Shoot Out (3)
“Hah!”
Yubin realized what Mingu was about to do and frantically grabbed his shoulder to stop him.
“Don’t, hyung!”
“This guy doesn’t need his arm anymore anyway. There’s plenty of room in the icebox.”
Mingu spoke with chilling calm. It looked like he intended to cut off the left arms of everyone present and take them with him.
The fake lieutenant general would soon be dead, and the others were already corpses, so his words weren’t technically wrong. Still… Yubin couldn’t bring himself to accept this reality.
He had seen people’s bodies horribly mutilated and dying many times before, but cutting off someone’s arm for his own sake was an entirely different matter. Besides, he had no desire to carry around several blood-dripping arms in an icebox.
“No, no! Stop it, hyung. Now isn’t the time to be lugging those around. We don’t even have time to tape them up and reattach them! And…”
Yubin pointed at the icebox slung over his shoulder and shouted.
“The more we stuff in here, the faster the ice melts. If we’re not careful, the most important thing—the blood—will be ruined.”
“Tch!”
Whether Mingu found the argument convincing or simply didn’t want to do something Yubin so clearly hated, he clicked his tongue and slid the machete back into his bag.
“Forget the arms and grab a shield instead, hyung! You might need one!”
Yubin walked ahead and pointed at a shield lying on the ground. In a situation where bullets could come flying from anywhere at any moment, body armor and shields would be quite useful. Of course, every corpse in black uniform here had been holding a shield when Jinwoo cut them down without mercy.
Thud!
Without a word, Mingu slung the shield onto his left arm and adjusted the bag on his back. Having acknowledged that scheming bastard as their leader, it was only right to follow his orders whenever possible.
“What are you doing? Hurry up!”
Sheriff, who had already started running ahead, turned around and bellowed. Even while carrying a hammer, a weapons bag, a backpack, and dragging the Witch along, the man was overflowing with energy.
Tak-tak-tak-tak-tak!
The four of them sprinted down the walkway, up the stairs, and toward the subway station, sweat pouring down their faces. Even the hostage Witch ran at full speed, her face pale with fear. She knew full well that being left behind meant death.
“Hurry!”
Jinwoo, who had already moved to the second floor of Jabeolle and was providing cover, waved his arm. Samsuk-i let out a single dignified bark.
“Woof!”
“Damn it! Why is this so far? Hah…! Hah…!”
As they passed beneath Jabeolle, the Witch gasped for breath and stumbled forward. Sheriff quickly caught her by the shoulder and hauled her back up.
“What’s with the dramatics? You’ve only run this far on your own two feet! Don’t you ever exercise?”
“I get daily PT from a former Olympian, you idiot! Hah…! These shoes! Look at them!”
The Witch pointed furiously at her ankles. Her torn stockings were soaked with blood around the ankles. The cheap military boots had rubbed the skin raw near her Achilles tendons. She had never dreamed she would be running like this in those shoes.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake! It’s just a scratch! You’re not gonna die from that! Stop whining and keep running!”
Sheriff showed no sympathy whatsoever and mercilessly yanked her by the wrist. They hadn’t escaped danger yet; they couldn’t afford to waste time over something so trivial.
“Damn it! Ow! Shit!”
The Witch continued cursing in English as she limped after him.
“Hah…! Hah…!”
Yubin, running a few meters behind, was also breathing heavily. The icebox weighed over twenty-five kilograms, his backpack was even heavier, and he was carrying an MP5. With so much weight on him, it felt like someone was constantly pulling him backward as he ran. The load on his shoulders made his breathing even more labored.
“Give me the icebox.”
Mingu, unable to watch any longer, approached and held out his hand. Yubin stubbornly shook his head.
“No, hyung. You need one hand free.”
In this situation, if they suddenly ran into a few hidden zombies, Mingu was the only one who could take them down quickly.
“I’ll run!”
Yubin wiped the sweat from his forehead and picked up the pace. Only 150 meters remained to the subway station. He told himself he could endure that much. No—he had to endure it.
Whump-whump-whump-whump-whump! Whump-whump-whump-whump-whump!
As the four of them neared the subway station, the sound of helicopter rotors roared in from the direction of Gangnam. And this time… there were two of them. Two helicopters that had risen above the buildings in Gangnam were rapidly crossing the river and closing in.
“They’re back, goddamn it!”
Sheriff grimaced and shuddered. It was infuriating to see those worthless bastards who couldn’t even take a punch on the ground strutting around in the sky like that. And it was even more infuriating that he had no choice but to run without being able to do anything about it.
