Chapter 28.
Chapter 28.
Had we been driving north for about 15 minutes?
"Sajang-nim, look at that!"
Yerin pointed to the sky outside the window. Something small was floating. It wasn't a bird. The movement was mechanical.
It was a drone.
Not ours, but someone else's... It was definitely their drone.
I grabbed the radio.
"Jeong-hun-ssi, do you see the drone in the sky?"
Static. Jeong-hun's voice came through.
"Yes, I see it. Is it theirs?"
They were a large organization, about 100 people strong.
A drone was certainly something they could have. Just as we had used a drone to monitor them, they must be doing the same.
I yielded the driver's seat to Yerin. Small in stature, she climbed over me precariously to take the wheel.
Her body pressed against mine, and her hips pushed into me, but I had no time to worry about such things right now.
Moving to the passenger seat, I grabbed my bow. After nocking an arrow, I opened the window and leaned my upper body out.
I activated Hawk's Eye to zoom in. The drone enlarged within the slowed-down time.
About 200 meters up in the sky. It was a standard camera drone. Its camera was pointed our way.
I drew the string back as far as it would go.
Upward shot. I set the angle.
Shook.
The arrow flew up in a parabolic arc. With the ability to ignore the wind, it flew along an accurate trajectory without wavering.
As the arrow struck the drone's propeller, it lost balance, spun around, and crashed.
But it was too late.
I didn't know how long that thing had been following us. Our location must have already been pinpointed.
Yerin checked the tablet. Our drone's screen captured the sight of their vehicles.
"Sajang-nim."
Yerin's voice stiffened.
"The vehicles have changed direction. They're coming this way."
I looked at the screen. Four vehicles. The ones that were heading in a different direction earlier had turned and were driving north.
They were heading for us. They were definitely faster. Since they were passenger cars, there was no comparison to the camper vans.
"Distance?"
"About 3 kilometers. At this speed..."
There was no need to calculate. We had two camper vans. Plus, we had to slowly go around vehicles stopped on the road.
They had passenger cars with good agility and mobility. It was only a matter of time before we were caught.
I grabbed the radio.
"Jeong-hun-ssi, a pursuit team is coming. Four vehicles, over twenty people. 3 kilometers behind."
"What do we do?"
"The camper vans go first. Don't stop. Keep going straight north. I'll hold them off from behind."
"You're doing it alone, Hyung-nim?"
"There's a blocked road section ahead. I'll catch them there."
Yerin looked at me.
"Sajang-nim... it's too dangerous."
"Don't ever stop. Keep an eye on my situation with the drone."
"Are you going to go alone again?"
"If we keep going like this, we'll be caught. Me holding them off from behind is the most certain way."
Yerin bit her lip. Her face showed she wanted to object but knew I was right.
"Please come back."
"Of course."
Seoyun looked at me from the back seat. Her face had turned pale.
"Sunbae."
"It's okay. I'll finish this quickly and join you."
I stopped the camper van. I strapped on my quiver and picked up my bow. 50 arrows in total.
I also got the kickboard down.
The two camper vans departed. They moved away, kicking up dust.
I was left alone.
I got on the kickboard. I rode toward the rear.
There was a section I had spotted about 300 meters back. A place where abandoned vehicles were packed on both sides of the road. There was only enough width for one car to barely pass through.
It was a place where one had to turn slowly and go carefully. They would have no choice but to slow down here too.
I arrived. I climbed onto a large truck by the side of the road and hid my body. About 3 meters high. I could see everything around. A perfect shooting position.
I checked my bow. I opened the quiver. 50 arrows in total.
I steadied my breath and waited.
The sound of engines could be heard from afar.
They were coming.
The engine noise grew louder. It wasn't just one. Several were overlapping.
The first car appeared around the curve. A black SUV. It slowed down and entered between the blocked road. It tried to slowly squeeze through the abandoned vehicles.
I activated Hawk's Eye. The world slowed down.
I saw the driver through the windshield. Zoom in. Even their face was captured clearly. One person in the passenger seat. Three in the back. They had air rifles resting on their knees.
Not the windshield. The windshield of a vehicle is laminated glass with PVB film inserted, so it's difficult for an arrow to penetrate.
I tested it on an abandoned car a few days ago. The windshield was pierced, but the trajectory was severely skewed.
The side windows were different, however. They were tempered glass, so the moment the arrow touched, it shattered and penetrated right through. There was almost no resistance.
I aimed at the side window of the driver's seat.
I drew the string.
Puck!
The arrow pierced the driver's side window. The glass shattered in an instant and spilled out. The arrow went straight through and pierced the driver's neck.
As the driver dropped their head, the car slid sideways and rammed into an abandoned sedan.
Bang!
The road was completely blocked.
One down.
The second car following behind braked suddenly. The third and fourth cars also stopped in a line. Since the front car was blocked on the narrow road, they couldn't pass.
Just as expected.
The first car's door opened. They poured out.
The guy in the passenger seat held an air rifle and looked around. He didn't know where it had been shot from.
Shook.
An arrow stuck in his neck. He collapsed while still holding the air rifle.
Two.
I had to deal with the air rifles first. They were the only long-range threat.
People started getting out of the second car, too. The moment they opened the doors and stepped out was the most vulnerable time.
