Deliver Us From Evil (2)

The Preacher and I charged at each other at the same time. We both knew it. Only one of us was getting out of here alive. And the bastard was going to do everything in his power to kill me.

BOOM.

The apartment building—probably unit 606—shook violently as the snake rammed its head into it. I ran with the machete gripped tight in my hand. Unstable footing, trembling legs, an exhausted body. None of that mattered. If I didn’t kill this fucker right here, right now, I was dead anyway.

I clenched my teeth and sprinted straight at him. A hulking figure balanced on a single leg. Ash-gray skin and a concrete cross strapped to his back. Attacks from behind wouldn’t work. The cross had shattered during the fall, but most of it was still intact. Still, there was good news too.

His punches and kicks were still powerful, but they weren’t the instant-death blows they had been before. I could take them. He was slower now. Weaker. All thanks to getting the shit beaten out of him by that snake. That meant I had a chance.

I drew the carbon steel machete back as far as it would go, sucked in a lungful of air, and roared as I swung.

CRRRRACK! Slice!

The machete carved into his side. The force of his counterpunch sent me flying. The moment I staggered back to my feet, he hurled a chunk of concrete at me. I leaned my whole body forward, dashed past it, and brought the machete down hard.

Aiming for the head. The Preacher raised his ruined arm to block. There was a wet crunch as flesh pulped and his forearm turned mottled, but it wasn’t a fatal wound. Of course it wasn’t. This bastard was a zombie. As long as it wasn’t a killing blow, he’d keep moving. There had to be limits to this cheating bullshit.

I twisted my body to dodge the attack I’d predicted, but the unstable floor made me lose my balance. As if he’d been waiting for exactly that, the Preacher kicked me with his one remaining leg.

I’d expected the kick. Even so, the moment it connected, my vision went black.

CRASH!

I slammed into the wall and snapped back to consciousness. Before I could even cough or collapse, I slapped the floor with my palm and forced myself upright. My hand tore open. But there was no time to worry about that.

A barrage of concrete shards came flying at me, each one strong enough to kill a man. I sprinted in a wide arc to avoid them.

Bang! Bang-bang-bang-bang!

The shotgun-like spray of debris punched holes in the walls. The moment I staggered and tried to regain my stance, the Preacher leaped high. It was the strongest jump a one-legged monster could make. Knowing that, I threw my body sideways.

KWAAAAAANG!

The floor debris bucked violently. My thrown body actually lifted off the ground for a split second. Cracks spiderwebbed across the floor. It looked ready to collapse all the way to the fifth floor. And I wasn’t confident I’d survive a five-story drop. Even worse, that wasn’t the end of his attack.

A gray afterimage flew toward me as I struggled to stand. A kick. I slammed my palm against the floor like a spring, accelerating my body while swinging the machete. The kick smashed into an innocent wall instead, grazing me.

Schlick!

Blood sprayed from the thigh he’d sliced open at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the same moment his fist came flying at my head. A fast, powerful, and utterly infuriating attack. A zombie that knew how to roll with impacts and throw proper punches? No wonder the world had gone to shit.

It was too late to dodge. Honestly, dodging had never been an option. I twisted my body at the last second, trying to lessen ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the damage.

CRACK!

It felt like my head was being ripped off. My cheek burned like it was on fire as my body tumbled across the floor. Even then, I couldn’t afford to stay down.

“Ugh…!”

I kept ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠rolling. The instant I did, the Preacher’s leg slammed down like a meteor right where my head had been. Even as the full-body impact rattled my bones, I couldn’t stop. I frantically pushed my upper body up and swung the machete at his ankle. This time the Preacher actually dodged.

I’d thought taking one more ankle would make this easy. Guess not.

As if punishing my missed strike, his foot lashed out and kicked me. I barely got my arms up in time. The impact sent me bouncing into the wall, knocking the wind out of me. Before I could recover, he was already on ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠top of me.

“Kgh…!”

He grabbed my throat and started squeezing. He might have gotten weaker, but that was only his punching and kicking power. Grip strength? If he got a solid hold, I was dead. He knew it too. That’s why he went straight for my neck.

I dropped the machete and grabbed his incoming hands with both of mine.

“You… fucking… bastard… what kind of strength…!”

It felt like my fingers were being crushed. My hands trembled violently as I endured the bone-creaking pressure. Then, suddenly, I saw a shadow from above.

“Kang… Ahyeon…?!”

That damn girl. Why the hell didn’t she run?

But the moment I looked at my sister, she aimed the shotgun—at the Preacher. Even though it should have been empty.

Click.

A clear metallic sound rang out.

Kang Ahyeon. She had never liked her own name. Not once in her entire life. It wasn’t even a particularly pretty name. Some people called it cute, and quite a few had told her it was pretty, but that was only because the girl herself was pretty.

