Chapter 155
“Let’s go! Hurry up!”
The three cruise ships approached Gangseo Wetland Ecological Park. Once they docked, Lee Jeong-Uk looked around as he disembarked the survivors.
Far away in the distance, Do Han-Sol, the guards, and the soldiers from Gangnam were holding off the zombies. When Lee Jeong-Uk set foot on dry land, Do Han-Sol ran over to him.
“There are more than we anticipated,” he said urgently. “I don’t think it’ll be possible to get through them.”
“Are they part of the Family?”
"No. I don’t see any of them as red. They all seem to be street zombies.”
“Then we have to go through them.”
As Lee Jeong-Uk shouldered his K2 rifle and tried to move forward, he noticed that one of the cruise ships was having trouble anchoring itself. He shouted for Lee Jeong-Hyuk.
“Hey! Jeong-Hyuk! Check the cruise ship coming in on the right!”
"Got it!"
Lee Jeong-Hyuk got right on it and guided the last cruise ship to dock safely. Choi Da-Hye, who was beside him, loaded her rifle and provided cover for him.
“GRRR!!!”
All the zombies from the city center tried to run toward them. The wetlands made it easier to block them off, preventing them from getting closer. At the same time, though, there wasn’t a way out for the survivors as well.
After a moment, the principal approached Lee Jeong-Uk.
“We have to go somewhere else. There are too many zombies here.”
"We can’t do that. This is the only place we can dock. There are less places to hide as we get further away from Gimpo Airport. Besides, it’s also difficult to get all these people to move elsewhere.”
“Then what do you have in mind?”
Lee Jeong-Uk bit his lower lip with a troubled expression. He hadn’t thought about the street zombies at all, as his mind had been occupied with the members of the Family.
Unsure of what to do, Lee Jeong-Uk furrowed his brow and took a deep breath. The pressure he was under and the nervousness that he felt was making him more sensitive than usual. He shouted for Park Gi-Cheol and Bae Jeong-Man, who were a distance away.
“Mr. Park Gi-Cheol! Mr. Bae Jeong-Man!”
Lee Jeong-Uk gestured with his right hand for them to come closer. Park Gi-Cheol and Bae Jeong-Man led the guards and soldiers back to where the survivors were.
“There’s a lot more than we anticipated,” said Bae Jeong-Man as he wiped off the zombie bloodstains on his face.
“How many are we talking about?”
“I don’t see an end to them. I think there are around four thousand.”
“Did you say four thousand?”
Lee Jeong-Uk knew that they stood no chance against those numbers, even if they were just street zombies. Do Han-Sol had around one thousand underlings, but it was impossible to fight against all of those zombies in an open field while trying to protect the survivors at the same time. After all, they weren’t merely playing defense; they had to advance to Gimpo Airport. He was well aware of their situation.
He surveyed the surrounding terrain as though trying to come up with a way to get past the wetlands. Finally, his eyes locked onto Bae Jeong-Man.
“Mr. Bae Jeong-Man.”
"Yes?”
“Do you have a grenade launcher?”
Bae Jeong-man raised his eyebrows, then smirked and turned to Park Shin-Jeong, who was next to him, to give him orders. The moment Lee Jeong-Uk mentioned grenades, he knew what Lee Jeong-Uk had on his mind.
“Hey, Park Shin-Jeong.”
“Yes, sir… No… Hyung-nim."
“Tell each squad to equip K201 grenade launchers.” [1]
"Got it!"
“And get the two K3 shooters to the two-story pavilion in front.”
"Got it!"
Park Shin-Jeong gathered each squad leader and got what they needed. Bae Jeong-Man looked around the surrounding terrain as he spoke to Lee Jeong-Uk.
“You should move the survivors to where the K3 shooters and spotters are going to be.”
“And you can make it out yourself?”
Bae Jeong-Man’s eyes burned with a fiery determination.
“You have nothing to be worried about.”
