The distant church bells echoed in the dim sky of the evening.
The crying children were carried home by their parents, the wooden doors of the shops were closed one after another, and the curtains behind the windows were drawn by panic-stricken people.
Soon there were no pedestrians on the streets, leaving only a mess, the sound of bells echoing in the night sky and the inaudible shouts of government officials.
Almost every window lit up with bright and powerful light, illuminating the whole of Belfast.
But this bustling night scene is suppressed by uneasiness and panic.
The whole city fell into dead silence, only the bells and shouts of churches echoed everywhere.
…
Rodster Harbor shrouded in drizzle.
Langdon retracted his gaze towards Belfast, along the gradually dimming and invisible coastline, and landed on the lighthouse in the rocks.
The strong and bright beam of light guided the returning ships, but at this time there was no ship outside the bay - except for the ship that was reported to be abnormal not long ago.
But there's no one alive up there.
The strange fog brewing on the sea was heading towards Belfast, and the night watchmen who stayed at the port to deal with the strangeness had to face the third bad news: the coming strange fog hindered their search for the source of the disease.
The first two pieces of bad news are that the source has not been found and that an unusually large number of passengers have been infected.
But there is also good news: they controlled the epidemic on the passenger ship coming from the Mainland and did not spread.
Crews and passengers on other ships and workers at the port lined up in long queues and were being tested by the joint organization.
Da da da——
Langdon looked at the sailboat docked in the port, almost hidden in the darkness.
The crisp, rushing sound made by the hard soles of the boots represented his mood at the moment.
It is getting darker, but only half of the inspections of workers, crew and passengers at the port have been carried out.
They cannot allow thousands of potentially dangerous people who have not yet been tested to enter Belfast. It would be a disaster, a disaster that would destroy the largest city on the Allen Peninsula.
Fortunately, the buildings and docked ships in the port are barely enough to accommodate these people.
Now, before the strange fog arrives, they must test as many people as possible and send them away from Rodster Port.
"Damn weather!"
Langdon gritted his teeth and cursed. White mist came out of his mouth and nose, bringing negligible warmth to his frozen red nose.
He could only vent his complaints about all this on the temperature.
This anxious and restless waiting, gathered by thousands of people at the port, only lasted less than ten minutes, or even less. The light beam from the lighthouse in the distance shining into the deep sea suddenly flickered a few times and gradually dimmed.
Above the sea, Hanukkah is retreating, and something is surging in the darkness, heading towards Belfast.
The team that was barely maintaining order became restless at this moment. Panic people screamed and rushed towards the blockade. The sky was filled with fearful shouts of "The fog is coming!" and "Run away!"
Bang! Bang!
The deafening gunfire caused the port to be silent for a brief moment. People who returned to their senses finally thought of the previous instructions of the joint organization and ran towards the buildings on the port.
Langdon grabbed a crew member who was rushing towards him in a panic and shouted: "Something strange is approaching, everyone! Hide in the building!"
Then he pointed not far away and shouted to the crew: "Hide inside!"
Soon, people who crowded towards the port buildings found that there was no room for so many people, so they flocked to the ships on the shore.
The lighthouse on the reef lit up again, and one nautical mile away from the end of the beam, it appeared like a monster, clinging to the thick fog rolling on the sea surface.
Langdon held an oil lamp and stared blankly at the sea. People ran past him, standing like rocks in a heavy rain. Their mouths moved slightly, silently counting the time until the strange fog reached the coast.
When the strange fog was less than half a minute away from the port, the crowd at the port finally dispersed completely, with only a few figures still hiding in the port.
Withdrawing his gaze, Langdon quickly walked to the middle-aged passenger who was dragging heavy luggage not far away, and pulled him away from the luggage: "Don't worry about the cargo! They won't eat your luggage!"
Pushing the middle-aged passenger towards the cabin behind him, Langdon suddenly looked at the ship that was on alert for the disease.
Several figures wearing beak masks walked out of the cabin. Behind them, thick fog rolled in.
"This way! Run! Run over here!"
Langdon shouted to them, and the beak-masked figures turned back to look at the approaching strange fog, then took steps to run towards Langdon.
Langdon retreated to the door of the cabin. When all his colleagues had passed by and rushed into the cabin, he finally looked towards the port.
The docked ship was swallowed up by the thick fog, revealing its cold, huge and frightening silhouette.
In the thick fog, some outlines that did not exist before were looming——
A hand suddenly grabbed Langdon's arm from behind and pulled the stunned Langdon closer to the cabin.
Bang!
The wooden door closed heavily.
Twenty or thirty figures huddled in the small wooden house, and the sound of suppressed breathing could be heard everywhere. Crowded in the workers' wooden house, they looked like big meat cans.
The door latch was hung up by the figure in the bird's beak mask, and it retreated. Suddenly, a thick fog enveloped the outside of the window.
The five or six oil lamps that emitted light were like electric lamps with unstable power supply, flickering and dim in an unsettling manner.
Several muffled exclamations sounded in the wooden house.
Langdon handed the oil lamp to his colleague, pulled up the curtains with a clatter to cover the outside world, and backed away from the door.
The oil lamp became dim and dull, and the strange fog from the outside world seemed to seep into the wooden house through the gaps between the wooden boards, like a veil in front of the eyes.
Wow – Wow –
In the port shrouded in thick fog, the strange sound of chain dragging echoed in the air.
There's something oil lamp outside.
"Merciful Father, please bless..."
A low voice of prayer sounded in the wooden house, which infected many uneasy passengers and crew members. They followed the whispers and gathered together in the small and crowded wooden house, covering up the strange noises outside the wooden house.
Langdon instinctively sensed something was wrong, and was about to speak out to stop everyone from praying——
…
Ocean liner Astlan.
Below deck, third class cabin.
"Mom, that house is out of light." The little girl pointed to a wooden house on the harbor that suddenly became dark, and turned to her mother and said.
"Shh..."
The woman was startled and quickly lifted the little girl away from the window. Then a passenger raised the table to block the window.
Only two oil lamps were left in the cabin, giving off a dim light.
…
Black gold neighborhood.
A drunkard who ignored the ban and warnings collapsed on the roadside.
When the thick fog came in, the uneasiness deep in his soul made the drunk man slightly open his eyes.
Mist surrounded him, and a figure stood in front of him.
The drunkard raised his hand and grabbed the figure's trouser leg.
"Hey...what time are you...now..."
The drunken man's voice suddenly disappeared, leaving only the vague sound of chewing in the dead silence.
…
Looking down from the air, everything becomes lifeless and dark wherever the strange fog that rushes to the top of the mountain passes.
Occasionally, a house was completely darkened, and occasionally there were screams piercing the night sky, but as the thick fog advanced, they were all covered up in the silent mist.