Chapter 61: Mutation
Chapter 61: Mutation
13. Mutation
Shwoo-ook—whing
'It dodged?'
Kuwaaahk
After sending the women ahead, I paused and threw a stone at the unsettling zombie.
The bastard dodged it easily, then let out a furious roar.
I'd learned just how destructive my throws were when we cleared the enormous horde gathered at the intersection.
Ever since, I kept a couple of stones in my pocket.
A stone thrown at full force carried enough power to kill a zombie instantly if it hit.
Naturally, the speed made it hard to dodge.
But that ominous zombie charging at the front dodged it with ease.
The distance wasn't great, and my aim wasn't off either.
The stone flew past it and shattered the skull of a zombie in the pursuing horde, proving that there had been nothing wrong with the force of my throw.
"Get ready! They're almost here. Ga-yeong, stay in the rear and use your Shield to cover any zombies that slip through. Everyone else, draw your weapons."
Watching the women reach the bunker first and take their positions, I poured more strength into my legs and ran.
Given enough distance, I'd have preferred to pick off the horde with stones from behind the bunker, but they were already too close.
"I'll hold this choke point. The rest of you only need to deal with anything that gets past me. Ga-yeong, use weak Shields repeatedly—just enough to stop them from closing in."
Dadadadada
Keureureureu—kuaaahk
I swung my baseball bat in a wide arc at the skull of the strange zombie that reached us first.
It ducked, but its own charging momentum kept it from evading the blow completely.
Thud
I mistook the impact for the sound of its skull bursting, but it had raised an arm to block at the last instant.
The blow hurled the bastard backward, leaving it sprawled on the ground with its arm still shielding its head.
First it had dodged my stone, and now it had protected its head with its arm. This thing was clearly different from an Ordinary Zombie.
Its coordination and reflexes were superior, and it even understood how to protect its weak point.
Kung kung kung kung kung
Kwaaahk
There was no time to examine the twitching creature on the ground. The rest of the horde crashed into us.
Pounding footsteps thundered from every direction. Without slowing at all, the zombies slammed into the cars we'd arranged as a barricade.
The sideways cars shook under the impacts and were visibly pushed back inch by inch.
We had no time to prepare anything else. We dealt with the zombies squeezing through the narrow gaps between the cars or trampling one another to climb over them.
"Shield!"
Ga-yeong deployed five shields at once.
The zombies climbing over the cars tripped against the Shields and tumbled down, where the waiting women struck with their weapons and caved in their skulls.
Hwoo-ung—peok, peok
Holding the narrow gap between the cars, I drove the end of my bat accurately into the skulls of the charging zombies.
Even without room for a full swing, a straight thrust from the baseball bat carried enough force to drop a zombie.
The Ordinary Zombies were practically shoving their own skulls onto my bat.
Kuroararak
The fallen Commander Zombie—the ominous one that had led the charge—rose and released a strange cry unlike the roar of an ordinary zombie.
The zombies that had been mindlessly crashing into the cars, tripping, and trampling one another gradually began to withdraw.
The Commander Zombie stared at me with both shattered forearms hanging uselessly, then turned its gaze toward the cars blocking the road.
Kuaaahk
At its short cry, the zombies that had pulled back turned around and began to flee.
The surreal sight of zombies turning away from people made my mind freeze for an instant.
"Fuck, where the hell do you think you're running?"
These fuckers attacked first, and now they were running?
Dumbfounded, I hurriedly snatched up a stone.
Only a few remained from the pile I'd made there before.
I ordered the women to gather stones and hurled mine at the rapidly fleeing zombies.
Shwoo-ook—peok, peok
I'd aimed at the Commander Zombie, but the bodies of the others blocked my shots.
After throwing several more stones at the retreating horde, I realized that I couldn't let them escape and bolted out from behind the bunker.
"Hey! It's dangerous!"
"Raid Leader, it's dangerous going alone!"
The women shouted after me, but I ignored them and pursued the zombies at full speed.
If the entire horde turned and charged me in the open, I would be in serious danger.
But I was certain that allowing them to escape—especially the Commander Zombie—would create an even greater threat later.
No matter how fast those bastards ran, they were slower than me. I caught up to their rear in no time.
Shwoo-ook—peok
While sprinting, I threw a stone at the unguarded back of the rearmost zombie's head. It collapsed at once.
Kuwaaahk
The Commander Zombie looked back at me and roared. The entire horde wheeled around at once and charged.
'Fuck... I didn't know if this would work.'
I raced headlong toward the oncoming horde, closing the distance at breakneck speed.
Even after excluding the ones we'd killed at the bunker, more than ten remained.
There was no time to think it over.
I could abandon the pursuit and flee to the bunker, or try to force my way through the closing horde.
If they surrounded me, there was no way out alive.
After a moment of hesitation, I fixed my eyes on the back of the Commander Zombie's skull—the crafty bastard directing the horde at me while it slipped away—and made my decision.
You sneaky little shit.
Tap, tap, tap, tap—flash!
I pushed off hard, widening my stride.
After several accelerating strides, I planted my right foot and leaped just as the horde came within arm's reach.
Hwiiiing
Wind roared past my ears as my body sailed through the air for one brief moment.
