71. The Beast's Rampage
Jeong I-jin started by checking the corridor.
How far it stretched, whether there were any other branches.
He scouted for alternate escape routes in case they needed to fall back.
How the hell is there not a single soul around?
Jeong I-jin harbored the same doubts as Han Jaejeong.
The place was dead silent, not even a speck of dust stirring.
By any common sense he knew, this shouldn't have been possible.
Jeong I-jin tilted his head, pondering.
Did someone already sweep through?
The visible scene was so utterly unrealistic it bordered on absurd fantasy.
Not even a stray piece of trash rolling on the floor—it was unnervingly pristine.
The walls are splattered with blood like a fresh coat of paint, though...
Deciding it'd be faster to hunt for survivors first, Jeong I-jin pressed on.
A moment later.
After rounding two corners and reaching the end of the hall, he finally spotted the supply room.
Knock knock!
No response.
Knock knock!
"Come out. We don't have time."
Jeong I-jin spoke while peering out the window, as if he already knew everything.
A brief silence followed, then the supply room door creaked open.
Out stepped the voice from the radio—the Squad Leader who'd called him by name without hesitation.
But as Jeong I-jin turned to leave, he froze.
Then he scanned the room again.
What the hell is this?
A perfectly healthy soldier—not infected—lay dead with a hole in his head.
Jeong I-jin's gaze sharpened toward the Squad Leader, who lifted his chin defiantly, trying to hold it.
"Problem?"
"Yeah. A fucking ton."
"That bastard got bit while running away and didn't even tell me..."
"Hold your horses."
Jeong I-jin examined the corpse closely.
Soon enough, he found the blood-soaked spot.
The arm.
Drawing his military knife, Jeong I-jin sliced open the fatigues with practiced ease.
Sure enough, clear bite marks marred the flesh, just as the Squad Leader claimed.
Still, Jeong I-jin couldn't wrap his head around it.
Stabbing a living man's skull before he even mutated?
He got the reasoning, sure—but could a normal person really do that?
To their own subordinate, no less.
Jeong I-jin cut away more of the uniform.
He traced the black fluid's path from the wound to the brain.
It had stopped at the elbow.
This was no hesitation—pure decisive action the moment infection was confirmed.
Jeong I-jin yanked off the dog tags and checked the name.
"This guy's not from your squad?"
"You asking the obvious?"
Open defiance.
Even if the military branches differed and circumstances forced unity, this level of insolence was off the charts.
Fine... I'll hold back for your dad's sake.
Swallowing his rising anger, Jeong I-jin asked again.
"You could've amputated the arm."
"He'd bleed out anyway."
"Don't know tourniquet technique?"
"Forgot."
Right. Why am I even talking to this punk?
Shaking his head, Jeong I-jin said flatly,
"Don't drag your feet. Follow close. If you slow us down, I'll leave you."
"Then why'd you come all this way?"
Pure sarcasm.
"I'll show you what happens if you do. Your dad didn't say to drag your corpse back."
Jeong I-jin's lips curled into a sinister smirk.
The Squad Leader flinched involuntarily at the sudden chill of killing intent.
Yet his eyes still burned with defiance.
How dare some lowly captain mouth off to the precious talent destined to lead the reorganized national army! He's lost his mind.
The Squad Leader had never bowed to anyone.
Not only the sole son of a late war hero, he was the family's only heir across three generations.
He was their most vital existence.
His mother, who passed early, had worried only for him until the end.
—Live proudly without a mother. Never back down. You're the cherished only son I poured everything into raising.
—If anything happens to you, it's all over.
Those parental mantras stuck harder than her dying words.
No one had taught him how such repeated phrases could be twisted in context.
Even she probably hadn't foreseen him growing into this.
Staring at Jeong I-jin's back, the Squad Leader thought,
He took down all those zombies alone? I didn't hear any fighting on the way.
He knew better than anyone how strong Jeong I-jin was.
On outbreak day, escorting VIPs, they'd crossed paths three times.
Three times.
Each time, the Squad Leader figured he'd die.
But after the second and third, it sank in.
This wasn't a man you judged by normal standards.
How'd he handle that massive monster?
It was hard to accept.
"If there's even a hint of danger, I'm bailing first. You know that, right?"
"Please do."
"You came here solo?"
"To fetch a punk no better than a civilian, how many do I need?"
"Dad wouldn't send you alone... I reported exactly how many zombies in the radio."
"Save it for him."
With that, Jeong I-jin took point.
Right then.
A shout echoed from outside.
"Get back!"
Kang Youngman hyung?
As Jeong I-jin turned toward the window, the Squad Leader yelled.
"It's here! Fuck! You sure you checked properly?"
Jeong I-jin glanced where he pointed and froze solid.
Of course, he hadn't dismissed Han Jaejeong's words as lies.
But...
This was insane.
He took down something this big?
It was slightly larger than the monster Jaejeong had faced at the hospital.
But the overall build was nearly identical.
Except for its behavior.
The part about slaughtering infected left and right? Not happening.
