Mental Caretaker In An Apolcalypse Game

Episode 7

Ha, I was really going to lose it.

How did it come to this? After barely surviving the mid-boss, now I was about to die at the hands of a mutant zombie. I think the saying “beyond one mountain there’s another”*¹ (one challenge after another) was used exactly in situations like these.

I bit my lip as I watched the blood that had formed on the wounds on my hand drip onto the floor. Since that was talking about smell, it must be specialized in its sense of smell, which put me in a greatly unfavorable position.

Currently, both Do-yoon and I were injured. There was a high probability that that thing had already pinpointed our locations. But in such a case, it tended to be drawn to the place where the smell of the blood was strongest. Do-yoon had lost much more blood than me… It was obvious he’d be attacked by the zombie while unconscious.

So I had to deal with this guy myself, even if it meant becoming bait.

…Could I do it?

To be honest, I wasn’t confident. I remembered that the variants that specialized were bigger and stronger. Although they had the weakness of being slow in their movement, each of their hits were really powerful. With my weak physique and lacking agility, I wondered if I could survive…. Moreover, as long as I was bleeding, it would chase after me, so I had to kill it here.

“…”

This was really driving me crazy. On top of the stress that built up even just by breathing, the added pressure made me feel like I was about to lose it. Trying to maintain my composure by taking deep breaths, I steeled my heart again at the sound of the zombie’s voice.

It was getting closer. That thing was perfect for beating up with its large size, but I’d be in more danger if I rushed in recklessly. I needed to incapacitate it before attacking it or not….

As I chewed on the inside of my cheek, looking for something useful, I spotted a fire extinguisher rolling on the floor. Should I spray that to obscure its vision? No, it could find me by the smell of blood anyway. I’d be the one unable to see, so it’d just hinder me.

Then what else…? That’s when I saw a lighter lying next to the candle. A lighter in the infirmary…? Could that be it!

I immediately moved to put my plan into action. I quietly picked up the lighter and grabbed the two bottles of disinfectant alcohol from the lower shelf. Then I headed towards the side with the beds. I spread out a thin sheet and tried to smear my blood on it, but looking at the few small drops of blood falling on the wide cloth made me feel so frustrated I thought I’d die. In the end, I picked up a suitable piece of glass and cut my palm to draw blood.

“Ugh…!”

Hell, it hurt. It hurt so much.

I never thought I’d be doing something like this in my right mind. But there was no other way if I wanted to confuse and hold that thing back, even just a little. I had to soak the sheet with as much blood as possible and throw it at it. It was slow, so it won’t be able to dodge easily, but it’s obvious it’ll quickly shake it off and come after me. Next, I took off the pillowcase and poured an entire bottle of disinfectant alcohol into it. The alcohol touched my wound, but I didn’t have the time to feel the sting.

Thud, thud. The variant zombie had reached the vicinity. The heavy footsteps, due to its massive size, stimulated fear and made my heart beat violently. Soon, the creature’s head began to appear beyond the window.

I could do this. No, I had to do this.

With the soaked pillowcase at my feet, I opened the remaining bottle of alcohol with trembling hands. Soon, I slowly rose from my seat, clutching the bedsheet tightly in my hand. I gritted my teeth and threw the bottle of alcohol with all my might. It flew over the window and hit the creature’s head precisely. The liquid inside splashed out, and the creature slowly turned its head to look at me.

Haah, my God….

Its eyes alone made my body stiffen and my legs tremble. The creature, having found me, grinned and then simply crashed through the wall to get in.

Crazy.

My face contorted into an extreme grimace, unable to let out a cry as the creature approached me after nonchalantly breaking the wall. The closer the zombie came, step by step, the more stiff my body became.

Holding my breath I waited as much as I could. When the distance was finally close enough, I threw the sheet spread as wide as possible at it. Luckily, it covered the creature’s head completely. Now all I had to do was set the pillowcase on fire and throw it, but the lighter wouldn’t light, perhaps because my hands were shaking.

Please, please, please…!

The zombie tried to roll up the sheet and seemed to hesitate for a moment, as if smelling the blood it was soaked in. I spun the lighter’s flint wheel like crazy seizing the opportunity, and finally, a flame appeared. The joy of success was only momentary – I quickly threw the pillowcase at the creature before it could catch fire in my hands. The flames touched the sheet and instantly grew in size, invading the face of the alcohol-soaked variant zombie.

“Kraaaah!! Kieeeek!! Ho, hot…. Kroooogh!!!”

The flames, which had grown as massive as the creature, emitted a scorching heat that reached me nearby. I staggered to the side and grabbed the fire extinguisher. My plan was to let the zombie burn sufficiently before putting out the fire to prevent it from spreading elsewhere. The flames swayed dangerously with the zombie’s movements as it writhed in agony. Watching the scene, my body flinched in fear.

A man was burning to death. Of course, one might question whether that thing was truly human or not…. But no matter what, it used to be a person before it became a zombie.

