Chapter 178
I carved a straight line through the gathered zombies.
I went through them instead of going around because leaving them alone could result in the size of the zombie horde increasing and triggering a zombie wave, which would cause a problem further down the line. As I cleaned up the zombies, sending zombies flying left and right, I tried to assess Kim Dae-Young’s strength.
He was coasting through the street zombies. If he and Do Han-Sol focused on defense, Kim Hyeong-Jun and I would be able to attack freely. It took us just ten minutes to get rid of the zombies in front of the first defense line, during which I considered what the best scenario would be.
I wiped away the zombie blood covering my face and considered moving forward past the dust-covered cars that were scattered along the street. Kim Dae-Young put his index finger and thumb into his mouth and whistled as hard as he could, and the survivors hiding behind the vehicles appeared one by one.
“Dae-Young!”
A man who had covered his mouth and nose with a brown handkerchief ran toward us, calling Kim Dae-Young’s name. However, when he saw me behind Kim Dae-Young, his eyes widened. He tightened his grip on the steel pipe he was holding, and took a swing at me without the slightest hesitation.
Grasp!
My blue eyes flashed as I grabbed the steel pipe that was coming toward my head. The man holding the steel pipe seemed bewildered. Kim Dae-Young hurriedly interposed himself between the man and me, looking at me in surprise. He swallowed.
“You know it wasn’t malicious,” he said. “Calm down. It's natural for a person to attack when they see a zombie…”
As Kim Dae-Young made his excuses, a thought swam unbidden into my mind.
‘Did Kim Dae-Young think I’d get mad at this?’
I didn't care too much about getting hit with a steel pipe. I just pretended that it didn’t happen.
"It’s alright,” I said. “People have shot at me without saying anything first.”
Getting attacked by a steel pipe reminded me of what had happened back in Daegu. To other humans, I was nothing more than a zombie.
The man wielding the steel pipe seemed surprised.
“Oh, a talking zombie!” he exclaimed.
“Seong-Min, calm down. He’s not a Hound.”
The man named Seong-Min stared blankly at my face as if he was still confused about what was going on. I snatched the steel pipe from his hands.
“Everyone makes mistakes,” I said. “I understand."
I handed him back the steel pipe, adding, “But doing the same thing twice is unacceptable.”
“Oh… I’m… I’m sorry.”
The man named Seong-Min quickly apologized as he took the steel pipe from my hands. The other survivors began to approach us one by one, and Kim Dae-Young began to explain to the survivors what had happened. When he was done, the survivors, who had been listening quietly, looked at me in surprise.
"So you're an ally?"
“Nice! That’s good news.”
“God helped us. God surely helped us.”
“I told you! With a positive mindset, even the impossible can happen.”
They were talking in a very positive manner. I couldn’t pinpoint why, but it seemed that despite the fact that the world had turned upside down, they seemed to be surviving rather joyfully. They weren’t pretending, and it seemed like they were honest with one another.
After a moment, the man named Seong-Min strode up to me and bowed deeply from the waist.
“Sorry for what I did earlier,” he said.”
"It's okay. Everyone reacts the same way at first.”
"Did you say… Everyone?”
“Didn’t Kim Dae-Young explain earlier? That I’m from the Survivor Rally Organization?”
“Oh, yes!”
Seong-Min smiled in embarrassment and scratched his forehead. I wasn’t sure if he was a bit naive, or if it just showed how down-to-earth he was.
Either way, he had made a decent first impression.
Seong-Min held out his right hand.
“I’m Heo Seong-Min, the representative or leader of the Jeju Defense Unit,” he said, “Nice to meet you.”
“I’m Lee Hyun-Deok.”
The representative was defending the first line of defense. He wasn't just hiding behind everyone else and worrying about his own safety; he was risking his life with the rest of the survivors. I shook hands with Heo Seong-Min and looked around. There were about nine men and women staring at me with clumsy, lousy weapons.
I turned to Heo Seong-Min in confusion.
“Are these all the survivors?” I asked.
“No. This is the first line of defense. There are others stationed along the second and third lines of defense. There are also people in the hideout.”
“How many are there?”