“Don’t get mad—just keep running, Sheriff!”
Yubin shouted while pushing Sheriff forward. Fortunately, the terrain here was complicated, with the circular overpass, the Jabeolle building, the subway station, and Cheongdam Bridge all tangled together. The helicopter gunners wouldn’t have a clear line of sight, and as long as they stayed under the bridge, the chance of being hit by gunfire was significantly lower.
Tut-tut-tut-tut-tut! Tut-tut-tut-tut-tut!
The two helicopters announced their arrival by unleashing a barrage on the Han River cruise ship dock. They must have roughly figured out where their sniper had been taken out from a few minutes ago.
“Aaaagh!”
The moment the gunfire erupted, the Witch reflexively covered her head and screamed as she hit the ground. Sheriff yanked her back up.
“They’re not shooting here! Get up!”
Tut-tut-tut-tut-tut! Tut-tut-tut-tut-tut!
Every time the helicopters crossed in an X pattern and rained down bullets, the third floor of the dock where Jinwoo had been hiding just five minutes earlier was riddled with dozens of new holes. The gunfire from the helicopters was relentless and merciless, as if they intended to tear apart anyone still hiding there.
But their belated revenge—or rather, their attempt to eliminate a threat—gave Yubin’s group a precious few extra seconds to escape.
“Jinwoo! Run to the subway station too! Now! Get to the station and wait for us!”
Yubin shouted into the radio while sprinting at full speed, pressing the transmit button. He figured that after destroying the dock, their next target would naturally be the Jabeolle building. It was the best vantage point in the area for an ambush.
—Kssht! I’m running! Kssht…!
Jinwoo answered, his voice breathless. He must have come to the same conclusion as Yubin the moment he saw the helicopter fire and started running.
“Go down to the second floor and run! Don’t shoot back! Don’t reveal your position!”
After firmly giving the order, Yubin cut the transmission. If Jinwoo fired even once and gave away his location, he would die instantly.
Whump-whump-whump-whump-whump! Tut-tut-tut-tut-tut! Tut-tut-tut-tut-tut!
Just as the four of them stepped into the shadow of the overpass connected to the subway station, the helicopters that had finished demolishing the dock began firing at Jabeolle.
Papapapapak! Clang! Clang! Papak!
The sheer volume of violence was enough to send chills down their spines as it tore through the metal exterior and windows of the Jabeolle building.
“Aaaagh! Damn it!”
Even Sheriff and Mingu flinched at the terrifying force.
Tut-tut-tut-tut-tut! Ping-ping-ping-ping-ping!
Bullets rained down on the sunlit park pavement, the second floor of the subway station, and the external staircase on the right, sending up clouds of debris. Yubin understood exactly what message they were sending with those bullets.
The moment anyone stepped out from under the overpass and showed themselves on the protruding second floor of the subway station or the external staircase, they would be riddled with holes like a beehive. In other words, the helicopters had pinned Yubin’s group down with this barrage.
Tatatatatatata! Crash! Crash-crash!
As if worried that one round wasn’t enough, the helicopters circled above the subway station and fired again. The subway windows that had been indiscriminately struck shattered completely, and the transparent roof over the stairs rained down in fragments.
Tatatatatatata! Tut-tut-tut-tut-tut!
This time, the left external staircase was turned into a sieve. The connected walkway and the subway station itself were hit as well.
“Hah…! Hah…!”
The four members of Yubin’s group hid between the pillars of Cheongdam Bridge and the overpass, trying to steady their ragged breathing. Even just listening to the gunfire and watching the buildings get destroyed made their hearts race so fast it felt like their veins might burst.
Whump-whump-whump-whump-whump!
The two helicopters took turns circling above the subway station. After the painful lesson Jinwoo had taught them, they never stayed still, constantly moving through the sky. But fortunately, the concrete pillars were thick and tall enough to hide all four of them.
“Those bastards… showing off like they’re hot shit.”
Sheriff peeked out slightly, checked the direction of the enemy helicopters, and ground his teeth. The intact left subway staircase was only a few meters ahead, but they couldn’t go there. The moment they exposed themselves to the helicopters’ line of sight, they would be met with indiscriminate gunfire.
“Listen… even if you hand me over, they’ll still kill you! I’m a witness! It’s come to this, so we have to survive together! As a team! Do you understand what I’m saying?”
The Witch, standing right beside him, grabbed Sheriff’s wrist and shouted.
