The White Porter and the Wizard's Gun (6)
"What the hell?"
The startled Sheriff slammed on the brakes and flicked his gaze to the rearview mirror. Jinwoo, who had been watching the rear the entire time, muttered with concern.
"...Staff Sergeant Choi backed the truck into a utility pole while pulling out."
"What?"
The Sheriff frowned and opened the driver's door. In that time, Staff Sergeant Choi changed gears with a tense expression and drove the truck forward again.
Vroooom—!
The truck inched forward. Very slowly. Then it immediately began reversing again. There had still been plenty of space ahead!
"Hey, mister! Looks like you haven't driven one of these before!"
The Sheriff strode toward the truck with heavy steps, his loud voice scolding. Staff Sergeant Choi, his face bright red, stuck his hand out the window and waved it frantically.
"It's not that! It's just unfamiliar, so don't worry about it and go! Once I get the feel for it, I'll get used to it quick!"
But to be honest, it was a bit tricky. Of course, with the motor skills that had gotten him selected for the special forces, there was no reason he couldn't handle a one-ton truck. Yet that single small mistake of hitting the pole while reversing had left him rattled.
It had been months since he'd last sat in a driver's seat, the narrow visibility on this pitch-black street with no streetlights was uncomfortable, and truthfully he had never driven a Porter much even before. Moreover... the man sitting right beside him was none other than Major Cho Cheol-woong, the fiercest tiger in the entire 707 Special Mission Group.
Screeech—! Vroooom—! Screeech—!
Staff Sergeant Choi struggled to execute a clean U-turn in the narrow alley, forced to inch forward and back multiple times. The fear that one more collision would get the steering wheel taken away made him overly cautious, and the longer the wasted time dragged on, the heavier the pressure grew.
"Ugh, no! No way! Mister, get out! With skills like that you'll be the one needing rescue! If you stall in the middle of the zombies, you're all dead!"
The Sheriff grumbled in frustration and grabbed the handle of the truck's driver-side door.
Clunk—!
Before Staff Sergeant Choi could offer any excuse, the Sheriff flung the door open and pointed at the Genesis Coupe.
"Switch roles! You guys lure the zombies with that thing, and we'll take this truck to pick those people up."
"No, I can do it! It's just been a while, you punk!"
Staff Sergeant Choi protested, feeling strangely demoted, but the Sheriff refused to budge.
"What can you even do? Turning the car around in an empty alley already took forever! You think you can drive over zombie corpses without hitting any? What if the truck flips? Stop being stubborn and get down already! That one's smaller, so it's easier. Drive that! Oh, and it's automatic, mister."
He was openly disregarding him now.
'I'm from the 707 Special Mission Group, you bastard! You think I can't drive something like this?'
Swear words of protest rose in Staff Sergeant Choi's throat. In his entire life, he'd never been looked down on for his physical abilities. But because of the guilt from misjudging the truck's length and lightly clipping the pole earlier, he couldn't bring himself to say it out loud.
"Leave him alone! If it's really not working, I can drive!"
Major Cho Cheol-woong stepped forward to defend his subordinate. It still wasn't enough to break the Sheriff's stubbornness.
"No, you have to shoot, mister. What are you talking about driving for? A man your age! Come on, come on! ...Ugh, stop wasting time with this crap! If those people from earlier die because of this, it'll be on all of you!"
In the blink of an eye the Sheriff had treated Major Cho like an old man and pounded his own chest in frustration. Jinwoo had already gathered all his gear and was ready to switch to the truck. It seemed he, too, had decided that kind of driving skill would be a problem.
"I don't know the area. What do you expect me to do driving that? It's better if you guys take the lead!"
Forced out of the driver's seat, Staff Sergeant Choi raised his voice. He had offered a fairly logical excuse, but it didn't work on the calm Jinwoo either.
"There's hardly any geography to know. Turn right at the Gunde intersection onto Dongil-ro, follow that road south and it leads straight to Yeongdong Bridge. Lure them that way, accelerate, make a detour, and break free."
"You'll have to keep checking the rearview mirror to maintain distance because they'll follow the cigarette smoke. Match your speed to them, mister! If you just floor it, the zombies will stop halfway. Oh, and don't blow grenades or anything trying to kill them in big groups. If corpses are scattered everywhere the truck can't drive straight. Hit one wrong and lose control and it'll flip right over."
The Sheriff kept lecturing. Staff Sergeant Choi, who had suffered the bizarre demotion from truck driver to Genesis Coupe driver, clenched his teeth and answered.
"...You think I wouldn't know that much?"
"Hey, don't get mad! We're all here to do something good!"
The Sheriff, speaking however he pleased, gave Staff Sergeant Choi a couple of pats on the shoulder and added one more thing.
"Oh, and you saw that supermarket at the entrance on the way here, right? Stop by on your way and grab a few cartons of cigarettes. We'll do the same."
Crunch—! Crunch—!
Jinwoo, now wearing goggles in the truck's passenger seat, immediately smashed the Porter's windshield with a box wrench.
"Hey, you bastard! What are you doing? Why does everyone act weird the second they get in that truck?"
