Chapter 165
My fist crashed into the back of the head of the zombie in front of me. Its skull caved in and the ones behind it collapsed to the ground like bowling pins.
After seeing their fellow zombies go down, the remaining zombies directed their gazes at me. However, all of them seemed to hesitate after noticing my blue eyes, which were shimmering brightly.
This wasn’t a problem. If they didn’t come to me, I just had to make the first move and go to them.
I punched the zombies in the face nonstop. I kept up my chain attacks, and soon the zombies that were on the railroad tracks were knocked off their feet. I crushed, trampled, broke, and smashed the zombies, and helped them end their lives.
The survivors looked at the zombies and then at me with puzzled faces. After I had easily taken care of the zombies, the survivors let out shouts and sighs of relief. But then one of the survivors who met my eyes screamed in fright.
“Zom… zombie! That guy is a zombie too!”
The survivor’s cry rekindled the anxiety in the survivors, and some of the survivors started pointing their revolvers at me. However, it seemed like they couldn’t pull the triggers.
Fear, horror, hesitation.
I could tell what they were feeling just by reading their faces. They were probably thinking something along these lines:
- What if it comes after me if I act out?
Instead of making a move toward them, I cleaned up all the zombies on the tracks, my heart full of bitterness. I knew that, even if they did shoot me, the revolvers they had wouldn’t be able to hurt me. Just like the ordinary street zombies, their guns posed no threat to me.
After I had taken care of the remains of the zombies, I spat on the railroad tracks and looked at the survivors. There were fourteen people on each side of the track, staring blankly at my face.
"Huh? You, you…”
I heard a familiar voice amongst them. When I turned toward where the voice was coming from, I saw Min-Jeong.
“The wounded,” I said to her.
"Huh? Pardon, sir?”
“How many are injured?”
“Uh, uh… No one, sir.”
She answered me using honorifics all of the sudden, and looked back and forth between me and the survivor next to her, as if she had no clue who she should be looking at. After a moment, some of the survivors approached Min-Jeong and began to whisper.
“Do you know this person?”
“No. I saw him for the first time yesterday.”
“Is he on the same side as us?”
“If you have to ask… He’s not an enemy.”
I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but their whispering was just loud enough for me to hear. I sighed as I wiped away the zombie blood from my face with my hand.
“Min-Jeong, Kim Min-Jeong!”
I saw Yoon Jeong-Ho running along the rail tracks, approaching us. His arrival was a little late. As soon as Yoon Jeong-Ho arrived at Ansim Station, he looked for Kim Min-Jeong. Kim Min-Jeong came down from the platform onto the tracks, her eyes open wide. The two held each other in their arms and thanked God that they were alive. They weren’t thanking me, but God, whose very existence was questionable.
I wiped the zombie blood on my hands onto my clothes and looked around. I’d taken care of the zombies on the tracks, but I had to figure out why they had come down to the tracks in the first place.
I looked at the survivors on the platform.
“Did the zombies come from Gaksan?” I asked.
"Pardon? Are you talking to me?”
“Anyone. Answer.”
"Oh… Yes. They suddenly appeared thirty minutes ago.”
If they had showed up thirty minutes ago, that would’ve been around dawn. Unless the zombies were the underlings of a zombie that could control over one thousand zombies, there was no way they could have been immune to the effects of the sun. And since they were street zombies, this was out of the question.
That meant that the street zombies had come underground to avoid the sunlight. Since the people here had told me that Daegu had only fallen to the zombies about a week ago, it seemed like the zombies here had finally realized that there was an underground system, and were now coming here to avoid the sunlight and become part of the eternal darkness down here.
I sighed and checked on the weapons that the survivors had. Everyone was pretty much weaponless. This was no different from the early days of Shelter Hae-Young, when everyone risked their lives and wielded stainless steel spears. I knew that, at this rate, Ansim Station Shelter would not last long.
