Chapter 370: 370
My face was already dark when I saw what was happening inside but everyone seemed to have released a little bit of killing intent combined with despair, fear, anger, disgust, and restlessness the moment the doors were fully open.
The inside was so f.u.c.k.i.e.d up, I could not believe how the ‘father’ managed to convince this number of people to follow his every whim. Everyone that came inside was excited that they were first and the ones that were left outside were showing dissatisfaction when I was scouting them through my scope earlier.
We then heard the ‘choir’ singing live.
“Amaz… ing… gr… cchk… ace…”
“Howchh… sweet… the… ch… NyyaRH… sou… nd…”
“That… schhaa… ve…. Ch…”
“A… retchhC… likechhCk… me…”
The scene was too much to take in at once.
They were singing a gospel song but their limbs were missing. I forgot to mention, they were all dead but they were still wearing their torn up robes. A few dozen ‘choir members’ were behind the podium and they were just ‘stacked’ neatly so they wouldn’t fall down. Their bodies were in the process of decay and the things that were making them stand upright were their limbs which were ripped apart from their bodies.
“H-How can t-they do that?” Ashley muttered, disgusted.
“Their torsos are still intact…” I explained a few things.
For our voices to come out of our bodies, it still needed more than just our heads. Our vocal folds could only produce sound when they all come together and vibrate when we exhale air from our lungs and said air passes through our vocal folds. The cult members made sure that their torsos were intact for the ‘choir’ to remain singing.
Everyone was silent.
“How long did they f.u.c.k.i.n.g collect this amount of bodies that could talk? Are they just lucky and they found them all in the same spot? Well… they’re still wearing their uniforms but still… nevermind…” I thought to myself.
I was first distracted by the choir but there was so much more inside. Before we get to reach the ‘choir’ and see them up close, we need to get through a few other ‘attractions’ inside.
Four rows of long wooden pews with excellent craftsmanship were filled to the brim with blood-stained people nailed on their seats. However, their hands were clasped together and their heads were pointed to a different direction for lack of a better term.
Their heads were yanked back and two metal stakes were planted through their eye sockets, right through the pew’s velvet cushions. Not only that, but their jaws were also dislodged and the skin of their chin was sewn through their neck, forcing their mouths to open wide. Their lips were also cut open from the side so their ‘smile’ could be even wider.
I was looking at each of the bodies on the pews but something was dripping from the ceiling. It wasn’t just a one-time thing, it was like… rain… of blood.
“What the f.u.c.k…” Brian muttered.
“Bro… look up.” Jared mentioned.
We all instinctively looked up and we simultaneously shook our heads.
It was ‘raining’ inside the church.
More than a hundred fresh bodies were getting bled out slowly from the ceiling and they were all tied by a rope. They were upside-down and the knots were located at their feet while a huge gash was located on their necks.
The final droplets of blood remaining from their bodies could be the ones we were witnessing because the white marble flooring beneath us was blood-red. Their blood must’ve gushed out the moment their necks were slit open earlier. The way they were placed was almost the right angle for their blood to flow through the mouths of the ones beneath them.
No one was speaking aside from the ‘choir’ in the middle of the podium but we all decided to make sure that none from the ceiling come back. Some of them have already turned and it would only be a matter of time before they all turned to something else. We shot a few that were already moving but we stopped when a few who were hung up fell down when the rope holding them up was nicked. Their bodies crashed to the pews but they never got back up again.
“H-How did they get them up there though?” Matthew muttered.
I was wondering as well and I took a few steps forward.
I saw a few pulleys installed in the ceiling where there was a beautiful mural painted before. The mural was now defaced by the bodies hanging around literally. There was a second-floor balcony where the ropes were fastened and tied in one place.
The rest took a peek as well and we continued shooting a few. However, Oscar tapped my back and told us to stop.
“Kid, can’t we just burn the whole church down like we did the gymnasium? These things shouldn’t exist in the first place. All these things did was give false hope and false information. They literally sacrificed themselves for nothing.” Oscar said, with an angered expression.
