The Hunter and the Hunted (3)
Bwooooom!
The roar of an engine approached from far off. But the soldiers couldn't hear it.
"What the hell are you doing? More are coming from that side!"
Tutututututu!
The soldiers desperately fired their rifles at the spider monsters closing in right on top of them.
"Damn it!"
The 1st Platoon leader barely shot a spider trying to crawl under Bus 2, biting his lip hard.
"Get it together! That thing almost got under the bus!"
Bus 1 was one thing, but they couldn't lose Buses 2 and 3. Those buses had designated spots to serve as bait. They couldn't just waste them pointlessly like this.
Tu-du-du-du-du!
Rough gunfire echoed from all directions. The spider monsters kept clinging on relentlessly.
"At this rate...!"
"We need to speed up!"
"You think I don't know that?!"
The platoon leader scowled deeply. He'd already ordered Buses 2 and 3 to go faster, and the rest of the convoy was picking up speed accordingly. But vehicles packed with people had their limits. It wasn't enough to fully shake off the spider monsters.
Screeech!
That's when it happened. One of the Jeeps at the rear suddenly lost balance and started lagging behind.
"That one's..."
While the platoon leader stared blankly, the Jeep flipped sideways.
Bam!
Rrrrumble-scraaaape!
After crashing and skidding across the pavement, the Jeep erupted in flames.
"Damn it!"
An explosion too. The platoon leader recalled the intel shared at Daejeon Station. A recent addition to the 7.5 Division's monster compendium. A monster that latched onto moving vehicles to slow them down before self-destructing. Its given name: Grasper.
"More are coming!"
The soldiers shouted as several more Graspters approached. The platoon leader swallowed dryly and raised his rifle to protect Buses 2 and 3 when—
Vrooooom!
In that split second, a foreign engine roar drilled into his ears.
"Huh?"
He instinctively whipped his gaze back to the rear of the convoy. Black smoke. Nothing was visible through the plume rising from the exploded Jeep. Or rather, only for a moment.
Vroooooom!
Something burst through the black smoke, charging forward.
"What the—"
The platoon leader's eyes widened. The gunfire blasting beside him drowned out the engine noise now, but he knew for sure. A single car was barreling toward them like a madman.
"How... "
That tiny minivan that had barely been keeping up from way back was closing in at an impossible speed.
"No way...!"
His words didn't finish.
Screeech!
The moment the minivan caught up to the rear of the convoy, the platoon leader's vehicle lost balance.
***
Screech! Screeeeech!
Several vehicles ahead swerved wildly, tracing S-curves.
Woof! Woof!
Heukgu in the passenger seat barked in alarm nonstop.
He couldn't do that. Botch the brakes here, and the car would spin out and flip from the speed.
"Shh."
Go Cheon-su shushed them and focused solely on the chaos ahead. Soldiers' vehicles, wrecked by Graspters, were blocking his path like obstacles in a shoot 'em up game.
Vroooooom!
Speed: 270 km/h.
'Late 200s...!'
It was razor-thin. Not quite true late-200s territory yet. Go Cheon-su floored the accelerator harder.
No way. Go Cheon-su glared ahead fiercely.
He'd pushed to the limit and realized: 'It'll work!'
His enhanced body sharpened his focus, reflexes, and senses. The vehicle, boosted to 300 km/h capability by item effects, was upgraded enough to handle him.
"Here we go!"
Vroom!
Go Cheon-su started overtaking the stunt-driving vehicles one by one.
Whoosh! Swoosh!
"Aaaahhh!"
Screams rang out midway, but he ignored them. Go Cheon-su concentrated only on surviving and pushing forward.
Crash!
A stray bullet shattered the rear window, but he paid it no mind.
299 km/h. A Grasper lunging to latch on whiffed into empty air and fell behind.
Swoosh!
He finally passed the lead bus and a nearby wobbling truck.
Kaboom!
Glancing in the rearview at the truck smashing into the guardrail and exploding, Go Cheon-su twitched an eyebrow.
"So, who's in first now?"
Go Cheon-su looked forward. Nothing was there anymore.
'Now...'
Time to choose.
"Didn't you guys tell me to floor it?"
He'd raced to survive, but what came next was the issue.
'Not here.'
There was a reason the soldiers planned to use the buses as bait. But they weren't ditching them yet. Something bigger loomed ahead.
Vroooom...
After flooring it awhile, the distance to the soldiers grew too vast, so Go Cheon-su eased off the pedal slightly.
The vehicle's durability is dropping rapidly.
This vehicle can only run for 60 more minutes.
"60 minutes..."
Not a long time. But as the price for escaping danger, it wasn't bad.
True enough. Only if they could keep going straight would it be easy.
