Chapter 102
What should I do?
———!
What do I have to do?
————!
Oh Habin was bitten, and there were so many infected, and I…the world was spinning. My breathing became so rapid that it felt like my airways were blocked, and I couldn’t expel air. My vision went completely dark. I couldn’t see properly. It was like my eardrums had burst and I couldn’t hear properly either. I knew screams were ringing out, but that was just my understanding in my head. I couldn’t see or hear properly, and I couldn’t speak properly either. It felt like I was about to pass out…
“Ugh, ah. Ugh…”
In a world where no sound could be heard, as if I were in the deep sea, Oh Habin’s groan hit my ears like bubbles. At that moment, I instinctively jerked up and grabbed the back of Oh Habin’s neck, pulling the trigger.
Bang! Bang!
After boldly blowing off the head of the infected that was tearing into Oh Habin’s body, I dropped the pistol and took out the rifle I had on my back. Rat-tat-tat-tat! With the intention of stopping their advance rather than cutting off the infected’s breath, I fired the rifle without aiming. Taking advantage of the moment when the infected momentarily stopped as intended, I checked on Oh Habin’s condition.
“Hey! Hey! Snap out of it. Open your eyes!”
“Ugh, Lieutenant.”
“Yeah, hey. Does it hurt? Where does it hurt? Say something, huh?”
“Ugh…”
But Oh Habin could only groan and couldn’t give a proper answer. So I tore open his shirt and checked the bitten shoulder. Since the flesh wasn’t rotting yet, it seemed he had about 10 minutes before becoming infected himself. So he was still okay. I could save him. I could reverse this.
“I’ll save you. So don’t die. Stay conscious.”
After firing at the approaching horde of infected until I ran out of ammo, I hurriedly looked around. Here, alone, I couldn’t beat that horde of infected. I had to escape somehow. But all we had were the bicycles and kick scooters we came on. If we had a car, no, even a motorcycle, we could somehow escape.
Rat-tat! Rat-tat-tat-tat!
As I was backpedaling while hugging Oh Habin and firing continuously, a small truck came into my view at that moment. That’s it. I remembered the pocket knife in my pocket and quickly scooped up Oh Habin, starting to run. Damn, he’s so heavy.
Bang! Bang!
With the rifle’s magazine empty, I took Oh Habin’s pistol from his holster and aimed precisely at the infected’s heads. My whole body was covered in wounds from rolling around on the sandy ground, and it was no easy task to carry the sturdy man while aiming to blow off the infected’s heads. No, it was nearly impossible.
But.
Bang!
I did it. I had to do it because if I didn’t do it properly here, Oh Habin and I would be as good as dead. Oh Habin would become infected and I would be torn apart and killed. I didn’t want that outcome. Especially, I didn’t want Oh Habin, who got bitten protecting me, to turn like this.
“Ugh!”
Upon reaching the truck, I considered throwing Oh Habin into the truck bed but instead opened the passenger door and tossed him in. I was worried he might get bitten again by the horde if thrown into the roofless truck bed, and also that the golden time would pass if we lingered searching for a safer place. Bang! After closing the door, I hurried over to the driver’s side. But.
———!
Whether it was lying in wait or just by chance, I don’t know. Whatever it was, an infected by the driver’s side let out a scream and charged at me.
“Argh!”
Though I narrowly avoided being bitten by grabbing its jaw and pushing it up, I was flung away from the truck. Screech! The infected scratched at the truck with its nails as it ran towards me, and I quickly rolled to the side to evade it.
Crash! The momentarily fallen infected quickly changed direction and charged at me again. I tried to grab my gun but seemed to have dropped it when I fell earlier. I quickly drew the machete strapped to my thigh, and at that very moment, the infected lunged at me.
Clang! Blade and teeth collided. Someone once said that human teeth are the hardest part of the body. But still, how did it not break when I struck it full force with my blade? Though flustered, I first punched the completely unscathed infected’s face, knowing it wouldn’t work but trying anything I could to get some distance.
——!
The infected fell off surprisingly easily. Rotten teeth like molted snake skin were visible. What’s this? Is a fist stronger than a blade? Before I could even think that I had directed my strength properly, I stepped over the squirming body of the infected and rushed to the truck. Keeeek! There were several infected charging at me, but I barely managed to get into the truck. And then I looked for the car keys, but damn, of course, they weren’t there.