Only two to three hundred zombies had attacked Ansim Station. Over time, it was obvious that the zombie numbers would grow. Just like how there had been a zombie wave in the tens of thousands in Gwangjang-dong, Seoul, the zombies in Daegu would sooner or later begin to move together in search of food.
I had no clue what I was to do with them. The leaders of the Daegu survivors, Jeong Jin-Young and Yoon Jeong-Ho, had already expressed that they did not wish to join us.
My expression grew complicated as I stood there, alone in my thoughts. Jeong Jin-Young, who had been keeping an eye on me, approached me.
'Is there a reason behind the zombie attacks?’ he asked cautiously.
I knew he was sharp, but I was surprised to see that he had assessed the situation just from the questions I’d asked the survivors. I nodded and told him what I was thinking about. He listened carefully, and immediately asked a follow-up question.
‘Then… What do you suggest we do next?’
'Well, that’s up for you folks to figure out.’
Jeong Jin-Young looked at me silently, seemingly taken aback by my response. His head sagged, as though he were feeling a sense of bitterness. It seemed like a lot was going through his mind.
I could already tell that the survivors here would be overcome with fear every time the sun went down. I couldn’t imagine that they would last long if they kept on living like that.
When Jeong Jin-Young raised his head again, I looked him straight in the eyes.
'Listen to what I’m about to say right now.’
'Pardon?'
'I'll tell you about all the abilities that zombies with red eyes have.'
Jeong Jin-Young nodded with a rather serious expression. Even though I wanted to take them in, I knew that it would be impossible, since I did not wish to do so by force. However, for the sake of the survivors, and to honor what the Survivor Rally Organization stood for, I was willing to help them out as much as I could.
I sat down with Jeong Jin-Young and taught him everything about red-eyed zombies. He seemed in awe as I listed out their characteristics, and exclaimed several times. It seemed like he was greatly shocked by the fact that he could push zombies and make them into his underlings. The most shocking thing to him, though, was probably the fact that he would be able to speak verbally once he ate a human brain.
‘Does that mean… You ate a human brain as well?’
‘As you continue to live on as a zombie, you’ll come across many crossroads, and face a lot of questions and choices along the way. In each case, think about the survivors first. If you let your emotions sway you, you’ll put the ones who trust you in peril.’
‘I’ll keep that in mind…’
Jeong Jin-Young nodded vigorously, a determined expression on his face. After a while, Yoon Jeong-Ho came up to us.
“Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok?”
"Yes?"
“I know I’m late, but I wanted to say thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
Yoon Jeong-Ho bowed deeply from the waist, keeping his pose. I looked at him, then smiled gently.
"It’s alright. Please raise your head.”
"I’ve… I’ve been suspicious of you all this time.”
“It’s only natural to be wary when people first meet. I also want to apologize for being so forceful.”
Yoon Jeong-Ho kept his lips closed and slowly raised his head. I looked around at the survivors.
“How many survivors are here?” I asked.
“There are thirty-eight in total.”
“Are there children and the elderly as well?”
“Yes. With the exception of the personnel guarding the railroad tracks, they’re all children and the elderly.”
I could already smell danger. I quietly rubbed my chin as I considered the situation. There weren't many zombies around the area, and since I had just taken care of the remaining zombies in Gaksan, this place wouldn’t be that dangerous as long as the zombies in Daegu Innovation City—the city on the border between Gyeongsan and Daegu—were taken care of.
And since the Korea Brain Research Institute was in Daegu Innovation City, it made sense for me to go ahead and take care of the zombies there first.
I called Tommy, who was behind me.
“Tommy, please wait here.”
"Yes?"
“I’ll head out first and deal with the zombies in the Innovation City. I'll be back when I'm done taking care of them. In the meantime, please remain with the survivors here.”
“Isn’t it better for us to go with you? That’d make it easier to deal with the zombies.”
I tilted my head, and Tommy flashed a sheepish smile.
“We need to be there in order for the zombies to gather up,” he said, “If you go by yourself, you’ll have to find them one by one.”
