Chapter 62
Vroom!
Right foot is the accelerator, right foot is the accelerator… Not both feet, just one foot… I muttered to myself, focusing all my mind on driving. If I made even the slightest mistake here and got into an accident, it wouldn’t just be my death. Shin Hae-jun would die too, and so would the people. I had to keep my mind razor-sharp.
But my aching waist and trembling thighs kept stealing away my concentration. That crazy bastard Shin Hae-jun. And I, who clung to such crazy bastard…
“Damn it, seriously!”
I hit the steering wheel and bit down hard on my lower lip. It was all because of that damn antibody. It was an unavoidable situation.
“Wait a moment. You’re not a child, why are you squirming like this?”
I’ve never enjoyed it before, and my body is still hot. It was just a delusion. I had no choice but to cling to Shin Hae-jun because I was bitten.
“You know what?”
“I’ve wanted to bury myself inside you for so long.”
Since when was this ‘long time’?
I repeatedly gripped and released the steering wheel, breathing heavily. My lower abdomen felt tense, and I felt strange. My neck was burning hot. As if Shin Hae-jun were still clinging to me.
‘Pull yourself together.’
I slapped my cheeks a few times and opened my eyes wide. Now was not the time for shame or embarrassment. Not the timing to feel awkward. I had to drive first. Save the people first. I had to.
———!
It felt like the scream of an infected creature was following me from behind. There was nothing visible in the rearview mirror, but that’s how I felt. It’s like I’m hearing things. There’s no time to relax. An intense intuition that this wouldn’t do dominated my body. Vroooom! I pressed the accelerator harder, and the large jeep plowed through the twisted roots and vines, moving forward again and again. Before long, the entrance to the shelter came into view. I turned on the siren and shouted loudly into the microphone.
[Everyone wake up! Open your eyes! Quickly! The infected are coming!]
[It’s a wave of infected! Wake up!]
As I screamed my lungs out, lights began to flicker on one by one inside the arboretum. I shouted at them again.
[Don’t come out and stay prepared! Turn on the electricity and hold out however you can! Understand?]
Murmurs and shouts were heard, but there was no time to respond. It wasn’t just the shelter—there was still distance until downtown, where most of the population resided.
Vroooom! As the jeep took off again, I anxiously thought of Shin Hae-jun inside. At a rough glance, there seemed to be nearly a hundred infected, a scale that would require deploying an entire unit to handle relatively safely. But Shin Hae-jun was alone. Armed with just two guns, one knife – defenses so pitifully inadequate they could be called unarmed.
Was he dead?
No, Shin Hae-jun wasn’t someone who would die so easily.
Then, was he bitten?
I can’t confirm that. No, there’s a high possibility he was bitten. Then? Can I help him? No, using my blood to stop the infection was only possible right after the virus penetrated. After time passes, no matter how much blood is poured, becoming infected cannot be prevented.
I was extremely anxious. Cold sweat ran down my body, and my vision kept getting blurry. I even thought about turning the wheel and heading towards the power plant where he might be. I forcibly chewed and suppressed my personal desire, which was rising to the neck.
“We must not leave anyone behind.”
Shin Hae-jun made the decision himself as a soldier.
Therefore, I cannot ruin his decision.
Vroooom! Lights were visible not far away. The lights of the defense wall surrounding Gangneung downtown. I turned the siren up louder and grabbed the loudspeaker again.
[Children and the elderly go to the shelters, and all security guards come out! A wave of infected is coming!]
Some of the security guards guarding the defense wall came out and leaned forward.
“What are you talking about? Infected?”
“Oh, looks like you’re from out of town. Don’t worry. We’ve blocked up to medium-sized waves before. We can handle most of them, so you don’t need to worry.”
They chuckled and boasted of their calmness. The hand holding the microphone trembled.
[There are infected inside the defense wall! From the power plant! So open the damn gate, you bastards!]
I tried to speak as calmly as possible, but the security guards continued to chuckle and now began to mock me.
“Oh, come on, you really don’t know anything, do you? Just go away. Yeah?”
“Don’t bother us. There’s nothing you can do even if you shout. What a waste of time.”
