Chapter 65
The seventh officer shrugged and continued to speak.
“Even since the Majang-dong incident, I’ve been going through every piece of information related to Majang-dong and its surroundings. However, I noticed something rather odd about the Shelter Seoul Forest report.”
“Was there something wrong with my report?”
“You don’t think there is? Even when we fail to secure a shelter, zombies with glowing red eyes like us don’t die that easily. But the ones that attacked Shelter Seoul Forest… are apparently all dead?”
“That’s because Shelter Seoul Forest has guns.”
“Sure, sure. But you know…”
The seventh officer trailed off and looked the dong leader in the face. The dong leader looked back at the seventh officer, his expression completely flat. Their short exchange was like the calm before the storm.
After a moment, the seventh officer spoke again.
“Seongsu dong leader, are you aware that you’re a lot stronger than the other dong leaders?”
“In terms of land area, Seongsu-dong is larger than the other districts. It only makes sense that more zombies with glowing red eyes would appear there, and I just happened to eat all of them.”
“Look at you go! You sure are a smooth talker. That’s what makes you more suspicious. It even makes me angry at times.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
The dong leader smiled faintly and offered a slight nod. The seventh officer frowned.
“That smirk of yours… Let’s see how long you can keep that. It’ll be over for you if you can’t conquer Shelter Seoul Forest.”
“Well, who has the right to judge me?”
“What?”
That moment, the seventh officer’s red glowing eyes widened, and she glared at the dong leader with murderous intent. The dong leader replied with a calm smile.
“Will you be judging me, seventh officer?”
“You must’ve lost your mind, huh?”
“Do you think you can judge me by yourself, seventh officer?”
“Do you want me to kill you or something?”
“You can control eighteen hundred underlings while I can control sixteen hundred. And as far as I’m aware, you don’t even have any underlings with you at the moment.”
The seventh officer clenched her fists at the dong leader’s unexpected statement. She kept her distance from the dong leader and continued to speak.
“Do you actually want to get into a serious fight with me?”
“HAHAHA!”
The dong leader laughed boisterously, trying to ignore the seventh officer’s question. He watched as his underlings were pushed all the way to Gangbyeonbuk-ro, then said calmly,
“How dare I challenge you, seventh officer? I just made a joke, since I’ll be the eighth officer soon. My apologies if you felt insulted.”
The seventh officer glared at the dong leader, full of anger.
“...”
The seventh officer felt uneasy at the dong leader’s constant shift in tone. She wasn’t sure if he was on their side or an enemy. He toed the fine line between an enemy and an ally.
‘This old rag sure gets on my nerves.’
The seventh officer clicked her tongue and looked at the dong leader’s back. After a moment, the seventh officer let out a deep sigh from the bottom of her lungs.
“It seems like I’m just wasting time.”
“Time?”
“Meaning, I don’t have time to goof around with someone like you that’s only been in Gangbuk. The boss has given an order to us officers to focus on the Gangnam project.”
“Well, that’s a pity.”
The dong leader let out a sigh, knowing that he couldn’t play any more jokes on her. The seventh officer’s eyes flared again.
“If you ever get on my nerves again, I’ll make this place your grave.”
The seventh officer’s pupils contracted into vertical slits, like a cat’s. This time, it seemed as though she meant it. The dong leader noticed the change in her and held his hands up.
“You win. But if the officers focus on Gangnam, who’s going to bring down Shelter Seoul Forest?”
“You sly oldie.”
“I do think we’re done talking. Would it be okay if I take my leave first?”
“What are you trying to do?”
“As you can see, my underlings are being pushed back. Don’t you think I should go help them out?”
The dong leader pointed to his underlings, which had been pushed all the way back to Gangbyeonbuk-ro. The seventh officer wasn’t done.
“I’m not going to let whatever happened today slide. You’ll be punished for getting on an officer's nerves… Be ready to be responsible for what you’ve done.”
“I’ll suffer that punishment if I make it out of this battle alive.”
“You know, I just want you to die.”
“I’m glad we’re on the same page. But as you know, this body of mine won’t let me die that easily, even if I wanted to.”
The dong leader chuckled and put his hands on his back. The seventh officer shook her head and muttered to herself, “Geez, I really don’t like that geezer.”
“Do you have anything else to say, seventh officer?”
