Chapter 53
Chapter 53
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: The Nighttime Rescue
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Possessing the pigeon, I took off from the department store terrace and swiftly flew back to the apartment area.
‘They’re definitely still nearby.’
━Shooo!
The pigeon’s expanded field of vision.
If I flew high enough, I could survey over 40 kilometers in every direction at once.
Arriving at the apartment, I soared as high as possible.
‘There has to be some unusual activity.’
Beneath Baek Min-ah’s apartment lay traces of battle.
It was a clash between survivors and zombies.
Someone had lured a massive horde of zombies, and a few had sacrificed their lives to take them down.
That meant none of them were immune to zombies like me.
So, while transporting the captured Yoon Hyun-seo, there would surely be some reaction.
‘Found them!’
Soon enough, with the pigeon’s sharp senses, I spotted that anomaly.
Zombies that would normally stand still or shamble aimlessly.
But starting from the entrance of an old commercial district, their movements were different.
As if sensing something, they were heading there.
Like ants converging on the location of an insect corpse, the zombies were gathering toward one spot.
And at the end of that path stood a commercial building.
Its entrance was blocked by a large bus.
‘That’s probably a decoy.’
Hovering above the building where zombies were swarming, I flapped my wings and scanned the surroundings more carefully.
The skill with which they’d taken down zombies was no joke.
For people without guns to handle that many, they had to be experienced hunters.
On top of that, it was evening now, with the sun setting.
The sunset was already fading, and soon the ground would be shrouded in total darkness.
In this world without electricity, once the sun went down, the only light sources were the moon and stars.
No fool would wander a zombie-infested city at night.
They were surely camped somewhere, planning to ride out the darkness.
Surveying the buildings from above, I spotted them.
‘There you are, you rat bastards….’
In a large tin can turned into a makeshift stove, they’d lit a fire, huddling around its glow to check their gear—a group of survivors.
Among them lay Yoon Hyun-seo, bound hand and foot, tears streaming down her face.
。 。 。
“Sister, is the bus okay?”
“What?”
Night had fallen, the surroundings swallowed by complete darkness.
Wiping blood and grime from her jungle boots from the day’s battle, Lee Seon-ji looked at her younger comrade who’d spoken up.
“I saw a ton of zombies gathering earlier. Can we still use it tomorrow?”
“If we can’t, we ditch it. Cars are everywhere. And we’re almost out of fuel anyway.”
“But it was so spacious and useful.”
“Big means cumbersome. If we switch to something more practical this time, the Leader will be pleased, don’t you think?”
They’d already lost numbers in the day’s fight.
With this many left, a 9-seater van would suffice—no need for the bus.
Lee Seon-ji reassured her worried junior and continued cleaning her weapons.
“Team leader! Building check complete. Clear on all floors.”
Just then, another female comrade approached with the faint beam of a small flashlight.
Four more women followed, each holding bludgeons or blades, looking to her.
“Good work. Now let’s eat. First shift, stand guard. Everyone else, rest up.”
“Yes.”
At Lee Seon-ji’s order, their tense faces relaxed, and they gathered around the bonfire, chatting amiably.
“Man, who’d have thought we’d find the kid.”
“I told you, right? She had to be hiding in that bastard father’s neighborhood.”
“As expected of the team leader! No wonder the Leader favors you so much.”
Lee Seon-ji shrugged at the compliments, then turned her head aside.
There lay Yoon Hyun-seo, still sobbing and shedding tears.
Lee Seon-ji reached out to her.
“Eek…?!”
Yoon Hyun-seo flinched at the sudden approach, whimpering through her gag.
But Lee Seon-ji’s hand, contrary to her fears, gently stroked her head.
“No need to worry. It’s not a scary place.”
To soothe the frightened girl, Lee Seon-ji smiled softly.
“Where you’re going is a paradise where oppressed women gain power and escape hunger. You’ll be saved there too.”
