Chapter 86
Chapter 86
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 86
Chapter Title: 46. Messiah (4)
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I climbed out of the bunker and checked the surroundings.
There were no unusual signs.
My eyes fell on the rifle slung along the side of the motorcycle.
Despite Defender's advice, I couldn't shake the worry that a rival might show up.
Humans were several times more dangerous than zombies.
The worst-case scenario would be getting ambushed while dragging IAmJesus out of the bunker.
If that happened, survival would be unlikely.
Fortunately, there were no signs of an ambush, not even a hint of human presence.
It might just be needless paranoia, but it was better than letting my guard down carelessly.
"You can come out now."
A trembling hand appeared over the ladder, extending a bundle of belongings.
Inside were a satellite terminal, a laptop, and a retro game console.
Baek Seung-hyeon's motorcycle had ample storage compartments on the front, rear, and sides.
Aside from the elongated satellite receiver antenna mounted sideways in the rear compartment—protruding like a spire—everything fit with room to spare.
"Come on, hurry up and get out."
IAmJesus was still inside the bunker.
More precisely, he was clinging to the ladder at the entrance, the boundary between the bunker and the world.
His scrawny body dangling from it looked just like a cicada nymph stuck to a tree.
Cicada nymphs pupate while hanging, but this guy... well.
In a way, he had pupated, hadn't he?
"You coming or not?"
With eyes shining like that, it seemed he was.
"H-Hold my hand, please."
IAmJesus said in a quivering voice.
I grabbed his bony hand and pulled him out into the world.
IAmJesus stared at the outside world for a long while, his face stricken with shock.
"......"
While waiting for him to calm down, I checked the map.
Fortunately, the church wasn't far from here.
About 2 km away.
But I couldn't forget that this whole area was zombie territory.
The closer to the city center, the more zombies there would be.
I couldn't use my hammer effectively against clustered zombies.
If I had the superhuman strength to send five flying at once, maybe, but as it was, picking them off one by one required other weapons.
In the end, that meant guns.
But guns were a double-edged sword.
Kill one, and ten come running. Kill ten, and hundreds swarm.
Without Baek Seung-hyeon's motorcycle, I wouldn't have even considered entering.
"Eek!"
As I reviewed the route, a sudden scream erupted from behind.
"What?"
I turned to see IAmJesus, scared out of his wits, sitting on his butt and pointing at the partition wall with a finger.
"A-A corpse!"
"Zombie."
"Zombie?"
"Yeah. The ones that were here when we came in."
I took his hand again and helped him to his feet.
"D-Did you kill them, SKELTON?"
IAmJesus stared at the two fallen zombies with trembling eyes.
Both had their heads cleaved by an axe, grayish mucus oozing out.
He approached them fearfully, eyes wide.
"F-First time seeing one. A zombie."
"For real?"
"First time seeing one in person."
He stared intently at the one in a suit.
"D-Did you kill them, SKELTON?"
"Yeah. They tried to kill me."
"You good at fighting?"
"Good enough to protect myself."
I checked my watch.
Around 3 p.m.
Time to worry about sunset.
I had to finish my business and get out of the city before dark.
Everyone knew zombies were nocturnal.
But IAmJesus had been fixated on the suited zombie corpse for a while now.
"What're you doing?"
"N-Nothing."
Yet he kept staring at it piercingly.
"Don't look too closely. Zombies are like restless spirits of the already dead. It messes with your head. Obsess over them, and you'll go mad."
"Got it, SKELTON."
I started to hand him a weapon but stopped.
A pistol might be fine, but with nerves like that...
He seemed more likely to shoot me than a zombie.
It's a common tragic comedy: the timid one shooting their ally instead of the enemy trying to kill them.
"Let's go before it's too late."
The city of the dead lay in silence.
Roads were blocked by debris and abandoned cars, but the buildings lining them were in decent shape. Some attached shops looked almost unchanged from before the war, pristine amid the intact storefronts. It almost felt like time had frozen there.
If not for the zombies scattered on the streets reminding me of reality, I might have wandered into an audio shop without thinking.
No matter how good your beatboxing, a bad mic ruins it.
"Can't we just ride the motorcycle?"
IAmJesus said, still eyeing the street with fear.
We were pulling the motorcycle toward the city center.
No choice.
The engine noise could attract zombies.
Fortunately, downtown was mostly flat, so anything with wheels was easy to pull.
"Zombies might hear the sound and swarm."
Starting the motorcycle here only made sense in two cases: heading home, or when zombies poured out from buildings.
"Hold up."
A zombie was in the path ahead.
According to the school-issued manual, zombies had vision but faulty brains, so they ignored distant movement.
Only once their gray, solidified brains registered a target did they chase what they saw.
Safe distance when not aggroed: about 15 meters.
Within 10 meters, they always attacked.
But that theory was bullshit.
Active zombies charged from 30 or 100 meters if they spotted a human.
Think you're safe at 15 meters? Bam, zombie family reunion.
Still, the theory had some basis; it held up when no active zombies were around.
Like now.
Zombies dotted the area but hadn't noticed us.
I cleared only the ones blocking the way.
Thwack!
Another one down.
IAmJesus, who jumped at first, now seemed accustomed to zombie hunting.
"Feels like a game, huh? Like Final Fight, just smack! and down."
"Wanna try?"
"N-No!"
Fresh air clearly did wonders for the mind.
His gloomy soul was brightening visibly.
Maybe that's why.
"This street. It's the one I used to drive my Bentley on."
IAmJesus spoke up first for once.
"Bentley? You drove one of those?"
"Dad's car."
"Ah."
"Mine's a Porsche."
"Oh."
"People ignored my Porsche parked on the side, but everyone gawked at the Bentley."
