Silent Corridors
Han Jaejeong carefully eased the door open.
Beyond it stretched a wide corridor branching left and right.
If the infected came at them through the doorway, their nature made it feasible to handle even ten at once without venturing further in. So he took a moment to gauge the atmosphere first.
Jeong I-jin added his gaze to the mix.
It seemed too narrow for two armed men to fight effectively.
Naturally, they shared the same thought.
You take left, I'll take right.
"If a pig-like bastard shows up that you haven't seen before, pull back immediately. We handle it in open space."
"Got it. I'll signal."
Jeong I-jin nodded.
As Jaejeong was about to move in, he spotted a shattered breaker box mounted on the wall.
The cover was smashed, but the switches were intact.
Why the hell is this switched off?
Jaejeong cautiously flipped the breaker up.
Click!
With that, the entire corridor blazed to life with bright light.
The two men headed off in their respective directions.
When Jaejeong reached the entrance of the long corridor, the area around him was pristine.
It was so quiet it made a mockery of the story about soldiers fleeing from infected.
Bloodstains on the walls were par for the course anyway.
What was odd was the complete lack of debris scattered on the floor.
Whatever the reason, no obstacles to trip over was a good thing.
For now, Jaejeong checked each room's door.
To tally survivors and casualties, he'd have to inspect every office and clear out any infected anyway.
That way, at least he could grab their dog tags.
There were four offices total along the corridor.
Jaejeong placed his hand on the General Affairs door.
One, two, three!
Clunk!
He flung it open and dodged to the side.
Silence.
No one's here?
Jaejeong peeked in cautiously.
The brightly lit office held nothing but overturned, smashed computers, desks, and potted plants.
Stepping inside confirmed the same.
Not here, then.
Considering variables, he left the door open.
If needed, he could always kick it shut to trap anything inside.
Next: Personnel.
As he reached for the door, a sound came from within.
Personnel office after all?
Crack! Grind!
Joints snapping with a racket.
Jaejeong slung his sledgehammer on his back and drew his dagger.
The doorway was just wide enough for one infected to swing its arms through.
By the noise, at least two inside.
Stab the first one's head on exit, shove with brute force—they'd topple side by side.
The surroundings were so deathly still that Jaejeong could hear his own breathing.
Drip—drip—
Glancing down, black liquid dripped from the sledgehammer on his back to the floor.
Jaejeong eyed the dagger's honed edge.
It hadn't been like this originally.
Blades usually chipped, dulled, broke.
Evidently, the military had put some care into maintenance.
Time to show results worthy of it.
Clunk!
He yanked the door open and sidestepped.
Grraaah!
A rotten corpse charged, flesh flopping, grotesque roar echoing. Jaejeong swung the dagger at its head.
Squelch!
Powering into the deep embed, he grabbed its collar. As expected, another lunged from inside, loyal to the end.
Jaejeong seized the moment their bodies overlapped and shoved.
Thud!
Pinning them against the opposite wall, he yanked the dagger free and stabbed wildly into the head of the one pinned beneath.
Stab! Stab! Stab!
Temple, left eye, forehead—gaping holes. The loyal pair crumpled into meat piles on the floor.
Grraaah! Rraaagh!
One more?
Turning, he saw an infected pinned under a desk behind the open door, flailing both arms.
But its clothes looked familiar.
Battle fatigues.
The closer Jaejeong got, the more violently it thrashed.
He ignored it.
More important: Was this soldier one of the squad members he sought?
Jaejeong examined the infected's face closely.
Definitely not Kim Chan-yeol.
Squelch!
Dagger plunged deep, Jaejeong peeled open the fatigues at the chest and snatched the dog tags from around its neck.
Heading out, a tug at his heart stopped him.
He turned back.
Dead men tell no tales, but it gnawed at him.
Don't feel too hard done by.
Closing his eyes briefly in tribute, he stepped into the corridor.
Scanning around once more.
Weird. Taking down those two was noisy as hell—how's it still this quiet? Or is that really it?
Jaejeong had kept his senses razor-sharp the whole time.
Wary of infected swarming at the commotion.
Tilting his head, he opened the next office door.
Just one infected there.
"...What, did they all catch mass insanity or some shit?"
Muttering, Jaejeong peered around the corner at the corridor's end.
A few lights out—darker than the path behind.
He sheathed the dagger and drew his military knife.
Advancing in a posture as natural as breathing.
Forgotten memories stirred every cell in his body.
As if buried talents revived, his form instinctively reverted to the past.
One at a time? Easier than humans, really.
Just hit the head.
Direction, stance—answer was always the same.
Two at once? Pin the first, use as shield.
Infected didn't dodge obstacles.
Problem: They usually swarmed.
Damn pests always flock together.
Jaejeong wiped sweat beading on his forehead, thinking.
Squad Leader said supply room.
