Chapter 101: Strange Live Stream

Chapter 101: Chapter 101: Strange Live Stream

Zoe Sawyer looked up to see Heath Hale walk in from outside. He waved, beckoning her over.

Evan Keller shifted his body, making a spot for Heath Hale.

Zoe Sawyer and Sean Hughes were glued to the livestream on the screen before them.

The stream showed a patch of farmland, completely empty. It didn’t have many viewers.

Most who tuned in just typed a few question marks before leaving, seeing the static image.

Heath Hale couldn’t see anything unusual. He frowned and asked, "What’s going on?"

"See that shovel on the ground?" Zoe Sawyer pointed to a shovel in the center of the screen and explained, "I stumbled upon this by chance. The feed was already like this when I found it, and I was the only viewer."

"I was about to scroll away, but then the streamer said he overheard some kids who’d thrown the shovel there. They were talking about bringing a classmate they didn’t like over to bury him."

It was that sentence that made Zoe stop scrolling.

"Why didn’t he call the police?" Heath Hale frowned. ’He has time to livestream but no time to call 911?’

"I don’t know, he’s not answering me." Zoe didn’t get it either. She had specifically sent a private message asking him to call the police, but the streamer had read it and not responded.

They had no choice but to keep watching the stream. Beside them, Officer Lee was working quickly, trying to pinpoint the exact location based on addresses from the streamer’s previous videos.

At the same time, a request was sent up the chain of command for their superiors to get the streamer’s detailed address from the platform’s officials.

There were no landmarks, just a patch of farmland and nothing else.

To be safe, Zoe stayed put and kept watch.

If what the streamer said was true, the moment people appeared on screen, Officer Lee could take a screenshot of their faces and run it through the system for quick identification.

A successful identification would not only allow them to alert the local police, but also enable Zoe to get there in time to prevent a tragedy.

With this multi-pronged approach, Zoe was confident they could save the boy.

Ten minutes later, a chubby little boy carrying a plastic bag walked into the frame.

Zoe and the others saw the screen visibly shake for a moment.

’They’re here!’ Zoe and the others snapped to attention, their eyes glued to the screen.

Officer Lee immediately took a screenshot of the boy’s face and started running it through the identification system.

The little boy stood in place, looking around with a slightly dazed expression, seemingly surprised to find himself alone.

After waiting a few minutes and seeing no one, the boy was about to leave when several others, who were clearly taller and older than him, walked in from the other side.

"You guys wanted to see me?" the little boy asked curiously. He then opened the plastic bag in his hand and offered it to them. "Have some. I bought these snacks with my allowance."

The moment he offered it, one of them heartlessly slapped it to the ground.

"Who wants your crappy snacks? Got any money on you?" The boy in the center kicked the smaller boy, his expression sour. ’Who needed these stupid snacks? What he needed was money! It was all his parents’ fault, going on about ’all the snacks you want, but no cash.’ Now he couldn’t even buy the things he actually wanted!’

The chubby little boy, looking a bit stunned, shook his head. He had already spent all the allowance his grandma gave him this week on snacks.

The lanky kid next to the bully kicked the shovel at his feet maliciously. "You said you wanted to play with us, right? How about this: you dig a hole, and when you’re done, we’ll play with you."

The friendless little boy’s eyes lit up. "Really? You’re not lying? Liars are puppies!"

Without another thought for his scattered snacks, he picked up the shovel from the ground, stuck his bottom out, and started digging.

The crops in the field must have been recently harvested, because the soil was relatively easy to dig. He quickly dug a small pit about half his height.

"Nope, too small. Make it bigger." The lanky kid glanced at it and shook his head in disapproval.

The little boy didn’t understand, but he wanted friends, so he gritted his teeth and kept digging.

The voices of the four kids reached the viewers’ ears intermittently through the phone’s microphone.

Zoe and her team grew incredibly tense. Their fingers flew as they repeatedly messaged the streamer, telling him to go down and intervene, to call the police.

But all their messages were marked as "read" with no reply.

"Found it!"

Just as Zoe was frantically trying to recall the little boy’s features, Officer Lee next to her finally had good news.

The moment she got the precise location, Zoe didn’t hesitate. She quickly memorized the details and prepared to go through the door.

The instant the location was confirmed, Officer Lee dialed the emergency number for the area where the four kids were, describing the situation on the livestream.

He only breathed a sigh of relief after hearing they would dispatch officers immediately.

"There’s no time, Zoe! Open the door and go!" Evan Keller and Heath Hale shouted, having seen what was happening on the screen.

The next second, Zoe twisted the doorknob, and the group emerged into a derelict mud-brick house behind the lanky kid’s group and a tree.

It was filled with some farm tools, looking like a shed local farmers used for storage.

The little boy had just put down the shovel to rest when he felt a push from behind, sending him tumbling headfirst into the pit.

Fortunately, the moment he was pushed, he managed to throw his hands up to protect his head.

In the narrow pit, the little boy was wedged tightly upside down, unable to move.

Above ground, the lanky kid pulled several pairs of gloves from his pocket and handed them to the two kids beside him.

Once they had them on, one grabbed the shovel while the other two used their hands, pushing the surrounding dirt into the pit in an attempt to bury the little boy alive.

The two without the shovel pushed dirt and would occasionally grab a stick from the ground to viciously beat the little boy’s body. Hearing his pleas for mercy only seemed to excite them more, making their actions even more brutal.

The lanky kid raised the shovel in his hands, its sharp metal edge glinting harshly in the sunlight.

’As long as this lands squarely on his leg, I can definitely sever his Achilles tendon!’

At this thought, the lanky kid even tore open the boy’s pant leg a little more, exposing his ankle.

"You guys, move! It’s my turn!" the lanky kid exclaimed excitedly, gathering strength in his arms. Just as the shovel was about to fall, a figure rushed in from behind and tackled him to the ground.

"Don’t move! Police!"

Evan Keller pinned the lanky kid down, snatched the shovel from his grasp, and threw it onto the empty ground nearby.

The other two, seemingly stunned by this turn of events, stood frozen in place, watching as their accomplice was subdued by the man claiming to be a police officer.

"You, in the tree! Get down!" Heath Hale shouted, aiming a tranquilizer gun up at the tree.

Zoe Sawyer and Sean Hughes ran to the edge of the pit to check on the little boy.

Luckily, the weather was starting to get cold and the boy was quite chubby. Aside from some red marks on his body, he had no other injuries.

With help from Barry Quinn and Monkey, Zoe Sawyer and Sean Hughes carefully cleared away the surrounding dirt with their hands, then pulled the boy out of the pit and dusted him off.

The little boy was in a daze the entire time, letting Zoe and the others clean the dirt off him.

He couldn’t understand. All he’d wanted was to make some friends. Why did these people want to bury him?

"You in the tree, if you don’t come down now, I’m going to shoot."