The White Porter and the Wizard's Gun (5)
“That’s my car! The white Genesis Coupe!”
The Sheriff pointed ahead as he rounded the corner and sped down Neungdong-ro. The Genesis Coupe sat exactly where they had parked it at the far end of the blocked stretch of road. He had removed the battery to keep the alarm from going off, so there was no worry about it being drained.
“Staff Sergeant Choi! Two o’clock!”
Cho Cheol-woong and Choi Ha-sa, both wearing night-vision goggles, never slowed their pace. They fired their suppressed MP5s at the zombies shambling in the darkness.
Thud! Thud-thud! Thud-thud-thud!
Every time the suppressed shots rang out, zombies dropped one after another in the dark. There weren’t many of them, so Jinwoo didn’t bother joining the shooting and simply followed the special forces operators in silence. He also didn’t want to risk startling the soldiers trapped in Children’s Grand Park with the sound of a K2.
Clunk!
The Sheriff lifted the hood and jerked his chin toward the interior.
“Doors aren’t locked, so get in! I’ll hook up the cables and we’ll be gone in a second! …Wait, you two old-timers take the back seat! Why are you trying to sit up front? You don’t even know where we’re going!”
Even while grumbling about seating arrangements, the Sheriff finished reconnecting the battery and slammed the hood shut.
Vroom!
He vaulted into the driver’s seat, dropped the sledgehammer and his pack between his legs, and turned the key.
“……Cramped.”
Choi Ha-sa, squeezed into the back seat behind the Sheriff, let out a heavy sigh. At 178 cm, and with Cho Cheol-woong at 180 cm, both men were broad-shouldered and wearing tactical vests and helmets with night-vision mounts. Cramming themselves into the low, narrow coupe while also minding their muzzles was pure torture.
The driver in front of them was even bigger, so the seat was pushed all the way back. Choi Ha-sa’s knee pads touched the back of the driver’s seat and he could barely move his arms. It was so tight he could hardly breathe, let alone turn around to watch their rear.
“I’ll crack the windows. Just hang on a little longer, sirs. The truck’s right up ahead.”
The Sheriff muttered casually, rolled the windows down, and shifted into reverse.
“You sure about this? We should at least break the windshield. If we run into zombies we’ll be sitting ducks.”
Cho Cheol-woong asked, concerned. Even though they were armed, being trapped inside a car felt no different from being cornered.
“Ah, the kid’ll handle that.”
The Sheriff pointed at Jinwoo.
Vroooom! Screeech!
The coupe whipped through a 180-degree turn and accelerated toward Children’s Grand Park. The road was pitch black. Even with the high beams on, their field of view was narrow at speed.
Grraaaah!
Zombies suddenly lunged out of the darkness, but the Sheriff jerked the wheel and worked the pedals, swerving around them every time.
“Was the repair shop you mentioned past the park?”
When the coupe still hadn’t turned left even after passing the main gate of Children’s Grand Park, Cho Cheol-woong asked in confusion. He distinctly remembered Jinwoo saying they would turn before reaching the park…
“I asked him to stop by the soldiers’ location first. I wanted to see it with my own eyes.”
Jinwoo answered, glancing back. No matter how many radio reports they received, it wasn’t the same as seeing it himself. He needed to gauge how the zombies were spread out and how the soldiers were holding out before he could plan a proper rescue. Besides, the trapped men deserved to know that help was coming.
“Looks like that’s the place.”
As they neared the intersection of Neungdong-ro and Gwangnaru-ro, the Sheriff slowed down and pointed to the left. Flashes of light flickered in the distance along the dark street—roughly two hundred meters away. Judging by the height of the lights, the soldiers really were on the roof of a low building.
“Circle around and get us closer, Sheriff. Slowly……”
Jinwoo narrowed his eyes and gave the order. He also wanted to confirm whether they had truly run out of ammunition and to get a better look at the building’s surroundings.
“Roger. Hugging the left side.”
The Sheriff nodded and turned the wheel.
Vroooom!
After making the left turn onto Gwangnaru-ro, the six-lane road came into view. Tanks had shoved cars to both sides, leaving roughly three lanes clear. Scattered zombie corpses littered the pavement, and a few stragglers wandered among them.
“……Low building.”
Jinwoo muttered as he stared ahead. The building where the flashlights clustered was only three stories tall. Its surroundings were completely packed with zombies, making it look like a tiny, precarious island of fireflies. Even if they had barricaded the roof access for now, their annihilation was only a matter of time without outside help.
Grraaak! Graaak!
Straggler zombies reacted to the headlights and engine heat, suddenly accelerating from both sides.
“Aw, shit!”
The Sheriff swore and wrenched the wheel left and right, dodging both corpses and live zombies.