Supply room... Not here. Other side, then?
Turning here would link to Jeong I-jin's corridor.
But a wall blocked—had to veer left again.
Bigger than I thought.
Not just a tiny mart office—whole company setup.
Checked the time.
Taking too long.
Had to return before sunset.
No exterior doors, so the group was surely waiting somewhere, one spot pried open.
Time to pick up speed.
No room for second-guessing—Jaejeong threw doors open indiscriminately.
Occasional loners popped out, but he dispatched them swiftly.
No soldiers spotted.
After passing several rooms, only one left at the end.
The far door creaked open slowly. Someone peeked out.
Looked human at a glance.
It shuffled out awkwardly, scanning, another behind.
Jaejeong's eyes widened.
Kim Chan-yeol.
"Wh-what are you doing here, sir?"
Here to save your asses.
Jaejeong pressed a finger to his lips—quiet. Kim Chan-yeol and the Choi sergeant finally registered, eyes bulging, mouths clamping shut.
Following hand signals, all three ducked into the room.
"How'd you get here, sir?"
Kim Chan-yeol, peeking out once more, asked excitedly.
"Details later. You two the last?"
"For this side, yeah. We were the only ones who came down this corridor anyway."
"Other side?"
"Squad Leader and Sergeant Jeong headed there, right?"
Kim Chan-yeol glanced at Choi sergeant.
"Huh? Oh, yeah. But who's this guy?"
"The owner of the smokes I gave Sergeant Jeong earlier."
"Ah..."
Choi sergeant nodded, recalling the six-wheeler chat.
"Then shouldn't we go save Squad Leader and Sergeant Jeong too?"
"Someone tougher than me's on it—no worries. More importantly, those zombies you saw... roughly how many?"
"Not exact, but over twenty, I'd say. Right, Sergeant Choi?"
"About that? Maybe more. They packed the corridor rushing us."
Choi sergeant shuddered, reliving hours ago.
Jaejeong cocked his head.
Six infected cleared so far.
Even lowballing at fifteen total, ten had vanished.
Impulse to radio Squad Leader surged, but unknown situation there—he held back.
"Anyway, that's not the point now. There's a huge monster here. Size of a compact car, seriously."
"You saw it?"
"Yes. Burst from a room midway down the corridor. Door opened, face-to-face—we bolted, it just watched."
"Wait..."
Jaejeong described the hospital mutant.
"Yeah, exactly like that. But weird, right? Didn't attack the zombies... Thinking back, looked monstrous but felt... human? Kinda."
"Yeah. That fucker watched which room we entered, just stood there. Like it was observing. Fuck, even saying it sounds insane."
Choi sergeant rubbed his buzzcut vigorously.
Stress from hiding had built up.
Jaejeong pondered deeply.
They'd swept the entire second-floor clothing section.
No open doors midway.
Meant the infected could open/close doors on its own.
Unless someone else did it for it.
Where the hell did it go? No hiding spots, and it ain't small...
Told Jeong I-jin to signal if he met the pig-thing.
Tap walls, yell, blow something up.
Nothing so far.
Quiet enough to hear a car from blocks away.
Jaejeong reviewed the situation slowly.
Squad Leader said supply room—no such room here.
So Jeong I-jin's direction.
Squad Leader saw big monster, Kim Chan-yeol too.
Logically, two confirmed mutants.
Plus testimonies: At least ten more unaccounted infected.
Uncharacteristic for stimulus-driven things to stay hidden.
Not like they were holding a strategy meeting.
No choice—get out fast.
"Let's go. Whatever's up, if nothing else shows, we're golden."
"Yes, sir."
Kim Chan-yeol and Choi sergeant followed Jaejeong down the corridor.
The nagging sense of wrongness plagued them too.
Reaching here meant this guy soloed all those infected.
Big build, loaded with weapons, sure—but not all of them.
Even in a rampage, realism had limits.
And the giant pig...
Bulging eyes ready to pop, ballooned body, squelching soft feet with every step.
No human—no new species entirely.
As Kim Chan-yeol and Choi sergeant mulled the mystery monster,
a sudden shout erupted from outside the window.
The clothing store on the department store's second floor was silent as a tomb—no dust stirred.
Torn and broken spots aplenty, but nothing alive moved.
Then.
A curtain under a sales counter twitched. A blackened, rotten hand emerged.
Not just one.
The sound triggered it—grotesque noises erupted simultaneously from counters everywhere.
Grrrl.
Grrrl...
Crack!
Like beasts lying in wait for distant prey, twisted-jointed infected crawled out one by one.
About ten spilled into the open.
All staring the same way.
The thick door to the offices.
As if summoned, the infected shuffled forward like spellbound slaves.
Just as Jaejeong and Jeong I-jin reached their corridors' ends, unimaginable chaos unfolded outside.