“What happened to the mutants that were with you?”
“All three of them died.”
“How about the second-stage mutant?”
“It’ll be joining me when I enter the fight, which will be now.”
“Get it done right this time. And come to me before you report to the boss.”
“Is there a reason I have to do that?”
The dong leader tilted his head at her, and the seventh officer slammed her fist against the rooftop door.
“Cause you make me mad.”
The thick steel door was bent with one blow, the misaligned hinge and large fist-shaped dent showing just how irritated the seventh officer was. The dong leader nodded slightly toward the seventh officer. She stashed her hands in her pockets.
“This is going to be the first time a second-stage mutant is going into combat. Write a separate report about the second-stage mutant.”
“Got it, seventh officer.”
“Then, break a leg. I don’t care if you die or not.”
With that, the seventh officer got going. She kicked the bent rooftop door and disappeared, and soon after, the presence of the seventh officer was completely gone. Only then did the dong leader rub his neck, letting out the breath he had been holding.
The dong leader tried his best to stay cool, but deep down, he knew that he could’ve actually died there and then if he and the seventh officer had gotten into a serious fight.
The dong leader looked at his underlings, which had pushed all the way back to Gangbyeonbuk-ro.
‘Is this really the only way?’
The dong leader’s watery eyes swam with all manner of mixed emotions. He looked up at the night sky that had turned dark and slowly closed his eyes. He took in the cool river breeze and let out a deep breath. All the useless thoughts in his mind drifted away.
After a moment, the dong leader opened his eyes and muttered, “Hmm, let’s see what they got.”
The dong leader sent out an order in his mind.
‘Mutants on the first floor listen up. Attack all the enemies in Gangbyeonbuk-ro.’
* * *
‘A little more, just a little more!’
I kept on throwing Molotov cocktails toward the red zombies who had been pushed all the way back to Gangbyeonbuk-ro. Some of them had been forced all the way into the Han River, and were floating downstream with the current.
I ordered my underlings to keep passing me Molotov cocktails. My plan was going smoothly as my underlings were moving in unison.
There were now about three hundred red zombies left. I had about four hundred surviving underlings. It was safe enough to say that I had the upper hand.
I kept on lighting the Molotov cocktails that the second company brought me and threw them toward the red zombies, who were running around like headless chickens.
We were on the verge of victory. Sweat trickled softly down my forehead, showing just how hard I’d worked to get to this point.
A strange sobbing sound filled the air.
At that moment, a disturbing cry tickled my ears. My eyes went wide at the sudden cry and I quickly looked around.
It was an eerie and unfamiliar cry.
It sounded like a human crying softly. But I had no clue how it could be so loud, since it didn’t sound like the person was wailing. I wondered if it was because my senses were heightened, which made my hearing more sensitive.
I couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. I wondered who could be crying so sorrowfully.
I put down the Molotov cocktail I had in my hand and peered into the dark city. The sky seemed painted black, and I was swallowed by the pitch-black darkness. The traces of Molotov cocktails, along with the gasoline smell, stung my five senses.
Sob… Sob…
I heard it again.
It was coming from behind.
I whipped around and peered toward where the sound was coming from. My eyes finally found the figure of a skinny woman. She was tottering in my direction. Her messy hair fell to her waist. She was so unimaginably skinny, and I couldn’t fathom how long she had been starving.
‘A survivor?’
I frowned and tilted my head.
There was a survivor in the middle of a battlefield.
I took a step toward the woman, not releasing my suspicion. After a moment, I heard her voice.
“Honey… Honey…” she said, sobbing.
That moment, I saw the woman in the shimmering flames of the Molotov cocktails.
I couldn’t go any nearer after seeing her. I came to a halt. My legs stopped of their own accord, and I stood there like a statute. It made more sense to say that my mind was engulfed by confusion.
The woman kept tottering toward me. Her feet drew my attention. The woman’s hand, which was covering her face, sent danger signals shooting through my mind and chills running down my spine.
Her feet were like sharpened blades, like sharpened skewers. Her fingernails were no different. And in between her sobbing, I could hear her giggle.
I clenched my fists and roared toward the mysterious woman.
“GRRR!!!”
I didn’t do it to threaten her.
