A Chilling Lullaby
‘This song……?’
A melody that stirred up childhood nostalgia.
It was a tune anyone would know.
Sleep well, our baby.
In the front yard and the back hillside.
The humming echoing from the dark tunnel was utterly spine-chilling.
The eerie vibe in that voice made it even worse.
The three of them were so overwhelmed by the grotesque atmosphere that they couldn't take a single step.
Kang Youngman, following behind, heard it too and scowled.
Han Jaejeong advanced toward the sound, flashlight beam leading the way, as if drawn to it.
Ghost or human, whatever it was, that humming had to stop right now.
They'd have to come back through here later—if this noise blocked their retreat, they'd be in deep shit.
Kim Chan-yeol and Choi Ha-sa, bringing up the rear, slung their rifles over their shoulders and switched on their flashlights.
It had to be a person, anyway.
Zombies didn't sing.
As the singing grew closer, Jaejeong spotted a figure in the corner of the tunnel, standing facing the wall.
Judging by the silhouette from behind, it was definitely a young woman.
Her clothes were torn and ragged in places, like she'd been wandering the streets for a long time.
‘But why the hell is she singing? Does she have a kid with her?’
“Hey there.”
Jaejeong called out to the woman in a low voice.
But she kept humming, showing no reaction to him.
Kim Chan-yeol and Choi Ha-sa felt an inexplicable unease and couldn't bring themselves to get any closer.
Jaejeong took a few more steps forward and called again.
“Hey.”
It stopped.
The humming cut off abruptly.
She was finally reacting.
“I don't know what happened to you, but singing in here……”
Jaejeong couldn't finish.
He was facing the woman's slowly turning visage head-on.
In the flashlight beam illuminating her neck area, her face was hardly human.
Above all, her eyes—pitch-black like ink, with no whites at all.
And……
Her mouth slowly yawned open, dark red liquid sloshing within.
Step by step.
Jaejeong instinctively backed away, then whipped around and bellowed.
“Back inside! Hurry!”
That instant.
“Kyaeeeeeek!”
The woman shrieked at them like a maniac.
The scream didn't stop at one—it chained into two, three, endlessly.
And it was so loud, like their eardrums might burst.
Could a human even make a sound like that?
Kim Chan-yeol and Choi Ha-sa, clamping hands over their ears as they turned, shuddered violently.
Youngman was the same.
The aftermath showed itself immediately.
Rooooar!
A cacophony of Infected howls erupted from the depths of the tunnel—too many to count.
And not just that—the path they'd come from was filling with Infected too.
“What about her?!”
Lee Hyun-soo shouted, having rushed out late after hearing the noise. Jaejeong shoved him into the sewer.
“That's not a person! Not a fucking person!”
Kim Chan-yeol yelled as he slammed the iron door shut. The group's faces inside went pale.
‘Not a person?’
Anna jumped, startled.
“What the hell does that mean, oppa? Then what was that?!”
Jaejeong had no time to answer.
The Infected surging into the tunnel were almost at the grate.
He yanked at Kim Chan-yeol's vest.
“Ammo belt off! Now!”
“Pardon? Ah, yes, sir.”
Figuring out Jaejeong's intent, Kim Chan-yeol hurriedly unslung his ammo belt and looped it through the grate.
He yanked it tight, securing the door so it wouldn't open or rattle.
“Done! Run!”
With that, multiple flashlight beams flickered unsteadily into the dark sewer.
Splash! Splash! Splash!
Ankles-deep water made running tough.
Even as he ran, Jaejeong focused on the sounds from the iron door.
Fortunately, no rattling yet.
The entrance wasn't that wide, so the pressure against it wouldn't be overwhelming.
Jeong I-jin spotted Hyun-soo at the fork ahead.
“Which way?”
“W-wait a sec.”
Gasping for breath, Hyun-soo checked the map with his flashlight.
But holding the map in one hand and shining light with the other was tricky.
Kim Chan-yeol quickly unfolded it for him.
“Left.”
At Hyun-soo's words, everyone rushed into the left passage.
Unlike the previous sewer, this opened into a vast, high-ceilinged space like a cavern.
The water had mostly dried up, silencing the splashes.
Only then did the group exhale in relief, one by one.
Jaejeong rounded the corner and checked the way back.
Just in case they'd broken through.
Flashlight sweep, ears straining—nothing.
They'd escaped.
Everyone leaned against the walls, catching their breath.
Now curiosity burned.
What the hell was that woman?
“Oppa, what was that thing?”
Anna finally spoke up.