“We will, I just need to confirm the identity of the father and his disciples. I’m also gonna check his room for some sort of journal or something similar. Leading a group this big should at least need some sort of admin job. They’re already checking church attendance, why wouldn’t they record a few things more.” I replied, pointing at the logbook by the entrance.
“Better get to work then, we have a lot of bodies to clear. I don’t want to walk in the middle of that where a body might suddenly fall from the sky.” Matthew chimed and everyone nodded.
Before we started, I turned to Marvin.
“Hey, go to that municipal hall right next to the other church a few blocks away. Grab all the files that you could even the hard copies and bring all the hard drives you could get your hands on. We’d need information about those people here especially that ‘father’ up in that balcony.” I instructed Marvin and his group.
“Identify? Could we still identify him? You shot him, right?” Brian interjected.
“I didn’t go for the headshot. The same with the rest of his cohorts.” I replied nonchalantly.
“Damn, you mean to say you could go for a headshot from that distance?” Max whistled.
“Maybe.” I smiled faintly.
“…” everyone else.
“Just kidding.” I chuckled.
“…” everyone else.
“Or am I?! Ow!” I widened my eyes but Kaley kicked me.
I was trying to make the atmosphere lighten up a little but it seemed that wasn’t happening anytime soon. They understood my intentions for joking around but I misread the situation. Kaley wasn’t even glaring at me when she kicked me, their faces were all solemn just from the sight we witnessed.
“Well, I tried.” I thought to myself.
Marvin brought half of his group to the municipal hall while our group started clearing the bodies. Before we shot each and everyone inside, we shot a bit of footage first for doc.u.mentation. We used the drones for doc.u.menting everything and I called Lois over.
I made Lois drive his drone inside to check further in for other blindspots and to check on the bodies of the ones I shot on the balcony. Luckily, we seemed to have killed every threat present and the bodies of the ‘father’, and the rest hadn’t risen up yet. He drove it back and we ended the life of the ‘choir’ and the ones still hanging from the ceiling.
The only thing left to do was to let the hanging bodies down and haul them all outside to be burned with the rest. A few clumps were already being burned but there was still more inside. Burning a lot of bodies reduces our gas reserves by a significant amount but we couldn’t just let them rot or get eaten by stray animals. We would have more trouble if that ever happened.
It was starting to take longer than I expected so I brought out a few umbrellas from our vehicles. I came back and my group was confused as to why I brought a few with me.
“Well, I don’t want their blood dropping on us since the ropes were still soaked so I brought umbrellas. A few could come with me so we could check on the balcony and the other rooms first.” I explained myself.
They nodded and they each took their own. Kaley and I shared one and we made our way to where the ‘father’ was located. The first thing I did was took pictures of their faces and bodies before sinking a knife to their earlobes. They were still bleeding out when we reached them but we simply threw them down to be burned after searching their bodies thoroughly.
The only things I found on their persons were rosaries and nothing more. Their bodies had no specific markings or tattoos belonging to a faction aside from a few scars that could be a birthmark or due to the damage the .50 BMG had done.
I searched for his study next for anything that could give us more information. We searched the drawers, cabinets, dressers, and etc. There were a few more rooms on this floor so the others split up to divide the labor.
It took us a while but we found a few things.
One of them was a notebook listing all of the members of this church. I started rifling through them but the thing that I was noticing first was that the names from the first pages were struck through with a red-inked pen.
“What does that mean?” Kaley asked.
“I don’t know yet. Check the-” I replied but we heard gunshots from the other room.
Kaley and I dropped what we were doing and rushed where we heard the gunshots came from.
What I saw was Matthew and Oscar gunning down a few nuns to the ground and their faces were now unidentifiable. The moment our perspective of the whole room widened, we almost did the same thing to those nuns riddled with bullet holes.
The room we were in was a nursery.
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