Chapter 11

Charles nodded heavily, pushed Gerald's hand away, and pressed down on the door handle.

A strong smell of blood hit them, causing the girls behind him to scream softly and then start sobbing again.

A large pool of blood was dripping continuously from the edge of the bed, and lying on the bed was a blonde female corpse.

It was Rachel.

Rachel, who was arguing with everyone just yesterday, was now quietly soaking in a dark red pool of blood.

Charles turned on the light, covered his mouth and nose, and walked step by step into the room.

He finally saw the extent of the horror.

Rachel's face was intact, but there was a small hole in the center of her forehead, about the size of a bullet.

Her body, however, had been disemboweled, with her skin and flesh turned inside out, exposing white ribs, and all the organs in her abdominal cavity were gone.

There were also some unidentified pieces of skin scattered on the bed.

Charles held his breath and bent down to look at the small hole in Rachel's head. It wasn't a gunshot wound.

It looked more like it had been made by some kind of tubular tool.

But in fact, none of this was as shocking as her expression.

Rachel's expression was peaceful and serene, with even a slight smile at the corner of her mouth.

It was as if she hadn't experienced any pain before her death but had instead had a beautiful dream.

"Fuck!"

Jeffrey suddenly cursed loudly, but it was clear his voice was trembling.

Charles was startled by him and frowned, asking, "Why are you getting in?"

"She, she..."

Jeffrey stammered as he looked at the scene before him, his stomach churning again.

He quickly ran out, opened the window at the stairwell, trying to disperse the smell of blood.

But Charles rushed over and slammed the window shut.

"From now on, no one is allowed to open the windows!"

Everyone was startled by Charles's volume because he had always given the impression of being very calm and quiet. His sudden outburst seemed strange to everyone.

After a while, only Jeffrey broke the eerie silence, saying, "Fine, we won't open them. We'll listen to you."

Then Charles went downstairs, and everyone followed him, leaving the ominous second floor.

After going downstairs, Charles checked each window to make sure none of them were leaking air. Only then did he stop and quietly find a chair to sit on.

Gerald had been full of questions since they were upstairs. Finally, when Charles sat down, he walked up, frowned, and asked, "What do you mean by this? Why can't we open the windows?"

Charles coughed lightly, realizing he might have been too obvious.

But when he saw Rachel's horrifying corpse, he had to admit he was scared.

"The smell of blood is too strong. It will attract dangerous creatures."

"What dangerous creatures?" Gerald pressed on.

Charles looked up and met Gerald's gray-blue eyes, saying, "Outside is full of danger."

Gerald's expression froze, and then he started to panic.

"What are you talking about? What danger?"

Charles stood up and pointed outside the window.

"Didn't you notice the large number of rats when you came here? Why would an uninhabited community have so many rats?"

Gerald was clearly stumped by the question and stammered in response, "R-rats can survive without humans."

"But not in such large numbers, unless there's a significant food supply. Clearly, there's only one household here. What else do you think could provide them with so much leftover food?"

Charles immediately countered, not giving him a chance to catch his breath.

"If you can't figure it out, don't think about it. Just remember, don't open the windows, or face the consequences."

After saying this, Charles strode towards the kitchen.

Because the patient still needed to eat.

No one spoke again. After a long time, only Piper weakly said, "The three of us didn't hear any sound from Rachel last night."

Jeffrey was the first to respond, "Did you fall asleep last night?"

Madeline, looking slightly uncomfortable, replied, "Yes, we were too tired, so we fell asleep quickly."

"I think I heard something." Gerald recalled, gritting his teeth as he continued, "I heard her laughing softly, and..."

"And what?" Jeffrey raised his voice.

"And I heard her call for her mom."

Charles and Jeffrey looked at each other.

"Mom? Are you sure?" Jeffrey asked.

"Maybe, maybe I was just half-asleep and hallucinating." Gerald scratched the back of his head and walked away.

Charles gave the task in hand to Jeffrey and said, "You cook, use pure meat, don't add anything else. I'm going to check on the patient."

Jeffrey opened his mouth, wanting to say something.

Charles patted his shoulder and mouthed: Don't worry.

Then he turned and gestured for the other four to follow him upstairs.

Upstairs, the three girls were still holding hands tightly, like little birds in winter.

Gerald nodded at Charles before he opened the door, indicating he was ready.

But as soon as the door opened, the smell of blood hit everyone's noses.

Why was there a smell of blood here?

Everyone hesitated, not moving further into the room.

At that moment, the large figure on the sickbed suddenly moved slightly.

The patient slowly turned his head to face them.

And at the corner of his mouth, there was a horrifying trace of blood.