Chapter 57
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 50
Chapter Title: The Infected and the Imprisoned
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Sweat was pouring down his face as if from an open faucet.
“Uh… well.”
The officer hesitated for a moment before slowly rolling up his sleeve.
“I stepped out for a moment and got bit, but…”
“Damn it.”
It was only then that I noticed his forearm had been viciously torn. I could even see the white of his bone. Didn't he feel any pain?
“Doesn’t it hurt?”
“That’s the thing. It’s like… my senses are numb. I don’t… feel any… pain… Strange… isn’t it…”
Officer Hans’s words were slowing down.
“Something’s not right.”
Knox, who had been watching the situation in silence, muttered. Sensing the ominous atmosphere, Ethan moved closer to me.
“Sir Ethan. Is there anything useful we can grab from here?”
Ethan looked at me as if to ask why I was suddenly asking such a thing. Still aiming the axe at Officer Hans, I spoke to Ethan.
“If there is, grab it now. We don’t have time.”
“There should be a key to the underground cells and some self-defense items.”
“Good. Put them in the bag.”
At that moment, blood trickled from Officer Hans’s nose. He wiped under his nose with a puzzled expression, and his eyes widened when he saw the blood.
The initial symptoms of infection varied from person to person. Officer Hans’s case seemed to be progressing slowly, with nosebleeds as a symptom.
I yelled at Ethan, who was standing there uncertainly.
“What are you doing? Hurry!”
Ethan, looking a little flustered, started to move.
Ignoring us, Officer Hans stared blankly at his blood-stained hand and muttered.
“What’s happening to me…”
I watched in horror as one side of Officer Hans’s face began to melt.
There was no other way to describe it—it was truly melting. His right cheek drooped, and his eyeball popped out, rolling across the floor. I swallowed a scream and backed away.
“Ughhh…”
A groan escaped Officer Hans. As he took a step toward me, his arms began to swell. Like balloons.
“Sir Ethan.”
Unable to look away, I watched Officer Hans transform into one of the viral monsters and called out to Ethan in a trembling voice.
“Sir? Where are you?”
When Ethan didn’t answer, I grew anxious and called his name again.
“I’m right here.”
A low voice spoke near my ear. My trembling hands steadied, and a wave of relief washed over me.
Ethan’s large hand wrapped around my shoulder, and he gently pulled me back.
“Slowly.”
He spoke as if soothing a child. Keeping my eyes on Officer Hans, I backed away with Ethan. One slow step at a time.
We reached a side door in the police station. According to Ethan, it led to the underground cells.
Officer Hans’s police uniform had been torn to shreds by his swelling body. He stared at us with his half-collapsed face.
“My body feels… strange… heavy… But… you two… where are you… going… without me?”
As he questioned us in an eerie tone, his face distorted even more. When he opened his mouth wide, I could see his teeth had become sharp and pointed.
His booming, resonant voice sounded like three or four people speaking at once.
I was frozen in place, unable to move my legs. I was too scared, too horrified.
“Where are you… going… without meee!”
*KRAAAAGH!*
Ethan quickly shoved aside a desk that was blocking the back door. Then he drew his sword and stood in front of me.
“Watch out for its teeth! Don’t get bitten!”
Ethan swung his sword with ease, slicing the inspector down the middle.
*SQUELCH—*
His skin split open like a water balloon, and then he burst with a pop.
A green liquid, presumably the monster’s blood, sprayed out like a fountain. I couldn’t tell if the creature that was once the officer was completely dead. He hadn’t been struck in the head.
Hearing the explosion, the monsters outside the police station began to gather.
Knox opened the side door leading to the basement and shouted to us.
“Hurry up!”
Ethan slung the bag he’d dropped over his shoulder and ran over. He and I followed Knox through the door.
Knox quickly shut the side door and barricaded it with a wooden plank. I hoisted Knox over my shoulder like a sack of rice and immediately ran down the basement stairs.
The basement was dark and damp. Like a real cave.
“Whew… Sinclair. I appreciate the help, but would you mind putting me down now? Please, consider my social standing and dignity.”
Knox pleaded from my back, almost begging.
Hearing the second male lead of a romance novel (though I doubt it was ever really a romance) beg was quite amusing. Of course, the fact that I was carrying said second male lead on my back was not an amusing situation at all.
“I wouldn’t be doing this if you could manage on your own. If you keep whining, I’ll consider your social standing and dignity and throw you into a monster’s maw. So be quiet.”
Of course, I couldn’t just toss away our precious doctor so easily.
But if he kept complaining, I was seriously considering it. Unfortunately, Knox, as usual, knew not to cross the line.
That’s what made him harder to deal with than Ethan. I could never tell what he was thinking.
“You two have been sticking together, and it’s changed you, Miss Cherry. Our socialite star has become so aggressive. I think Lancaster has been a very bad influence.”
Knox suddenly turned his aim from me to Ethan. Blindsided by the accusation, Ethan glared at Knox.
“What about me?”
I ignored them and set Knox down on the floor. Then I took off the bag I was carrying and looked for a lantern.
“Hey, Ludpersher. Be grateful we didn’t leave you behind and shut your mouth.”
“Miss Cherry was the one who dragged me along when I asked to be left behind, wasn’t she? You’re so uncivilized. I’m hurt.”
I had to agree with Knox. He was right. I had forcibly dragged along a man who’d rather die than let Ethan see him being carried on my back.
Since Knox is a doctor, I figured I should cut him some slack for not being as strong as us. He gets a pass.
I let their conversation go in one ear and out the other as I rummaged through the bag.
“Oh, yeah? That’s a relief. I’d rather not die while trying to act all civilized like you.”
“…Miss Cherry, hanging around a guy like that will rub off on you. We’re intellectuals, you know. We must have class.”
“Ah. Damn it, I’m screwed. Where did the matches go?”
I rummaged frantically through the bag, but I couldn’t find the matchbox. I really didn’t want to go through the underground cells and the morgue without a light.
As I was cursing up a storm in my head, I met Knox’s steady gaze.
“Ah? What did you just say?”
“…I was just saying what lovely words you use, Miss Cherry.”
Knox looked at me with a refreshing smile, his expression perfectly innocent.
It seemed the words I’d been thinking had slipped out. But since when were ‘Damn it, I’m screwed’ considered lovely words? I wouldn’t have guessed he had a taste for foul language.
Beside me, Ethan’s shoulders were shaking with laughter. I had no idea what was so funny, but Ethan being weird was nothing new, so I decided to ignore it.
Anyway, after more rummaging, I finally found the matchbox. Only after lighting the lantern could we move.
Ethan and I each took one of Knox’s arms, supporting him between us while holding a lantern and a sword, respectively.
“Hey. It’s too loud. You think you own this cell block?”
Just then, someone spoke to us.
It wasn't Ethan's voice, nor was it Knox's.
I aimed the lantern in the direction of the sound.
To our left, a row of prison cells stretched down the corridor. Most were empty, but one cell had an occupant.
A middle-aged man with a familiar face was pressed against the bars, staring at us.
“Are civilians just allowed to waltz into the underground cells like this?”
The man seemed completely unaware of the situation outside. Then again, it made sense if he’d been locked up in here the whole time.
I belatedly remembered who he was—the domestic abuser Ethan had toyed with using a glass of whiskey before the apocalypse.
Ethan took a key from his pocket and tossed it in front of the cell.
“Get out on your own, or don’t. There are monsters outside, so be careful.”
“It seems safer to just stay locked up in there.”
I muttered, looking at the prison bars, but the oblivious abuser reached a hand out without a moment’s hesitation.