Five Dots and Then Mom
I had ended up inside a zombie apocalypse novel. Thankfully, the novel had this situation written down too. So it was five dots and then "mom." ".....Mom." But fuck, it didn't mention how to solve it. It was a goddamn situation that made you call for your mother without thinking.
If it had been just one zombie on top of me, I could have kicked its stomach and shoved it off, but two zombies were a different story. Just in case, I tried kicking them, but they didn't budge. As I was trying to figure out what to do, I realized something.
"Grr?"
"Ah, fuck."
Because I'd kicked the zombie underneath with my foot, the one on top had slid forward. In other words, it was now in a perfect position to bite my shoulder, and we'd both just realized it at the same time. Before I could do anything, the zombie sank its teeth hard into my left shoulder.
"Aaaaaargh! Fuck!"
"Grrrrrrrr......"
"You! Crazy! Bastard!"
I frantically let go with one hand from the bat and smashed the zombie's head. But it didn't even flinch. And since it was bald, I couldn't grab its hair to pull it off. Meanwhile, the zombie underneath kept clacking its teeth. At this rate, they were going to tear into my flesh. But there was nothing I could do. It was already taking everything I had to deal with one.
Then, luckily, the bald zombie pulled its mouth off my shoulder. It rolled sideways and fell off without any particular thought. "Grr?" The zombie that had been pinning me down turned its head as if asking what the hell it was doing. After all, keeping me crushed under its weight made subduing me easier. With one zombie's weight gone, its prey had shaken it off. Its eyes seemed to say that.
But it was already too late. I'd kicked it in the stomach with all my strength, sending it rolling far away. I scrambled to get up and slammed my back against the wall. My left arm was shaking uncontrollably, and tears flowed on their own. I wanted to run, but I couldn't. If I went outside with these two zombies attached to me, they'd turn into twenty.
"Fuuuuck......"
I was caught between a rock and a hard place. At the very least, I had to finish these two off inside this building. So I kicked the bald zombie, who still hadn't come to its senses, and swung my bat. But maybe because my left arm was trembling, I couldn't put any real power into it. The bald zombie staggered back, but it didn't look like it'd taken any damage.
And there was one more despairing fact. "Haaaaaaaaaaaaang......" That bald zombie. It hadn't eaten my shoulder—it had just chewed on it. This wasn't feeding; it was suppression. It was going to neutralize me without killing me, then eat me later. It would keep biting until I was infected, and once I'd given up on life, it'd have its feast. Realizing that, I couldn't help but cry.
But I didn't even have time to wipe away the tears and snot. I had no choice but to keep gripping the bat.
"Grr."
"Grrr."
The zombies let out short groans at each other. It sounded like they were saying I'll take this side, you take that one. Well, two weeks had passed, so even regular zombies would instinctively know how to hunt. That was what made it so fucking disgusting—it was exactly like wolves hunting.
"Don't come near me, you sons of bitches!"
I pretended to be fine and swung the bat from left to right. The plan was to smash whichever one came at me. The bald zombie lunged first. I quickly tried to block with the bat, but my left arm was the problem.
"Ack! Fuck!"
The bald zombie bit down on my left leg and refused to let go, putting all its strength into it. Then it stopped moving. It was acting as an anchor so I couldn't escape. I had no choice but to let the bald zombie enjoy my leg while I kept the other one in check. With that resolve, I glared ahead. The zombie slowly got into position. Then the bald one released my leg to bite somewhere else.
"You son of a bitch!"
"Grrk!"
I kicked the bald zombie's face to create some distance, then let out a roar as I charged forward. I smashed the shoulder of the zombie that still hadn't grasped the situation, then swung the bat like a madman from above to below. Normally I should have crushed its head by now, but it was blocking its face with its arms, making it impossible. I tried to stay calm and deliver the final blow, but this time pain exploded from my right shoulder. It was the bald zombie again. It skillfully wrapped its arm around my neck and used its weight to drag me backward.
Caught off guard, I fell straight back. The pain in my shoulder made me drop the baseball bat in that instant. As if it had been waiting for exactly that, the other zombie immediately charged in. There was no hesitation. If it bit my neck, it was over, so just like last time, I offered up my left arm. Of course it hurt like hell, but I didn't have the luxury to care. The bald zombie was choking my neck with its arm.
