Triple Border Zone (2)
“Anyway, we just need to block the path. Doesn’t have to be rope. Anything works.”
The Sheriff strode into the convenience store inside the subway station. A moment later, he emerged dragging two display shelves packed with cosmetics.
“Here, set these up to block the way. The zombies will trip and tumble all over themselves when they jump down, right?”
He positioned the shelves at the corner where the passage bent, then puffed out his chest. It actually looked like a decent barricade—far better than nothing. Jinwoo’s face brightened as he nodded in approval.
“Yeah, that’s good. Let’s grab a few more, Sheriff.”
Jinwoo joined the Sheriff inside the store and hauled out the heavy shelves. The products inside made them weigh a ton, but that was exactly what they wanted. At this weight, the zombies wouldn’t be able to knock them over and charge through in one go.
Creak—! Creak—!
While Jinwoo carried one, the Sheriff moved two at once using both hands. He even balanced his sledgehammer on top of them.
Thud! Clatter!
Every time the shelves shook, the displayed goods tumbled off and rolled across the floor.
“Hey, wait… What about this?”
After they had laboriously dragged the shelves to the corner, Jinwoo glanced down and picked up one of the products. It was a dusty bottle of baby oil.
“Oh, nice.”
The Sheriff immediately nodded in agreement. They had already learned how effective a slick, oil-covered floor could be at slowing zombies during the Costco cleanup. No matter how energetic the creatures were, once they stepped on something slippery they would go flying—hard.
“I’ll spread it on both sides. Remember, Sheriff. Samsuk-i, you stay off this path too. We have to jump through the middle… Actually, no. Let’s mark it properly.”
Jinwoo squeezed some baby oil onto the floor a short distance from the corner and sprinkled a little water over it. On the areas without oil, he dropped two sheet masks as markers. As long as they jumped between those two masks, they would be safe.
“What are you doing with those? The cigarettes are in your backpack, aren’t they?”
When Jinwoo returned from behind the store counter carrying three fresh cartons of cigarettes, the Sheriff asked. Jinwoo tore the plastic off all three cartons and drizzled lighter fluid across the paper surfaces as he answered.
“If the barricade fails, we’ll use these to buy time.”
“Man, you really overcomplicate things. Whatever… Just do your thing. Tell me when you’re ready.”
Having finished his own tasks, the Sheriff ripped open a chocolate bar that had been sitting on one of the shelves and crunched into it noisily. The flavor had changed after melting and re-hardening through the hot summer, but it was still packed with the fat and sugar they needed to replenish energy.
“From here we watch… shoot… block the path… then jump this way… No! Samsuk-i! Don’t eat that!”
While Jinwoo was running simulations in his head and surveying the ruined area around Exit 1, he stopped Samsuk-i. As usual, the dog went crazy the moment he saw anyone eating.
Whine—! Hah-hah-hah—!
Samsuk-i put on a pitiful expression that didn’t suit him at all and let out a pathetic groan. Jinwoo shook his head firmly.
“I said no, you idiot! It could kill you!”
When Jenny had first told him that dogs could die from eating too much chocolate, a cold sweat had run down Jinwoo’s back. After all, half of the emergency chocolate rations meant for the special forces had been devoured by this very dog in the past.
“Yeah, yeah. When we get to Costco I’ll give you lots of tasty stuff. Just hold on a little longer.”
The Sheriff shoved the rest of the chocolate into his mouth in one bite and showed the dog his empty hands. Then he picked up the cigarettes and lighter and headed toward the stairs at Exit 1.
“Ready?”
The Sheriff put a cigarette between his lips, lit the lighter, and glanced back.
Jinwoo pressed his lips together tightly and gave a tense nod.
Flick—!
The Sheriff immediately lit the cigarette. With a deep scowl, he took two hard drags.
“Cough! Cough!”
Once he confirmed the cigarette was fully lit, the Sheriff crept up to the line Jinwoo had set and hurled the cigarette upward.
Whoosh—!
The cigarette spun through the air, trailing acrid smoke, bounced twice, and came to rest on the edge of the upper staircase.
Gulp—!
Jinwoo swallowed dryly and watched the process with bated breath. A moment later… Grrrk—! Grrk—!
