Plundering the Hospital
"We're just about to switch shifts and head home... and then fucking suddenly people are collapsing, screaming, biting each other...!"
Tremble, tremble, tremble.
A gaunt doctor, half out of his mind, spat out words that were somewhere between explanation and lament. Dok Sa-yeon recognized him—he'd assisted in a few surgeries with her before.
"And then... those crazy bastards pounding on the doors... phones stopped working. Water's been out since the day before yesterday...!"
Tremble, tremble, tremble.
He'd been trapped in the on-call room for five straight days without stepping foot outside, so it was understandable. Still, she tried to calm him down first.
"Dr. Nam, please... just calm down for now."
"R-right, come to think of it, if you're alive, Dok... does that mean anesthesiology is okay? Chief Choi, Chief Park from surgery... what about our department?"
They're probably dead, the words rose to her throat, but she swallowed them back down.
"I don't know. I was on night shift, so I wasn't at the hospital then."
"Huh? So Dok, you're saying..."
"Yes. I came from outside the hospital."
"How? With all those crazy things swarming like that...? Did the rescue team...?"
She shook her head.
As the doctor's trembling threatened to worsen again, Dok Sa-yeon hurriedly added,
"No rescue team, but I have companions. Thanks to them, I could get into the hospital. And we have a safe place, plenty of food too."
"R-really? Th-then... I, I can go there too, right?"
The starving survivors at the school flashed through her mind, but she quickly dismissed them. He was a doctor, after all—and in this situation, they wouldn't mistreat him like those others.
"Yes. I'll explain to my companions that you're a really skilled doctor, Dr. Nam, that you'll be a huge help..."
They accepted me, so they'll accept a doctor too...
Dok Sa-yeon was about to say that when realization struck.
They would probably accept him, just as she said. One more mouth to feed was no issue for them, and a surgeon would surely prove useful down the line. For them.
If this guy joins...>
Her own value would diminish. And if that was all, it might be bearable. But if this loose-lipped doctor ever let slip that she wasn't a real doctor...
Gulp.
Even with her doctor role, things were this bad already—what if she lost it? And if they found out she'd lied about it...
Maybe she'd end up like those school survivors... No, with Cheongun, he might just kill her for the betrayal...
"Dok? Dok?"
"...To do that, I need the fire door key first. Do you know where it's kept?"
She hid her inner turmoil and replied calmly.
"The key? You mean the emergency one? It's probably..."
The doctor opened a safe in one corner of the on-call room. Dok Sa-yeon stood quietly behind him, waiting for it to open.
Beep, beep. Beep, beep...
Clunk.
As the safe door began to swing open, she pressed the nail gun to the back of his head.
Click.
"...You're the bad one."
"Huh? Wha—"
Thwang.
Thud. Thump.
Dok Sa-yeon shoved the body into the safe, grabbed the bundle of keys, and then—
Screeech.
"Unnie?"
Jeong Da-jeong, having finally shaken off the zombies, pushed open the door.
"Are you okay? I heard the nail gun just now..."
"Ah..."
Glance.
"Zombie. I'm fine."
"...Good, then."
Why are you smiling like that? The question crossed her mind, but Jeong Da-jeong assumed she was just happy to find the keys and let it go.
More pressing matters came first.
...
Click. Click.
"Unnie, grab the meds first!"
Clatterclatterclatter.
The door to the pharmacy flew open, and Jeong Da-jeong dashed out, scraping the wall with her hammer to lure the zombies. Dok Sa-yeon entered the pharmacy and checked her watch. About 10 minutes left. Factoring in the return trip, actual time was much less.
No time to check each one.
She skimmed the shelves like a madwoman, scooping drugs into boxes.
Rosuvastatin... ezetimibe... amoxicillin-clavulanate...!
Crash.
She spotted the antibiotic shelf and swept it clean into a box.
These are antipyretics...
Crash.
Anesthetics... ah!
Rumble.
This must be...
Rumble.
Some were confusing or unknown, but she grabbed everything anyway.
This should do it.
Enough for thousands. She'd skipped low-priority stuff like statins or prostate meds, grabbing all the essentials. As she moved for the injection storeroom—
A safe in the corner caught her eye. Unlike the shelf drugs, this was locked away, a type she hadn't seen before.
Th-this is...
She checked the dispensing log beside it, and her eyes widened at what was inside. She yelled to Jeong Da-jeong, who was bashing the last zombie.
Whoosh, smack.
"Da-jeong! Keys!"
"Huh? This one?"
"No, not the fire door! Check the bodies for keys. One that looks like the safe key."
Rummage, rummage.
They endured the stench, searching corpses, and finally found the keyring in a gown pocket.
Jingle, jingle.
"No. 4, No. 4, No. 4 safe..."
Click. Click.
"Huh?"
The double-locked safe door swung open, and Jeong Da-jeong tilted her head.
"Whoa..."
But Dok Sa-yeon, knowing what they were, lit up.
Morphine tabs as basics, fentanyl amps, oxycodone, tramadol... Drugs she'd normally handle in milligrams or micrograms. Here, they were in gram quantities.
"Ha, haha..."