“This son of a bitch…”
I felt the thread of my sanity snap. Yeah. What was I expecting from these careless jerks? I grabbed the steering wheel and put the gear in reverse. Screeeech! The car swiftly moved backward, and I turned the wheel one full circle while continuing to reverse. Holding onto the passenger seat’s headrest, I looked back and stepped on the accelerator. Vroooooom! The rising RPMs and exhaust gave the feeling the vehicle was rocketing backward, and soon it was angled straight toward the lone gate in the defense wall. Kwaaang! I felt the bumper crunch. Yongcheol-ah, I’m really sorry.
“What, what are you doing! Hey! Hey, what the fuck! Hey! Come out!”
“That bitch is crazy! Hey! Call the other members! Quickly!”
Vroooom! Regardless, I shifted back to drive and accelerated forward while reversing. So gates crumple when rammed by a car too. Gritting through the pain in my neck and back, the moment I accelerated again.
“Hey! Who are you!”
The gate opened. Ha, should’ve opened it sooner. My throat’s killing me. Fuming, I forcefully closed the car door and approached them, gripping my gun tightly.
“What’s up, you idiots. I’m Min Ahyeon.”
At my words, the security guards each raised their eyebrows.
“What? Who’s Ahyeon? Min Ahyeon?”
“Min Ahyeon… huh? The mercenary who visited the major…?”
Then they instantly recognized me and their relaxed faces turned into an attitude of alertness.
“What’s happening at this hour…”
“It’s freaking peaceful, isn’t it? Huh? Some are fighting to death. Huh?”
“Uh, yes?”
“Ah, fuck. Why should I protect these assholes? I can just leave them to die, right?”
“Yes?”
“Infected.”
I said to them reluctantly, still seething with anger.
“Infected have appeared from inside, damn it!”
The faces of the guards began to pale.
🕂
———!
He was going to die here.
Shin Hae-jun frowned as he swung his now empty guns.
This was not the time to worry about being overwhelmed or not. One misstep here and he would be torn apart limb by limb, dying a grisly death. And then roam the living world as a mindless infected, without any remaining self. Isn’t it horrifying that there’s no end, even after death?
Kwung!
After knocking down an infected, SinShin Hae-jun stomped on its face and used the rifle’s charging handle to jam it into the gaping maw of another infected lunging at him. Kee-kee-keek! He kicked its stomach to push it back and create some distance. But these damn infected bastards just didn’t die easily. Phah! Shin Hae-jun spat out a bloody wad and tightly gripped his revolver with its last bullet remaining.
Leaving that one final bullet was a habit and a last shred of dignity for all soldiers.
A will to end one’s life as a human. A determination not to become one of the infected scum.
That’s why Shin Hae-jun had also saved that last bullet.
“I…”
Hoo. Shin Hae-jun inhaled deeply, straining his bloodshot eyes. The infected closed in, screeching inhumanly enough to hurt his ears. Shin Hae-jun aimed his revolver.
“…am not one to betray even my friends just because I fear death.”
So,
“I absolutely won’t die in a place like this.”
He aimed at the head of the infected in front.
Bang!
With a lively gunshot, the body of the infected being rolled back. Not showing any mourning for the death of his colleague, the infected beings become even more frenzied and rampant, but do not easily approach him. It seems thanks to the fact that he just fired a gun. They seem to have developed a sort of ‘thought’ and judged it dangerous to come near.
However, that gap was only momentary. The infected recalled that Shin Hae-jun had previously fought with his bare hands without using a gun, realized that no more gunshots were heard after this, and consequently became convinced that Shin Hae-jun no longer had any means of attack.
———!
They charge again. Shin Hae-jun also ran towards them, tightly gripping the gun. Yes. He absolutely won’t die. He can’t die. He carried the weight of someone else’s life…
Bang—!
Then, the head of an infected being clinging to Shin Hae-jun’s arm explodes.
Bang! Bang!
Several infected beings around him fall backward. Bang! Bang! Whenever a gunshot rang out, the infected beings fell like marionette dolls with their strings cut, never to rise again.
“Hah.”
Among the numerous corpses of infected beings.
Standing alone, Shin Hae-jun raised his head to look up at the distant sky.
And he muttered.
“You’re late, Lieutenant Min.”
🕂
Thank you for reading! ♡
