The town was quiet at this moment, and a crescent moon in the sky intermittently appeared and disappeared among the clouds. The members of the Embers squad continued to search for any signs of activity in the middle of the town.
David felt that the atmosphere here was unusually silent, indicating that something was amiss. Based on Charles’s speculation, Town D was likely a place densely populated by zombies. The constant encounters with zombie hordes along the way confirmed that this was a dangerous gathering place. Why did it suddenly become so quiet?
“Everyone, stay alert. There must be something unusual going on,” David instructed the others. They nodded in agreement and cautiously surveyed their surroundings. After crossing the square, they came across a massive building. There was a stage on top of the structure, with numerous open-air benches below.
As David carefully observed, he noticed that it was a theater, albeit long abandoned and in a dilapidated state. Just as his gaze was about to shift away from the theater, he suddenly spotted something peculiar on the stage.
David quickly focused his gaze and saw a head popping out from behind the tattered curtains. It was examining the benches below the stage as if they were occupied.
“There’s something happening on the stage!” David furrowed his brow and informed the team members. Upon hearing David’s words, everyone turned their attention to the ragged curtains. Indeed, they saw the eerie head, which startled them.
It appeared to be the head of a child, with a bloody hole on top, blood oozing from its eye sockets. A pair of decaying hands gripped the curtains, revealing nothing but bare white bones. It seemed unaware of David and the others, still stretching its head to observe the benches below the stage, like a performer readying for a show, observing the audience.
“Wow, this little one turned into a zombie already?” Arnold stared at the child and remarked, preparing to approach.
“Whether it’s a child or not, once it becomes a zombie, it’s our target to hunt. Better to die early and be reincarnated sooner. Uncle is here to lend you a hand!” As Arnold prepared to take action, David quickly reached out and stopped him.
“Don’t act rashly. Let’s observe first.” David said this because he noticed that this child zombie wasn’t immediately attacking them like the other zombies they had encountered. He also found the behavior peculiar. There was no one below the stage, so why was it continually staring?
“Thud!” Just as David was contemplating, a sound suddenly rang out.
“What was that?” Sally asked, startled. Everyone looked up at the stage again and found that the child zombie had disappeared, replaced by a relatively young zombie standing on one side of the stage. He held a drumstick and was forcefully striking a large drum.
“Thump, thump, thump!” The drumbeat grew increasingly intense. As if responding to the rhythm, the moon in the sky slowly emerged from behind the dark clouds. Its pale, blood-red light instantly cast upon the town. ．
Then, a horrifying scene appeared before everyone’s eyes. The previously empty benches below the stage were suddenly filled with all sorts of zombies. They sat quietly, heads lifted, gazing at the young zombie on the stage. It seemed as if they were waiting to witness a captivating performance. This stunned the group, prompting them to quickly retreat.
Just now, David casually scanned the seats and counted more than a hundred of them. And all these seats were filled to the brim. In other words, there were more than a hundred zombies right in front of them. Duke couldn’t help but inhale sharply at the sight of the densely packed zombies.
“Are they watching a play? Why are they motionless? They haven’t even noticed us,” Sophie asked, puzzled.
After observing for a while, David nodded. Based on the current situation, it seemed that these more than a hundred zombies were waiting to watch a show. However, he didn’t understand why these ferocious zombies suddenly became so quiet, as if under control. So he once again turned his gaze to the stage. He felt that the answer might lie there.
After a moment, the drumbeat suddenly ceased, and the young zombie looked toward the other side of the stage, as if waiting for something. Suddenly, the child zombie from earlier reappeared before everyone’s eyes. It glanced at the zombies below the stage, then performed a series of consecutive backflips from one side of the stage to the center. After completing these moves, the child zombie raised its head and looked at the zombies below, seemingly waiting for applause.
The young zombie struck the drum heavily once again. “Thud!” With that drumbeat, the more than a hundred zombies below, as if manipulated, raised their hands and applauded, creating a resounding noise. Each zombie mechanically clapped its hands while staring at the two individuals on the stage.
Upon hearing the drumbeat, David, unintentionally, wanted to clap his hands as well, but he quickly suppressed the impulse. The other team members also experienced the same thing, looking at their own hands in confusion.
“What’s going on? Why did I feel the urge to clap? Yeah, I almost couldn’t resist when the drumbeat started!” Everyone realized what had happened and asked in astonishment.
Furrowing his brow, David immediately understood that there must be something mysterious about the drumbeat of the young zombie. Otherwise, the more than a hundred zombies wouldn’t suddenly appear with the sound of the drumbeat, nor would they feel the urge to clap.
Mind control? This speculation immediately crossed David’s mind. However, he continued to observe and saw the child zombie, listening to the applause, with a smug expression on its face. At the same time, its eyes drifted towards David and the others, and a hint of extra blood appeared in its eye sockets, while its mouth revealed an indiscernible but infuriated anger.
The young zombie struck the drum again, and the child zombie slowly walked to its side, continuing to silently observe one side of the stage.
“Is there more?” Seeing the synchronized actions of the two individuals, David immediately made a guess.
Sure enough, a zombie dressed in the attire of an old opera character suddenly appeared before his eyes. This “old opera” zombie had bones exposed on its face, but it wore theatrical makeup. Its clothes were tattered, unable to conceal its exposed internal organs. Nevertheless, it opened its mouth, and fragmented lines of dialogue floated out.
“Behold, my lord, irresistible tears… tears flow down my face. In my heart, it feels as if thousands of arrows pierce through. Look at me, my lord, my black hair is tied up together. Look at me, my lord, the red embroidered shoes on my feet are wearing thin.” These lines sounded especially desolate from the old opera zombie’s mouth, evoking faint cries from the zombies in the audience.