She knew exactly how she looked. Deep down she sometimes wished she could change it to something prettier, something better, but she had never actually tried to make that wish a reality. Whenever she voiced that complaint, her brother would always tease her about it.

“Is my name that bad too? You really complain about everything…”

But she genuinely liked her brother’s name. So even though she disliked her own, she also liked it. Because anyone who heard both names would immediately know they were siblings. And whenever she pointed that out, her brother would get embarrassed and grumble.

Kang Hyun, her brother, was a dishonest person. He didn’t actively lie. But he always hid his obvious feelings behind vague words instead of saying them outright.

It had happened when they were little. She had gotten stuck under the bed. While she was sobbing and begging for help, her brother had come over with a flustered look on his face. She still remembered the worry that filled his eyes even as he scolded her for being stupid. Instead of calling an adult, her brother had offered his own body. When she was finally freed, the loose bed leg gave way and crushed him. His leg broke. He screamed. And Kang Ahyeon had burst into even louder tears and screams than he had.

Even while writhing in agony from his broken leg, it was her brother who comforted her as she wailed louder than him. He really was an idiot of an older brother. There were probably better ways to handle things, but he was always too reckless and impatient and ended up making a mess. He was never honest about his own feelings, so he’d make up lame excuses. He’d call her stupid, say he hated her, tell her to get lost…

But he was also the kind of person who, the moment he came home, checked the shoe rack first to see if her shoes were there.

She loved that brother of hers—

RUMBLE!

Her thoughts were cut off. The apartment shook violently. Some nameless monster—the colossal thing that had been hanging from the parking lot—had slammed into the building. Holding onto the rope, she descended while listening to the sounds.

Unit 708 was already a disaster zone. The walls were peeled back, shattered, and crushed open. Zombie corpses lay everywhere. Scattered concrete fragments and broken furniture made the place look like a warzone. Even so, she ran.

She clutched the shotgun to her chest, pulled back the blue-glowing bolt, and shouldered it firmly.

Thud. Thud. Rumble. Thud!

The iron door the snake was ramming refused to break. The walls and rebar had been specially reinforced to support the apartment. It wouldn’t collapse easily. It was only a matter of time, though. It would be nice if the creature gave up, but she couldn’t afford to be optimistic.

Still, none of that mattered. She only needed a little time.

She gripped the shotgun tightly, braced it against her shoulder, and looked down through the hole in the floor. There was the zombie. The same one she’d met on the roof. The one her brother was fighting with everything he had. Her eyesight was excellent. So was her brother’s. Everyone in their family had been the same. Right now, she was incredibly grateful for that.

She shouldered the shotgun and took aim.

“Oppa—!”

Could he hear her? Had he seen her? Was he okay? She pushed all her worries out in a single breath.

“Duck your head—!”

The girl rubbed at her tear-filled eyes, pressed the gun firmly against her body, and simply pulled the trigger.

BOOM. The explosion began. She pulled the trigger to its limit, released it, and pulled again. She repeated the motion. Even as the recoil slammed into her shoulder like a fist, she kept firing.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM—!

With every shot the sound grew distant, the world blurred, hot tears fell in fat drops, and a bloody mist bloomed over the zombie’s form. Two shells remained in the chamber. She roughly worked the bolt to eject the spent casing that had gotten stuck and pulled the trigger again.

KWAAAAAANG!

Between the violent gunshots, Kang Hyun saw his crybaby little sister. Through the holes punched into the Preacher’s body, he could see her. Even then, the Preacher raised his forearm to protect his head. Disgusting. Repulsive. There was no other word for how insane this thing was.

But he snapped back to his senses. Ten shotgun slugs and it was still alive. Instead of using its completely shredded forearm, the Preacher finally bared its teeth and drove them down toward Kang Hyun. As if it had no other options left. As if it was going for a mutual kill by biting.

Kang Hyun gritted his teeth, grabbed the machete he had dropped, and met the attack head-on.

Crunch!

While Kang Ahyeon stared in horror and flailed, blood poured between Kang Hyun and the Preacher. It wasn’t Kang Hyun’s blood. The machete he had raised in defense was buried deep between the Preacher’s stretched-open jaws.

Crack… CRRRRACK…!

The mouth tore apart. The head split open. Even as it split, the Preacher still tried to bite into Kang Hyun’s neck. But the carbon-steel blade, sharpened like a razor, simply cleaved the head cleanly in two.

“Just… die… already… you son of a bitch…!”

The moment Kang Hyun used the last of his strength to push the blade forward—

Squelch!

The carbon steel machete burst free in a spray of blood.

…What a fucking mess.

His consciousness slipped away.