Special Entities

Where's the other one?

The two men stood right in front of me. That meant the remaining enemy was the one who'd been around the corner—but where the hell had he vanished to?

Did he run for it?

I was still turning it over when a whiskey bottle came flying. I tipped my head just enough to let it sail past. Every nerve was locked on the front, so the dodge came easy.

Crash!

"You son of a bitch, you dodge like a goddamn pro!"

The young guy with the baseball bat clenched his teeth hard. He wanted nothing more than to charge in and finish me, but the other one was holding a kitchen-knife spear, so it wasn't that simple.

If I forced a rush right now, I'd take a hit for sure. Without proper medicine, any wound could kill you out here.

Come to think of it, we should've hit a pharmacy too.

I wondered if any unlooted ones were left. Probably not.

"Hey, you bastard!"

Another whiskey bottle came sailing. The second I looked away even a little, they threw. Still, neither of them actually charged. They just kept me checked, like they were waiting for backup.

Wait a second—

"Hey! Beside you!!!"

An Ga-hee's shout spun my head right. A man burst out of the hallway corridor, kitchen knife raised, and lunged straight at me.

"Shit!"

I snatched the nearest whiskey bottle and hurled it. It cracked him square in the skull and sent him staggering.

"Die, you fuck!"

The two who'd been facing me both raised their weapons and charged.

Whoosh!

The baseball bat whistled through the air. I slipped back a half-step and let it miss. The instant I moved to counter, the knife-spear jabbed out to pin me down.

"Tch."

The swings were huge and full of openings, but there was a reason they moved like that. Irritation was just starting to climb when noise exploded off to the side.

"Die, you bastard! Die! Die! Die!"

I flicked a glance. An Ga-hee was driving a man back with wild axe swings. The second he saw an opening and lunged—

Clang!

So-hye's shovel smashed into his skull. He staggered, and An Ga-hee's axe came down clean across his neck.

Crunch!

"Ghk—gahhk!"

The man dropped his knife. His legs gave out and he dropped to his knees; So-hye's shovel slammed into his neck even harder.

Crack!

A wet, ugly sound as the blade buried deep. She wore a miserable face, but the hit landed solid.

"Fuck!!!"

The plan had collapsed, so the bat guy charged me on pure impulse. Same wide, telegraphed swing.

Whoosh!

The sound was nasty, but the openings were everywhere. And because he'd moved on pure panic, the spear guy couldn't cover him.

My opening.

Slash!

The lumber axe took his right arm clean. The bat clattered to the floor and he screamed.

I worked the handle up and down like I was carving meat. He convulsed, shoved at me with his remaining hand, and scrambled backward. I actually laughed.

"F-fuck—this guy's a goddamn psycho!"

The young man's face had gone dead white. His jaw shook; he kept licking his lips and pouring cold sweat.

"No, you idiot! I told you to cool it! I told you not to charge first! We had to move together!"

"Shut the fuck up, you retard! Is this the time for that shit?!"

The spear guy snapped at him; the wounded one clenched his fist in pure rage.

"W-what do we do now? What the hell do we do now?!"

"Just a second. Move."

The man with the knife-spear raised both hands, then set the weapon carefully on the floor.

"Y-you—what the fuck are you doing?!"

The wounded one roared. The other man suddenly kicked him hard. The young guy tumbled across the floor with a crash.

"F-fuck!"

He was somehow right in front of me now, scrambling to get up. Terror made his arms and legs rubbery; he kept collapsing. Blood from the stump painted the floor around him.

"What's this supposed to mean?"

"I'm offering a deal."

"A deal?"

"Yes. I've got information you'll want. Guaranteed. So let's trade."

The confidence was almost impressive. In this situation, after dropping his weapon, he still wanted to bargain?

"Th-then deal with me! I-I've got info too!"

The man on the floor lifted only his head, eyes full of raw desperation. I leaned in and swung the lumber axe.

Slash!

"Ghk—gahhk—"

A wet, bubbling sound. Red poured from his mouth and throat, soaking the floor. He thrashed once, then went still.

I looked forward again. The remaining man still had both hands raised. He met my eyes like he was calm, but the veins in his neck stood out and his pulse hammered.

"Hey. We killed this one."

I turned. An Ga-hee was grinning ear to ear. So-hye leaned against her shoulder with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her eyes closed.

"Ah, this? Looks like the shock hit her pretty hard. Technically she was the one who finished him."

So-hye flinched at that. She ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠bit her lip; guilt was written all over her.

How the hell does she plan to survive acting like that?

