Coordinated Onslaught
Down below, the expansion work was nearly complete.
It had been three days of massive construction.
Unlike last time, the clear weather without any fog made both the speed and safety incomparable to before.
The laborers, repeating tasks they'd already done, felt no particular difficulty.
They had turned half of Yeouido into a safe zone, centered around Riverside Park.
Now, all that remained was searching the newly secured buildings.
The soldiers were busy with that.
Han Jaejeong, Kang Youngman, and Lee Hyun-soo, along with the people assigned by the doctor, were in charge of allocating survivors to the cleared residential areas.
Meanwhile, the Production Manager was swamped selecting new production laborers as the production zone's area more than doubled.
Anna followed the soldiers around collecting arrows, got new ones from the gun shop, and then rejoined Jaejeong.
She'd used far too many arrows in the meantime.
On the other hand, Kim Chan-yeol and Choi Hoon, out on search duty, were facing a situation they'd never seen before.
And with the deranged Squad Leader in tow, no less.
The soldiers were searching the construction site.
The apartment complex, set to be completed next year, still bore traces of being in the midst of full-scale construction.
Of course, the zombies left there were construction workers who had lived in nearby containers.
Which explained their extraordinary strength.
Soldiers would collide with zombies that went down from gunfire and get flung back, losing consciousness; others were frequently crushed by zombies falling from high up.
They could barely keep watch on all sides, and now they had to check overhead too.
That's when the Third Platoon, searching the back entrance of the site, came rushing in panic.
They were retreating in shock from something.
"Company Commander!"
"What the hell? I told you to hold your position!"
The startled company commander barked at the Third Platoon Leader.
"W-water balloons have appeared, sir!"
"Then why run? Shoot 'em in the back of the head—back of the head!"
The soldiers had done countless image trainings based on the knowledge from Jaejeong's group's experiences.
Yet the company commander was furious at the platoon leader for panicking and abandoning the line.
"It's not just one! There are too many to count! And each water balloon has dozens of zombies swarming around it."
"What? Where the hell did they hide to pop up like this? Didn't they all chase the flares earlier?"
"I don't know, sir. But one thing's clear—they're moving organized. We need to retreat right now!"
"Retreat where from here? What about the workers behind us? Hey, radioman! Call First Platoon to the front gate and request support from other companies! Everyone, prepare to fire!"
"We have to retreat!"
"You bastard! Get your head straight?"
The Third Platoon Leader's face turned ashen as he was kicked by the company commander's combat boot.
But the company commander thought differently.
Water balloons? Pfft—just overwhelm them with firepower.
At his command, six-wheeled trucks lined up, and the soldiers formed a makeshift defensive line by parking them in a row, ready to fire as trained.
If things went south, they could hop in and retreat immediately—a nice advantage.
Kim Chan-yeol and Choi Hoon, watching from behind, sensed something was off.
Choi Hoon spoke in a hesitant voice.
"You hear that? It's not just one water balloon."
"If multiple ones are showing up leading zombie packs, that means they're operating in a swarm. Looks like what Jaejeong hyung said before was true."
Kim Chan-yeol recalled Jaejeong's words while peering under the mart shelves.
Putting the pieces together, it seemed water balloons could control zombie movements.
Like commanders of sorts.
As his thoughts reached that point, Kang Youngman's words from the sewer suddenly flashed through his mind.
About how they were evolving to specialize in hunting—like scouts in a hunting pack, relaying target positions.
"Up top!"
One soldier screamed at the top of his lungs.
Kim Chan-yeol's gaze naturally followed the shout upward to the construction site.
From somewhere high up, a black shape staggered into view.
No matter how high it was, the two instinctively knew.
It was a Crazy Mom.
'Damn it all!'
"Company Commander! We need to re—"
Kim Chan-yeol couldn't finish.
The Crazy Mom's shriek echoing everywhere swallowed even his voice.
Kyaaaaaaaah!
The soldiers clutched their ears and fell into panic.
The horrific scream climbed the walls and reverberated around them, repeating endlessly.
"Back gate, twelve o'clock!"
At the radioman's shout, the company commander turned toward the back gate where Third Platoon had retreated from.
Between the half-built apartment towers, water balloons and zombies emerged.
"Hold fire! Stand by until I give the order!"
The company commander kept his cool, calming the troops.
Blind firing from this distance wouldn't solve anything.
Ammo was limited, and there was only one way to kill them.
Wait until they closed to at least fifty meters, then precise aim.
The soldiers swallowed dryly in tense anticipation of the order.
"Prepare to fire!"
They steadied their breaths, sighting in on the advancing zombies' heads.
"Fire!"
Bang! Rat-a-tat-tat! Ta-ta-ta-ta!
Gunfire roared loud enough to shatter the apartment complex.
The soldiers' ears rang as if they'd go deaf from each other's shots.
But the real problem was elsewhere.
"Rear! They're at the rear too!"
The radioman, up on a six-wheeler scanning around, pointed desperately toward the front gate where First Platoon had been and screamed.
The panicked company commander whipped around.
The front gate area was pitch black.
All zombies.
This couldn't be happening.
Impossible.
Hadn't they seen most of the zombies lured away by firework arrows and flares?
So what the hell were these surging in now?
The numbers closing from the back gate were nothing compared to this.
It was several times more.
"Fuck!"
The company commander, barely holding onto reason, snatched the radioman's gear and called himself.
"First Company! First Company, respond!"
