The Unkillable Horror
“It’s coming this way!”
Youngman shouted, staring down the end of the corridor.
That was right. The thing had been hunting their group from the start.
But something was off.
It had gone that far only to double back, and it had massacred the other infected like a maniac.
Suddenly, an image flashed in Jaejeong’s mind—the infected he’d seen from the rooftop.
The one that hadn’t chased the fireworks noise underground but had looked up instead.
But he didn’t want to think about it.
With freaks like this popping up, that was enough to drive anyone insane. He had no desire to speculate they might have human-level intelligence or special powers.
Because then…
There really would be no hope.
If monsters that only reacted to stimuli also had judgment and brains, nothing could be more terrifying.
Humanity might actually go extinct.
The situation wasn’t great now, either.
But they had to stop it first.
Somehow.
Everyone was thinking the same thing.
That was when Anna broke from the group, vaulting over the shelves into the corridor like a hurdler.
By the time the others recovered from their awe at her swift moves, she was already plucking arrows from the infected corpses’ heads.
Meanwhile, the thing had crossed half the corridor and charged at her with a guttural roar.
GRRRRAAAAAH!
The majestic bellow echoed down the hall, enough to make an elephant weep.
Its strides grew faster and wider with each step.
Its balloon-like bloated body rippled like waves.
The monster was bigger than they’d imagined.
“Fuck, I still can’t get used to this shit. How the hell does something like that even happen?”
Jaejeong muttered under his breath.
Anna yanked the last arrow free and nocked it, staring the beast down.
Her form was perfect, like some performance art piece.
Black blood dripped from the arrowhead onto the floor.
His pounding heart began to cool.
She drew a long breath, and time itself seemed to freeze in the hush.
Anna loved this moment most of all.
The storm-before-the-calm tension as her muscles tautened like a drawn bowstring.
Miss, and she’d die.
But she wasn’t afraid.
Not when she had her bow, at least.
Twang!
The arrowhead would pierce its brow and shred its brain.
Imagining it collapsing without a final scream, Anna flashed a triumphant smile.
GRRROOOOARGH!
Got it!
Dead on.
The arrow buried itself right between its eyes.
But something was wrong.
The thing… kept moving.
Chills raced over everyone watching.
This was a rule, a formula.
Hit the head, and it dies.
They didn’t fully understand the virus yet, but after surviving those hellish days, it was gospel truth to the group.
And now that truth had shattered.
This ambiguous creature—neither fully man nor beast—had half an arrow lodged in its skull and still wouldn’t drop.
If anything, it charged with even more rage twisting its face.
Anna’s eyes wavered.
A storm of thoughts warped her gaze into something complex.
She backpedaled with quick steps, nocking another arrow.
But…
She never got to loose it.
A dull crack of bone on bone rang out, and Anna flew back into the cafeteria.
Like a kid’s toy flung aside in play.
The beast had just swung its arm, but Anna slammed into the wall and blacked out.
Half the group still hadn’t even seen it.
They’d only glimpsed a massive black shadow shifting beyond the blinds.
Now it was in plain view.
A horrifying monstrosity of unnatural size loomed in the cafeteria doorway.
More shocking than Anna crumpled and bleeding.
Everyone backed away.
The shelves blocking the entrance wouldn’t hold forever.
A single push, and it was over.
What now?
They hesitated, glancing at each other and retreating.
Then someone burst from the kitchen.
Jaejeong.
He gripped something like a long spear—a broken leg from a stainless-steel kitchen shelf.
He charged, sharp broken end forward.
Just before entering its range, he hurled it with all his might.
The shelf leg sliced through the air but sadly missed the head.
It impaled the throat instead.
Like a clown on a circus stage with a garish new necklace, the beast roared louder, displeased.
It smashed down with its fist, crumpling the shelf leg like paper and flinging it aside.
One hit from those hands, and you were done.
Jaejeong stared as the thing lumbered into the cafeteria.
It looked ready to lunge—then suddenly veered off.
It had spotted the staffers hiding in the shadows under the floor-to-ceiling windows.
Did it know? How?
How had it sensed them, mouths covered, not even breathing?
The beast thrust its motorcycle-tire-sized face right at them.
Overwhelmed by the sight, the staffers flinched back in terror.
But it didn’t attack—just menaced closer.
As if giving them time to flee. An ambiguous ploy.
Youngman spoke up.
“That thing’s herding us, isn’t it? Unless I’ve lost my mind.”
“Doesn’t matter. Get cornered, and we’re fucked. Got any bright ideas?”
Beom-sik asked Jaejeong.
“Spread out. Hit it from all sides when it goes for one of us.”
“Won’t die. Even headshots.”
“Then smash it to pieces.”
Everyone swallowed hard.
The cafeteria was spacious, but not for that monster.
