The Mad Dash
Crunch!Thud! (3)
“Huuuah……!”
The mere sound of the voice lifted a massive weight from his shoulders. Sheriff let out a small sigh of relief. The moment he hit the intersection, he wrenched the steering wheel hard to the left without a second thought.
Screeeech—!
The tires howled as the truck fishtailed, but it didn’t matter. He finally knew exactly where he was going.
Tatatat—! Tat—! Tat—!
Jinwoo’s K2 barked toward the zombies ahead, its rhythm somehow lighter than before.
“It’s possible! Fuck, it’s definitely possible!”
Sheriff mashed the transmit button and shouted the word first, then asked the question.
“Jungnangcheon—how the hell do we get there?”
—Chiiik! You turned at Daegongwon Intersection, right? Just keep going straight on that road! Straight all the way…… chiiik!
“Huh?”
Sheriff’s brow furrowed. He had expected some clever workaround, not just “keep driving forward.”
“This road’s blocked after the next block, isn’t it?”
Beyond Dongil-ro the streets were still uncleared—cars sat abandoned, clogging every lane. The truck would never make it through. From that point on they would be racing the horde on foot.
—Chijik……! That’s right! There’s a blockage a little past the intersection! But chiiik…… come anyway! Once you reach us, we’ll take responsibility! Got it? Chijik…… Head this way! We’ll keep the flashlights on—just follow the light! We’re getting ready too! Chiiik……!
While Yubin kept repeating the same urgent instructions, Sheriff and Jinwoo exchanged a brief glance. Five hundred meters at most until Dongil-ro. Once they passed that line, there would be no turning back. By then the entire Gwangnaru-ro would be swarming with zombies.
Nod—
Jinwoo gave a short nod, agreeing to follow Yubin’s plan. He raised his rifle again and fired at the zombies lining the roadside.
Tat—! Taang—! Tang! Taang—!
The zombies they had scattered earlier were now returning in force, pouring out from every side street. The worst part was that this road had been the clearest stretch they had seen all night.
“Agh, fuck it, I don’t know anymore!”
Sheriff cursed under his breath and stomped harder on the accelerator. He keyed the radio again.
“Fine! We’re coming!”
It made no sense to charge straight into a blocked road, but if it was Yubin—the worrywart with the good head on his shoulders—then he must have already prepared a way out.
Vroooom—!
The diesel engine roared. The zombies’ howls began to fade behind them.
Graaaah……!
Crunch—!
A zombie that had leapt at the truck from the side smashed the side mirror and tumbled away. The speedometer read only 55 km/h, yet the combination of obstacles and total darkness made it feel like 120.
Skrrrt—! Vroooom—! Skrrrt—!
Every time Sheriff swerved around a zombie, the rear of the truck swayed wildly. He kept wrestling the wheel left and right, pushing the vehicle as fast as it would go. Every second they gained now would buy precious time for the soldiers in the back.
“There! That must be it!”
Jinwoo pointed toward eleven o’clock. He immediately shouldered the K2 again and dropped another cluster of zombies.
Tat—! Taang—! Tatat—! Tang—! Tang—!
While the gunfire echoed, Sheriff spotted the light as well and broke into a grin.
“Yeah, I see it!”
The high beams made the distant flashes look faint, but something was definitely blinking at regular intervals in the darkness ahead.
They were roughly 150 meters from Hwayang Intersection. Just as Sheriff began to ease off the gas, Yubin’s voice crackled over the radio again.
—Chiiik……! Sheriff! I can see your lights! Stop the truck right there and run straight to me! Chijik……!
“Where the hell are you?”
Only a hundred meters remained. All Sheriff could see were stalled cars, dark buildings, and the flickering flashlight beams. He had no idea where Yubin was hiding.
—Chijik……! You’ll see once you get closer! Ah, chiiik…… and don’t turn off the lights—just keep coming! Chijik……!
The intersection drew nearer. The road narrowed. Zombie corpses—freshly shot—began appearing one after another. Someone had already cleared a path for them.