A zombie appeared at the top of the stairs, growling slowly. Then another. Immediately after, two more, then three…
“…Still okay. That many is…”
Jinwoo muttered quietly, peeking out from behind the wall with only his face exposed. Ten or so zombies were a number you could run into anywhere; they weren’t particularly threatening or unusual. But then—
Groooooaaar—!
The entrance suddenly darkened as dozens more zombies shoved their heads through. It looked like the group had stumbled right into the middle of a marching column.
“…Fuck.”
The Sheriff spat the curse in a low mosquito-like buzz. He was about to whisper that they should stay hidden until the horde passed when the cigarette—its front already turned to ash, shifting its center of gravity—began rolling down the stairs.
“…No!”
Jinwoo and the Sheriff shook their heads in unison. The plan had been for the cigarette to simply burn in place… It wasn’t supposed to lure the zombies…
Thump. Thump. Thump.
The cigarette, now rolling sideways, continued tumbling down one step at a time. The zombies, mesmerized by it, poured down the stairs like a waterfall. The scale was… staggering. There was no end in sight.
Kwaaaaaah—! Groooooaaaah—!
“Huk!”
The moment their eyes met the zombies’, the Sheriff and Jinwoo recoiled in horror and spun around. There were far too many for them to even consider pulling the trigger. This wasn’t at a level where they could fight—it was pure survival.
Crash! Crunch!
The sound of zombies tripping over Jinwoo’s rope and snapping bones echoed loudly. But almost immediately, far more creatures trampled over the fallen bodies, slipped, crashed down, and staggered back to their feet.
“If you ever set up another one of your crazy plans again, I’m just gonna shoot you myself, you insane bastard!”
Jinwoo shouted as he poured on even more speed. The Sheriff, weighed down with heavy gear, kept pace beside him and yelled back.
“You said it was a good idea too, you moron!”
The two men and Samsuk-i dashed between the sheet masks and through the baby oil trap.
Crash! Clatter—!
By then the rope barricade had already collapsed, and the sound of the multi-layered shelves toppling over at the corner reverberated throughout the station.
“Haaah…!”
Jinwoo switched his MP5 to full-auto and glanced behind him. He could see the zombies clambering furiously over the ruined shelves in hot pursuit.
Rat-tat-tat-tat—! Rat-tat-tat—! Rat-tat—!
Jinwoo fired while backpedaling. There were so many pursuing zombies that even rough aiming scored near-perfect hits.
Screeech—! Crash—! Crash—! Sizzle—!
The ones caught in the baby oil trap launched into the air before slamming hard into the floor. If a human had taken that kind of fall they would have been headed straight to the hospital, but for zombies it was nothing more than a few seconds of delay.
Rat-tat-tat—! Rat-tat—! Thud—!
Jinwoo gasped for breath as he continued spitting 9mm rounds. While he cleared the front ranks, the Sheriff took one of the three cartons he had pre-soaked with lighter fluid, bit down on it, and lit it.
Whoosh—!
The moment the carton caught fire, the Sheriff hurled it with all his strength toward the zombies.
Groooooaaar—!
A whole carton of cigarettes spewing thick smoke flew into their midst, causing instant chaos among the horde. After confirming the zombies were thrashing wildly, the Sheriff slapped Jinwoo on the shoulder.
“Go! Stop shooting!”
They had to run for Exit 2 now. Although the burning carton was currently tying up hundreds of zombies, it was only a temporary measure. Once the smoke from the trampled cigarettes dissipated, the creatures would immediately begin searching for new prey.
“Haa…! Haa…! Hey, but…”
When they neared Exit 2, the Sheriff panted out a question.
“What if there are… haa… zombies waiting outside Exit 2?”
“That’s… haa… why I prepared the cigarettes…”
Jinwoo’s breathless reply lacked confidence. He had vaguely assumed that if zombies started flooding toward Exit 1, the nearby ones would all converge there… but now that they were actually in the situation, it felt disturbingly uncertain. If another massive wave like the one at Exit 1 came pouring out, they would have no choice but to swallow their pride and take cover below the tracks. And just as he feared—
Groooooaaaaah—!
The moment they reached the stairs of Exit 2, a lone disheveled zombie stood at the very top, roaring to greet them.
“Sheriff! Long throw!”
Jinwoo aimed his MP5 and shouted the prearranged signal as he charged ahead.
Thud—!
The instant Jinwoo’s bullet blew off the lone zombie’s head, the Sheriff—having lit the second carton—hurled it as far from the entrance as possible.