Looking at the blue sky, I swung my arms and legs wide.
At the top of the arc, I angled my head downward. The horde passed beneath my feet, and the Commander Zombie rapidly filled my vision.
"Hraaahp!"
As gravity pulled me down, I raised my baseball bat and aimed for the Commander Zombie's skull.
Hearing my battle cry, the Commander Zombie turned and looked up at me in midair.
It frantically raised its arms, but its already mangled forearms could no longer serve as a shield.
And then, I dropped squarely onto the Commander Zombie and—
Whoosh—crack!
—brought the baseball bat down, obliterating its skull.
The bat struck its raised palm without losing momentum, continued into the crown of its head, and crushed the skull to pulp.
Cheolpeodeok—pabababak
With its skull crushed and its head driven into its torso, the bastard collapsed limply to the ground.
I failed to stick the landing as well. The baseball bat flew from my hand, and I tumbled violently across the asphalt.
My vision spun wildly. I couldn't get my bearings.
I had no idea how to break a fall, so I simply protected my head as best I could and rolled several times.
"Sir!"
There was no time to register the pain. I scrambled upright, heard Ga-yeong calling from the distance, and saw the zombie horde charging toward me.
The horde split apart, one group racing toward Ga-yeong while the rest came for me.
"Get back to the bunker!"
I barked the order and threw myself toward the baseball bat lying several steps away.
The instant I seized the bat, a zombie reached me. I smashed its skull and flung myself to the side.
Without the Commander Zombie's control, the zombies chased me in a straight line.
I raced from the road onto the sidewalk, weaving around street trees as I tried to rejoin the women.
#
"Huff... huff... Is anyone hurt or bitten?"
Thanks to the women drawing part of the horde toward the bunker, I barely managed to rejoin them.
As before, I came up behind the zombies hurling themselves against the car barricade and killed them. From inside the bunker, we then stopped the group that had followed me.
"Raid Leader, I think the rest of us are okay, but Ga-yeong..."
I steadied my ragged breathing and checked the women. Ga-yeong had collapsed limply into Ha-na's arms.
"What? What's wrong? Ga-yeong, Ga-yeong!"
I rushed over and looked her over. Blood was running from under her nose.
She seemed already unconscious. No matter how much I shook her, there was no response.
"Raid Leader, calm down. I used my ability on Ga-yeong. She has no external injuries."
Ha-na, holding Ga-yeong in her arms, soothed me in a steady voice.
A closer look showed that the blood was only a nosebleed.
"Haah... Looks like she overused her ability. Everyone else okay?"
"Yes, the rest of us are fine. We didn't even need to use our abilities—Ga-yeong stopped everything with her Shields. No one is injured. You look like the most badly hurt person here, Raid Leader."
At Eun-mi's words, I checked myself. My arms, back, sides, and thighs all ached.
My clothes were soaked in my own blood and clung damply to my skin.
"I'm fine. Given everything, I'm lucky it's just this. I didn't get bitten."
"Shall we treat you first, Raid Leader?"
"No, I can manage. Let's clean up and get home quickly. Ha-na can heal me once we arrive."
I hoisted the unconscious Ga-yeong onto my back and headed toward the bags and cart we'd abandoned.
A horde of zombies had ambushed us—something we'd never even considered. My heart was still pounding.
I'd moved so violently that even my ability-enhanced body cried out with exhaustion.
Still, we'd beaten the zombies without casualties. That was a relief.
It was no one's fault, but immediately after proposing that we join forces, I'd nearly lost members of my new raid party.
Raid party members... huh.
Apparently, the term "raid party" had already worked its way into my subconscious.
#
The spot where we'd abandoned the cart wasn't far from the bunker.
It was no more than a hundred and fifty meters away.
We were lucky the bunker had been so close. Otherwise, the horde would have surrounded us in the middle of the road.
I sighed in relief as the women recovered their backpacks and gathered the scattered supplies.
"Eun-mi, that's heavier than it looks. I'll push it."
Seeing Ga-yeong on my back, Eun-mi had apparently decided to push the cart herself.
She gripped the handle and strained with each step, so I moved her aside and seated Ga-yeong on the cart instead.
"Su-jin can walk, but she won't be able to use her ability. Everyone stay alert. If we're attacked again, be prepared to run back to the bunker."
"Yes, Raid Leader."
I propped Ga-yeong against the supplies piled on the cart, but worried that she might topple over while unconscious.
With no better option, I used the ropes securing the supplies to tie Ga-yeong in place as well.
"Got everything? Then let's move out."
Eun-mi took Ga-yeong's place at the front and led the way with her shield in hand. Su-jin walked beside me.
They must all have been badly shaken. No one spoke; they simply advanced in tense silence, eyes blazing as they scanned every direction.
Fortunately, we made it home without any more attacks.
"Why the long faces? No one was hurt, and we made it through. Shoulders back. Chins up."
We'd repelled an unprecedented zombie attack, yet our party looked like a defeated unit.
No one exchanged a word. Every face remained tense and grim.
The suffocating mood weighed on me, so I tried to raise their spirits, but it refused to lift.
Ga-yeong was still unconscious, after all, and tied to the pile of supplies like a prisoner.