Silence!
It was far too quiet!
There wasn't a single sound along Kirk Street!
Even in winter, when the insects fell silent, there should still have been dogs barking, not to mention the rats hiding in the gutters, rustling about at night.
Yet now, there was nothing.
All that remained was the breathing of the three men-
Huff!
As Eli sensed Walsh's breathing against his back, goose bumps rose along his neck.
There wasn't a trace of warmth in that breath.
Instead, it carried a chilling cold.
Like a draft through a leaky window on a winter night.
Eli made no sudden movements. He kept his pace steady and continued walking.
But the hand of this lookout and part-time information broker slowly moved toward the inside of his coat.
The next moment, someone caught it.
It was Doctor Linst.
Doctor Linst reached out and seized Eli's other hand. His palm felt like metal in an ice cellar, not only cold, but unyielding.
That grip alone left Eli unable to break free.
"Eli, what are you trying to do?
The dissection has only just begun!"
Doctor Linst spoke softly, his lips spreading to reveal sharp teeth.
Doctor Linst was being dragged along.
"Stop! Eli, stop!"
The doctor shouted at the top of his lungs.
But Eli turned a deaf ear.
Instead, the lookout and part-time information broker ran even faster, constantly swinging the arm with which he held the doctor.
Doctor Linst was like a rubber ball on a string, repeatedly slamming into the obstacles around him.
Sometimes it was a gate.
Sometimes it was a tree.
Sometimes it was a solid wall.
The first impact split Doctor Linst's head open.
The second brought a sharp crack from his bones.
By the third, Doctor Linst was barely clinging to life.