“Yeah, you’ll love it, for sure. So stop crying. It breaks our hearts.”
The women clustered around spoke kindly, one after another.
But Yoon Hyun-seo couldn’t stop trembling at their voices.
‘…Mom.’
She just silently called for Baek Min-ah in her heart, tears of terror flowing.
No matter how sweetly they smiled or spoke gently.
Yoon Hyun-seo remembered.
How they’d pried open the door with metal tools, screaming as they tore her from Baek Min-ah.
How they’d tossed a single zombie at the wailing Baek Min-ah and fled.
To Yoon Hyun-seo, they were monsters.
Even their visible forms didn’t look like ordinary women.
Her father, Yoon Kang-hyun, a firefighter.
In her memories, his consistently trained body via workouts was like Captain America from the movies.
And the women before her now.
Their builds were comparable to Yoon Kang-hyun’s—or even bulkier.
At that grotesque sight, Yoon Hyun-seo squeezed her eyes shut and shuddered.
“Alright, time to eat?”
Oblivious to her terror, the monstrous women responded to Lee Seon-ji’s words, pulling something from their pockets one by one.
A single caramel each.
That soft, sticky treat made from sugar and milk.
They placed the caramels on their palms, smiled, and closed their eyes.
“Leader who provides our daily bread today. We thank you.”
After the brief prayer.
They popped the tiny caramels into their mouths.
Chewing for a moment.
Soon, they swallowed the remnants with satisfied expressions and began moving.
“First shift, stand guard. Everyone else, rest well for tomorrow.”
“Yes, good night.”
They handled their duties routinely, unrolling sleeping bags and crawling in.
Soon, only the heavy breathing of the large women echoed around the bonfire.
‘……Mom.’
Amid them.
Yoon Hyun-seo still wept, unable to sleep easily.
Worried for Baek Min-ah.
Hoping someone would come save her from this terrifying place soon.
‘Mister….’
With the sleeping women, Yoon Hyun-seo closed her eyes too, praying that upon waking, this would all be a nightmare.
And slowly drifted off.
“Te, Team leader!”
The anomaly struck just hours after everyone had fallen asleep, in the pre-dawn hours.
“Mmm….”
“Team leader! You need to get up!”
“Mmm…. What’s going on?”
“Zombies! They’re coming!”
“……Pardon?”
“Zombies are gathering at the entrance—in huge numbers! What do we do?”
Lee Seon-ji’s groggy mind snapped awake at her comrade’s urgent voice. She sat up in her sleeping bag.
‘…Still dark.’
Glancing around, it was still too early for activity.
“Numbers? Too many to handle?”
“N-No. The entrance is narrow, so we can probably take them.”
“Then one stays behind, the rest go handle it. Ji-min.”
“Yes, sister!”
“You stay and watch the kid. Pack up the rest in case we have to bolt.”
“Yes!”
They grabbed their favored weapons, donned protective clothing, and rushed downstairs en masse.
“What’s the sudden commotion? Sheesh.”
Park Ji-min, roused abruptly from sleep, rubbed her eyes and spoke familiarly to the half-awake Yoon Hyun-seo.
But Yoon Hyun-seo, trapped in the same nightmare even after waking, just closed her eyes again.
At her lack of response, Park Ji-min clicked her tongue in mild annoyance and started packing.
That’s when.
A whisper reached Yoon Hyun-seo’s ear as she kept her eyes shut.
“Keep your eyes closed. Don’t open them no matter what.”
A woman’s voice she’d never heard.
Startled, Yoon Hyun-seo opened her eyes instead.
“I said keep them closed.”
No one was beside her.
Yet clearly, someone was speaking to her—a eerie, frightening situation.
Overwhelmed by fear, Yoon Hyun-seo squeezed her eyes shut as the voice commanded.
“Good girl.”
Pooook!
“Guh… erk.”
In the darkness, an odd sound reached Yoon Hyun-seo’s ears, followed by a woman’s deflating gasp.
