Chapter 113
I wondered how the mutant had made it inside.
We were blocking the front entrance, back entrance, and even the forest path. I had no clue how it could have made its way inside. But then, one possibility came to mind.
‘Was Do Han-Sol defeated?’
It was the only scenario I could think of, considering the direction from which it had come from. I clicked my tongue and said to Kim Hyeong-Jun,
“We’ll talk after we’ve dealt with this situation. You go to Do Han-Sol. I'm going to the fountain.”
"Okay."
We both sped off in our respective directions without saying another word.
I was able to reach the survivors just as the mutant swung out an arm toward them. I grabbed its arm and snapped it instantly. However, the mutant seemed to disregard the fact that its arm had been broken, and swung its other arm at me, trying to land a punch. It probably wasn’t concerned about the state of its arm because its joints were flexible.
I lowered my upper body into a crouch and kept on twisting and bending its arm. I dragged it toward me as if it was being pulled into a grinder. In moments, the mutant was right in front of me.
The moment it lost its balance, I lifted my left foot and planted it against its spine, in between its shoulder blades. A nasty, unpleasant sensation crept up from the base of my feet, as if I had just crushed an insect with a hard shell.
KIAAA!
It screamed and swung its other arm toward me like a whip.
I knew that the longer I left it alive, the more of a threat it would be to the survivors. I tensed my right arm and leaped toward the creature’s skull.
Crack!
My fist cracked its skull like an apple splitting in half. I felt its cerebral fluid dripping down my arm.
The stage-one mutant collapsed helplessly, and the survivors who were weidling bamboo and stainless steel spears stared at me with dumbfounded expressions. I wiped the mutant’s blood from my face with my sleeves.
“Reinforce the lookouts,” I said to them. “We have to keep an eye on the other side of the fountain as well.”
“Yes, yes.”
The guards moved to secure the other side of the fountain as well. Hwang Ji-Hye distributed ammunition and K2 rifles to several other survivors to bolster their forces. Lee Jeong-Uk gathered up the survivors that had been scattered, and Hwang Deok-Rok took care of those who were in panic after what had happened.
I looked in the direction that Kim Hyeong-Jun had gone and saw Do Han-Sol surrounded by mutants. It would have been difficult for ordinary zombies to enter through the forest, but the tall mutants with long limbs were clambering over the fence and making their way inside. I’d ended up putting Do Han-Sol in charge of the most dangerous area within the park.
My lapse in judgment had almost cost the lives of the survivors.
I let out a deep breath and ran toward Do Han-Sol.
“God! Damn it!"
Do Han-Sol was surrounded by five mutants, unable to finish them off. I ran to the mutant that was biting his forearm and twisted its neck. He noticed my blue eyes and his own eyes widened in surprise.
“Mr. Lee Hyeon-Deok!”
“Are you hurt?”
“I’m alright for now!”
“Fall back and recover!”
I had to buy time until Do Han-Sol fully regenerated. I looked to my right and saw Kim Hyeong-Jun locked in a fierce fight with several mutants as well. I realized that there would be absolutely no advantage in dragging this fight out.
I had to get rid of them quickly.
Hot steam spewed out of my mouth as I forced my blood to circulate more quickly, releasing my inner zombie instinct to slaughter.
“Ka…”
My brilliant blue eyes glowed brightly as I dashed toward the mutants.
The mutants seemed to hesitate for a split second, but then quickly fell into a defensive posture as they saw me racing toward them. I focused all my strength into my right arm and slammed my right fist into a mutant’s arm as it tried to curl the arm around itself to protect its head.
Crack. Crack!!!
Its bones shattered instantly. My fist made it all the way through and connected with the mutant's skull, cracking it as well.
‘One mutant down.’
I used the recoil to launch a roundhouse kick at the head of the mutant next to me. The mutant hurriedly raised both arms to defend its face, but it didn’t stand a chance against my strength or my acceleration.