I fired arrows in rapid succession.
Shook. Shook.
Two guys who were opening the doors and coming out fell one after another. One in the shoulder, one in the chest.
Four.
Now they had gotten their bearings. Someone pointed toward the truck.
"There!"
They crouched behind the cars and started using the car bodies as cover.
Pak!
The sound of an air rifle tearing through the air. Something embedded into the side of the truck. The guy with the air rifle in the second car was leaning halfway out from behind the car and shooting.
Pak. Pak.
Bullets flew in succession, hitting the truck and making a loud noise. But there was quite a distance. Between them and me was over 50 meters.
Although it was within the effective range of the air rifles, their shooting skills were terrible. The pellets bounced off the truck railing and embedded into the side. They all missed.
Furthermore, with Hawk's Eye, I could see the trajectory of the incoming pellets to some extent.
Since my body couldn't be faster than the bullets, I couldn't dodge them perfectly, but I could predict the approximate trajectory of the pellets.
But there was no need to stay in the same spot for long.
I quickly jumped down to the other side of the truck. After landing, I silenced my movements and hid my body among the abandoned vehicles.
I moved quickly between the cars. Three cars over. I leaned out from behind cover, shot, and moved immediately. I didn't stay in one place.
Shook.
An arrow stuck in the forehead of the guy shooting the air rifle from behind the second car.
Five.
Move immediately. Two cars back. I took a different angle.
Pak. Pak.
Air rifle shots flew from the fourth car. They were shooting at the empty spot where I had been earlier. It seemed like they were guessing the direction and firing wildly.
The moment the guy stuck his head out to check.
Shook.
It cleanly pierced his temple. He slowly collapsed, spraying blood.
Six.
The air rifle threat was gone. The rest only had melee weapons like steel pipes and crowbars. They had no means to touch me from a distance.
I just had to be careful of the guys trying to pick up the dropped air rifles.
I moved again. I went around to their flank. I slipped between the vehicles and changed my angle.
Shoot, move, shoot, move. I started firing in rapid succession as soon as they came into view.
From their perspective, arrows were flying from a different direction every time.
Some of the faster ones dodged the arrows, but most were hit and screamed.
Screams, profanity, and shouting erupted from them.
Five people were huddled behind the third car. They were whispering something to each other. It looked like they were discussing whether to run or fight.
30 meters. They were completely exposed from the side.
Shook. Shook. Shook.
Three fell in succession. The remaining two screamed. One guy threw his bat and started running. The other guy followed.
I drove arrows into the backs of the fleeing guys.
The survivors started shoving themselves into the car at the very end.
The arrow I shot stuck into the driver's side windshield, but the arrow's direction changed, and it couldn't kill the guy.
With a roar, the fourth car at the very end started reversing.
They were running away. Go back and tell them. If you chase us again, you die.
The reversing car turned the curve and disappeared.
It became quiet.
Fifteen corpses on the road. The smell of blood mixed with the wind. Three abandoned vehicles.
I retrieved the arrows and wiped off the blood.
I searched the vehicles and picked up the air rifles that had fallen on the ground.
Recovered three additional air rifles. Over 100 rounds of ammunition were found as well.
I also found a 12V small compressor and a charging hose in the trunk of one of the vehicles. Equipment to charge the air rifle tanks.
With this, I could fill the air with the camper van's battery. Plus, there were spare air tanks.
I grabbed the radio.
"Yerin, it's over."
Static.
"Sajang-nim!"
Yerin's voice trembled. She sounded like she was on the verge of tears.
"It's all over. I stopped the pursuit team, and some ran away. Come pick me up."
"I'm coming now. I'll be right there."
I cut the radio and sat leaning against an abandoned car. I exhaled.
The sky was clear. It would be nice weather if not for the smell of blood.
I had killed quite a lot. Not zombies, but people. Living humans who had beating hearts and breathed.
I spread out my hand. It wasn't shaking. It was the same hand as when I held the bow.
When shooting a zombie's head and when shooting a human's head, the sensation of my fingers releasing the string was no different.
That was strange. It felt like something should have collapsed. Feeling nauseous, hands shaking, or at least something like guilt.
Isn't that how it's always depicted in novels or movies? The agony and anguish of someone who killed a person for the first time.
But nothing came. Not when I released the string, not when the arrow pierced a head, not when the corpse fell to the ground. It was just a monotonous repetition, the same as when catching zombies.
It was nothing, just as I thought. That was even scarier.
Do people change when the world changes? Or was this something already inside me that ordinary daily life had been covering up?
An ordinary office worker who worked overtime at a small-to-medium enterprise and went archery on weekends. That man is sitting there, looking up at the clear sky, completely unfazed after killing over a dozen people at dawn.
One thing is certain: I have no regrets.
The sight of those guys taking women and toying with them. The eyes of the woman, soaked in fear and despair.
Those guys were guys who deserved to die. If I hadn't killed them, they would have done the same thing tomorrow and the day after. Stopping that was the right thing to do.
I decided to think that way. Because that's the only way I can pick up the bow again tomorrow.
I decided to think only of myself and my colleagues. Protecting my people and surviving is the priority.
Especially the faces of Yerin and Seoyun came to mind.
The wind blew. The wind that carried the smell of blood. One more smell I had to get used to.