It sounded like the voice of that Ji-min from moments ago.
Then the voice from thin air spoke again.
“All good now. You can open them.”
“…….”
“Jeez, I said it’s okay to open? Why open when I say close and close when I say open?”
Like a ghost speaking.
At the command to open, Yoon Hyun-seo trembled in terror, eyes clamped shut.
“Haa….”
The voice from nowhere sighed.
Ssslrp.
It groped over Yoon Hyun-seo’s body.
“……Huh?”
Moments later, the ropes binding her loosened, and the cloth over her mouth fell away.
Sensing her sudden freedom, the terrified Yoon Hyun-seo instinctively opened her eyes in confusion.
“Finally opening them?”
Before her, under the moonlight, stood a beautiful woman with long, shimmering black hair, smiling gently down at Yoon Hyun-seo.
“Here, the mister who sent big sis brought this for you.”
Stroking Yoon Hyun-seo fondly, she pulled something from her waist pouch and handed it over.
Seeing the item in her hand, Yoon Hyun-seo’s eyes widened, blurting out.
“Game console!”
Her GBA, so familiar from playing with it all day lately.
Eagerly reaching out, Yoon Hyun-seo took it and looked up at the woman.
‘The mister came…!’
At first glance thinking ghost, but up close, she was just a pretty big sis.
“Come on, let’s go. Mom’s waiting.”
Ryu Da-hee grinned at the now-relieved Yoon Hyun-seo’s face, took her hand, and pulled her up.
。 。 。
Kwachijik!
The aluminum bat swung with unbelievable force for a woman, crushing a zombie’s skull in one blow.
A watermelon-splitting sound echoed through the first-floor shop of the commercial building.
The ground floor, a famous franchise cafe.
They’d barricaded other entrances with tables, slaughtering zombies pouring in through the sole entry, sweat pouring down.
Kwajik!
Chwaaak!
No hesitation in their expressions as they wielded weapons—like veterans massacring the horde.
“Ugh, why are so damn many coming?!”
“Team leader! At this rate, more might show up!”
At first, just a few zombies trickled in, picked off one by one—but their numbers swelled at the entrance.
Lee Seon-ji revised her plan to withdraw at dawn after clearing them.
“Take out the close ones slowly and head upstairs. Block the entrance at the stairs and fall back!”
“Y-Yes!”
“And Young-ah, go up and prep the escape route with Ji-min!”
“Yes!”
She issued orders fluidly, and they followed calmly.
Though the first plan had gone awry, Lee Seon-ji stayed composed, devising the next.
‘Dark, but no choice—we move. That spot I scouted in daylight….’
Smashing an approaching zombie’s head, she pondered the next hideout.
She’d been through this countless times.
To ordinary survivors, it’d be do-or-die, but Lee Seon-ji broke through unfazed.
As the ordered woman headed for the stairs.
Kudangtangtang!
“Kyaaak!”
“W-What’s happening?!”
“Something from above…!”
Choi Young-ah, struck by something tumbling down the stairs like it was thrown, lost balance, rolled, and crashed back to the first floor.
Regaining her wits frantically, she checked what had hit her.
Her mouth gaped in shock at the identity.
Park Ji-min’s corpse, throat pierced by a blade, face pallid.
Eyes rolled back, tongue lolled out long—the body sprawled atop Choi Young-ah.
“Where you going? We haven’t even said hello.”
Behind the frozen, speechless Choi Young-ah came a man’s voice from the entrance.
“Wh-What… How’s a human in the zombies?”
Her comrades, baffled mid-kill, muttered.
And with their murmurs, the lunging zombies halted as if by magic.
“Eh, huh?”
Like a video paused, every zombie on the first floor froze in eerie unison.
The man emerging from their midst grinned at the rigid women.
“Dare touch my woman? You wild boar bitches.”
Lee Seo-ho’s smile didn’t reach his icy eyes fixed on the kidnappers.