“Um…”
Heo Seong-Min looked at Kim Dae-Young as he trailed off. I understood that talking about specific numbers would be somewhat uncomfortable for them. However, when Kim Dae-Young nodded, Heo Seong-Min scratched his neck and spoke up.
“Eighty people, including the people here.”
“Eighty people? It must be difficult to get food for everyone. Are you doing alright?”
“Oh, it’s difficult, of course. We loot supermarkets, go out fishing, and do other stuff like that. We’re barely holding on, making ends meet.”
“And do you have any weapons other than maces?”
"Hmm… That’s a rather sensitive question to ask upon meeting for the first time, don’t you think?” Heo Seong-Min said, avoiding my gaze with a sheepish smile.
He had a point. I would have found it difficult to talk about the number of survivors and the food situation as well. But then Heo Seong-Min cleared his throat and continued to speak.
“But since Dae-Young brought you over here, you must be someone that we can trust… Right?”
“...”
“We have pistols. The people holding the second and third lines of defense have pistols.”
“Why are you folks defending the first line of defense without pistols?”
“We don't have enough pistols, and we only deal with the few zombies that creep in from time to time. When zombie waves hit us, our job is to run to the second line of defense.”
In other words, they were also in charge of reconnaissance. I nodded slowly.
“Can you guide me to your hideout?” I asked him.
“Right now?”
“I want to check on your people.”
“This is kind of out of the blue… We don’t know you Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok… So that’s kind of…”
Heo Seong-Min stammered as he looked around, gauging everyone else's expressions. I understood where he was coming from. It was definitely something I’d be uncomfortable sharing with someone I’d just met. I was basically asking him to share everything about the Jeju Defense Unit with a complete stranger.
Nevertheless, they had shared with me the number of survivors in their group, as well as how they were doing with regard to weapons and food, which meant that the survivors here had a deep bond with Kim Dae-Young and trusted him. I knew exactly where they were coming from, and I was pretty satisfied with the fact that they had some suspicion toward me.
Kim Dae-Young cleared his throat and spoke up.
"So… You said your name is Lee Hyun-Deok?”
“Yeah.”
“We don’t know anything about you; shouldn’t you share something with us too?”
“I’m not hiding anything. I fight for humans, that's all.”
“I need you to tell us what happened in Seoul, how you became blue-eyed, how many survivors you have, what weapons you have, and something about the Survivor Rally Organization.”
He had a point. Since they had opened up and told me a bit about themselves, it would be a good idea to tell them about me and my people. I took a quick breath and started to speak.
“We have K2 rifles that were used by the army as weapons. I’ll give a brief explanation about what happened in Seoul…”
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!
Just then, a car alarm went off, over the hill on the left. Heo Seong-Min, who was next to Kim Dae-Young, shouted orders to the survivors behind him.
“Everybody, get into the rental car building!”
Heo Seong-Min and the other survivors moved in perfect order. Kim Dae-Young’s red eyes flashed.
“When did they get this close…” he muttered to himself.
His legs were shaking even though the enemies had yet to appear. I looked at him and tilted my head.
“Are they zombies?”
“No. It's the Hounds.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I cleaned up that area already.”
Kim Dae-Young, a zombie with one thousand underlings, was trembling. He said he was as strong as the officers, but he was clearly nervous. I sighed and stepped forward. Kim Dae-Young hurriedly grabbed my clothes.
“Where are you going? Are you crazy?” he demanded.
"Didn’t you say it was a hound? I’m going to kill it.”
“Hounds don’t move alone. They move in groups.”
“Are you saying there are a lot of guys with red eyes?”
Kim Dae-Young nodded, a rather concerned expression on his face. I couldn’t help but smile at his reaction.
Jackpot.
“This is good news.”
“What?”
“I was thinking of going out to look for some prey. This is great. Everything’s working out perfectly.”
Kim Hyeong-Jun, and Do Han-Sol and I hadn’t been able to eat the brains of red-eyed zombies for a while, and it was likely that one of us might lose control of our zombie instincts at any moment. However, if there were a lot of red-eyed zombies around… I had to be grateful for that, since I wouldn’t have to make the effort to go hunting for one.
