and it was dim inside.
Roy signaled Jack to cover the side of the door, while he himself swiftly darted inside, the muzzle of his shotgun quickly sweeping across the entrance area.
"Clear," he said softly, and Jack immediately followed.
The store was filled with the smell of dust. The shelves were toppled over, and merchandise was scattered all over the floor, clearly having experienced looting or chaos.
But upon careful searching, they found that in the innermost storage room, and at the bottom of several shelves that were not completely destroyed, there remained quite a few canned foods, bottled water, energy bars, and other snacks, and even numerous unopened hygiene products and first aid kits.
There was no power, no living people, and no trace of monsters.
"It's safe for now, and we have supplies." Roy's voice carried a trace of exhausted relief. "Drive the cars over for gas, bring the kids inside, and we'll rest here for a bit."
Once the news was relayed, everyone's spirits lifted slightly.
Pete was in charge of filling the two police cars with gas, while Alan stood guard.
The children were brought into the relatively enclosed interior of the convenience store and arranged in a corner far from the doors and windows, with blankets found in the cars laid out for them.
Michael clung tightly to his brother Jack's hand, his small face still pale.
The supplies were gathered together. Though not much, it was enough to sustain them for a few days.
Roy and Jack began using the fallen shelves inside the store, discarded tires, and some heavy debris to build makeshift barricades and shooting positions behind the main entrance and the broken windows of the convenience store.
They moved quickly. Everyone knew that temporary safety did not mean absolute safety.
"Jack, you take the first watch, two hours." Roy rubbed his aching temples. "The rest of you, hurry up and rest, especially us, who haven't closed our eyes since last night."
The word rest, at this moment, was like a double-edged sword.
Exhaustion pressed on everyone's eyelids like heavy lead weights, but the risks brought by sleep...
"No! Don't sleep!"
A child's voice tinged with tears suddenly rang out; it was Michael.
The boy rushed in front of Roy, Pete, and Alan, who were just looking for a place to lie down, his face filled with extreme terror.
"You can't sleep! I... I saw it in my dream! Those adults, the people who turned into monsters, they all changed after falling asleep! That demon in the fog... it comes when people sleep! If you sleep, you'll turn into monsters like that too!"
Jack's words were like a bucket of ice water, making the several adults instantly freeze, their sleepiness completely gone.
Connecting this with the previously mentioned 'demon in the dream' and the speculation that those mutants might have all transformed at night or during deep sleep...
Could it be that sleep was really the trigger for this terrifying disaster?!
This horrifying conjecture dropped the atmosphere in the convenience store to freezing point once again.
If even sleep became a luxury and a danger, how much longer could they hold on?
Just as everyone was gripped by doubt and falling into deeper despair—
"Mhm..."
A faint groan of pain came from the corner.
Roy abruptly turned around, only to see his daughter Emily flutter her eyelashes a few times and slowly open her eyes.
Her gaze was a bit bewildered at first, but upon seeing her father's concerned face, it quickly focused.
"Dad?" Her voice was weak but clear.
"Emily! How do you feel? Is there any place that feels uncomfortable?" Roy hurriedly crouched down and held his daughter's hand.
Emily shook her head. She seemed to be trying hard to recall something. A hint of confusion flashed through her azure eyes, which was then gradually replaced by a strange luster.
"Dad." She looked at Roy, and in a dream-like yet incomparably certain tone, she spoke softly, "When I fell asleep... I had a dream. It was so dark in the dream, with fog, and a very scary thing. But later... later there came a..."
She paused, as if searching for the right words to describe that unbelievable sight.
"—A golden giant, glowing all over... a very warm light. He drove that scary thing away... and even told me, don't be afraid..."
A golden giant?
Roy and the others exchanged glances, all seeing the shock in each other's eyes...
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