Jaejeong, still wired, ran a hand over his flustered face, trying to calm down.
“No idea. But definitely not human.”
“You saying that's a zombie?”
“……Probably.”
“Fuck……”
Silence hung for a while.
What the hell had been going on outside these past few weeks?
Even up to entering the safe zone—no, even from the mart run—nothing like this.
The zombies they'd known were like this:
The massive monsters no longer attacked zombies; they moved together.
Just Jaejeong's guess, but maybe the zombies followed the monsters' lead.
And those big ones were loaded with nerve gas or whatever.
Plenty shocking on its own.
“No matter how I think about it.”
Youngman straightened, having caught his breath.
“That thing back there seemed like a mutant too. The kind that draws in even distant ones when healthy humans like us show up.”
“I agree with you there, sir. Remember the mart, hyung?”
I-jin chimed in to Jaejeong.
He meant the Infected acting in groups, or following some entity's orders.
“Yeah. The traces hiding under the shelves.”
Youngman pieced together the info so far.
“From your experiences and this, it's all connected. Time we admit it: they're not just monsters anymore. It'll become obvious in time, but imagine that big one from the hospital and mart, and that… woman? Whatever. Together. This is a hunt.”
“A hunt?”
Hyun-soo asked, puzzled.
“Think back. That virus that swept the world a few years ago. We beat it and became half-experts. Remember how it vanished?”
Silent Anna answered Youngman's question.
“It mutated toward high contagion, fatality dropped, and it faded out.”
“Right. What does that mean? Viruses evolve for better spread. Spreading is survival. Dead host, no jumping. From the scraps Minyoung picked up, this zombie virus is evolving to hunt us. Survivors hide too well, so it's adapting to find us. Doesn't it seem that way?”
No verbal replies, but nods all around.
“A leader herding strays, and a wind-caller luring prey into traps then summoning the pack. Hunt combo. Now… you decide.”
“Decide what?”
Jaejeong looked puzzled.
“Stop and turn back, or push on with the op. If it's this bad from the start, who knows what’s in the city center. They could sprout wings tomorrow.”
Youngman's words were brutally realistic, but they just stoked fear of the unknown.
All eyes turned to Jaejeong.
Some hopeful.
Some steely.
“Still… can't turn back. Retreat now, and it's forever. No solutions back home either. If they're evolving like you say, we need to know how far.”
Jaejeong couldn't stop.
Like he said, turning back changed nothing.
Leave now, and next time—who knew the threats?
“Understood. Just testing resolve. Better to judge coldly how to fight, not flee. Hate turning back now anyway.”
“Then I'll suggest something too.”
I-jin raised a hand lightly.
“Speak.”
“Name 'em first. Can't keep saying 'that thing' forever. Helps grasp situations fast, plan counters. Vague labels suck.”
“Good call. Ideas, everyone?”
Everyone pondered at Jaejeong's prompt.
Moment later.
Hyun-soo piped up.
“Simple: 'Water Balloon'. The fat one.”
“Not bad. Less scary names might work better. Looks just like one, bloated with water.”
“Others? Objections?”
Jaejeong scanned the group.
A bit puzzled looks, but no pushback.
“Alright. Big ones are Water Balloons from now on. Next: that singing… zombie. What for her?”
“What else? Crazy Bitch.”
Anna, arms crossed, spat it out, recalling the scream.
Her deliberate enunciation made it extra crude.
Hyun-soo raised his hand again.
“How about 'Crazy Mom'? Crazy woman who lost her kid? Explains the lullaby.”
“Kid's a naming prodigy. Full storytelling.”
Youngman, liking Crazy Mom, ruffled Hyun-soo's hair repeatedly.
Everyone agreed on this one at least.
That scream had rattled them good.
Jaejeong wrapped it up.
“Done. Water Balloon and Crazy Mom. We'll use 'em, others will too. Might get laughs, though.”
“They won't laugh after seeing 'em.”
Hyun-soo shook his head.
The staffer beside him checked his watch out of habit.
“Time's passed more than expected. Let's move.”
Tension rippled through the sewer again.
No one had worried about voices carrying during the talk.
Leading with his flashlight, Jaejeong glanced back.
“Oh, and if we hit zombies in here, kill lights and freeze. Last time we held breath too, but just stay still. Sensitive hearing, but blind in dark, seems like.”
All memorized it, stepping carefully to stay together.
Kim Chan-yeol and Choi Ha-sa took rear with Anna, watching behind as they advanced.
From start point to objective: over 2 km radius.
A long haul through the sewers.
Infected People