The Sheriff asked with wide eyes. Jinwoo tapped his rifle.
"It's better without a windshield if I'm going to fire this. Sheriff, take your goggles out and wear them too."
Unlike the Genesis Coupe, which allowed 360-degree free fire through the sunroof, the Porter had far too limited firing angles. Removing the windshield was necessary for smooth forward shooting.
"Then I'll do it! Move!"
The Sheriff stepped up, slammed his sledgehammer down hard, then yanked.
Crunch—! Craaaack—!
The glass, now webbed with cracks and hanging in tatters, couldn't withstand the force and toppled forward completely.
Smash—!
The wiper caught on the falling glass snapped halfway and dangled loosely.
Thud—!
Jinwoo braced against the dashboard, leaned forward, and finished ripping the wiper away. It didn't look pretty, but it would be dangerous if it broke off and flew inside while they were driving at high speed.
As Jinwoo absentmindedly rested his palm on the dashboard, he accidentally turned the audio on. The CD inside began playing at low volume. The whistle, recognizable in a single second, was the intro to Pink Punch's massive hit from last year, Happy Girl.
♫ Wheee—! Whee—! ♫ Wheeeet—! ♫
Throwing the removed wiper to the floor, Jinwoo reflexively whistled along. The Sheriff, pulling goggles from his bag, and even Staff Sergeant Choi, who had been walking irritably toward the Genesis Coupe, all whistled the same melody. With that, their departure preparations were complete.
"...Why aren't they coming?"
Second Lieutenant Seong muttered anxiously on the roof of the billiard hall, rubbing his mouth.
The loud man from earlier had clearly promised to rescue them. He had told them to hold on just a little longer and wait... yet the road swallowed in darkness showed no sign of lighting up again. A faint light moved far away, but now he wasn't even sure if it truly belonged to that car from before.
'Did I... want to live so badly that I hallucinated the whole thing?'
Second Lieutenant Seong bit his dry lips. Seeing and hearing such vivid illusions was ridiculous, but by any rational measure, the sudden appearance of a rescue team in a car in zombie-infested Seoul was even less likely.
"Corporal Go... You saw that car earlier too, right? You definitely saw it, didn't you?"
Second Lieutenant Seong turned to the soldier beside him. He had already asked several times, but he still wanted to hear the affirmative answer once more.
"Yes! Yes, sir! I saw it, Platoon Leader!"
Not only Corporal Go, but every soldier around them nodded vigorously.
"Haa..."
That alone brought some relief, and a sigh escaped Second Lieutenant Seong. There was no way this many people would share the same hallucination at once. Therefore, that voice that sounded like a steam engine boiling over had to have been real. Please...!
Even as Second Lieutenant Seong and his platoon clung desperately to that hope, hundreds of zombies on the street ten meters below continued to shriek and leap without pause.
Graaaaargh—! Gaaaah—! Kwaaaargh—!
Every time the zombies' cries pierced their ears, the soldiers near the railing reflexively shone their flashlights downward. All it revealed was an endless stretch of rotting, twisted horrors, but they had no choice but to look with their own eyes to ease their anxiety. If they simply listened to the noise without looking, the terrible image of zombies climbing the walls would swell until it swallowed their minds.
"Save the batteries! Only one person per direction! Turn the rest off!"
Second Lieutenant Seong ordered, trying to calm the excited soldiers. If they all kept their flashlights on and pointed them meaninglessly at the zombies, they would be swallowed by darkness before they knew it.
Even so, he knew he was far from a wise leader. A truly wise leader would have prevented this tragedy of exhausting all ammunition and becoming trapped on a rooftop with no hope.
Thud—! Screeech—! Thud—!
From the stairwell came the continuous sound of heavy obstacles being dragged. They had worked together to pull the pool table over and block the landing, but it would soon be breached. Too many zombies had already gathered, and those things never seemed to give up.
"How's that side? Still... no problems?"
Second Lieutenant Seong asked the soldier guarding the roof door, his voice filled with desperate hope. The soldier with his hand on the door shouted back in a trembling voice.
"Yes! All clear! Not a single one has made it up yet!"
"Even so, don't let your guard down!"
His own orders sounded so meaningless that Second Lieutenant Seong felt a wave of self-loathing. What good would vigilant watching do? Once the zombies pushed the door open, it would all be over. The only weapons they could use were the butts of their K-2 rifles and bayonets.
If only we had grenades and launchers...
Gazing at the thousands of zombies spread out in an uncountable swarm below, Second Lieutenant Seong clicked his tongue. With that many zombies clustered right under their feet, a few grenades would turn the whole area into a carpet of zombie fragments...
They no longer had those useful weapons. They had been forcibly taken because they might damage Major Yoo So-jin's corpse. The only hope left to them now was that car that had briefly brushed past them and turned back earlier.
"...Ahem! Ahem!"
His painfully dry throat tickled, so Second Lieutenant Seong cleared it. Ever since they had first landed by the Han River, tension had left his throat burning, so he had kept drinking water. As a result, his canteen had run dry two hours ago. He wanted water. His throat was parched, he was cold... and scared. But what he longed for even more desperately was the desire to survive.