Both of its arms snapped, and its neck was dislocated.
KIA!!!
It gasped vainly for air.
I didn’t even give it a second to catch its breath. I immediately jumped toward it, sending a knee flying into its face.
Crack!
'Two down.'
The pack of mutants seemed to hesitate further, and then started to backpedal. Since they were capable of learning, it seemed as if they had realized now that they couldn’t defeat me no matter what they did.
I clenched my fists and rushed at them. I… I had no intention of letting them get away.
One of them tried to escape through the forest by swinging from tree to tree like gibbons. But with their speed, they had no chance of getting away.
I grabbed hold of the lower body of the mutant as it made its way through the trees and hauled it down to the ground with all my strength.
Thud!!!
As soon as it fell to the ground, I jumped on top of it and dropped my body down on its face like a guillotine. As I mercilessly crushed the mutant’s face, all the other mutants around trembled in shock and started running away.
I gritted my teeth and ran after them.
“AHHH!”
At that moment, a faint echo tickled my ears, bringing me back to sanity. I opened my eyes wide and looked behind me. About two hundred meters away, a little girl was running away from a tent. The zombies had approached the tents, drawn by the smell of human flesh oozing out from them.
My anger exploded as I watched her fleeing from the zombie. The little bit of sanity I’d had went away, leaving only fury and outrage.
Without even thinking twice, I rushed toward the girl.
I couldn’t figure out where these other zombies had come from. I’d been so preoccupied with halting the mutants’ advance that I had forgotten about the ordinary zombies.
I wondered what in the world the survivors were doing. Why hadn’t they been able to check the children that were asleep? Or had they gathered at the fountain without taking care of the children?!
The zombie that was making its way through the tent let out a throat-rending cry as it caught sight of the little girl running away. It had realized that there weren’t any humans left in the tents, and began running down the little girl.
Just as the zombie was about to lay its hands on the girl’s back, I managed to reach her and gathered her into my arms. The zombie clawed my back instead, but that didn’t matter.
I kicked the zombie, still holding the girl in my arms. Then I looked at the crying girl and asked, “So-Yeon. Where’s So-yeon!”
“I don't know,” she replied, sobbing.
“Get back to Uncle Jeong-Uk.”
I patted the girl on the back and sent her off to where the survivors were gathered.
The children had been sleeping in a total of three tents. The zombies were approaching the other two remaining tents. I didn’t know if there were any children left in them or not. I couldn’t be sure that the children were safe unless I checked the tents with my very own eyes.
I clicked my tongue and ran to the closest tent, the one on the left. After dealing with the zombies surrounding the tent, I took a look inside. Fortunately, there was no one still sleeping inside.
“Mom… Mommy!”
Just then, I heard a boy cry out from the tent on the right. I turned toward the sound and saw a boy crying, almost face-to-face with a zombie. I wondered if the child was too afraid to move or think properly. He didn’t even seem to consider running away.
Looking at the boy, I felt like my heart was about to stop beating. I knew what was going to happen next.
The zombie's hands were already outstretched, on the verge of grabbing the boy's head. My legs felt heavy, as if I was wading through a swamp. I was gasping for air. Cold sweat poured down my forehead. That one moment felt like an eternity.
"No!!"
I launched myself at the boy, screaming at the top of my lungs.
But I was too far away from the boy.
I couldn’t reach the boy.
I… I couldn’t save the boy.
KIAAA!
A large hand came flying toward them at tremendous speed. The large hand grabbed onto the zombie that was reaching out for the boy, crushed it, and tossed the shattered zombie into the air.
I was stunned by what had just unfolded before my eyes.
A green mutant was standing beside the tent, angrily tearing into the remaining zombies. It was the stage-one mutant that I had appointed as the leader. It had come all the way to the tents and rescued the child.
I wondered when it had made its way here. I clearly remembered giving it orders to guard the front entrance.
The mutant took care of all the nearby zombies and looked blankly at the crying boy. Then, it began to speak.
