RE: Survival - Chapter 35

“Locked.”

“Move.”

“Wait, oppa, there are four more over here!” Seri shouted as she spotted zombies approaching from a distance. Yohan immediately designated Hajin.

“Hajin, handle it. Seri, hold your position and keep watching the left flank.”

Hajin turned from the path he was clearing, grabbed a wheeled emergency stretcher lying nearby, and pushed it with full force, slamming all four zombies into the wall. He then swung his long kukri sword in a wide arc, severing all four of their necks in one strike.

“…A modern-day Lü Bu, right in front of us,” Sweeper quipped.

“More like Zhang Fei, visually speaking,” Yohan replied with a smirk.

“True, we could station him at Changban Bridge,” Sweeper added.

Hajin returned, shaking blood off his blade. “What are you guys talking about?”

“Nothing at all,” Yohan said nonchalantly.

Seri, giggling nearby, betrayed them. “They said you’re like a charging boar, Hajin oppa.”

“What?! That’s not even remotely what we said!” Sweeper protested, flustered, while Yohan quietly stepped aside.

“For the record, I was just adding some commentary,” Yohan muttered.

Sweeper, left to face Hajin’s glare alone, could only grimace. But the tense atmosphere snapped back as more zombies approached.

“Damn bastards. Don’t even give us time to breathe,” Sweeper muttered, gripping his hand axe tightly. Then, with a shout, “Though they’re already rotting anyway!” he launched himself into the fray, starting another brutal battle.

The group worked their way through the hospital, clearing zombies until they reached the main entrance. One door remained—the last obstacle to sealing off all entry points.

“What about this revolving door?” Sweeper asked.

“Check the bottom right. There should be a latch,” Yohan replied.

While Sweeper worked to secure the door, the rest of the team fended off a steady trickle of zombies. Though the flow wasn’t overwhelming, the repetitive effort of swinging their weapons left them drenched in sweat and fatigued.

Sweeper finished securing the door and joined the fight, scowling as he assessed the situation. “This place is too big. It’s not worth the effort for what little we’re getting. Might be better to set up elsewhere.”

Yohan shook his head. “A general hospital may be large, but it’s a strategic location. Survivors will keep coming here, and the medical supplies make it a valuable asset.”

After about an hour, most of the visible zombies had been dealt with. The group, panting and exhausted, paused to catch their breath. Watching a lone zombie stagger toward them, Sweeper remarked, “Is that the last one on this floor?”

“There’s one way to be sure,” Yohan said, drawing his handgun. As the zombie approached—20 meters, 10 meters—*bang!* The gunshot dropped it.

“Wasting ammo,” Sweeper grumbled.

“It’s worth it to draw out any hidden zombies,” Yohan replied calmly.

Sure enough, distant groans echoed as more zombies emerged, drawn by the noise. The group groaned in frustration but got back on their feet.

After finishing the first floor, they took a short break. Despite expecting the zombie wave to have thinned the horde, the sheer number still left was staggering. As Sweeper had noted, the effort was taking a toll on their stamina.

And there was still the matter of the remaining eleven floors.

Even Yohan, usually indefatigable, sighed at the daunting task. They reached a unanimous decision: clear the second floor, which housed various treatment departments, and the third floor, where the medical storage, operating rooms, and intensive care units were located. The upper floors would remain sealed for gradual clearing later.

The group, tired of staying in the cramped cafeteria, decided the ICU would suffice as a temporary living area.

Sitting amidst the zombie corpses in the hospital lobby, they chewed on jerky they had brought. Yohan joked, pointing to a decapitated zombie, “The color matches the jerky.” The others grimaced.

Once rested, the group headed up the stairs to the second floor. Sweeper, leading the way, opened the heavy steel door cautiously and froze.

“Holy shit…”

Behind the door, dozens—no, perhaps a hundred—zombies with dark, bloodshot eyes turned toward them in unison. The eerie sight sent chills down their spines.

“Why are there so many?!” Seri exclaimed.

The moment Sweeper attempted to shut the door, the zombies lunged. One snapped its teeth so close to his outstretched hand that his protective gear barely saved him from a bite.

“Sweeper, get down!” Yohan shouted.

Pushing back the advancing zombies with one foot, Yohan slung his rifle from his shoulder and switched it to automatic mode. In a fluid sequence of movements, he loaded, aimed, and began firing.

*Tat-tat-tat!* The rifle spat bullets, mowing down zombies as they pressed forward.

Sweeper ducked and retreated as Yohan’s barrage carved a path through the horde. Seizing the opportunity, Sweeper stabbed a zombie in the head and used its corpse as a makeshift barricade. Seri and Hajin quickly followed suit.

Yet the zombies kept coming, and to make matters worse, additional zombies began descending from the third floor.

“Yohan! We need to retreat! We’re about to get flanked!” Sweeper yelled.

“Damn it,” Yohan cursed, biting his lip. Their defensive line was being pushed back. Without sealing the second-floor door, retreating would mean losing control of the third floor entirely.