So I frantically punched the zombie with my fist, and my mind suddenly went to the self-defense baton in my right pants pocket.
"You, you... just stay right there!"
I didn't have time to extend the baton. I just gripped it and slammed it into the zombie's head with all my might. Along with the feeling of something breaking, intense pain shot through my left arm. Even as its own head was getting crushed, the zombie kept biting down on my left arm. I had no choice but to keep hitting it, accepting that my left arm was going to be ruined.
After hitting it four times like that, its brain must have been smashed because the zombie went limp. I frantically shook my left arm to throw it off, then tossed the baton aside. My consciousness was growing hazy, so I had to do something. I grabbed onto whatever was around me and forced my body up. Then I ran backward with everything I had and slammed myself into the wall.
"Ah, fuck!"
It felt like my shoulder had shattered. But I had no choice. If I stayed still, I would have passed out, and then I would really die. Grateful that I could still breathe, I threw my body forward again. No matter what, the bald zombie clinging to my back would act as a cushion. My thought was correct. Along with the sound of something breaking, the pain in my shoulder vanished.
I thrashed around like a madman, trying desperately to shake off the bald zombie. "Grr!?" "You..... die! Die already! Die, you son of a bitch!"
I climbed on top of the bald zombie that had fallen to the ground and drove my fists into it. If my left fist hurt, I used my right. If my right hurt, I used my left. After pounding it dozens of times, the bald zombie finally stopped moving. I collapsed on top of the zombie and caught my breath first. Since no other zombie came from behind, it seemed the impact hadn't carried to the other floors. If more had shown up, I would have been as good as dead.
Then, reflexively, I got up, sniffling, and picked up the weapons that had fallen to the ground first. I stuffed the self-defense baton into my pants pocket and gripped the baseball bat that was as important as my life. I had to disinfect the wounds and apply medicine. I needed to get back to the PC bang.
But one fact flashed through my mind. This... if it's not saline... then boiled water....
Boiling water was easy. But cooling it was hard. It seemed like I'd lose consciousness from the bite wounds before the water could cool. Then I suddenly remembered the red cross I'd seen when I first approached. Only the end was visible because of the shutter, but it was definitely there. Among the shops on the first floor, there was a pharmacy. Pharmacies had saline and medicine.
Just thinking about it gave me strength. I knew it was nothing more than a last flicker of life, but I had no choice. I staggered up, bumping into the wall, and headed for the stairs like I was falling toward them. Actually, I fell once and ended up half-crawling down the stairs. After descending the stairs like a dog, I checked the first floor. Convenience store? No. Stationery store? No. So, over there.
"It's the pharmacy!"
Fortunately, there was a back door. Overwhelmed with emotion at that fact, I used the baseball bat as a cane to stand up. First, get inside, finish lowering the shutter. Then close the door, find medicine, and treat the wounds. With that hopeful thought, I opened the door and ended up spitting out curses.
There were two zombies inside. Two pharmacist zombies. But I couldn't pay attention to them. First, I had to finish lowering the shutter to completely cut this place off from the outside.
"Fuck!"
I even threw away the baseball bat and ran, prepared to shove the zombies aside. Not long after, something caught my leg and I fell face-first onto the ground. My breath caught for a moment, and burning pain rose from my knees and stomach. Next came both legs. I instinctively knew. Those damn sons of bitches were each biting one of my legs and refusing to let go.
But my legs weren't important right now. The shutter. I had to completely lower the shutter so the zombies couldn't break through easily. It was almost there anyway, so it was fine. Comforting myself like that, I crawled forward while dragging the two zombies with both arms. Slowly. Slowly.
I reached up to the shutter and pulled it down. Then I closed the door and put strength into my body to flip over. I don't know where that strength came from, but my body flipped. To be precise, it seemed they allowed me to flip. The two zombies that had achieved their goal of biting my body stood up, groaning as if wondering where to bite next.
"Come at me, you bastards."
"Grrrr......"
"Grrr......."
"Come on! Fuck! You think I crawled all the way here to become your food!"
I pulled out the self-defense baton to its full length. I decided to use my relatively less fucked-up right arm, gripping it with my right hand. Since my left arm was completely ruined, I'd use it as a shield. And so the battle began again.