(Side Story) Zombie.
(Side Story) Zombie.
As corpses piled up at the building entrance, zombies began pooling there in ever greater numbers.
8th floor.
From a position built by breaching the department store's exterior wall, people began firing.
Zombies were piling up, but the constructed floor panel prevented them from climbing up easily.
"Pour the oil!!!"
"Fuck, there's no end to them!!!"
The man firing the machine gun fed in a fresh ammunition belt and spoke.
"Shut up and pour, you dumb fuck!!!"
After pouring oil for some time, the soldiers ignited it. Zombies thudded away from the building, and the gunner who had finished reloading opened fire again.
"What the hell are they doing down there!!!"
The smell of gunpowder and heat-melted zombies caused some personnel to vomit.
They'd thought they were safe, but when they saw zombies climbing straight up from below, their pupils started to waver.
To deal with the zombies piled against the wall, people shoved the muzzles of their rifles into the holes drilled in the floor panel and opened fire.
A trembling private first class fired before pushing his muzzle fully through the hole. The ricochet tore through the back of Staff Sergeant Jeong, who had been firing the machine gun.
"Guaaaaagh!!!"
""Staff Sergeant Jeong!!!""
Clutching his stomach and screaming, Staff Sergeant Jeong looked at his assistant gunner.
"Ahp... hahp... grab..."
The assistant gunner tried to press the wound with trembling hands, and the staff sergeant shouted.
"Grab the Minigun, I said!!!!"
The private first class who had fired his rifle was staring at the chaos around him with quivering pupils. He approached the sergeant lying on the ground.
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."
"Haa... fuck... it's fine... it's fine..."
The private first class pulled out a syringe labeled morphine and injected Staff Sergeant Jeong.
"I'm sorry..."
The private first class stood there, his eyes reddening as he despaired over the incident caused by his mistake.
Staff Sergeant Jeong grabbed the private first class by the back of the head and pulled him close.
"Hah... hah... keep firing..."
"...Yes... understood."
With trembling hands, the private first class grabbed his rifle, shoved it all the way through the floor, and started firing at the piled-up zombies.
The noise drew zombies to the surrounding walls as well. Once the painkiller took effect, Staff Sergeant Jeong stood and headed toward the explosives.
People watched in horror as he began strapping the explosives to his body.
"Staff Sergeant Jeong!!!"
"Let go!"
"You can't!"
A massive number of zombies were already surging up from below the floor panel like a wave, and the situation was so precarious it seemed like they might burst through the side.
"It's already... too late."
Staff Sergeant Jeong looked at the hole in his stomach. Ignoring the people who had fallen silent, he grabbed the explosives and dropped to the ground floor.
Drawn by the heavy smell of blood, the zombies clinging to the wall fell from the building like a tidal wave after the bleeding Staff Sergeant Jeong.
A few seconds after Staff Sergeant Jeong fell into the mountain of zombies...
Kwaaaaaang!!!!
A monstrous blast shook the air as a pillar of flame surged from the ground.
"".....""
The sergeant who had served as assistant gunner, his eyes reddening, fed an ammunition belt into the Minigun and shouted.
"What are you doing, everyone grab your guns!!! You sons of bitches!!!"
The collapsed mountain of zombies was already rapidly building up again.
Ga-in, who had been taking precise shots one by one with a Glock 17, suddenly looked toward the source of the explosion.
Most of the piled-up zombies had moved there as well.
Having expended all her ammunition except for two magazines, Ga-in walked up the stairs.
Yoo Min-seong stared at Ga-in as she came up.
"The zombies down there have lost their target."
Hearing her words, Yoo Min-seong went downstairs to draw the zombies' attention.
1st floor.
The people flinched when they saw Kwak In-gu descending to the fourth defensive line.
"Eyes front."
Kwak In-gu loaded his rifle and, unlike the others, began firing rapidly, one shot at a time.
Bang!
"Why did they stockpile this much after issuing us only two hundred forty-eight rounds? This is ridiculous."
Spent shell casings covered the floor. Kwak In-gu smiled at the smell of gunpowder he had not experienced in years.
"Can I fire that too? Looks fun."
When the soldier handling the machine gun gave off a murderous glare, Kwak In-gu said,
"...That's one bloodthirsty look on your face, you brat. Fine, that one's yours."
Just then, a massive explosion sounded out. As the zombies pushed in, even the playful Kwak In-gu turned serious.
