Episode 49
(Back to Ji-ah’s POV)
Ugh… Damn it.
Just as I managed to barely move my heavy body to the side to avoid the attack, the creature’s claws hit the wall. But instead of the claws breaking, the wall was shattered.
Seeing this, I swallowed hard. If I had been hit, my skull would have definitely been turned into mush. It was fast, had strong claws, and the claw strength was no joke. This guy was too strong to be the main boss of stage-3!
Clenching my teeth, I picked up a fragment of the broken wheelchair with my trembling hand. I then stabbed it into the creature’s wrist. A piercing scream that seemed to burst my eardrums echoed from above. I tried to use this opportunity to escape. But…
“Argh! Damn it! Let go! Let me go!”
In an instant, the creature grabbed the arm I had stabbed it with and tried to break my wrist. Soon, the blood flow in my arm stopped, and a cracking sound began.
Stop! Stop it, you crazy monster!
The pain of my wrist breaking while I was sober made tears flow down my cheeks involuntarily. Just then, the hand holding my wrist suddenly disappeared. Surprised for a moment, I groaned while holding my wrist which would have completely broken if it had been held a little longer. I was able to gather myself from the voice coming from the side.
“Die. Die, you monster!”
There she was, holding the IV stand with both hands and hitting the main zombie. I didn’t know where the hell she got that from, but her eyes were unfocused and dilated as if she’d lost her mind.
However, the main zombie wasn’t just going to take it. It quickly regained its senses and counterattacked. It grabbed the IV stand she was swinging and crumpled it in its hands before throwing it aside. With her weapon gone, she lowered her upper body and charged at the creature, punching it in the abdomen.
Wait, that was too dangerous. Why was she going into that thing’s arms without a weapon!
“Ms. Ga-eun, step back, it’s dangerous!”
But she either didn’t hear me or ignored me, as she showed no intention of retreating.
Meanwhile, the creature howled as it bent over from the blow to its abdomen. As if waiting for this, she grabbed its arm, twisted her body, and threw it over her shoulder.
“Crazy…”
I couldn’t close my mouth as the unexpected scene unfolded before my eyes. She threw a zombie over her shoulder? What kind of thought process would allow someone to think of doing a shoulder throw on a zombie? No, it wasn’t normal to punch the creature’s abdomen with her bare hands in the first place. That thing wasn’t human, it was a zombie, so how effective could it be? Moreover, what if she got bitten while getting so close..!
Whether she knew my concerns or not, she continued to unleash attacks that would only work on humans on the creature. Worried she would get hurt if this continued, so I looked for a weapon to pass to her. However, anything usable as a weapon had been used up long ago. There were many things scattered around, but they were all broken.
“I won’t let anyone else die!”
“Kraaak-!”
While searching for a weapon, I heard an ominous sound from the direction of her and the main zombie. I quickly turned my gaze and saw her holding one side of a large waiting bench, clearly designed for multiple people to sit on, and swinging it with all her might to beat the creature.
Screech-!
The sound of the metal bench scraping the floor, her grunting, and the creature’s roar filled the space, making my eardrums feel like they would burst. I couldn’t even cover my ears because that thing had nearly broken one of my arms earlier.
More importantly, wasn’t Seo Ga-eun really a monster of her own as well? How could she think of swinging that?
It was beyond the thinking of an ordinary person. It was true that it wasn’t a particularly long bench, and it was a three-seater only, so it was possible for her to lift it. Moreover, she wasn’t lifting it up completely — she was dragging one side along the floor while swinging it. But because of that dragging sound, my ears were being attacked.
“Huff… ha….”
“Kraaak…!”
The creature under the chair was only making gurgling sounds and couldn’t get up anymore. It twitched its fingers, but that was all. It seemed that the accumulated shocks, combined with the recent direct hit, had done quite a number on it.
Ha… Please, just die already. I really can’t move anymore.
I desperately wished for it to die as I checked on the others’ conditions. She was still fuming, going at the main zombie, while he was still surrounded by zombies. However, the number of zombies had decreased, and it seemed like they would be dealt with soon over there.
But look at those zombies piled up. Wasn’t that crazy?
Around him, zombies were stacked like a solidly built fortress wall.
“It’s not over yet.”
At that moment, she, still breathing heavily and grumbling, picked up the broken IV stand from the floor and approached the creature. She then struck the immobile main zombie several times. Each time, the sound of it being embedded with the stand made my skin crawl, and I turned my gaze away, slowly backing away from that side.