'But we can't just barrel ahead...'
He had no idea what lay ahead. Facing monsters in this ride meant no way to fight back.
"Folks."
In the end, only one choice.
"Hang tight a bit longer. We'll head out soon."
Go Cheon-su turned toward the rest area.
"Going ahead first would be risky."
He parked the minivan beside a container, sighed, and asked, "But folks, the Graspters won't come all the way here, right?"
Stopping could be dangerous if they followed.
Good enough. 'Even if the soldiers make it here, it'll be after shaking the Graspters.'
If not, they'd get wiped out before arriving—no need to worry.
Vroooom!
How much time passed? Vehicle engines approached from afar.
Go Cheon-su straightened up and peered ahead.
Vroooom!
Six buses and other vehicles sped past the rest area.
'All the buses survived?'
Go Cheon-su's eyebrow twitched. It went beyond mere luck.
'Tough bastards.'
Despite some sacrifices, they'd maximized survival.
'Must be a damn good reason to keep them alive.'
Bait buses were surely mixed in, yet none abandoned. Something ahead absolutely required bait.
"Let's go, folks."
The minivan rolled out again.
***
Downstream from the collapsed bridges Go Cheon-su had crossed, along the riverbank, someone was climbing up.
"Huff... huff."
Wearing a soaked school uniform, it was none other than Yang Min-cheol.
"Everyone's alive, right...?"
No sign of Kim Ha-ryeong or Jang Seo-yeon. Above all, Go Cheon-su—who'd brought him here—was gone, filling Yang Min-cheol with unease.
"No. They're alive."
Anyone else, maybe not—but Go Cheon-su? No way he'd die. Yang Min-cheol believed that firmly.
Whoosh.
The higher he climbed, the more unstable the river's flow looked.
'Surviving this is a miracle in itself...'
Swept into such rapids and still alive. Pure luck he'd washed to the slower downstream shallows and snagged on the bank.
'Hyung made it across too, right?'
One more relief: he'd crossed the river.
"Hyung..."
Where had Go Cheon-su gone if he survived? Only one likely spot.
"Huh...?"
Even so, hoping to spot him along the river, Yang Min-cheol kept climbing—then dashed toward a familiar face.
"Noona!"
It was Kim Ha-ryeong, slumped dazed on a rock.
"Noona! You're alive?"
As he yelled approaching, she turned her head slightly.
"Yeah, I survived."
"Of course! We made it!"
Yang Min-cheol glanced around. "What about the others? Everyone okay?"
"Dunno."
Her expression was utterly downcast. Yang Min-cheol swallowed hard.
"Something happen? What'd you see?"
"..."
Kim Ha-ryeong clamped her mouth shut, as if she wanted to say nothing.
"We can't just sit here! If they're alive, let us know!"
They needed to regroup fast. No time to waste.
"...Telling you won't help."
She sighed heavily. Yang Min-cheol furrowed his brow, confused—then someone else appeared.
"Hey!"
Jang Seo-yeon, from atop the hill. Spotting him, she raced down in shock.
"You're alive?"
She grabbed Yang Min-cheol, yelling, "You idiot! Thought you were dead!"
"J-Jang Seo-yeon noona?"
Stunned at first, Yang Min-cheol brightened. "Noona! You made it!"
"Damn right!"
She grabbed his face, staring him down. "Was looking for you! Came up from below, but no sign."
"Oh, yeah?"
Yang Min-cheol had come up the same way. He'd drifted farther down and just now caught up.
"Oh, right!"
His eyes widened. "What about hyung? Where's hyung?"
"Ah..."
Jang Seo-yeon sighed, looking away. "Go Cheon-su..."
"What happened to hyung?!"
As Yang Min-cheol paled, she answered carefully. "Well, he's not dead."
"Huh? Not dead?"
What did that mean?
"He's alive? Then where..."
"He left."
"Pardon?"
"Said he left."
Jang Seo-yeon sighed. "Seems like he ditched us."
Yang Min-cheol gulped. Ditched? Alone?
"Didn't see it myself. She did."
She pointed at Kim Ha-ryeong, still dejected.
"That's why she's like that. Saw Go Cheon-su leave."
"Where to?"
Yang Min-cheol asked suspiciously. If seen leaving, they could've stopped him.
"On some bus, apparently."
Jang Seo-yeon explained slowly. "Chased by monsters, hopped on in a rush. She saw from afar."
"No way..."
"Couldn't be helped, I guess. But no clue where."
Go Cheon-su had left alone. The three remained.
"..."
Yang Min-cheol fell silent. Their core was gone. What could they do without a leader?
"Hyung..."
But there was something they could do.
"Hyung went per the plan."
He'd paved the way. The path was set.
"Let's head to the terminal."