Zombies started piling up, and those that climbed over the wall began swarming the soldiers. Im Jeong-hyeok, who spotted the scene a moment late, gave the order.
"Captain Kim, blow it."
The building began to collapse with a thunderous roar.
The three-story structure adjacent to the department store crumbled, crushing the zombies piled up there under the debris.
As the floor collapsed, the zombies that had climbed as high as the seventh floor came crashing down all at once, and the ground was obscured by dust.
"This is the last—the fourth defensive line. Check your gear."
The sole entrance connected to the outside.
It was where the single minigun had been deployed, and where Kwak In-gu was stationed.
A considerable number of people began gathering at that spot.
Many were people from the Meadow bearing various tattoos. They ground their teeth at Kwak In-gu, but took their positions because the crisis came first.
And then...
A monstrous cry echoed through the dust-filled space.
""SCREEEECH!!!""
Naturally, Kwak In-gu spoke as the representative.
"Prepare to fire."
A single zombie burst out from the smoke, but no one shot at it.
And then, thousands of zombies charged through the smoke.
Kwak In-gu began firing without a word. Following the sound of his gunfire, the people holding guns rapidly expended their ammunition.
8th floor.
A space already breached and overrun by zombies.
Around them, comrades who had turned into zombies were tearing apart other comrades.
The private first class who had shot the sergeant stared at the zombies piling up on the ground, then looked at his transforming comrades.
"Staff Sergeant Jeong... I'll follow you..."
The private first class strapped on explosives and leaped into the mass of zombies. Another tremendous blast rang out, but many zombies had already climbed into the building.
Ga-in was moving alone inside the building.
Defensive lines had been prepared on every floor for a fighting retreat.
As she tried to pass the people rapidly establishing the interior defense line, she heard someone shout.
"8th floor!!! It's been breached!!!"
While heading to the 8th floor, Ga-in ran into Kim Ji-seong, who was holding a knife.
"Oh? Ga-in, where are you going?"
"Where you're trying to go."
"....."
Kim Ji-seong smirked and followed Ga-in to the 8th floor.
A large number of zombies had seemingly already entered; people were struggling to hold out at the narrow entrance, unable to retreat to the upper floor.
When they spotted Ga-in, they silently stepped aside.
There she came face to face with Master Sergeant Kim, the man who had tortured her.
Master Sergeant Kim stared at Ga-in with clear displeasure. She flinched when their eyes met and stopped.
"....."
Kim Ji-seong noticed Ga-in trembling and spoke.
"It's okay, don't worry about it."
"....."
Kim Ji-seong took Ga-in's hand. Rigid with tension, she stared at the master sergeant.
Ga-in and Ji-seong opened the door to the 8th floor and entered.
Soldiers followed them in.
Kim Ji-seong loosened up his body and started eliminating the zombies one by one.
Having concealed his true ability until now, Kim Ji-seong rapidly pierced the zombies' heads with a pole.
Watching Ga-in follow him silently, Kim Ji-seong said,
"Heh, where did the cocky little brat go?"
"....."
Proving that surviving until now with just Min-ji hadn't been down to luck, Kim Ji-seong casually killed the zombies, even joking around.
"Is it because of that pig bastard from earlier?"
"....."
Kim Ji-seong watched Ga-in, who wasn't reacting at all, then smirked and said,
"Don't tell me our widdle Ga-in was scawed..."
Ga-in's hand went to her waist. Kim Ji-seong realized he had seriously crossed a line.
"S-sorry..."
As he flinched backward, Ga-in drew her short sword and lunged at him.
The face of a zombie dropped to the floor right next to Kim Ji-seong, who had thrown himself flat on the ground to dodge.
"Dumbass."
"....."
The people on the eighth floor fought the zombies with melee weapons and tried to barricade the entrance, but an enormous number had already stormed inside.
People loaded the rifles they'd had on their backs.
Since Ga-in and Ji-seong were directly in the line of fire, they couldn't shoot. One soldier shouted,
"Come this way!!!"
Ga-in checked behind her, scanned the area, and sprinted.
If not for the soldier's voice, she would have been surrounded by zombies.
Ga-in came to a sudden halt while running.
"Ga-in!!!"
Kim Ji-seong spotted Ga-in standing still. He turned back around and ran the other way, scooping Ga-in up and dashing.
"Get a grip!"
The moment they reached safety, the shooting began. Ga-in snapped back to her senses and assessed the situation.
