Chapter 92: Betrayal
Chapter 92: Betrayal
22. Betrayal
"Director Kim... Did you lie to us about your ability? Or..."
"..."
Grrrrr.
Director Kim wore a sun visor beside the middle-aged woman from the officetel.
I had desperately hoped it wasn't true.
I'd hoped there might at least be some other explanation.
The goodwill I had offered returned to me as malice.
"Why? Did you have some reason to do this to us?"
"..."
"Director Kim... No, Kim Seung-hee. At least say something. Now that it's come this far, there's no point hiding anymore, is there?"
Neither woman said a word.
The only sound was the rough growling of the zombie guarding them.
Had the trading-company survivors lied about their abilities from the beginning, or had those abilities evolved?
Kwaaahk!
The motionless zombie suddenly lunged at me.
Judging from its movements, it was another Mutated Zombie.
Where the hell had they found so many Mutated Zombies?
Whoosh! Thwack.
"You understand that this isn't enough to stop me, right?"
I casually knocked the charging zombie's head off.
If its only advantage over an Ordinary Zombie was greater physical ability, it couldn't possibly match me.
What was strange was that neither woman showed the slightest reaction even after the Mutated Zombie fell so easily.
What were they, zombies themselves?
How could they remain so damn calm?
"We don't have much time either. Are you truly not going to say anything?"
"..."
I'd expected them to show at least some hostility.
Their lack of reaction made me feel as though I were speaking to mannequins.
I had so many questions.
What ability allowed them to control zombies, and how did it operate?
Most importantly, why had they attacked us?
If their entire strategy had been designed to frustrate me to death, it had succeeded to some extent.
Kkwehehehk!
As I agonized over what to do with the two women, a tremendous howl sounded from the neighborhood park.
It resembled the Monster Boar's cry I'd heard before.
"Fuck..."
The threatening cry filled me with urgency.
If the boar was approaching, I could delay no longer.
My questions remained unanswered, but I couldn't leave a future threat behind.
Steeling myself, I raised my blood-soaked baseball bat.
Apparently out of alternatives, Director Kim and the other woman took up axes and charged me themselves.
I had once considered their abilities outrageously powerful, but now their own bodies proved far too weak.
There truly seemed to be no such thing as a perfect ability.
'That changes the situation.'
Thwack. Thwack.
I easily evaded their axes, changed my mind, and struck each woman in the back of the head with the edge of my hand.
I'd intended to kill them quickly in case more zombies appeared, but their weakness meant I could subdue them and take them captive.
Now that I'd captured the bitches controlling the zombies, only a horde dangerous through sheer numbers remained.
I could easily clean up that much.
The end finally seemed within reach.
I slung Director Kim and the other woman over my shoulders and jumped directly from the rooftop.
I intended to inspect Building 302 on the way back.
Because no stray zombies were nearby, I set the two women on top of an SUV for a moment.
The problem was that I did not know which floor of Building 302 the man occupied. How was I supposed to find him?
Searching every floor up to the twentieth would take far too long.
I stared up at the building in frustration, then noticed that every first-floor window had been shattered.
The interiors were visible from outside, and a quick glance revealed a man collapsed on a living-room floor.
I had been about to give up and return, yet I had found him immediately?
'This feels far too staged...'
"Manager Lee?"
When I approached, I found Manager Lee lying facedown with his hands bound.
Something about the situation stank.
It made no sense that they'd subdue him and deliberately abandon him somewhere so easy to discover.
They hadn't even kept him with them. Was there some reason he had to remain here?
The trading-company survivors really did seem to have designed their operation solely to drive me mad with questions.
"Manager Lee!"
Well, I could ask him why later.
I rolled over his prone body and found tape covering his mouth.
I peeled it away and shook him, but he did not respond.
He was still breathing, so he appeared merely unconscious.
Manager Lee also gave me reason for suspicion, but as I debated what to do, it became clear that I didn't have much time.
Kkwehehehk!
Woof! Woof!
The Monster Boar's howl and the barking of dogs sounded nearby.
They were unmistakably approaching.
I hurriedly picked up Manager Lee and left the apartment.
I decided to trust the man he'd shown himself to be around us.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
Once outside, I saw the enormous boar charging down the road toward the apartment complex.
Its reckless charge exerted pressure like an entire house bearing down on me.
Far behind it, the Feral Dog Pack pursued the Monster Boar.
No matter how furiously the Alpha Dog barked, the boar continued its stubborn charge in my direction.
'Ah, why?'
Why the hell was it coming here?
I had thought everything was nearly over, and now this goddamn pig bastard appeared.
#
Certain that the Monster Boar was headed toward our base, I rushed back to the barricade.
In my haste, I'd managed to retrieve only Manager Lee.