His eyes betrayed no signs of nervousness or fear. It seemed as though he was going to kill every zombie that came into his sight.
In moments, four K3 gunners with machine guns weighing seven kilograms ran up to the second storey of the pavilion, with three hundred rounds of ammunition slung over their shoulders. The spotters ran together with them, carrying a handful of magazines and even extra barrels.
Seeing this, Lee Jeong-Hyuk went up to Bae Jeong-Man.
“Shouldn’t the survivors move in the opposite direction of the K3 shooters?” he asked.
“You can only kill so many zombies with grenades. We have to make a way for all of us to escape at once.”
"Hmm?”
“We’re going to use the grenades to change the direction the zombies are headed toward. The K3 gunners will offer us fire support once we clear the road right in front.”
Lee Jeong-Hyuk scratched his head and let out a sigh. It seemed like a risky plan to him, but he couldn’t think of any other plan that could be put into action immediately.
Once all the preparations had been completed, Bae Jeong-Man called out to Do Han-Sol.
“I’m going to break through the front. The zombies will move to the side once we fire the grenades. You’ll have to protect our flanks for us.”
“Got it.”
Do Han-Sol nodded and went toward the survivors.
Bae Jeong-Man shouted at the top of his lungs, “Fire grenades on the targets one hundred fifty meters ahead!!”
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—
The grenades arced through the air in perfect parabolas.
Boom!! Boom!! Boom!!
The survivors crouched down in fear at the thunderous explosions that followed. Bae Jeong-Man had his eyes glued to the movements of the zombies. After a moment, he nodded at Lee Jeong-Uk.
Lee Jeong-Uk saw his nod and shouted a single word to the survivors.
"Run!!"
Almost instantly, all the survivors ran as hard as they could, only looking forward. The adults held the children in their arms, and everyone was running straight ahead as if their lives depended on it—which they did.
It was only natural for them to be scared. However, the survivors were willing to risk their lives by putting their trust in the guards, Do Han-Sol, and each other.
The guards were in front of the survivors while Do Han-Sol had placed his underlings along their flanks. The whole group was moving forward in a cone-shaped formation. There were soldiers interspersed between the survivors, each with twelve grenades strapped to their shoulders. They constantly threw grenades outward, until they ran out.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh–
Boom!! Boom!! Boom!!
Bae Jeong-Man was overseeing the operation, and noticed that the zombies were taking a detour to the right. He yelled orders at the K3 gunners.
“First and second squad, get ready!”
“Ready!!”
GRRR!!!
When the zombies came within firing distance, Bae Jeong-Man’s eyes flashed.
“Fire!!”
Bang! Bang! Bang!!
The roar of the machine guns filled the air, and the detouring zombies were instantly riddled with bullets.
“Fire in rounds of fifty! Don’t burn through all your ammo at once! First and second squad, cease fire!! Third and fourth squad, open fire!!”
Even though the K3 could technically handle three hundred rounds in one burst, it was also a gun that malfunctioned pretty often. Bae Jeong-Man was taking into consideration how the barrels would heat up, as well as the possibility of them getting jammed. He had divided the squads into two groups to keep the zombies from getting closer.
Meanwhile, Lee Jeong-Uk was firing bullets nonstop into zombie heads as he pressed forward. The constant grenade explosions that were going off about one hundred meters out were preventing the zombies from getting close. And fortunately, most of the zombies approaching from the front had had their limbs blown off, or were pretty much dead already.
Do Han-Sol and his underlings were taking care of the zombies that were going around, while the survivors that were in the center of the cone formation were doing their best to keep up with the group, despite their faces being smeared with tears and snot.
Thankfully, none of the survivors were panicking or falling behind. Even though they were scared, they were fully focused and giving their all, as they knew what would happen to them if they didn’t.
When the survivors finally emerged from Gangseo Wetland Ecological Park, Lee Jeong-Uk got onto the Olympic Highway and pointed at Chihyeon-san, which was in front of him.