Screech! Screeeech! Vroooom! Screech!
The Genesis Coupe rocked violently, tires shrieking.
“Somebody take these bastards out!”
the Sheriff shouted. The sports car’s stiff suspension had held up so far, but there were simply too many zombies now—both chasing them and blocking the road ahead. If they kept dodging, they might not be able to get back out later.
Thud!
Jinwoo leaned out the window, braced his side against the frame, and pulled the trigger.
Bang! Bang-bang! Bang-bang! Bang! Bang-bang-bang! Bang-bang! Bang!
Even firing from a violently shaking car, his shots never missed. Every bullet punched through a zombie’s skull.
Zing!
After clearing the zombies within fifty meters, Jinwoo reached up, opened the sunroof, and lifted the K2 through it. He stood up through the opening.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang-bang! Bang-bang-bang!
Leaning out the sunroof, Jinwoo swung the muzzle left and right, methodically and rapidly thinning the zombies to carve a path. They had gathered enough visual intel, but to deliver the message of rescue they needed to get closer to the firefly building.
“……First time I’ve felt this useless.”
Squeezed into the back seat with his shoulders hunched, Cho Cheol-woong muttered to himself. Unable to even swing his own weapon, the only thing he could do was shift his thighs whenever Jinwoo’s boots slipped, keeping the younger man from falling.
Yet they had already reached this far and the number of zombies had visibly decreased. It was both astonishing and impressive. All thanks to this unexpected car and the private’s unbelievable marksmanship.
Bang! Bang-bang! Bang! Bang-bang-bang! Click! Bang-bang! Bang! Bang-bang-bang!
Jinwoo kept firing, swapping magazines without pause, steadily reducing the surrounding zombies. Whenever a zombie entered the beam of the flashlight mounted under his barrel, a shot rang out and brains sprayed.
A moment later they reached the edge of the densest zombie horde. From the start of the high-beam light to its end, the road was filled with grotesquely twisted zombie faces, and the stench was enough to numb their noses.
Screeeeech!
The Sheriff spun the wheel hard, bringing the car to a stop perpendicular to the road, and covered his nose with his forearm.
“Ugh, that smell! Goddamn, it reeks! If we go any farther we’ll get tangled up with them! Turning around?”
Several zombies had already turned to look, tilting their heads at odd angles. If they suddenly roared and charged as a pack, they would have to floor it immediately.
“Just let me say one thing to those soldiers!”
Jinwoo, still half out the sunroof, paused his shooting and shouted. This was the moment for the Sheriff’s booming voice. During the brief sweep of the high beams, Jinwoo had seen the exhausted, terrified faces of the soldiers. He wanted to give them hope. The Sheriff asked,
“What should I say? ‘We’ll save you’ okay?”
“Yeah! Keep it short! They probably won’t hear much anyway!”
The zombies’ growls and roars mixed into a deafening chorus. The soldiers, who had been enduring that noise plus gunfire all afternoon, would have even worse hearing than them.
Beeeeeeeeep! Beeeeeeeep!
After opening with a long blast of the horn, the Sheriff leaned out the window and bellowed at the top of his lungs.
“Heyyyyy! We’re coming to save youuuu! Just hold on a little longer!”
The shout boomed over the zombies’ growling and echoed down the street.
Grraaaah! Graaak!
The number of zombies turning toward them instantly multiplied. Still uneasy, the Sheriff took a deep breath and shouted again.
“Did you hear me? We’re saving you! If you heard that, flash your lights!”
Flash! Flash! Flash! Blink, blink, blink! Blink!
A frantic storm of flashing lights erupted on the roof of the billiard hall, like an idol concert. Each tiny spark felt like a desperate prayer. There was no longer any doubt the message had gotten through.
“Hang in there a little longer! We’ll be right back!”
Grraaaaaah!
The final echo of the Sheriff’s lion-like roar was drowned out by dozens of zombie howls. The moment the zombies began charging in a frenzy, he slammed the accelerator and wrenched the wheel right.
Vroooom!
A thunderous roar burst from the Genesis Coupe’s muffler as the turbo engine hurled the car dozens of meters forward in an instant.
Bang-bang! Bang! Bang-bang!
Jinwoo, still outside the sunroof, kept pulling the trigger even as the sudden acceleration rocked him, clearing the zombies blocking their escape route.
“Turning! Hold on!”
The Sheriff warned Jinwoo before yanking the wheel at the intersection.
Screech! Vroooom!
Braking into the corner, the Sheriff accelerated again the moment they hit the straightaway, shaking off the zombies that had been chasing them. It wasn’t time for a dangerous game of tag yet.
Bang-bang! Bang! Bang!