The air was filled with horrifying screams and the smell of burning flesh. It was so gruesome. It was both tormenting and terrifying. Was that what burning to death was like? It seemed like this moment would never be erased from my mind. Eventually, the zombie’s movements stopped.

Was it over? I thought as I pulled the pin on the fire extinguisher and lifted the hose, pressing the handle. My hands trembled violently as if in a convulsion.

“Cough, cough.… Kuhk!”

In an instant, the surroundings turned white, and powder entered my eyes and nose, making it impossible to open my eyes or breathe properly. Hmm, was fire extinguisher powder always this harsh?

Before I knew it, the hazy area revealed its shape. I covered my nose and mouth with my hand and slowly raised my head to find the zombie’s corpse. It was definitely dead, right? It must be dead after burning like that…

Then, in my vision, I saw the zombie, charred black. But… huh? Why is it standing?

What, what? Wait a minute. It survived? It was alive?

The entire body, almost turned to ashes by the fire, was standing upright.

And it slowly walked towards me.

This was ridiculous.. why wouldn’t it die? Why, why? How the hell was this…?

The sight was so shocking that I couldn’t close my agape mouth. With my eyes fixed, I retreated little by little. Slither. The charred sheet fell to the floor, revealing the creature’s face. It was smiling. With bloodshot, fiercely gleaming eyes, and the corners of its mouth raised.

In that moment, I came to my senses, and ran towards the place where I had left the tripod.

“Kyaaaah!!”

The second I threw myself to grab it, the creature caught my ankle and dragged me back. I was instantly on the floor and dragged along, and the screams I’d been holding back burst out.

“Let go, let go!! Ugh! Get away! I said get away, you son of a bitch!! Aaah!!”

I threw whatever I could grab—shards of glass scattered on the floor, the fire extinguisher, the head of the zombie I had killed a little while ago—trying desperately to break free somehow.

“Please, get away!! Let go of me!! Aaah!!”

The last thread of sanity I was holding onto had long been let go. I clawed at the floor with my fingernails, thrashing about to survive. The more I struggled, the harder the creature gripped my ankle, pulling me so hard that it felt like my ankle would snap and my leg would be torn off at any moment.

“No, no… Please, no…. Please!”

At that moment, the grip on my ankle loosened, if only for a second. I didn’t miss the gap and kicked its hand away with my other foot. Then, like a madwoman, I crawled to the tripod, grabbed it, and swung it with all my might.

I don’t know what happened after that. I just kept swinging over and over…

When I came to my senses, I was beating a corpse that was covered in dark blood, so disfigured it no longer resembled its original form.

“Ah.”

It was hell. All of this was hell. I didn’t want to admit that I had made it look like this.

Pieces of the corpse were scattered all over the infirmary floor, and sticky substances clung to the tripod.

At that moment, my strength gave out, and I slumped to the ground right where I was. My eyes just stared into the void. That’s when something wet touched my hand. Wondering what it was, I turned my head and met the gaze of a pair of red eyes staring at me. They were the eyes of the zombie I had killed.

 

***

 

I don’t know what state of mind I was in when I returned to the counseling room again.

The moment I stumbled through the door and faced him lying on the sofa, my tension eased, and tears welled up. I felt like I was going to throw up. I really felt like I was going to throw up. I wanted to wash everything off me right then and there. It was so nauseating. I didn’t want him to see me in this state. Rather, it was fortunate that he was asleep. It was really fortunate that I didn’t have to show him my hideous appearance.

I placed the medicine I had brought on the table. I didn’t know how I managed to gather it in the midst of all this, but it seemed like I had done it subconsciously. Yes, after everything I’d been through, it was only right to take at least this much.

After looking at the medicine for a moment, I turned my gaze away and trudged back outside with the tripod.

I killed a few approaching zombies by swinging the tripod. I strangely felt indifferent.

I headed straight for the bathroom and stood in front of the sink. What was reflected in the mirror was…

A monster. There was a monster there, filthy, with unknown bits and pieces stuck all over its body, leaving no clean spot.

I didn’t want to admit it. That couldn’t be me.

I raised the tripod high and smashed the mirror.

“That’s not me…. I’m human. I’m not some monster.”

Breathing roughly, I placed the tripod on the sink and turned on the water. I wanted to wash away all this filth with the water. I took off my coat, which had once been light-colored but was now stained dark red, and submerged it in the water-filled sink. With my injured hands, I tried to scrub away the stains on the clothes.

The more I did this, the redder the water and the clothes became.

“Hng, it hurts….”

It hurt so much when water entered the wounds caused by glass shards stuck into my hands. I had definitely been trying to remove the stains, but instead, the coat got even dirtier. I could no longer hold back the tears that had been welling up in my eyes.

 

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Uff my girl… I thought you’d try to care for the protagonist’s mental wellbeing, but you both need a caretaker T-T