"The boar is coming. We need to retreat."
"Ah, shit... Could it be after the zombie horde?"
A massive number of zombies still surrounded the barricade.
But because they were no longer concentrating in one place, the raid-party members had held them off successfully.
"Schneider!"
I raised my voice and called Schneider. She turned toward me.
Just as I had when she first leapt at me, I raised one arm to signal her.
How intelligent was this creature?
Schneider sprinted directly through the zombies toward me.
We'd reinforced the barricade thoroughly, but I had no idea whether it could withstand a house-sized boar.
Retreating safely into the apartment building seemed best, so everyone prepared to withdraw.
"Tae-sik!"
"Go inside first. I'll bring Schneider."
Schneider nimbly scaled the barricade.
The barricade might as well have been a four-dimensional wall to the zombies, yet Schneider climbed it effortlessly.
"Get inside the apartment."
I had no idea whether she could understand human speech.
I pointed toward the apartment entrance. After lingering around my legs for a moment, she darted inside.
Was this what people called a spirit beast?
Kkwehehehk!
The raid-party members gathered the weapons, carried Manager Lee, and entered the building.
I remained alone atop the barricade and watched the approaching Monster Boar.
What was it after?
Thud-thud-thud! Bang! Bang!
The beast violently shoved aside the cars obstructing its path.
I'd gone to enormous trouble positioning them, and now I could only watch hollowly as the monster swept them aside.
The noise drew part of the horde away from the barricade and toward the boar.
"Oh, shit..."
I'd forgotten for a moment.
The boar struck the SUV, launching Director Kim and the other woman through the air.
Crunch! Crunch-crunch!
The Monster Boar snatched the airborne officetel woman in its jaws and immediately chewed her apart.
Director Kim flew much farther and rolled across the asphalt.
An impact like that had probably killed her already...
Kwaaaahk!
Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Crunch-crunch-crunch.
The horde swarmed the fallen Director Kim and began a gruesome mukbang.
The most horrific ASMR I'd ever heard followed.
Apparently, the boar's impact had not killed Director Kim instantly.
It would have been better if it had.
The shock jolted Director Kim back to consciousness, and she screamed.
"Guhhh! Aaaaaghk! Hrrghk."
She desperately pushed against one zombie's head with both hands, but moments later her fingers disappeared into its mouth.
Her entire body vanished beneath the horde. Before long, her struggling stopped.
Director Kim had quite literally been eaten alive.
Had there been only one zombie, or had she died immediately, she might have risen again as a zombie.
But nine zombies devoured her simultaneously until almost nothing remained except bone.
It was a wretched end.
'She can't possibly rise in that state, can she?'
I looked away. After pausing briefly, the Monster Boar resumed its charge.
Its eyes remained fixed on the horde surrounding the barricade.
The Monster Boar charged in a straight line toward the barricade's center.
Zombies still packed the entire perimeter.
Meanwhile, the pursuing Feral Dog Pack had scattered and begun tearing into isolated zombies.
The chaos threatened to make my brain shut down.
Remaining still would place me in the boar's path, so I ran to one corner of the barricade and moved clear.
What the hell was I supposed to do in this situation?
I racked my brain, but no answer came.
Thud-thud! Thud-thud! Thud-thud!
BOOM!
At last, the Monster Boar slammed into the barricade.
An explosion-like crash rang out, and the entire structure trembled beneath my feet.
Rumble! Crash! Crash! Crash!
Kkweeeeeehk!
The center of the barricade we'd labored to construct collapsed.
The Monster Boar came to a halt and released a satisfied roar.
It sounded exactly like a pig having its throat slit.
Chomp! Crunch!
The Monster Boar bit into the zombies around it.
Having stopped its charge, it stood in place and worked only its jaws.
The zombies obligingly filled each empty space and disappeared into the boar's mouth in turn.
"What the... Is this an automatic feeder?"
The Monster Boar had clearly come in pursuit of the zombie horde.
Before long, zombies swarmed grotesquely over its legs.
They resembled ants covering a dead insect.
But they appeared unable to pierce the boar's hide.
They clung to its stiff, coarse fur and tried to burrow through, while the boar continued eating in complete tranquility.
A short distance away, the Feral Dog Pack was having the time of its life.
The dogs knocked charging zombies down with their forepaws and drove their heads into them.
One bite from those enormous jaws crushed a zombie's skull and ended the fight.
Occasionally, a fallen zombie managed to bite one of the feral dogs.
But the dogs' hides also appeared too thick for the bites to matter.
Wait. Did dogs normally use their forepaws like that?
Dazed by the surreal scene, I looked around.
A zombie corpse consisting only of legs toppled over; the Monster Boar had apparently bitten off its upper body.
Was this what the wild looked like?
"What a complete shitshow."