Bang! Kwang! Kwang!
The infected that had gathered were clinging to the truck and pounding on the windows as if trying to break them. If I didn’t get out of here quickly, the windows would soon be broken.
I threw away my machete and pulled out the pocket knife stuck in my thigh pocket. Then I took out the steering wheel puller from under the driver’s seat, removed the plastic cover, and looked for the wires. I stripped the insulation off with the knife, twisted them together, and touched them to the power supply wire. Chik! Cheek! The engine made sounds like it was about to start but didn’t quite catch. Kung! Kwang! More infected were now filling up the front window.
“Please, please…!”
Zzang-geurang! The window shattered and an infected’s head came into the driver’s seat.
———!
I barely dodged the infected, trying to lunge at me with gnashing teeth, reconnected the wires, and at that moment!
Cheek! Chik! Burrrrrr, the engine started. Ah! I looked up and stabbed the infected’s eyes with force using the pocket knife, and judging by how the tip seemed to reach the brain, the infected flailed a few times before going limp.
“Get lost!”
I kicked the infected’s face away and hurriedly shifted into gear, but the car just shuddered without going forward. There were too many infected blocking the way, preventing us from gaining speed.
Although it might seem fortunate, since there were no infected behind, my experience in clearing infected creatures blocking the car from the front enabled me to make a quick decision. What to do in times like this?
Whooo!
Reverse.
There were no infected behind us, so after reversing a good distance, I floored the accelerator.
Thud! Thwack! The sound of flesh being crushed could be heard, but I ignored it and kept driving straight ahead. Kkoong! Kkung! After several impacts.
“Ha. Damn it.”
I finally managed to get through the horde of infected.
My hands were trembling, as if the tension had been released. As the sweat cooled, a chill went through my whole body. But I couldn’t lose focus here. Because right next to me, Oh Habin was moaning in agony.
“Habin-ah. Hang in there a little longer.”
“Hugh…”
Oh Habin’s face had protruding veins crisscrossing it. This was a symptom that occurred right before turning into an infected. I wanted to get to a safe place first and check on him, but more time had passed than expected, so I had to treat him urgently.
I reached my right hand to the back seat, fumbling to find the machete I had thrown there. I wiped the blood staining the blade roughly on my clothes and took a deep breath. I fixed the steering wheel with my left elbow and drew my right arm back.
“Eeek!”
It was a deep cut, causing pain. But knowing Habin was likely in even more agony, I grabbed the back of his neck and tilted his head back.
“Habin-ah. Open your mouth.”
“Haah…”
“Mouth. Quickly.”
Perhaps some part of him still recognized he had to obey my orders even as he lost consciousness from the fever. Habin obediently opened his mouth, and I let droplets of my blood fall into it.
“Gulp!”
“Don’t spit it out, swallow. Quickly!”
Taking this as a command as well, Habin gulped down the blood. Haah, only then could I catch my breath.
Checking the rear-view mirror to confirm no more infected were chasing us, I pulled the car over to the side of the road and rested my head on the steering wheel. Haaaah, I let out another sigh. My trembling body wouldn’t calm down easily.
“…I survived.”
Yeah.
I survived.
Not only did I survive, but Habin also survived.
“This time, I really almost died.”
It was truly a dangerous situation. It happened because I didn’t realize the infected could emerge from the sea. I thought I should hurry and report this to Shin Hae-jun.
Right at that moment.
“Ugh, huh… huah.”
A feverish voice came from right next to me. Oh no. Because of the urgency of the situation, I forgot to consider the side effects. I pressed myself completely against the door and looked over at Habin. The protruding veins that had bulged out earlier had all receded, and Habin seemed completely fine, but his flushed cheeks and the look in his two eyes were intense with lust. In other words, he didn’t look fine at all.
Without considering the consequences, I had only thought about treating Habin first, but now I didn’t know what to do.
What should I do with this guy? Should I knock him out? No, would I be able to subdue him with force inside the car?
“Lieutenant, Lieutenant…”
Habin raised his moist eyes and reached out his hand towards me. To brace myself in case he pounced on me despite getting hurt, I gripped the machete tightly, but
“Hand…”
The words I heard were completely different from what I expected.
“Can you hold my hand…?”
🕂
Thank you for reading! ♡