They were conveniently coming to me.
Kim Dae-Young looked at me as if he couldn’t understand why I had a grin on my face. Heo Seong-Min came over to us.
“What are you doing there?” he hissed urgently. “Get inside already!”
Kim Dae-Young was torn, unsure what to do. I looked over at him and suggested a course of action.
“Go protect the people inside, and watch what I do.”
“What?”
"Didn’t you say you wanted me to tell you something about the Survivor Rally Organization?”
“Yeah, what about it?”
“I’ll personally show you whose side I’m on, and how I’ve made it through up to this point. Pay close attention.”
Kim Dae-Young’s eyes widened.
“You’re… you’re not saying you’re going to deal with them alone?” he stammered. “By yourself? Right? No, that can’t be it.”
“Why, you don’t believe me?”
“The hounds travel in groups of three minimum. Do you think you can handle them on your own?”
GRRR!!!
I heard zombies howling from the left. Soon after, I saw a red zombie wave making its way here through the hills. I then looked at Kim Dae-young and Heo Seong-Min.
“Go inside and enjoy the show. Don’t get in the way.”
As I waited, holding my breath for the hounds to appear, I gave orders to my underlings, who were four hundred meters away.
‘All of you, gather here.'
KIAAA!!!
Kim Dae-Young and Heo Seong-Min turned to the right as they heard the eerie howl coming from over there, surprise showing on their faces. When they saw the eleven stage-one mutants that looked like daddy-long-legs running toward me, they panicked and rushed inside. My blue eyes flashed as I accelerated my blood flow. My five senses sharpened, and steam began to rise from my body.
“Ga…”
I channeled strength into my arms as steam continued to spew from me.
Thud, thud, thud, thud—
Zombie footsteps echoed in my ears, and the red wave of zombies began to appear in front of me. I felt adrenaline rising in me for the first time in a while.
“If you find the enemy leader, tear it apart, but leave the head.”
KIAAA!!!
"Let's go."
I rushed forward to meet the oncoming red wave.
One hundred meters… Fifty meters… Then finally, ten meters.
I hammered my fists into the faces of the zombies in the front row. Each blow sounded like bricks being shattered, and the zombies fell like bowling pins being knocked down. I made my way through the wave like a mad beast. My stage-one mutants were spread out and were using their long arms to smash through the zombies as well. Zombie limbs were flying about like baseballs being hit for home runs.
'Faster! Even faster!'
I gritted my teeth and continued to accelerate my blood flow. My zombie instincts were slowly kicking in, and at the same time, I was filled with an overwhelming sense of joy.
GRRR!!!
A zombie to the left made a throat-rending sound and threw itself toward, its upper body twisting in a grotesque manner. I bent backwards and sent a kick toward its face. It went down in a heap, its back twisted in the opposite direction.
“Stop that… Stop that guy!”
In between the zombie screams, my ears picked up an urgent voice. When I turned toward where it was coming from, I saw a red-eyed zombie staring straight at me, giving orders to its underlings. I sliced my way through the zombies in front of me in a straight line as though I was parting the Red Sea and rushed toward the enemy leader. The enemy leader’s eyes went wide, and he tried to run away.
But little did he know that there was no point in running away.
I leaped off the ground and landed right in front of him, noticing his rather tempting neck. With my sharpened teeth, I bit through the hapless creature’s neck in one go. Thick blood fountained out, giving off a fishy smell. I spat out the flesh in my mouth, the spicy aftertaste lingering inside, and looked around.
Now that one leader had been taken care of, about a quarter of the zombies had lost their commander, or about six hundred of them. Six hundred zombies meant nothing to me. I wiped the blood from the corners of my mouth, and my blue eyes flashed again.
I wanted to get this over with. I didn’t want to drag this out.
Now that one of them was dead, I knew that the other leaders would begin to react as well. I swept my eyes around the area, taking in the overall situation. A few zombies caught my eye. They had red eyes, and they were staring at me with hesitant looks. It seemed like they were deciding whether to fight or run away.
They should’ve known that their hesitation would only bring death.
I crouched down, locking onto them.
Bang!
I pushed myself off the ground, flying like an arrow toward them.
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