“Haa……!”
Sheriff took a deep breath. Not having zombies charging straight at them felt like pure bliss.
“Hey, Yubin! I still got cigarettes left in the truck! Want me to light one up before I bail?”
Yubin’s answer was immediate.
—Chiiik……! Just leave it! The Major still has to come this way too! Chijik……!
They couldn’t afford to attract more zombies. That meant they would have to outrun the horde on foot—and Sheriff wasn’t sure they could.
“How far back are the zombies?!”
Before hitting the brakes, Sheriff shouted at Jinwoo. Jinwoo leaned out the window, swept the flashlight mounted on his rifle, then yelled back.
“More than two hundred meters!”
If the human measuring tape said so, it was reliable. Sheriff eased off the accelerator and tried to do the math in his head while his nerves screamed.
Assuming zombies cover a hundred meters in just under eleven seconds…… two hundred meters would take them twenty-two. Stopping the truck and getting everyone out would take at least ten seconds…… twenty-two minus ten leaves twelve. If they could run a hundred meters in fourteen seconds, then the time they’d be caught……
“Agh, fuck this! Why’s it so complicated?!”
Sheriff gave up. He had no idea what variables to use or what equation to plug them into. Twelve years of math class and he still couldn’t do basic zombie arithmetic.
Flash—! Flash—!
The blinking lights were now sharp and clear. Three men in black special-forces uniforms stood on the roof of a bus, signaling with flashlights.
“Listen up! The truck’s gonna stop in a second! Hold on tight!”
Right before full braking, Sheriff bellowed instructions to the soldiers in the cargo bed.
“The second it stops, jump out and run forward! Run like your lives depend on it! You hear me?!”
He gripped the wheel and slammed the brake pedal. Jinwoo clutched the grab handle on the passenger side.
Screeeeech—!
The white Porter skidded, tires screaming, before jerking to a halt just two meters short of the stalled cars blocking the road.
Thud—!
Sheriff and Jinwoo threw their doors open and leapt out like the wind.
“Everybody out! Move! Fast!”
Sheriff waved the soldiers down with the sledgehammer in one hand while Jinwoo swept his flashlight in every direction, checking for hidden zombies.
Thump—! Thump—! Thud—! Thump—!
Soldiers jumped from every side of the truck. A few lost their balance and landed on their backsides, but none caused real trouble.
“Go! Follow me and keep your lights on my back! We’re taking the center lane!”
The special-forces men who had been signaling leapt off the bus and shouted. Every other lane was blocked; the only clear path was the middle. The obstacles weren’t sophisticated—just cars with their doors wired open as crude barricades.
“How far?”
“Three hundred meters! Not far!”
When Jinwoo asked, the lead special-forces soldier gave a short answer and took off running.
Flash—! Flash—!
Something on his back and helmet reflected the truck’s headlights in bright, rhythmic bursts—an unmistakable trail marker.
Tap-tap-tap-tap—!
Dozens of combat boots pounded the quiet night. Flashlight beams swung wildly. The rescued soldiers gritted their teeth and ran, terrified of falling behind. They had made it this far thanks to the white Porter; none of them wanted to die here.
“I’ll cover the rear—don’t be scared, just run!”
Jinwoo tried to drop back, but the two remaining special-forces soldiers clapped his shoulders.
“You go too, Private Park! We’ve got this!”
Will they be okay?
Jinwoo hesitated, eyeing their gear. Even if they had shaken the main horde, more than a hundred zombies were still chasing the truck. Two MP5s alone might not be enough to hold them on open ground.
“Just go! There are more of our guys up there too!”
Sheriff grabbed Jinwoo’s arm and pointed at the roof of a five-story building on the right.
“Huh?”
Jinwoo looked up. Two more special-forces soldiers were already positioned there. How Sheriff had spotted them in the pitch-black without any lights was beyond him.
Creak—! Clack—! Thud—!
Behind them, the remaining operators were wiring car doors shut with blue tape, sealing off the side lanes.
“How did you know they were on the roof?”