Still, we needed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at least one person like her. And she was doing every job that needed doing right now.

"So why's that bastard still standing there?"

"Says he wants us to spare him. In exchange he'll give us useful info."

"That so?"

An Ga-hee toyed with her axe, then turned her gaze on the man.

"So what kind of info can you actually give us?"

"Do you know where I came from?"

"How the fuck would I know that, asshole?"

"There's a place called Dream of Korea. Public youth rental apartments. That's where we came from."

Figured as much.

I'd half expected it. Too many of them for a simple booze run; that had felt off from the start.

Common sense said you go for food first, not liquor. We'd done the same, but we'd had the luxury of choice.

"Youth rental apartments—isn't that the place people call a raider stronghold?"

I quietly told An Ga-hee to shut up and stepped forward myself.

"That's right."

"Is the rumor true?"

He hesitated a beat, then nodded.

"It's true."

"Coming from a group like that, you must be carrying plenty of useful intel. Lots of people means lots of random information flowing in."

"Yes. Though the important stuff is only known by the officers…"

"Officers? You've got ranks?"

"Yes. Inside the apartments there's a hierarchy. Food and weapons are distributed according to rank."

That was interesting.

"What's the ranking based on?"

"Strength and results. How strong you are, and how much loot you bring back."

"Does 'loot' include women?"

"…Yes. Women rank highest. Especially pretty ones—they give the biggest bonus points."

"Fucking animals."

An Ga-hee spat the curse. So-hye looked shaken too; she grabbed my arm. Her hand was trembling.

"How many people live in the apartments?"

"I don't know the exact number, but a little over fifty. Though you just killed five, so the count's lower now."

That was a lot of bodies.

If they ever hit us all at once, we wouldn't even get a proper fight.

"I've got the rough picture. Now tell me whatever you personally think is useful."

"Anything?"

"Yes. I'll listen to all of it. If I decide it's valuable, I'll let you walk. If I decide none of it was worth anything, I'll kill you without hesitation. Start talking."

I clapped my hands once to hurry him. He opened his mouth fast.

"Uh—we collect tribute from the survivor groups around us. Places that have surplus give food or luxury goods. Places that don't have anything give women."

He glanced at us, then continued.

"A-and ever since the community labeled us a raider stronghold, we've been manipulating posts. We flag other survivor groups as raiders and then stir up the comments to push the narrative."

He swallowed hard and kept going.

"Also—recent order that came down. There seem to be special entities among the zombies, so be careful."

"Hold on."

I stopped him.

"What exactly is a special entity?"

"I don't know the details. Just that some of them look obviously wrong, so watch out for those."

"Hmm."

Special zombies, all of a sudden. The world really was going to hell.

"Got it. Keep talking."

"Uh—there's a subway station nearby, right? There's a survivor group there, and I hear trading happens. Like a market."

After that he poured out more odds and ends, but nothing particularly useful.

"Th-that's everything. How is it?"

"I heard you. For a low-ranker, you know quite a bit."

A big group meant quality intel flowed in.

"Th-thank you. So… you're letting me live?"

"Of course."

I tightened my grip on the lumber axe and charged. His eyes blew wide and he ducked, trying to dodge. Waste of effort.

Slash!

"Ghk—gahhk…!"

The blade sank clean into his neck. His hands scrabbled at my shoulder and arm.

"I have to kill you, right?"

"W-why… ghk, guh… blech…"

"I'm genuinely sorry. Part of me would love to spare you a dozen times over, but you might come back with friends for revenge. No—if it were you, you'd definitely come back for payback. Am I wrong?"

His mouth twisted into a grotesque grin. He spat blood and muttered,

"…You fucking bastard."

I put weight on the axe. A wet crunch, and the man collapsed to the floor.

"If we're grabbing stuff, better to take the expensive booze, right?"

An Ga-hee asked while scanning the price tags around us. I nodded.

"I don't know much about liquor, but yeah—expensive usually means there's a reason."

"Got it. I'll focus on the high-end stuff."

"Hey! There's chocolate and cheese in this fridge!"

So-hye beamed, holding both items up. She was more interested in the side loot than the main prize.

"Take whatever you want."

"Okay!"

A minute ago she'd looked like she was at a funeral. Seeing her brighten up was a relief.

We were all moving through the store, stuffing bottles into bags, when my pocket buzzed.

I pulled out the phone. The screen read Kim Min-ho. I'd told him to call only if something serious happened. Don't tell me—

"Yeah. What is it?"

"What?"

What the hell kind of bullshit was this all of a sudden?