Soon, a roar thundered out—leagues beyond any infected's cry.
If theirs were bike horns, this was a bus or truck barreling down.
Rooooaaarrr!
The enraged beast screamed like it was losing its mind, then started smashing every door in sight.
Bam! Crack!
Boom! Crash!
Finally, after wrestling a door, it ripped the whole thing off its hinges.
Infected poured out like they'd been waiting.
This was what they called adding insult to injury.
Half-dazed, the Squad Leader shrieked and bolted back into the supply room.
Left alone, Jeong I-jin quickly scanned around.
A bit of time before they arrived.
He threw open the warehouse opposite the supply room.
A long table lay tipped on its side inside.
Screeech!
He dragged it out in a hurry.
Then opened the supply room door.
As the startled Squad Leader regretted not locking it, the opposing open doors narrowed the hallway's effective width.
Slotting the table in created a solid defensive line.
Even if they pushed the doors, the table held firm.
Plus, the doors couldn't swing more than a certain angle—pulling wouldn't help.
Come on, then.
Dagger and scythe in hand, Jeong I-jin pressed tight against the table.
Rooooaaarrr!
Seven infected charged at full tilt, like pissed-off boars squealing.
Jeong I-jin grabbed a blue canister from the supply room shelf and hurled it.
Just as planned.
The frontrunners slipped on it, tumbling; the followers tripped over them in a chain reaction.
Three broke through and slammed into the table.
Bam!
Jeong I-jin braced it with his thigh, stabbing daggers into the heads of those toppling forward.
Stab! Stab! Stab!
Their strength was no issue—blades didn't snag on bone.
His movements were fluid, like a chef flipping a wok.
He left the corpses draped over the table.
Perfect barricade.
The next four tripped on the dangling bodies or clambered over.
Jeong I-jin kicked a airborne leg, sending one crashing headfirst.
Timing it perfectly, he stomped the neck and scythed the head.
One.
He shoved off another leaping from the table, then crushed the head of one swinging an arm.
Two.
As a side-kicked infected flew, the last one climbed the table over its friends' corpses.
Jeong I-jin vaulted up first, swinging the scythe at its skull.
The downward arc cleanly severed the neck.
Now only the rising kicked one and the beast remained ahead.
Grraaah!
Even as the final infected charged roaring, the mutant just stared at I-jin.
What the hell's it doing?
Annoying, but the charger came first.
Dispatched easily, then the beast lunged like it'd been waiting.
Whoosh!
Jeong I-jin's waist dagger flew, embedding in its forehead.
The mutant ignored it, advancing.
Not dying from a headshot?
No visible effect.
Just in case, he threw another.
It raised an arm like a guard, blocking its face.
The knife bounced harmlessly, clattering away.
"You little...?"
Jeong I-jin cocked his head in disbelief.
Then called to the Squad Leader inside.
"Hey, toss some rope."
No movement.
"Throw it if you wanna live. We're both one wrong move from dead."
Finally, rope sailed out.
Almost there.
He looped one end around the supply room doorknob.
The Squad Leader's "forgotten" knot? Done in one second.
He dropped the scythe.
Only rope in hand.
No way he's gonna...
The Squad Leader's eyes bulged.
That fantasy movie bullshit—right now?
Before the thought finished, Jeong I-jin sprinted, leaped onto the table.
The beast swung late—his move was faster.
"Too slow, too slow."
Behind it now, he waited for it to turn, then darted opposite.
Three times around.
Its squishy flesh bulged through the taut rope like it might burst.
Swollen red, ready to pop like a balloon.
Legs next!
Sliding between its thighs, he dodged the flailing arm and secured the rope around a leg.
Just tie the end to the opposite door.
Now!
Now—for him.
But the response came from elsewhere.
The Squad Leader burst out.
"Get back in!"
"Fuck that!"
Eyes wild, he charged the bound beast without pause.
"You psycho! What the hell?!"
Jeong I-jin's pleas fell on deaf ears.
Copying the slide perfectly...
His body halted precisely under the legs.
Their eyes met.
"Huh?"
Thud!
"Ha... that crazy bastard."
The arm worked fine; the beast was pissed from Jeong I-jin.
Seeing him stopped below, it smashed a fist down.
He blocked with both arms, but crumpled like he was pounded into the floor and blacked out.
Jeong I-jin seized the gap, finished the knot on the opposite door.
Then faced it head-on.
Rooooaaarrr!
Its roar shook the doors, hinges groaning.
Jeong I-jin cracked his neck side to side, grabbed the scythe, and charged the table.
Solemn as an executioner, he swung.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
Flesh sprayed everywhere.
Then...
Roll...
Done.
Jeong I-jin surveyed the area.
Without the supply room and warehouse? Certain death.
Sizzle.
Lighting a cigarette, he looked down at the unconscious Squad Leader.
Haa... what now?
Thanks for hiding in the supply room.
Opposite a warehouse, even.
But the attitude...
"Ha..."
Exhaling thick smoke, Jeong I-jin wiped his sweat.
Infected People