His affluent life was obvious from the bunker alone.
We built bunkers defying finger-pointing, family opposition, poverty, even debt like mine, all for survival.
IAmJesus? Just a hobby.
Kid threw a tantrum, dad built a bunker with his overflowing cash for "experiential camping."
Location screamed luxury too: outskirts but prime commercial zone.
Luxury camping, bunker edition.
Ironically, that leisure vibe probably saved him.
"Huh? This place?!"
IAmJesus stopped in front of a shop.
Flower shop, from the looks.
Glass shattered, interior ruined, cheap sign dirtied beyond recognition.
"You know it?"
"Yeah. My church sister worked here."
"Blood sister?"
"No, church sister."
IAmJesus suddenly entered the shop.
I gripped my axe and followed close.
Thankfully, no zombies inside.
"Be careful. Zombies often hide in buildings."
"Sorry."
I glanced at his face as he brushed past.
Beard and hair hid half, but urgency shone through.
Someone precious had been here.
Sure enough, he emerged with a photo frame.
"It's her!"
A photo of a young woman inside.
Graceful, beautiful face.
Even in modest clothes, she exuded elegant charm.
"She was so good to me!"
Church sister, though.
Not great for him, but it didn't sit well.
A normal church? Maybe. But his father's was Sodom and Gomorrah from the Bible.
And his dad built it.
I checked the map.
Just around the corner.
Turn it, and the fortress-like church would appear.
Hammer ready, I cautiously rounded the bend.
A dark shadow lunged.
Thwack!
One down.
But not alone.
Another charged alongside.
"Keeeaak!"
I backpedaled, smashing its temple with the hammer shaft.
Crack!
Confirmed neck snapped, then full swing to the crown.
Thud!
Only when the handle splintered did I count it dead.
Catching my breath, I checked the fallen zombies.
Young women.
Why did women here love dresses so much?
The earlier ones and these—all in dresses.
"......"
I turned back.
IAmJesus lingered at the shop, clutching the frame, reluctant to leave.
"Move. We gotta leave before dark."
"Yeah! Got it!"
We rounded the corner together.
"Ah......"
IAmJesus's gaunt frame swayed unsteadily.
I understood his shock.
Where the towering church-fortress once stood was now a dreary ruin.
Looked like a direct Chinese missile hit.
A heavy one.
Bad luck? Or intentional.
Communists deny religion, right?
Maybe targeted as a symbol or lesson.
Either way, dad's church was obliterated.
"Ah, fucked."
Surprisingly casual.
He stared coldly at the church.
"Fucking retard, shithead, dog bastard."
Vulgar curses spilled from his bearded mouth.
"Serves you right. Wouldn't listen to me. That bald retard fuck. Told him war means everyone dies, but no."
I'd seen it plenty.
Grieving survivors cursing family.
I let him vent.
If it eased the living's heart, cursing the dead was cheap.
As I stood silent, IAmJesus looked up with faintly glowing, teary eyes.
"You know my old man’s a dog bastard, right?"
"Your dad?"
"Everyone in Korea knew."
I nodded slowly, watching his face.
"Heard vaguely."
He snorted, glaring at the church, unleashing icy words.
"My old man says Jesus speaks to him directly."
"Impressive."
"Impressive my ass, he's a lunatic. Pure scam. Bullshit scam. But it hooked rich, dumb old ladies and their friends, grew that big. Started as a rat-dick pioneer church."
IAmJesus glared into space with a twisted expression.
"Who the hell is he? Huh? Why would Jesus talk to a guy raping middle schoolers?"
"......"
"All because no one listened! I said evacuate......"
After ranting curses, he squatted.
I stood guard with hammer ready, watching wandering zombies.
"Fuck...... retard...... shoulda listened......"
Tears finally flowed.
Seeing that, I knew.
He hated his father, yet loved him.
"Wanna go to the church front?"
Impulsive words.
Impulsive, but with sharp calculation underneath.
Calm him quick, get out of zombie hell—best choice.
IAmJesus looked up, eyes mixed glow and tears, reached out.
"Y-Yeah!"
I grabbed his hand, pulled him up.
Ruins.
We gazed at the collapsed church together.
The grotesque skeleton evoked Behemoth's corpse from the Bible.
IAmJesus's eyes calmed as he took it in.
Accepting reality.
He knew: nearly three years of tribulation destroyed his world.
Just late to see it.
"SKELTON."
He looked at me.
Time to go.
But.
"Huh?"
His eyes shook violently.
"S-Sister?"
I turned.
A zombie in flowing clothes staggered toward us.
No doubt.
That zombie.
The woman from the frame.
"......Sister."
Stunning beauty.
Even as zombie, retained allure.
Explains why he was smitten.
But zombie's a zombie.
Whatever she meant to him, kill it.
When?
Stepping up felt awkward.
Might hurt him.
I watched silently.
"Sister?"
IAmJesus approached the zombie.
"Grrooo......"
Zombie aggroed him.
Bared teeth, lunged.
"Grrraaah!!!"
IAmJesus stared blankly at the charging zombie.
"S-Sister?"
"Your sister's dead."
Hammer up, I charged.
Ready to smash her skull—
Cold hand gripped my wrist.
Bony fingers from a powerless wrist.
Yet it held the power I craved.
Boom!
A shockwave erupted from the heart of the youth with glowing eyes.
My innards trembled; I looked at him.
IAmJesus shook his head at me.
"No."
He walked toward his sister.
"Sister's alive."
I was witnessing a miracle.
The zombie that tried to kill moments ago froze.
Watched the approaching human.
As if she were human.
Boom!
Another shockwave from his heart amid it all.
The pulse eerily mimicked a monster's.
"......"
Curiosity stirred.
I wanted to see this miracle's end.