Jinwoo asked as they ran alongside the soldiers. Sheriff answered like it was nothing.
“Why wouldn’t I? Even if I can’t see them clearly, I can feel something moving up there.”
The same thing had happened in the subway station earlier. This guy really did have animal instincts.
“Sheriff! Over here!”
After running about a hundred meters behind the special-forces lead, a familiar voice called out from up ahead. Yubin stood on the roof of a car roughly two hundred meters away, waving both arms. He had wrapped his upper body in a silver emergency blanket like a hood.
Flash—! Flash—!
Every time he moved, the blanket caught the light and sparkled brilliantly. Something reflective was also strapped to both of his arms, drawing every eye. He hadn’t been lying when he said they would see him once they got close.
“Run! You’re almost there!”
Master Sergeant Hong’s booming voice urged the soldiers on from beside Yubin. At almost the same moment, a chorus of zombie roars erupted from behind them.
Graaaah—! Clang—! Thud—!
The lead zombies slammed into the barricades and fell. The soldiers instinctively glanced back; a few froze in place.
“Huuuh!”
“Keep running! Don’t stop!”
Sheriff shoved the frozen soldiers forward. With this many people to evacuate, he couldn’t afford to babysit anyone who panicked.
“Ah! Yes, sir! Yes!”
Luckily, no one completely broke down. The soldiers kept glancing nervously over their shoulders while sprinting at full speed.
Tap-tap! Tatatat! Tatatat! Tadadak—!
More zombies entered the truck’s high-beam range. The operators on the rooftops opened up with three-round bursts from their MP5s. Four flashlights swung in the darkness—apparently the two who had been wiring the cars had joined the rooftop snipers.
Tadadak—! Tatata—! Tadadak—!
Short, sharp gunfire continued. Zombies dropped with holes in their heads. The 707 operators lived up to their reputation. Seeing corpses piling up on car hoods and roofs, Jinwoo relaxed and kept running with the soldiers. That should buy them at least ten more seconds.
“You guys okay? Anyone hurt?”
Yubin asked when the two friends reached him. They had come close to dying several times, yet Sheriff answered with his usual cocky snort.
“You think we’d get hurt doing something this easy?”
Woof—!
Samsuk-i, reunited with Jinwoo after their brief separation, spun in excited circles.
“All right, all right, Samsuk. I’ll hug you later. Right now you gotta run too!”
“Get in here! Come this way—it’s safe!”
As the soldiers drew near, Hong leapt off the car and sprinted toward the parking ramp of the largest modern building nearby, shouting encouragement.
Why here?
The soldiers following him felt a flicker of fear. Running into a building was safer than staying in the alley, but they had just escaped a billiard hall—none of them wanted to be trapped again. Especially not in a glass-walled building full of stairwells that would be impossible to defend……
Their worries proved unfounded. After sprinting down the long parking ramp, the building’s rear exit came into view. Beyond it lay a gentle slope leading straight to the Jungnangcheon elevated walkway. In effect, one corner of the building had been left completely open across an entire block.
“Run! We just have to clear this hill!”
Hong demonstrated by charging straight to the top, then turned and clapped his hands, urging the soldiers onward.
“Haa! Haa……!”
The slope wasn’t particularly steep. The soldiers panted hard but climbed quickly.
Flash—! Flash—!
Below, on the riverbank, the special-forces team waiting in the rubber boats flashed their lights to mark their position.
“Down we go! We’re taking those boats!”
Hong slapped the hesitant soldiers on the back, driving them down the slope. From the top of the hill to the boats was less than forty meters. The few zombies that had been wandering among the cars had already been dealt with.
“Uwaaaah!”
The soldiers shouted to shake off their fear, vaulted the railing, and slid down the grassy slope. They splashed through the shallows and scrambled aboard the rubber boats one after another. The hastily improvised rescue—Plan C—had succeeded.
……This guy.
Watching the first rubber boat slowly pull into the center of the river, Hong glanced sideways at Yubin, the architect of Plan C.
He’s not ordinary. Just what the hell is he?