“It’s… o… kay…”
My jaw dropped to the ground when I heard my mutant speak. The mutant that had just been screaming incoherently was now talking to the boy.
It rolled its numerous eyes, then focused on the boy. It croaked out a few more words, its voice sounding dry.
“Mo…mmy… is… here…”
The mutant held the boy in its arms and made an eerie cry. I swallowed and gave orders to the mutant.
‘Let go of the boy.’
My tone was firm. The mutant looked at me, hesitating. That mutant’s face, which had seemed gross all along, somehow looked forlorn that day.
The mutant looked at me with eyes full of sadness, and then slowly moved away from the boy. It seemed like the boy had fainted in fright. I quickly moved away from the tents, cradling the boy in my arms.
I carried the child to the fountain. Lee Jeong-Uk called out to me, eyes wide in surprise.
“So-Yeon’s dad!”
“What did you do? Why didn’t you take care of the kids!”
I was yelling at him, my brow furrowed in anger. Lee Jeong-Uk bit his lower lip, but did not offer a reply. I passed the boy in my arms over to him.
“How about the other children? Have you checked on them?”
“Everyone’s here. So-Yeon’s here too.”
"Sigh… Okay then.”
“I’m sorry. I was so preoccupied that I didn’t check on the ones who’d been asleep…”
I cut him off quietly.
"No. Just stop.”
Lee Jeong-Uk swallowed and bit his lips. I took a deep breath.
“It was hectic for everyone.”
“...”
Lee Jeong-Uk’s expression grew complicated, and his head sagged. I patted him on the shoulder and checked our surroundings again.
The mutants were slaughtering zombies at the front entrance. Mood Swinger was shoving zombies into its mouth at the rear gate, while Kim Hyeong-Jun and Do Han-Sol were working together to fight off the mutants in the forest.
I could sense that the zombie wave was about to end pretty soon.
All of a sudden, I noticed the mutant leader next to the collapsed tent. It held the title of leader despite it still being a stage-one mutant.
It looked blankly at the tent where the child had been, but soon after, it crouched down and remained still. I couldn’t help but think of what it had said earlier on.
- It’s okay, mommy’s here.
I wondered if it had to do anything with desires. I walked up to the mutant, wetting my dry lips.
The mutant still seemed dejected, just as it had been when I’d told it to get away from the boy.
“You… What do you want?"
The mutant looked at me with sad eyes, then looked at the children gathered near the fountain. I frowned.
“Do you want to eat children?” I asked.
“Kia…”
The mutant shook its head and looked at the children with worry in its eyes.
I’d asked my mutants this same question once before. Back then, most of my mutants had been unable to explain what they wanted, and were only able to stand there quivering. However, one of them had known what it wanted, and began to do sit-ups. It had fought with another mutant, and that other mutant eventually became Mood-Swinger.
Maybe, just maybe… The mutant in front of me desired to keep children safe. Perhaps it was a desire that it hadn’t been able to fulfill in its lifetime.
I quietly rubbed my chin and got lost in thought.
'How can I satisfy this desire?'
If maternal love was its desire, I had to let it fulfill something related to it in order for it to transform into a stage-two mutant. I assumed that the easiest way would be to make it fight another stage-one mutant with the same desire, just like how Mood-Swinger had.
At the same time, though, I wondered if mutants that desired to show maternal love would be willing to fight each other. They would want to protect the same things, but would they be willing to fight each other to do so?
I concluded that it was probably impossible. In Mood-Swinger’s case, it had been two mutants who had wanted to get stronger, to gain physical strength.
I wondered if there were mutants that couldn’t become stage-two mutants, just as there were zombies with red eyes that didn’t turn into black creatures.
I let out a sigh, feeling both relieved yet frustrated. I had to revisit my thoughts on the mutant’s desires related to maternal love later on. For now, it was time to think about organizing the surroundings and preparing for the journey ahead of us the next morning.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