“Everyone, let’s go that way!”
There was a narrow road in between Chihyeon-san and Banghwa Neighborhood Park. Since the zombies were running in from Banghwa 2-dong, which was on the right, it seemed a good idea to hide out in Chihyeon-san, located in Banghwa 3-dong.
Lee Jeong-Uk knew that they needed to regroup and prepare themselves again before they made their way to Gimpo Airport. Chihyeon-san seemed to be the perfect place to do so.
While Do Han-Sol and his underlings held off the zombies from the right, the survivors sprinted toward Chihyeon-san. However, as Lee Jeong-Uk watched the survivors running, he felt something rather strange.
He didn’t see Bae Jeong-Man or the K3 gunners. They had disappeared from his sight.
'Where are they? They didn’t follow us?’
When Lee Jeong-Uk tried to turn back to the wetland park, Lee Jeong-Hyuk, who was following him, grabbed his arm.
“Where are you going?” he asked. “You told us to go to Chihyeon-san!”
“Bae Jeong-Man. I don’t see Bae Jeong-Man!”
"Huh?"
Lee Jeong-Hyuk belatedly realized what his brother was talking about and began to look around as well, a troubled expression on his face. Just like Lee Jeong-Uk had said, he didn’t see Bae Jeong-Man, the K3 gunners, or the spotters.
A chill ran down Lee Jeong-Uk’s spine. He thought back to when they first reached the Olympic Highway, and he realized that the number of zombies that were following them had decreased, which could only mean that Bae Jeong-Man had voluntarily let himself become bait.
When Lee Jeong-Uk got to the entrance of the wetland park, he saw Bae Jeong-Man and the soldiers trapped in the pavilion in the distance, fighting off the zombies as if they were ready to give up their lives.
He quickly called out to Do Han-Sol.
“Do Han-Sol! Mr. Do Han-Sol!!”
Do Han-Sol dashed over to Lee Jeong-Uk after hearing his shout.
"Is there a problem?"
"Over there."
Lee Jeong-Uk pointed at Bae Jeong-Man, trapped in the pavilion. Seeing this, Do Han-Sol’s eyes went wide, and he looked back at his underlings. They were lined up in a straight line, not allowing anything to get through them. But then he realized that even one underling leaving their formation would render all their efforts up to this point meaningless.
Do Han-Sol gritted his teeth.
“I can’t think of anything I can do. If I move my underlings, the survivors will be in danger.”
Having heard what Do Han-Sol had to say, Lee Jeong-Uk shouted toward Park Gi-Cheol, who was a distance away. As Park Gi-Cheol came running over, Lee Jeong-Uk checked the remaining bullets in his K2 rifle and spoke up.
“Mr. Park Gi-Cheol, we have to rescue Bae Jeong-Man.”
"Come again?"
“Just bring the guards over here, please.”
Park Gi-Cheol shook his head violently as he saw the number of zombies in the wetland park.
“No, absolutely not! Do you think we can get through that number of zombies?”
Lee Jeong-Uk furrowed his brow.
“Then do we just let them die like that?” he yelled back. “They can escape as long as we distract the zombies!”
“...”
Park Gi-Cheol scratched his eyebrows, and his expression grew bitter and complicated. He bit his lips as he looked back and forth between Bae Jeong-Man, who was trapped in the pavilion, and the survivors making their way to Chihyeon-san.
He sighed.
“As of now, there’s nothing we can do. Nothing.”
Park Gi-Cheol clicked his tongue vigorously, his face a mask of bitterness. Lee Jeong-Uk’s face fell as he looked at Park Gi-Cheol. Lee Jeong-Hyuk also bit his lower lip and let his head sag.
Everyone had given up without even trying.
Lee Jeong-Uk had no choice but to look back at Bae Jeong-Man from a distance away.