‘I’m just a burden in this state anyway…’
As the situation seemed to be getting under control, I was finally able to check my condition. My back and shoulders ached from being dragged along with the wheelchair and hitting the wall earlier. There were probably going to be blue bruises there. Moreover, when the creature reached out, I was a bit slow in dodging, and its claws slightly grazed my forehead, so blood was trickling down from there.
The worst part was my left wrist. Even the slightest movement sent a sharp pain shooting up my arm, making it difficult to move that arm at all. I was worried the bone was broken, but if that were the case, I would have likely passed out long ago, so it probably wasn’t that bad.
“Sigh… Why do I feel like I’m the most injured? I didn’t even do anything…”
Do-yoon took care of dozens of regular zombies. Seo Ga-eun killed the main zombie. So what did I do to end up like this?
“Ms. Ji-ah…”
“Ah, Ms. Ga-eun.”
While I was thinking about such things, she had come to stand before me. Wondering if she had already dealt with the main zombie, I turned my gaze to where the creature had been, but there was nothing there except the overturned chair.
“I’m sorry. Because of me…”
“Huh? What do you mean because of you?”
“I almost let someone die in front of me again.”
She had lost the fierce demeanor she had shown earlier and now stood with her shoulders slumped, sniffling.
“I don’t want anyone else to die.”
“Ah, yes… It would be nice if no one died.”
“So I’ll protect you. Ji-ah.”
“Huh…?”
All of a sudden?
I didn’t know what resolve she had made on her own, but her eyes, which had been teary just moments ago, were now filled with determination.
“Can you move?”
“My legs are mostly fine.”
I slowly got up from my spot, using the wall for support with my other relatively fine arm.
Ouch. Of all times, both my arms are injured…
My left wrist was wrecked, and my right shoulder throbbed against the wall. I couldn’t believe it was this hard to get up even by holding the wall. I felt like my vision was going dark.
While I was thinking that, she had already come right beside me. Suddenly, she turned her back to me and told me to get on.
“…What?”
“No matter how you look at it, you can’t. You’re struggling to even get up, so how are you supposed to walk? Let me carry you.”
“No, really, I’m fine. My legs are perfectly fine, so I can walk well!”
“There’s no need to decline. I’m strong enough, so it’s okay. You’re in the worst condition right now, Ms. Ji-ah.”
“You’re not fine at all, you know?”
Her condition wasn’t great either because I had to stop in the middle of treating her earlier due to the main zombie’s interference. I refused her offer and tried to finish the treatment I hadn’t completed. But suddenly, she scooped me up with her arms.
“Ah! What, what are you doing?!”
“If you don’t like a piggyback ride, is this okay?”
“I dislike this even more! Put me down! Put me down!”
Was this person really crazy? How could she just randomly pick up someone else like this?!
No matter how many times I shouted to be put down and struggled, she didn’t seem to want to let me go. Seeing that, I thought she was somehow similar to him. Both of them were stubborn just like each other!
“…Are you going to keep this up? I’m really heavy, so please put me down.”
“I’m really strong. I even beat the boys in my department in arm-wrestling.”
That was just monstrous… The boys in her class would be those from the physical education department, and she could beat them in arm wrestling?
Of course, I knew she was strong, but I didn’t expect it to be this much. Realizing that saying anything more would just hurt my mouth, I shut up.
Ugh, damn it… This was so embarrassing.
Being carried princess-style by another girl who was almost the same age as me gave me a level of embarrassment I couldn’t overcome easily. If I had known it would be like this, I would have rather let her carry me on her back earlier…
With a spoonful of resignation and a spoonful of embarrassment, I bowed my head and decided to finish the treatment I hadn’t completed earlier. Concentrating, I channeled energy into her, and then I heard his voice calling out to me from behind.
“Noona!”
Had he already finished dealing with everything?
“Will you really not put me down? Do-yoon is coming too.”
“Ji-ah is a patient right now.”
“But my legs are fine…”
“What are you two doing?”
He’d reached all the way here while I was arguing with her, and his expression hardened at the sight of me and her like this. He asked the question in a low voice.
“I’m carrying Ms. Ji-ah because she’s hurt.”
“Hurt?! Noona! Are you seriously hurt? Where are you injured?”
“No, I’m not that hurt. Just my arms…”
“Noona, you’re bleeding again!”
I was about to say I was really fine, but just at that moment, a nosebleed started as a side effect of the healing I had done on her.
“No, this is a side effect of my ability…”
“This won’t do. Come here. I’ll carry you.”
“There’s no need for that. I’m carrying Ms. Ji-ah.”
“Oh, come on! My legs are fine, so please just put me down!!”
bahahaha
