Quest Complete

"How's that, you son of a bitch? Hurts, doesn't it?"

The words came out easy. My breathing didn't. I gasped and put a little distance between us, heart hammering, sweat running into my eyes until the world smeared — and this was not a moment I could rest.

Hoo. Get it together. I can do this.

I steadied my breath and locked onto the variant zombie.

"Kraaaaaagh!"

Sword tight in my grip, I dragged in another ragged breath and stared it down. Dark crimson leaked from its wounds, but it still snarled at me with every bit of force it had left.

"Would you just fucking die already?"

The curse ripped out of me. Any other day I wouldn't have wasted breath swearing in a fight like this, but I didn't have that kind of room. My life was the only thing on the table.

"Kraaagh!"

The variant snarled and fixed me with its glare. Red light flashed in its eyes — the look of something that fully meant to eat me.

"Kraaaaaagh!"

It charged.

"Goddamn it!"

This time I didn't duck. I threw myself sideways in a rolling dodge, and the variant's massive fist cratered the spot where I'd been standing. Concrete exploded.

Shit. Catch one ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of those and they won't even find a corpse.

I scrambled up and swept the room. Kang Hanna and Jang Sangcheol were buried in a fight of their own against the Regular Zombies, and whatever they could sense of the battle raging beside them had filled their faces with fear and despair.

"Hey, Hanna!"

"Toss me that fire extinguisher!"

"Oh, for fuck's sake! I'm busy too!"

She complained, and she still did it. Hanna's head snapped around; she ripped the extinguisher off the wall and hurled it, and I barely got my hands on it.

Even this is something…

The variant lunged again. This time I moved first. I hauled the extinguisher up and blasted the powder straight into its face. White dust swallowed its eyes, and for a heartbeat it staggered.

"Grrrrgh!"

It clawed at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠its eyes, writhing in pain.

My opening.

I slid between its legs and put everything I had into a cut across the back of its knee. The blade chewed into the wound, and filthy blood sprayed wide.

"Kraagh!"

The variant dropped to its knees. I was on its back before it could rise.

"Now we're finally seeing eye to eye, yeah?"

The sword sheared in with a wet, heavy cut.

I was grinning like a madman from the thing's back. The stench of rotting flesh stabbed up my nose, but I had no attention to spare for it. The sword in my fist drove into the nape of its neck.

"Kraaaagh!"

Pain sent it thrashing, bucking wild. That enormous body heaved so hard I could barely hang on. I clenched my teeth and shoved the blade deeper still.

"Just die already, you bastard!"

The thrashing only got worse. I was shaken like a leaf in a storm, muscles burning, strength leaking out of my grip — but letting go was not an option. Lose my hold here and I died.

"Kraaaagh!"

"Fucking hell!"

Without warning the variant hurled itself at the wall. There was a heavy crash, and the ring of steel on concrete. I curled on instinct and rode out the worst of the impact, but the sword tore out of my hand. The collision set my whole body on fire with pain.

"Damn it…!"

The blade was gone, and I was still clinging to the variant's back for dear life. Every muscle I owned screamed as that huge body pitched and rolled, and without a sword in my hand the fear of death came in cold and clear.

Goddamn it! What do I do?

The reek of rotten meat stabbed up my nose, and nausea climbed my throat. I swallowed it. This was no time to look weak. I locked my arms tighter around its back and searched the room.

What a fucked situation.

I started calculating, fast. Hang on like this, with no weapon, and I couldn't put a scratch on the bastard. Drop down, grab the sword, and take the fight from the top? That was nonsense too. I could feel how wrecked my body was from the wall. Get down there now and I was dead for certain.

Fuck… I can't die like this.

"Fuck! Think, Park Dohyun! What the hell can you actually do?"

The harder I thought, the more certain I became that there was nothing.

And then—

"Park Dohyun! Catch!"

A voice like salvation. I turned my head and saw her throwing something; my hand shot out on reflex, and cold metal slapped into my palm. I cracked my fingers open. A handgun. Hope caught fire in my chest.

"I fucking love you, Hanna!"

It burst out on pure reflex, and it startled even me. I didn't have a second to care. The weight of the pistol in my hand felt like being pulled back from the edge.

The instant the gun met my palm, a situation balanced on thin ice flipped clean over. Cold metal set my heart hammering. The advantage was mine.

"All right, you piece-of-shit zombie. My turn."

I ground it out through my teeth. Still mounted on the variant's back, I set the pistol against the rear of its skull. My finger was a breath from the trigger when the monster twisted hard.

"Kraaaaaagh!"

"Shit!"

Balance went. I started to slide, and instinct made me seize a handful of its flesh. Rotten meat pulped under my palm. Nausea surged; I held it down. Throw up now and it was over. The thing bucked to shake me loose, and I was flung around like I'd been strapped to a roller coaster. Dizziness and terror tangled until my head went light, but I couldn't quit. Miss this moment and there would not be another chance.

"You son of a bitch! The one walking out of here today is me!"

I snapped back into myself and jammed the pistol into the wound the sword had torn open. A shot at the skull might not even count — that bone was too thick to trust.

"I'm not wasting bullets on that."

From inside the wound I angled the muzzle up toward the head and pulled the trigger.

"Kraaaaaagh!"

The reports tore at my ears as blood and meat burst from the variant's head. It staggered, then crashed forward onto the floor.

I flung myself off its back. Pain knifed through my legs the instant I landed. Between the fall and the hit against the wall, everything hurt.

"Ngh…"

I was staggering upright when someone caught my arm. Kang Hanna. Worry and relief were knotted together on her face, and Jang Sangcheol stood at her shoulder, worn out.

"You okay? You hurt anywhere?"

A laugh got out of me before I could stop it.

"Thanks. If you hadn't been there, I'd actually be dead."

"Ugh, that's cringey. Don't say that."

"Hahaha. Yeah, that's you."

Hanna's brow knotted, and I burst out laughing.

"We… did it."

She murmured it while she took in the countless zombies lying cold around ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠us, as if the weight of it was only just sinking in.

"Yeah. We did it."

I grinned and nodded.

"Huh?"

And right then I felt every scrap of strength pour out of me. My body dropped toward the floor. Consciousness thinned to a thread.

"Wh— what? Hey! Hey! Stay awake! Park Dohyun!"

Hanna's voice, sharp with panic, was still reaching me when the windows rose.

System windows kept climbing through my fading sight, but I couldn't force my eyes to stay open any longer. I let them close.