"...Sorry."
"Why were you like that?"
Ga-in looked down and noticed her own hands were trembling.
She clenched her small hands into tight fists.
Kim Ji-seong left Ga-in and went to help the soldiers who were barricading the 8th-floor entrance.
After sealing off the 8th-floor entrance, the people split up to move upstairs and downstairs.
Kim Ji-seong stayed behind to guard Ga-in while the others moved between floors. Then the large-framed Master Sergeant Kim came back down.
Seeing something strange in Master Sergeant Kim's condition, Ga-in became agitated.
"You... need to die. No, I'll definitely kill you myself."
Ga-in began trembling at Master Sergeant Kim's eyes and the sound of his voice. She slowly backed away into a corner.
"What!? In this situation..."
The master sergeant pressed his handgun to Kim Ji-seong's head.
Kim Ji-seong couldn't finish his sentence.
"Move, unless you want to die."
"Are you insane?! What reason is there to do this in the middle of all this!!!"
"Too many of my comrades died because of that brat."
At Master Sergeant Kim's voice, dripping with murderous intent, Ga-in pressed both hands over her ears, shut her eyes in the corner, and shook.
"Stop pretending to be a child... It's disgusting, you murderous little bastard..."
"Wait!!! Hold on!!!"
When Master Sergeant Kim tried to turn the muzzle toward Ga-in, Kim Ji-seong pulled the gun back toward his own head, as if daring the man to shoot him instead.
"She's just a kid."
Master Sergeant Kim scoffed.
"A child? Another comrade died last night... and you want us to let it go merely because she is young...?"
"Her aim was to protect herself..."
When the sergeant tightened his grip on the handgun, Kim Ji-seong raised his hands as if he had no intention of resisting.
"Yeah? Is that how you interpret it? A friend I operated alongside for six years was killed by that brat just yesterday. We are here without even enough time to hold his funeral. If all of us die, who will avenge him?"
Kim Ji-seong nodded as if acknowledging the point. The instant Master Sergeant Kim turned toward Ga-in, Ji-seong snatched the handgun away.
He field-stripped the gun and dropped the parts on the floor.
"I can't claim to understand... but I'm sorry. Ga-in isn't a murderer. She acted because she wanted to live—to survive—in this fucked-up world."
Master Sergeant Kim looked at Ga-in trembling violently in the corner.
"There's no time..."
Kim Ji-seong also turned his gaze to Ga-in as he said,
"Think about it carefully... whether Ga-in has ever killed someone who was just staying still..."
Kim Ji-seong approached the trembling Ga-in and tried to pick her up. Ga-in quickly clung to Kim Ji-seong.
Startled by her reaction, Kim Ji-seong climbed to the upper floor while holding her, trying not to let it show.
Left alone, Master Sergeant Kim looked down at his foot.
Blood, hidden by his uniform, was trickling down over his black combat boot...
"There's no... time..."
The emergency stairwell on the building's exterior.
Yoo Min-seong was limping. He received grenades from the soldiers, then threw them down below.
The soldiers watched him.
A sergeant approached Yoo Min-seong from among the soldiers.
"I'm sorry."
"Huh?"
"I was there too, at that place."
Yoo Min-seong remembered being hung upside down and tortured, and the sergeant who had hauled him up under orders.
"Ah... yes."
"Especially to the Kangaroo Rat..."
Yoo Min-seong cut the soldier off.
"It's Ga-in."
"Yes, I feel sorry toward Ga-in."
"Then... apologize in person..."
The sergeant spoke while continuing to fire.
"I don't think that's possible."
"...Haah..."
The sergeant glanced sideways at Yoo Min-seong and continued.
"If those you cherished were killed by those small hands, could you forgive the child?"
"...It was for the purpose of protection."
"Yes. If someone you cherished died because another party was acting out of self-protection, could you just dismiss that child as too young?"
"....."
"That's simply how it is. The sergeant first class who died yesterday was that kind of person to me. We were drinking tea and talking only twenty minutes beforehand."
"....."
Yoo Min-seong stopped firing and stared at the sergeant, who continued shooting in silence. The staff sergeant behind him nodded.
"You're an outsider, so it's only right that you can't empathize. I'm not going to ask you to. Don't worry about it. And I am truly sorry for what happened to you yesterday."
Yoo Min-seong stared at the sergeant in silence for a moment, then resumed firing.