Several people in shirts crowded into the cramped room, constantly fiddling with their headphones and equipment. Dino poked his head out from a tangle of wires and shouted, "We've got sound! Listen to what they're talking about!"
Crackling static came through the headphones. The people seated before the machines kept pressing buttons, and a somewhat cold voice spoke in a characteristically indistinct German accent.
"...My former colleagues told me they were on the verge of madness... They can't even use white towels. Anyone who dares show signs of surrender is executed immediately. Everyone is terrified..."
"Yes, the churches are under their surveillance as well. They won't permit the infiltration of Orthodox Christianity. If you keep talking about less popular Bible stories, they'll call you a heretic..."
"I have too little medicine to offer. By now, I'm afraid there's almost none left. I know Mrs. Dell's leg has been hurting, but the hospital has been stripped bare by them... May God bless the people."
"He went into the confessional!" Jonathan said, pressing a hand to his headphones. "Switch channels, quickly!"
Nick leaned over, angling his body forward as he listened through Jonathan's left headphone. His brown eyes were so dark they resembled a fallen scrap of skin.
"...I am terribly sorry, Lord. I have sinned..." The voice continued intermittently. "People keep dying, and I am adding to the count. I know some of them are destined never to reach Heaven, but perhaps going to Hell is also a kind of release..."
Nick's eyes widened at once. His hands trembled, and he was so excited he nearly shouted, but then the voice came again.
"There aren't enough anti-inflammatory drugs. Patients with sutured wounds can only rely on their own immunity or wait to die. Neither of those two operations went well, and