“The risk is too high.”
“I know it's dangerous. But it’ll save you time.”
I knew where he was coming from. However, I was asking him and everyone else to wait at the station because I was afraid that a zombie wave could arise out of nowhere.
The possibility of more zombies entering the subway to avoid the sunlight was still there. But since the Russian soldiers were armed with rifles, they’d be able to deal with the zombies even while I was gone.
I chuckled.
“I’ll be back after I clear the way to the Brain Research Institute. It’s for your safety, so please do as I say.”
“It’s really okay…”
“I’m not okay with it.”
Tommy had no choice but to agree. After ordering Ji-Eun to protect the survivors, I left the station with my stage-one mutants. The once-dark city was now brightly lit, with the sun high high up in the sky. I took the map out of my pocket, located the Korea Brain Research Institute, and gave orders to my underlings.
“All of you, spread out to the left and right. Kill any zombies that you see along the way. I don’t care if you eat or kill the zombies you find. Just make sure they stop breathing.”
KIAAA!!!
"Go."
My stage-one mutants let out mighty howls and made their way toward Innovation City like hungry hyenas.
I followed them, keeping an eye on the map.
* * *
The roads in Innovation City were laid out in a large-scale grid, just like the other newer cities in Korea. Thanks to this, it made it a lot easier to take care of the zombies.
Each block had a park, so that there was open space in all directions, and the spacing between the buildings was wide enough that I didn’t need to rely on my hearing or sense of smell to hunt zombies down. The city was in good condition, just like Daegu Airport, which tracked with what Jeong Jin-Young had said about most of the zombies coming from Gyeongsan.
There weren’t that many buildings with broken windows, and the trees and plants were still in good shape. There were traces of several beings within the city, but it was difficult to find traces of fierce fighting within the city itself.
As I made my way up north, taking care of zombies along the way, I got to a cluster of government offices. There was a statue in the shape of a brain in the middle of the cluster. ‘Korea Brain Research Institute’ was engraved at the foot of the statue.
I had finally made it to the Korea Brain Research Institute, the place that the Russian researchers had been going on and on about ever since they’d got to Korea. Conveniently, there was a topographical map of the area next to the statue.
There were three buildings in total. Building A was located in front, Building B to the right, and the Animal Lab to the left.
Grrr…
Just as I had finished patrolling the institution and was about to return to Ansim Station, I heard a throat-rending noise coming from the laboratory. I saw hundreds of zombies in the spacious plaza in front of Building A. In fact, there were so many of them that I had mistaken them for a wall for a second.
The zombies had all gathered up, but were standing still as they faced the laboratory, as if someone had ordered them there. However, the zombies there did not look red to me. They were ordinary zombies from the streets, and not under any individual zombie’s control.
'Why are they gathered there?'
I couldn't help but be suspicious. Since I didn’t have any survivors with me, I wanted to get closer to check out what was going on. I looked behind to check on my stage-one mutants. Some were licking zombie blood that stained the corner of their mouths. We’d taken care of about five hundred zombies on our way here, and I assumed that all of them were full.
“All of you wait here,” I ordered. “Come running to me when I call you.”
KIAAA!!!
My mutants made throat-rending noises in acknowledgment, but their expressions suddenly changed.. It seemed like they had smelled something.
I let out a breath and put the map back in my pocket and approached the square.
Grrr, Kaaa, Krrr!!!
The zombies turned their heads in a bizarre manner as I got closer. As soon as I saw their faces, my mouth fell open.
The zombies gathered in the plaza had blood vessels that protruded all over their bodies, as if they were suffering from serious varicose veins, and their faces were scrunched up in deep frowns as if they were in intense pain. They were drooling thick saliva, and not a single one of them looked away in fear when they saw me.
GRRR!!!
The zombie in the front let out a thunderous roar from deep inside its throat, and the other zombies around it looked at me and began to make the same growling sound as well.
Then, just like mad wild beasts that couldn’t control themselves, they all charged toward me at once.
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