Jaejeong scanned the room.
Chaemin and Hyun-soo looked terrified.
Yeah, makes sense.
Zombies they could fight somehow, but this was too unreal.
Anna?
There she was, sprawled limp like a cat hit by a car, not far off.
Still breathing, right?
If that freak stepped on her while moving…
Thoughts raced through his head.
“Aaaah!”
A middle-aged female staffer screamed.
The beast’s clever maneuvering had narrowed their escape angles—no retreat left.
Then the male staffer who’d nearly died to Beom-sik shoved her forward.
She clung to his sleeve till the end, but a punch to the face broke her grip.
Thud!
The woman slid forward into the monster’s fist and flew into the glass wall.
As her body smeared down the pane, a vivid trail of blood followed.
The man’s eyes flicked to his colleague right beside him.
The colleague caught on and backed away fast.
Their gazes locked—raw desperation for survival.
Meanwhile, the beast closed in.
They grappled like it was scripted.
Attacker or defender, roles didn’t matter.
If either meant to use the other as a shield, it turned into a brutal mudfight.
Even with death breathing down their necks.
Now!
Couldn’t miss while its focus was fully on them.
Jaejeong leaped off a chair.
His bulky frame moved with impossible agility.
Whoosh—
Midair, he swung his sledgehammer.
At the same time, Beom-sik vaulted a chair and struck from the side.
His long awl pierced the temple.
Beom-sik dropped it instantly and rolled away to safety.
The thing might not die from this.
Lingering risked disaster.
Anna and the woman proved that.
One wrong hit, and you were dead.
Still, attacks like these should immobilize it.
GRRRAHH!
Crown cracked, temple skewered, it whirled like Frankenstein with a monstrous howl.
By then, one of the two staffers was pulped by the beast.
The man had successfully used the woman—and now his colleague—as shields.
Thanks to Jaejeong and Youngman drawing its eyes, he’d even escaped the corner.
“Move!”
At the thunderous yell, Jaejeong and Beom-sik dodged back.
Youngman burst through, machete flashing.
Slash—
The head hit the floor.
Blood fountained from the clean-cut stump.
Unlike the clotted blood of regular infected.
The group spun away instinctively.
No letting that blood touch their skin.
Couldn’t risk infection through some unnoticed cut.
“Hyah!”
As the three turned and crouched, the kiai came from an unexpected corner.
Chaemin and Hyun-soo charged out yelling.
“Die! Die!”
They hacked wildly at the headless torso.
Jaejeong and Beom-sik’s heads tilted slightly.
They shot Youngman questioning looks—what were those two playing at?
Right then.
“H-Help me!”
A desperate voice echoed from the shadows under the blinds.
The lone surviving male staffer.
The one who’d ruthlessly sacrificed the woman and his colleague.
And sure enough.
Clinging to him was none other than the dead woman.
Looking closer, an infected missing its lower half had dragged its torso over and sunk teeth into her leg before collapsing.
Now turned, she hounded him with vengeful fury.
“Get this thing off me! What’re you all standing around for?!”
He screamed with bloodshot eyes, but the group just lined up and watched like they’d rehearsed it.
Would’ve been better if they hadn’t seen.
Unfortunately, they’d all witnessed it.
The man driving his colleagues to death, stripped of all humanity.
If it was for survival, maybe—but the group saw it differently.
Some karma didn’t need judging.
Jaejeong nodded.
Then quickly checked the other victims.
The male staffer who’d died first had a gut wound and caved-in skull.
He rushed to Anna next.
Pulse strong—good. No visible trauma; just knocked out.
Meanwhile, the rest coldly watched the man’s end.
He was at his limit.
His arm buckled, shoving off the woman.
Couldn’t match an infected’s strength.
Exhausted from prior fights already.
Her gaping maw inched toward his nape.
His screams swelled with the closing distance.
“Save me!”
“Please, save me!”
“You fucking bastards!”
How had it come to this?
Just days ago, they’d have saved the living first, no question.
“Aaaagh!”
Flesh tore, bones crunched, filling the air.
Skin stretched like cheese, severed veins dangled like frayed ropes.
Black ichor spread rapidly through his body.
Jaejeong, gazing down, glanced at Chaemin and Hyun-soo.
They nodded silently.
As the man’s mutation kicked in for real, they swung knife and frying pan.
Granting mercy to him—and the woman gnawing vengefully, joints snapping in spasm.
Then they just stared at each other.
Chaemin’s tie, wrapped around his thumb, was stiff with blood; Hyun-soo clenched his teeth, frying pan crumpled like paper in his grip.
Their eyes, wet with sweat or tears, no longer belonged to ordinary folk.
The cafeteria reeked of rot.
Bodies littered the tile floor.
Still…
They’d survived.
Infected People