‘Why didn’t you follow us? Why? Why did you decide to become bait?’
As Lee Jeong-Uk kept on asking himself why the major hadn’t followed them, he wondered if Bae Jeong-Man had assumed that the survivors would be in peril if the K3 gunners stopped firing. But then, it hit him.
'No way… Was he planning to do this from the beginning?'
Perhaps Bae Jeong-Man must’ve realized early on that it’d be impossible for everyone to make it through the zombies. It seemed that he had intended to clear the way for the survivors to escape, then become bait for the zombies. The K3 gunners and spotters had probably understood the gist of what was going to happen when they’d received their orders.
The gist of it was that it would be their final order.
Lee Jeong-Uk gritted his teeth and ran toward the wetland park alone. Lee Jeong-Hyuk’s eyes went wide, and he grabbed a hold of his clothes to pull him back. Recognizing that Lee Jeong-Uk was going to do something reckless, Do Han-Sol and Park Gi-Cheol also grabbed him and pinned him to the ground.
Lee Jeong-Hyuk pressed a hand against his chest and shouted, “Wake up, Hyung-nim!”
"Shut up! We can’t leave them behind like this! Is everyone out of their minds?”
“Then what, do you want everyone to just die? You should be thinking about the survivors over there!”
“Sacrificing others so that we can live? Let go of me, let go!”
"Hyung-nim! Please!"
While Lee Jeong-Hyuk begged his brother to calm down, Lee Jeong-Uk’s eyes filled with tears as he got all worked up. Looking up at Lee Jeong-Hyuk, who was holding him down, he couldn’t help but recall what had happened just a couple of months ago.
Back then, Lee Jeong-Hyuk and Choi Da-Hye had held him down with all their might when he tried to save his wife and daughter, who were trapped in the apartment they’d been staying in. They told him that he couldn’t go, and shouldn’t go back. They also told him that there was nothing he could do.
All the emotions he’d felt back then welled up inside him. Lee Jeong-Uk gritted his teeth and punched Lee Jeong-Hyuk in the face. As Lee Jeong-Hyuk fell to the ground, Park Gi-Cheol grabbed Lee Jeong-Uk by the collar and shook him vigorously.
“Are you nuts?” He shouted. “Wake up, you bastard!”
"I’ll just go by myself! Happy?”
“You’re the goddamn leader!”
“If I don’t give my all for the survivors as the leader of the Survivors Rally Organization, what kind of leader am I! Huh? Goddamn it!”
Lee Jeong-Uk sounded as though he were straining to find justification for his actions. Park Gi-Cheol stayed silent. It seemed like Lee Jeong-Uk had already made up his mind.
Park Gi-Cheol slowly let go of Lee Jeong-Uk. Lee Jeong-Uk didn't let the chance slip by him and slapped Park Gi-Cheol away. He dashed toward the wetland park, where Bae Jeong-Man was.
Lee Jeong-Hyuk, who had been lying face down, spat on the ground as he watched him go, then followed his brother. Park Gi-Cheol considered all this for a moment, then looked at Do Han-Sol, who was next to him.
“Han-Sol, you lead the survivors.”
"Pardon?"
“Twenty minutes. If we don't come back in twenty minutes, leave first.”
“Mr. Park Gi-Cheol!”
Do Han-Sol looked at him in surprise, and Park Gi-Cheol sighed.
"Don't worry, I'll take care of those stupid Lee brothers.”
With that, Park Gi-Cheol chased after the Lee brothers.
Do Han-Sol’s expression soured as he stood there scratching his head, not knowing what to do. If he followed them now, he wouldn’t be able to maneuver his underlings accordingly, which would leave a gap in their formation and allow the zombies to get to the survivors in Chihyeon-san.
Do Han-Sol found himself between a rock and a hard place.
1. The K201 is an under-barrel grenade launcher similar to the American M203 40mm. You attach it to a K2 rifle to use it. ☜
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