Fwoooosh—!
The flaming carton streaked through the air, trailing smoke, and disappeared somewhere down the street beyond the stairs. Immediately afterward, the frenzied sounds of zombies rampaging came from outside their line of sight.
“It worked!”
Jinwoo rejoiced that his plan had succeeded and quickly climbed the rest of the stairs. The Sheriff followed close behind and added,
“That was one hell of a throw!”
Either way, they had bought themselves another few seconds. Just in case, Jinwoo laid down suppressive fire with his MP5 as he burst out of the entrance.
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat—! Rat-tat-tat-tat—! Rat-tat—!
Gunshots rang out loudly, but there were no zombies blocking the way ahead. The dozen or so creatures that had been wandering nearby were all clustered twenty meters away at the intersection, rolling around the cigarette the Sheriff had thrown moments earlier.
Rat-tat—! Thud—!
Jinwoo emptied the rest of his magazine into the three zombies rushing in from a distance, then immediately swapped mags and shouted down to the Sheriff.
“We’re turning right!”
It wasn’t based on any prior information. He simply figured there were too many zombies gathered above them right now, so the only thought was to get as far away from the horde as possible.
“Okay!”
The Sheriff bounded up three steps at a time and quickly caught up to Jinwoo.
“Which way is safer from here?”
Jinwoo asked as they passed a KFC outlet. They definitely needed to turn right and head north, but beyond that he had no idea. The Sheriff looked back at him in surprise.
“I don’t know either! Haa…! This is my first time on the surface around here! I’ve only been as far as Myeonmok Station.”
That made sense. From the Costco where they had been staying, this place was two stations away—a fairly distant and dangerous region in the zombie world. Everything they needed was at Costco, and travel could be done along the tracks or the Jungnangcheon trail. There had been no reason to risk their lives coming this far.
Groooooaaar—!
After they sprinted another block, they spotted a massive column of zombies completely filling the six-lane road in the distance, marching straight toward them. Jinwoo didn’t hesitate for even a second and pointed to the alley on the right.
“In there!”
He turned and dashed into the narrow alley himself. He knew that entering such a tight space—where zombies could drop down on them at any moment—wasn’t ideal for survival, but it was still better than being surrounded by hundreds of the creatures from both sides.
Crash—!
They had barely advanced twenty meters into the alley when the sound of shattering glass came from above, followed by something plummeting down. Before Jinwoo could even swing his muzzle around, the Sheriff leaped forward first and shouted.
“I’ve got it!”
Crunch—!
The Sheriff’s hammer smashed through both the neck and skull of the landing zombie at the same time.
Smash—! Crash—!
That was the signal. The sound of breaking glass erupted from all over the alley. Zombies poured out from a first-floor butcher shop, from the second floor of a shabby house—different locations, but all zombies. They couldn’t keep going like this. While they could certainly shoot down this small number, they couldn’t maintain full sprint forever. They needed to regroup and come up with a new plan.
“Sheriff, over here!”
With urgency rising, Jinwoo chose a four-story villa at the cleanest-looking corner. He sprinted toward the closed reinforced glass door and pulled the trigger.
Rat-tat-tat—! Thud-thud—! Shatter—!
The reinforced glass, struck by multiple rounds, exploded into fragments. Jinwoo immediately passed through the entrance and raced up the villa’s stairs.
Groar— Thud—! Rat-tat—!
A zombie they encountered while rounding the landing on the third floor tried to pounce on him but was riddled with bullets and collapsed.
Crash—!
Jinwoo burst through the roof access door like a madman, eyes flashing as he swept his muzzle in every direction.
“Haa…! Haa…!”
Even after confirming there were no zombies, Jinwoo kept his finger on the trigger guard, breathing hard as he scanned the area once more.
“Clear… Haa…! Haa…!”
The Sheriff, who had brought Samsuk-i up and firmly closed the roof door, panted heavily.
“That was an insane plan. Haa…!”
The two friends muttered the same words almost simultaneously and collapsed onto the floor. But in truth, there had been no other way to escape that subway station.
“Still, we made it here without using the last carton. Haa…! Now… let’s radio Yubin… haa…!”
The moment the Sheriff gestured to Jinwoo, the faint sound of rotor blades came from far away.
Whump-whump-whump-whump-whump—!