Static!
[This is First Company.]
"Second Company Commander here—request support at the construction site now!"
[Roger. I'll report to the company commander, sir.]
"No! Don't report—just get here right now, you bastard!"
Static crackle!
A reply came, but he couldn't hear it.
Another Crazy Mom's scream blasted out.
Worst case.
About half the soldiers had voluntarily moved to the rear to fire.
But the zombie numbers were overwhelming.
The company commander looked up at the apartment tower.
With no exterior work done, the guts were exposed like after an airstrike.
"Platoon leaders, on me!"
At his shout, the platoon leaders sprinted over at full speed.
"See that building right ahead? We're going up there. Block the entrance with the six-wheelers and haul ass upward. Got it?"
"Yes, sir!"
The platoon leaders scattered instantly, relaying orders to their firing troops.
Drivers rushed to start the six-wheelers.
As trucks one by one blocked the passage entrance, the soldiers maintained firing formation but retreated to the passage stairs per platoon leader orders.
Thanks to the company commander's quick call, they still had distance from the horde.
They moved with better mobility than expected.
Kim Chan-yeol said to Choi Hoon,
"This won't cut it. Follow me for now, sir."
"What? Hey, you crazy bastard! What the hell?"
Choi Hoon grabbed at him in shock, but Kim Chan-yeol was already moving.
With his rifle slung over his shoulder, Kim Chan-yeol waited for Choi Hoon in front of the yellow safety-first fence.
"We need to take this. If we don't block the passage entrance with it, even up top we're screwed. They'll just slip through the trucks anyway."
It made sense when he put it that way.
"Oh! Right! Hurry!"
Choi Hoon, rifle also slung, lent a hand.
The two dragged fences one by one toward the passage where soldiers were retreating.
The company commander, seeing this, let out an exclamation.
"Ha! Nice, Kim Chan-yeol's got it! Block the entrance with those!"
"Yes, sir! Tell the guys not to unload everything from the trucks! This alone won't hold. We need to seal the stairs completely!"
Hearing Kim Chan-yeol's idea, the company commander ordered drivers and the radioman to jam the entrance with supplies.
Meanwhile, the soldiers who'd gone up first were racing up the stairs to deal with the Crazy Mom.
If they could just silence that scream, maybe everyone could snap out of it.
But it kept going every few minutes, enough to induce panic disorders in the sane.
They were about halfway up.
Soldiers' mouths drooling, sweat pouring like rain as they climbed.
Suddenly, midway up, troops bunched up, freezing in place.
"Hey! Why're you coming back down?"
"Move! They're coming down from above! Move!"
Urgent chatter rippled through the soldiers.
Then, a pain-filled scream echoed from the high floors.
"Aaaagh!"
"Why the fuck are they coming back down?"
"There's... more zombies up top!"
The First Platoon Leader, who'd gone up midway and retreated, reported breathlessly.
The company commander's face went pale.
Until now, he'd dismissed it as paranoia.
Monsters revived from virus-dead humans.
When he heard they acted in organized groups with intelligence, he'd thought a passing dog would laugh.
But the fear was real.
Kim Chan-yeol, who'd overheard, suddenly bolted up the stairs.
"Line up left and right! Don't panic—hug the walls left and right! Clear the center! Pass it up! Left and right!"
Soldiers hearing Kim Chan-yeol began sticking to the walls, forming a path down the middle.
"Left and right! Left and right!"
Troops chorused the call upward; those above echoed it higher.
"Fix bayonets! Fix bayonets! Don't let 'em down! Fix bayonets!"
Kim Chan-yeol repeated it passing each soldier on the stairs.
"Fix bayonets! Fix bayonets! Fix bayonets!"
His words relayed forward to the front.
"Hey! Kim Chan-yeol! I'm with you!"
From behind, Choi Hoon hurried to catch up.
They had to break through.
If pushed back down here, it was over.
Below pushing up, above coming down—they'd be trapped.
Forget crush injuries; eventually, the piled supplies would collapse, and advancing zombies would tear them apart horrifically.
No time to wait for the commander and platoon leaders to shake off panic.
The front was worse than thought.
While they hesitated, bitten soldiers mutated, numbers swelling fast.
The narrow stairs left no time to escape bitten comrades.
"Move! Fall back and fix bayonets!"
The uninfected passed Kim Chan-yeol and retreated rearward.
Kim Chan-yeol, rifle slung back, drew his combat knife.
He faced his terrified juniors from the lower stairs.
"Aim at me with bayonets fixed. If I get bitten, advance and just stab the head."
They gulped and nodded.
Choi Hoon, arriving late, grabbed his knife without catching breath and fell in behind.
A few steps up, they saw a few desperately blocking descending zombies.
But before the pair could speak, they were bitten, mutated.
All comrades, seniors and juniors they'd shared hardships with.
Passing the landing, down a few more steps.
Glancing at the exposed passage beside them, the same idea hit both; they started hurling wooden planks and bricks down the stairs.
At least some obstacles to fight with.
"Sergeant Choi."
"Yeah. Speak."
Choi Hoon's voice sank heavy.
"Thanks for everything."
"Bullshit. Don't jinx it. We've survived worse."
"If I get bitten, even you, Sergeant Choi..."
"Shut up. We'll die together."
Kraaa! Uwaaaak!
No sooner had Choi Hoon finished than rotting corpses tumbled and rolled into view, grotesque.
Infected People