It was an instinctive cry, like a wild animal crying out at an approaching predator, knowing that it was in danger.
The tottering woman stopped in her tracks and looked at me. Her hands were covering her face, but I could see her mouth through her fingers. She was grinning from ear to ear.
She was smiling.
She was laughing, now that she had noticed me, with my glowing red eyes.
A constant, high-pitched beep ran through my mind, like a heart-rate monitor attached to someone that had flatlined. The sweat on my brow, which earlier on seemed to be heralding by victory, quickly turned cold.
I didn’t need anyone to tell me what she was. She was a mutant.
That thing was a mutant.
I gritted and threw the Molotov cocktail that I still held in my hand toward her.
Clink!
I knew I had thrown it with all my strength. But even though I wasn’t that far away from the mutant, the mutant had vanished.
Clang, clang, clang!
A constant clanking rang out, irritating my ears.
‘Left!’
I followed the sound and desperately turned to the left. The moment I turned, I saw the mutant dashing through the flames to get to me.
Its arms were wide open, and its mouth was gaping. But above all, it had no eyes. There were no eyeballs in its eye sockets, Instead, they were two pits leading into an endless, dark abyss.
Swoosh—
The mutant’s right hand came hurtling toward my face.
I quickly leaned back to avoid its swipe, but its nails grazed my left cheek.
It was fast.
Its physical capabilities were beyond any of the other mutants I knew of. I backpedaled quickly, feeling the blood dripping down my cheek. I gritted my teeth as my hand got soaked with my blood.
It had cut me pretty deep. Its entire body was a weapon.
Clang! Clang, clang, clang!
It didn’t take a single second to recover, and charged at me.
I knew I had to be careful.
I knew I couldn’t just attack it with my fists. My muscles would be shredded if I made the wrong move. In fact, I was pretty sure that my arm would get chopped off. I knew most swords wouldn’t be able to get through my tough muscles, but this creature’s nails were different.
I looked at my underlings and gave them an order.
‘Kill it!’
GRRR!!!
All of my underlings that were fighting the red zombies ran toward the mutant as one. The mutant, which had been closing in on me, titled its head and looked at my underlings, and I witnessed an impossible sight that made my jaw fall to the ground.
My underlings’ bodies were being sliced into two.
I knew that each of my underlings were capable of handling at least one hundred red zombies that belonged to baits. But right now, they were being slaughtered by just one mutant.
The mutant moved its arms and legs in a deadly dance as it sliced through my underlings. It resembled a dancing ballerina.
It was a killer that only danced to kill others.
At least, that’s how I saw it.
I couldn’t figure out a way to deal with it. I knew I didn’t stand a chance against a creature like that, since I had not prepared any plans in advance.
At that moment, I looked down at my pockets. I remembered the grenade that I had snatched up earlier, just in case anything unexpected happened. I knew this was the right time to use it.
I took out the grenade and followed the mutant’s movements with my eyes. It rolled through my underlings, who all went down like bowling pins. The mutant danced away like petals drifting in the wind. Its movements were as smooth as flowing water.
I knew I had to be cautious, because I only had one chance and I couldn’t let it go to waste. I was well aware that it was impossible to go back to the shelter to get more grenades.
There was a high chance that the survivors would be slaughtered by the mutant while I was trying to get more grenades. And no matter how many grenades I had, it wouldn’t be easy to catch hold of a mutant that was moving this fast. It would be impossible for the survivors to pin down a mutant that possessed such agility.
I only had one choice.
‘Let’s count on my regenerative abilities.’
There was no guarantee that a monster like this wouldn’t show up at Shelter Hae-Young further down the road. Given what could happen in the future, I had to get rid of it here.
Of course, I wasn’t planning suicide. I wasn’t going to die with it.
It was time to gamble on my powers of regeneration and healing that exceeded what humans were capable of.
I knew if I ran away right now, I wouldn’t be able to move toward the brighter future I envisioned.
I would trick myself into pretending that I was happy with the way things were, rotting away in self-satisfaction and the denial of what was really going on.
That was why I wasn’t going to run away.
If there was a wall in my way, I would break it down and keep on moving forward.
Even though my steps were merely baby steps, I knew that if I kept at it, everything I did would eventually result in the safety of my family.
I wasn’t planning to stop until the day both gang members and zombies were no more.
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