Just then, a group of seven men and women came running up the stairs.

“…You guys?”

“We’ll hold the stairs!” one of them shouted.

Yohan paused in surprise before nodding. Zombies descending through the stairwell could only come two or three at a time. Even untrained survivors could handle that if paired up.

“You’re promising,” Yohan muttered under his breath, barely loud enough to hear.

“Let’s go.”

“Time to sweep them out,” he ordered. Sweeper, ever eager, charged ahead with enthusiasm.

—

The ICU doors creaked open, and the group spilled inside. As the doors shut behind them, they collapsed against walls and furniture, utterly spent.

Their weapons were caked with layers of dried zombie blood, clinging in clumps.

“Thanks to your cooperation, this was much easier. We’re grateful,” Yohan said.

“We only did what was right,” Gap-soo replied.

“It was a great help. We didn’t expect such a large concentration of zombies.”

“We’d never opened the second-floor door before. If we had… it would’ve been a disaster.”

With the tension lifted, the survivors huddled in small groups, chatting as they rested. Seri, ever social, was already deep in conversation with the women from Gap-soo’s group. They spoke admiringly of her bravery and skill, throwing out words like “amazing” and “fearless.” Seri basked in the praise, chattering animatedly.

Meanwhile, Dr. Park Jae-beom and Nurse Jung Sun-young busied themselves gathering medical supplies. At Yohan’s request, they aimed to collect as much as possible to supplement the meager stockpile at the supermarket camp.

“Nurse Jung, make sure to grab plenty of dressing supplies. Oh, and we could use more anti-inflammatory drugs and tetanus shots. Is my field bag still in the office?” the doctor asked.

“Yes, should I get it for you?” she offered.

“Please.”

As Nurse Jung headed for the door, Yohan stopped her. “Don’t go alone yet. Hajin, go with her.”

Without a word, Hajin rose and accompanied her to the office. Nurse Jung gave a small bow of gratitude before leading the way.

Once preparations were complete, Yohan gave the order to return. Before leaving, he reminded the hospital survivors of a few precautions.

“We’ve done a fair bit of clearing, but there are still some zombies left, so don’t let your guard down. Clean up the corpses as best as you can. Keep all emergency exits locked, and always have someone on watch. We’ll leave the supplies we brought, so you should be good until tomorrow.”

“Understood… thank you. But why leave zombies alive at all?” Gap-soo asked.

“Think of it as insurance,” Yohan replied cryptically.

Gap-soo didn’t press further. “I’m sure you have your reasons. Thank you again.”

He clasped Yohan’s hand with both of his, shaking it firmly. Yohan grinned.

“Take good care of the doctor. He’s invaluable.”

Just as Yohan and his team were about to leave the hospital, a voice crackled through his radio.

– *“Hyung!”*

It was Jung-hwan, his voice slightly frantic. Yohan immediately responded.

“This is Yohan. Is the camp okay?”

– *“Hyung, well…”*

“Speak. I’m listening.”

– *“You’d better come back quickly.”*

“I’m on my way. What’s happening?”

– *“There are two problems. First, some new survivors arrived—two groups. One seems to be regular refugees, so we disarmed them and told them to wait for you. But the other group…”*

Yohan waited, his gut tightening. Could it be the raiders already?

– *“The other group is soldiers. They’ve shown up at the camp.”*

Soldiers?

Yohan’s expression darkened. The military was the last group he wanted to deal with right now. He hadn’t even fully assessed the painted raiders yet, and now this. His head began to throb at the thought of yet another unpredictable variable.

“I’m coming. Tell them to stay calm and wait for me.”

– *“Yes, but please hurry. They’re trying to take our supplies!”*

Damn it. They’re trying to take food we worked so hard to secure? Yohan’s grip on the radio tightened, veins bulging on his hand.

“What’s wrong?” Sweeper asked.

“We’ve got unwelcome guests at the camp,” Yohan replied curtly.

Even his usually composed demeanor betrayed his unease, and his team felt a wave of tension.

The scouting team hastily began their return. Though the hospital was a 15-minute walk from the camp, they had taken their time on the way there, quietly clearing zombies as they went. Now, they moved aggressively, cutting through any zombies in their path without hesitation. Their bold advance attracted a growing horde of undead trailing behind them.

Five minutes away from the camp, Yohan suddenly stopped, swapped his magazine, and fired at a zombie 50 meters ahead. The echoing gunshot rang through the streets.

“What the hell?!” Seri exclaimed, startled.

From every corner, zombies began crawling out, drawn by the noise. Their numbers swelled, resembling a small-scale zombie wave.

“You all head straight to the camp. I’ll circle around and meet you there,” Yohan said, his tone unnervingly casual, as though he were going for a leisurely stroll.

His team gawked at him in disbelief.

“Can you explain what’s going on for once?!” Seri shouted.

“Just go. Trust he has a plan,” Hajin said, pulling Seri along.

The horde continued to grow, and the team realized they couldn’t afford to waste time. Following Yohan’s orders, they ran toward the camp, questions swirling in their minds.