“What the hell are you saying? Shut up, you little brat! It’s already chaotic enough. Ow! Stop scratching my arm!”
Even as Sheriff snapped at her, the terrified Witch refused to stay quiet.
“Don’t even think about handing me over and surrendering! You’ll die anyway if you do that! I’ll help! Don’t leave me behind—contact your backup and…!”
“We already know that without you yelling! Do you think we’re idiots? We’re not leaving you behind, so please just shut up! You’re distracting me!”
As Sheriff raised his eyebrows and tried to calm the Witch, tatak! Tatatak!
While the helicopters were momentarily away, Jinwoo and Samsuk-i came sprinting down the external staircase of Jabeolle, hidden by the overpass.
“Hah…! Hah…! I can’t breathe!”
Jinwoo, who had desperately thrown himself behind the pillar, clutched his chest and gasped for air. The sight of just one more person and a dog made the Witch’s large eyes fill with despair.
“One? Just one? Where are the rest? You guys have a chopper too! Backup! Request backup!”
“Hoo…! Hoo…!”
Jinwoo didn’t respond. He wiped the sweat from his face and immediately gripped the handle of his K2 rifle tightly, as if ready to fire the moment someone entered his line of sight.
“What are we supposed to do? Are we just going to stand here like this?”
Sheriff asked, on the verge of exploding with frustration. Jinwoo kept his eyes fixed ahead and shook his head slightly.
“No. We can escape. Just hold on for a few minutes.”
“A few minutes later, those helicopters are just gonna disappear? They look like they’re gonna be flying around here all day.”
“They have a limited combat radius, so they can’t stay in the air that long.”
Jinwoo answered on Yubin’s behalf. Every helicopter in the world had a limit to how far it could fly without refueling.
According to what Jimmy, the leader of the rescue team, had told Jenny, the Black Hawk’s combat radius was limited to 392 miles—less than 600 kilometers. Once they burned through the fuel for 600 kilometers of cruising, they had no choice but to return to base.
The two Black Hawks above them had flown a long distance from Busan to Seoul, avoiding conflict zones, and after dropping off the Witch, they had been loitering somewhere for about forty minutes. In another forty or fifty minutes, they would hit their combat radius limit. And given that they were flying low, constantly changing speed, and circling, that time would only get shorter.
The prolonged negotiation, where they had dragged things out and played mind games instead of just naming a price and finishing the deal, had all been part of a scenario prepared for exactly this situation. If the helicopter pilots had any sense, they would try to end this standoff within twenty minutes at most. Otherwise, they would have to turn south without accomplishing anything.
“So we just have to stand by like this for a few minutes? That’s it? That’s how we get out of this dangerous situation?”
The Witch asked. If she hadn’t been talking to Chris for the past few months, her strange way of speaking would have been completely incomprehensible. Even the interpreter from Tetis spoke Korean better than this. Jinwoo gave her an incredulous glance before shaking his head again.
“No. They’re not that stupid. While the helicopters are pinning us down, their ground forces will be approaching.”
Tut-tut-tut-tut-tut! Tut-tut-tut-tut-tut!
Just as he finished speaking, the helicopters opened fire again. The two helicopters crossed paths one after another, each unloading dozens of rounds in an instant before flying past.
The pavement only about ten meters from the pillar they were hiding behind was shattered, and to the left, the glass windows of the passage connecting Jabeolle to the subway station exploded into sharp fragments that scattered everywhere.
“Hold on, just hold on…”
Yubin tried to calm everyone, including himself. Breaking cover now out of stress was exactly what the helicopter crews wanted.
“Stay low. They’re coming from that direction. Probably from two sides…”
Jinwoo raised his left hand and pointed toward the Han River walkway. The forces approaching from the walkway below the stairs wouldn’t be visible to them. But given how relentlessly the helicopters were firing to keep them pinned, it was clear that the ground troops were getting close. The remaining question was how many.
“How many helicopters took off when you left?”
Yubin asked the Witch.
“……Five.”
The Witch answered blankly, unsure why he was asking. Yubin stared into her eyes and pressed again.
“Answer properly. Was it really five? If you’re lying, you’re in danger too.”
“It was five! Why? Why does that matter?”
The Witch raised her voice irritably.
“Because we need to know how many are coming.”
Yubin answered briefly and checked the time.
“……Five minutes.”
Staring at his watch, Yubin muttered as he wiped the blood from around the safety of his MP5. In five more minutes, the massive horde of over three thousand zombies approaching from the east would completely overrun the area.