After finishing off the last persistent zombies, Jinwoo stopped shooting and dropped back into his seat. Then, as if nothing had happened, he calmly began reloading an empty magazine.
“Pass.”
Cho Cheol-woong, who had been watching the Sheriff and Jinwoo’s teamwork, spoke with satisfaction. In a situation where even special forces operators would have frozen under the gaze of thousands of zombies, the sheer nerve to shout and the skill to slip away unscathed were both impressive. They really were the men he had marked.
“All right, let’s go get the truck!”
The Sheriff, driving in reverse along Neungdong-ro toward Gunja Station, turned right. After passing a supermarket and continuing another hundred meters down a fire road littered with zombie corpses, the auto repair shop with the white Porter truck came into view.
Screech!
The Sheriff pulled up right beside the truck and opened his door. Having seen those desperate flashing lights begging for help, wasting any more time felt like a crime.
“Whew……”
Choi Ha-sa climbed out through the folded passenger seat, wiping sweat from his face and exhaling deeply. He had endured plenty of grueling training, but being trapped unable to move while driving right up to thousands of zombies had been genuinely chilling. For those few minutes his life had been entirely in the hands of that massive driver.
God……
Choi Ha-sa drew in a deep breath of free air and stretched his chest. It had been a long time since he had felt how precious it was to be able to hold and fire his own weapon however he wanted.
“The key really is in the ignition.”
Cho Cheol-woong muttered in disbelief after opening the truck door. Choi Ha-sa dashed into the repair shop and shouted,
“I’ll find a battery that fits!”
He switched on the flashlight mounted on his MP5 and scanned the battery shelves from top to bottom.
“There should be a spec chart somewhere…… Porter battery size……”
While Choi Ha-sa swept his muzzle around searching for a label, the Sheriff walked up from behind and casually picked up a battery.
“Don’t bother. Porter takes a 90R.”
“You sure?”
Choi Ha-sa asked skeptically. The Sheriff clicked his tongue and rummaged through a toolbox.
“I’m sure.”
He had replaced worn-out work-truck batteries enough times to remember clearly.
“I’ll handle this. You two just keep watch. Don’t spook any zombies and make them notice us.”
After setting the new battery down on the right side of the truck, the Sheriff sat and began loosening bolts with a wrench. While he worked, Jinwoo emptied a stainless-steel bucket and dumped all the cigarettes from his and the Sheriff’s packs into it. It would be a shame to the Sheriff, but if they lit this and left it in the coupe’s trunk, it would make an excellent zombie lure.
“Can you drive a truck?”
Jinwoo asked Cho Cheol-woong and Choi Ha-sa after loading the bucket of cigarettes into the coupe’s trunk and rigging a hook on the trunk latch. Choi Ha-sa nodded without hesitation.
“It’s…… basically like a Bongo, right?”
He hadn’t driven one often, but it wasn’t a heavy vehicle and anyone with a regular license could handle it.
“Then you two take the truck. We’ll handle the lure.”
Jinwoo accepted the arrangement immediately and pointed at the Genesis Coupe.
“We’ll drive that car, smoke the cigarettes, and draw as many zombies as possible toward Konkuk University. We should be able to pull at least eighty percent of them. You two wait with the truck until the zombies thin out, then head to the billiard hall and get the soldiers out.”
“Hold on. You said we’re taking those soldiers to the Konkuk shelter, but if you head that way too, won’t our routes overlap?”
Cho Cheol-woong asked. Jinwoo picked up a screwdriver and drew a line on the wall while explaining.
“The roads around the Konkuk shelter have already been cleared for vehicles. We’ll drive all the way to Konkuk University Station, turn right onto Dongil-ro, and lead the zombies south. That should give you enough room to load twenty soldiers onto the roof of the shelter building.”
“Fine. Just don’t forget to radio before you head back.”
After reviewing Jinwoo’s plan, Cho Cheol-woong gave his approval. Even if they couldn’t lure every zombie in one go, repeating the maneuver a couple of times would do the job.
Grind-grind-grind!
Meanwhile, the Sheriff finished replacing the truck’s battery, climbed into the driver’s seat, and turned the key. The engine started without issue and the lights worked, but the fuel gauge was pinned at empty.
“Ah, shit…… We’re running on fumes. Should’ve filled up earlier. Sir! This thing’s about to die, so keep that in mind when you drive, yeah?”
The Sheriff muttered a curse and handed the wheel over to Choi Ha-sa.
“Got it.”
Choi Ha-sa set his personal weapon beside him and gripped the steering wheel.
“Okay! I’m heading out first, so back up and follow me!”
The Sheriff leaned out the window of the Genesis Coupe and shouted. As he executed a wide U-turn, a heavy sound came from the truck behind them.
Thud!