Dok Sa-yeon let out a hollow laugh at the surreal pile of narcotic painkillers. The world had truly ended, she felt it again.
...
Bzzzzz.
"Unnie!"
Already 5 minutes over. Jeong Da-jeong yelled urgently.
"This is really the last!"
Dok Sa-yeon came hauling the final IV bags, and Jeong Da-jeong whipped out her inventory again.
Bzzzzz.
Whoosh, bzzzzz.
She dumped the IVs into the box, slammed the inventory shut, and they bolted.
Thud, thud, thud...
"Hup, hup, hup."
"Haa, haa, heok..."
From pharmacy to underground passage, passage to stairs. Finally up the stairs, opening the ER door—they both gasped at the sight.
"Graaaaaah—!"
Zombies filled the passage, surging into the ER like a tidal wave. Too many to count; walls and floors vanished under them.
And at the forefront, blocking the zombie tsunami: Cheongun.
Crunchcrunchcrunch, squelchsquelchsquelch...
Thwack. Smack.
Stab. Stab, stab, stab...
"Hahahahahaha!"
His whole body grabbed, suit and all being gnawed, yet he swung his weapons like a maniac. So drenched in blood, to Dok Sa-yeon's eyes he was just a dark red blob in motion.
"Master!"
At Da-jeong's cry, Cheongun finally turned, crossed his arms in an X—
Cross Moon Slash
Slaaaaash—crackcrackcrack.
He unleashed Cross Moon Slash, shredding all the clinging zombies.
"Grrraaah—!"
But more surged in, trampling corpses. He crossed arms again, yelling at them.
"What're you doing!? Sightseeing!? Open the damn exit!"
"Ah, yes!"
They hurriedly raised the ER fire shutter, greeted by dozens of zombies drawn by the noise.
"Grah, grr. Graaah!"
"Mmph!"
Whoosh. Splat—!
Jeong Da-jeong swung her hammer wide, smashing several at once.
"Gr. Ah? Uhh."
Swing. Swing.
"Graaah..."
Enough to down them, but not kill. As she pushed through, seeing them rise, she yelled,
"Unnie!"
This time, Dok Sa-yeon couldn't hang back calmly.
"Got it!"
Aim between the eyes and pull the...
Thwang, thwang, thwang...
Tick. Tick.
A level-up window popped in front of Dok Sa-yeon's eyes mid-fight, but survival was more urgent.
Clatter.
Nails into the front mag. Clunk.
Load powder cartridge under the grip, raise the nail gun.
Thwang, thwang, thwang...
Her wrist ached from recoil, but her lips curled higher.
"Ahaha... ahahaha..."
Thwang, thwang.
"Die... die!"
The thrill she'd never felt before. On the edge of death, adrenaline surging, she fired in a trance.
Thwang, whoosh. Thwang, whoosh...
Misses increased, but she compensated with volume and speed.
Thwangthwangthwangthwang, click. Clatter... Thwangthwangthwang.
Whoosh, smack. Whoosh, bang. Whoosh. Bang.
Finally, the last zombie down, path to outside clear. Jeong Da-jeong and Dok Sa-yeon yelled together.
"Master!"
"Run!"
Slaaaaash—
Cheongun fired off another Cross Moon Slash, spun, and hopped on the bike outside the ER.
"Lemme see that."
Snatch.
"Ah..."
Dok Sa-yeon let out a regretful sound as the nail gun left her hand.
Vroooom.
Cheongun gunned the bike toward the entrance, weaving through outdoor zombies.
"Graaah—!"
Thwang.
Thwang.
"Hyah! This is why we live!"
He cleared zombies blocking the bikes carrying Jeong Da-jeong and Dok Sa-yeon.
Tick, tick.
"Fuck."
Flick. Shing.
Out of nails, he drew his sword, slicing zombie necks.
Clang. Clang, clang. Pop, pop. Roll.
Zombie heads tumbled. Their bikes sped safely, soon exiting the hospital gates.
Once far enough—
Cheongun stopped the bike, stripped off the sweat-soaked upper suit.
"Whew. Thought I was done for."
The shredded suit—any more and he'd have turned zombie. Too soon for so few people, maybe.
But fucking fun.
High risk, high reward—the haul was juicy. Inventory stuffed with drugs, no more med worries. Best part: stealing them.
"Master."
"I see 'em."
Speak of the devil—a group rounded the corner from the street. Eleven... twelve. From the police station direction, survivors chasing the noise.
Farming's best from others' stashes.
He flipped them off from afar.
Snap.
"Grah—. Thanks for the meal."
...What?...Hey!...Shoot!... The survivors yelled among themselves.
Cheongun went to restart the bike—
Suddenly, something flashed, grazing Dok Sa-yeon's ear.
Ziiing.
Thud, thudthud.
"...!"
Bang—!
Bangbangbang—!
Gunshots, far sharper and louder than nail gun pops, a beat late. Dok Sa-yeon realized it was a bullet, froze at how close death had been.
Shiver, shiver...
Cheongun? Opposite reaction.
"The fuck?"
Laughter in his voice.
"Look at these assholes?"
Grinning like a kid with a new toy, eyes alight with anticipation.