Please...! Please...!
Second Lieutenant Seong clenched his ice-cold hands and prayed inwardly. Please let the driver of that car not have been toying with them... Please let him return quickly to keep his promise... Please let that man have the ability to kill every last one of those countless zombies...
Who the driver of that strange car was didn't matter right now. He didn't even think about it. The only thing that mattered was that it represented the sole hope in this hopeless situation.
How many minutes of this heart-wrenching wait had passed?
Crash—! Crack—! Crash—! Rumble—! Thud—!
A spine-chilling sound rose from the floor below. Second Lieutenant Seong and his soldiers turned to each other with faces drained of color. That was... the sound of the pool table blocking the stair landing being pushed down the stairs.
"The d-door! The door! Block the door! Use your bodies! Hold it!"
Second Lieutenant Seong quickly turned toward the door and shouted orders at the soldiers. They had already dragged over every movable object and braced them against the handle and at angles, but it still felt precarious. If those zombies now racing up the stairs with that terrible noise managed to push the door open, it would be the end.
"Ughhh!"
A sob burst out from somewhere in the darkness. Immediately the weeping spread everywhere. They wore military uniforms, but without bullets they were nothing more than twenty-year-old boys. Second Lieutenant Seong wanted to cry too. That was when it happened.
"P-Platoon Leader! Look! Look over there! It's coming! It's here!"
At the same time someone shrieked in a metallic voice, a loud engine roar pierced through the zombies' howls.
Bwaaaaaaaaang—! Oooooong—!
The moment he heard that majestic exhaust note, like the thunder god descending, goosebumps erupted across Second Lieutenant Seong's entire body.
It had really come!
His desperate wish had become reality. Tears suddenly welled up, blurring the headlights into streaks of light. Even that looked beautiful, like an angel of light.
Swipe—!
Second Lieutenant Seong wiped his tears with his sleeve and rapidly flicked his flashlight on and off. Since he had told them to do this earlier, he hoped repeating the signal would convey that they wanted rescue.
"We're here! Over here!"
"Save us! Please save us!"
The excited soldiers jumped up and down, screaming at the top of their lungs. As the car drew closer, their voices grew even louder.
"You guys go block the door! The door is what matters!"
Second Lieutenant Seong urgently sent the thrilled soldiers back to the door. No matter how close the rescue team was, if that door opened everything would turn to nothing. They could not lose their reason now.
Bwaaaaaaaaang—!
In the meantime the car in question hugged the left side of the road, closing the distance, and the smell of cigarette smoke carried by the wind reached all the way to the rooftop where the soldiers were trapped.
"...This smell?"
The soldiers frowned, doubting their own noses. Such a strong cigarette odor! They had been taught over and over that they must never smoke around zombies!
Graaaaaaargh—! Graaaaaah—!
Sure enough, the zombies surrounding the building began to react. The impatient ones were already shoving their fellow zombies aside and running toward the direction the car was approaching from.
Screeech—!
The Genesis Coupe that had stopped after making a U-turn two hundred meters from the zombies began pouring an enormous cloud of cigarette smoke from its trunk, billowing out like dry ice. Combined with the glow of the red taillights, the dramatic effect was multiplied several times over.
Clunk—!
The passenger door opened and a man who looked like a soldier despite wearing civilian clothes and carrying military gear stepped out. The man of ambiguous identity placed something on the road and returned to the car.
Whiiiish—!
The wind suddenly changed direction, mercilessly carrying the cigarette smell over the zombies' heads. The thousands of zombies encircling the billiard hall building all let out a single massive roar.
Graaaaaaaaah—!
As the zombies dragged out long howls like tails and charged toward the cigarette smoke, the man in the passenger seat opened fire with his MP5, dropping the ones in the front row.
Rat-tat-tat—! Rat-tat—! Rat-tat-tat—! Rat-tat-tat—!
The gunshots themselves were nearly silent, yet muzzle flashes erupted from the barrel and zombies fell like leaves in autumn. After clearing the nearby zombies, the man sprayed another burst toward the stopped cars. Then, a moment later—
Thud—!
The car that had taken the passenger-seat man back aboard drove off at a moderate speed with a huge swarm of zombies trailing behind it like a tail.
Whiiiish—!
After the thick cigarette smell that had filled the street was blown away by the wind, the dazed Second Lieutenant Seong screamed as if in agony.
"...How can you just leave like that! Hey! You said you'd save us!"
The thousands of zombies had been reduced by the hundreds, but escaping under their own power was still impossible. Moreover, this time there hadn't even been a promise that it would return.
"Aaaargh!"
Strength instantly drained from Second Lieutenant Seong. He covered his face with both hands. He had hoped it might make a U-turn and come back, but the loud engine noise only grew more distant. As the entire rooftop fell into a despairing silence, someone shouted.
"It's here again! Platoon Leader! It's here again!"
"Huh? It's here?"
Second Lieutenant Seong lifted his head with wide eyes. A single vehicle was racing toward them, emitting a truly dazzling light. This time it was the white Porter.