Chapter 78
The three of them advanced cautiously, ensuring no enemy slipped past their mercenaries. The remaining team members were stationed outside, tasked with keeping the zombies at bay during the battle.
Both the front and side doors were locked. Just as Yohan was about to signal for someone to break a window, Sergeant Ong’s voice crackled through the radio.
-Captain, there’s a metal ladder on the left.
Yohan turned to Chul-gu, who nodded in understanding. He immediately split the team, sending half up to the rooftop.
“When the fight starts, the rest of you move in.”
Moments later, gunfire erupted from within the building. As soon as the first shot rang out, Yohan shattered a window. The sound of breaking glass echoed as the mercenaries forced their way inside.
Gunfire erupted in all directions. Yohan fired at a Seoul Survival Union soldier who was scrambling down the stairs.
Shots from both sides cut off his escape, sending him tumbling down the steps.
-A zombie just slipped into a blind spot. Watch out.
Hajin’s voice came through the radio.
Just as Yohan was about to respond, a mercenary hurled a short knife past him. The zombie barely made it over the window ledge before collapsing backward.
The fight ended quickly. Outside, distant gunfire signaled that zombies had been drawn toward the battle.
To prevent the undead from swarming the combat zone, Yohan had positioned men further out to divert their attention. If zombies got mixed into the fight, things could turn deadly.
Despite the risk, the battle had ended far too easily.
The mercenaries had fought surprisingly well.
Even factoring in their numerical advantage and the element of surprise, the fact that they suffered zero casualties was impressive.
In fact, they fought better than the Seoul Survival Union members.
Yohan carefully surveyed the aftermath, counting bodies.
Eight.
One was missing.
The Second Search Team Leader Kim Seol-hwa had mentioned was nowhere to be found.
“One’s missing. No sign of their leader.”
-Checking the adjacent repair shop now.
Yohan’s team moved cautiously outside. The fact that the only survivor happened to be an officer was unsettling.
Just as Yohan was about to warn the mercenaries gathered near the shuttered entrance of the auto shop, one of them lifted the door.
The metal shutter groaned open.
Inside stood a single man.
Yohan shouted.
“Get back! Fall back now!”
He shoved Sweeper and Hyuk behind a car, then dove for cover himself.
A deafening roar followed.
DU-DU-DU-DU!
An M60 machine gun, mounted on a stand and gripped tightly in the man’s hands, erupted with a stream of fire.
Mercenaries clad in body armor dropped one after another.
‘…Armor-piercing rounds.’
It was over in an instant.
Nine men cut down in a heartbeat.
Their body armor, made of composite plates, was useless.
Chul-gu, realizing what had happened, let out something between a scream and a curse.
Sweeper and Hyuk, barely making it behind the cover of a sedan, spoke in hushed tones.
“Boss, he aimed for the torso every time.”
“Those guys were all wearing body armor, though…”
“He knew. That’s 7.62mm armor-piercing ammo. That kind of round cuts through standard armor like paper.”
Yohan remained expressionless, but his gut twisted.
Losing nine men to a single enemy was painful.
Even worse, he hadn’t been able to take him down immediately.
By now, the man might have already radioed the main camp. He had probably been stationed separately for this very reason.
-Zombies are converging from all sides! We can’t hold them back!
Sergeant Ong’s urgent voice came through the radio.
The gunfire from the enemy’s M60 was a beacon, drawing every zombie within earshot.
From behind the gas station, from the open fields, from distant roads—they came.
It looked like a full-scale zombie wave.
Rotting corpses dragged their broken limbs forward, some missing their innards, others half-melted with exposed flesh.
Even Sweeper, usually composed, furrowed his brows at the sight.
Distant gunfire continued to ring in their ears. Zombies charging toward the auto shop were gunned down before they could get close.
The man inside was firing solely at the zombies around him, waiting.
Yohan knew what he was doing.
He was using the undead as a living shield.
The second anyone tried to escape the zombie horde, he would gun them down with armor-piercing rounds.
“AAAH! Help me—!”
A scream echoed from the office entrance.
One of the mercenaries who had been positioned outside tried to flee into the building, only to be gunned down instantly.
The zombie horde was closing in fast.
Yohan and his team were trapped behind the sedan with no cover between them and the enemy.
The only shelter was the repair shop itself.
But the moment they made a move, they would be in the direct line of fire.
Running would be suicide.
Yohan’s face hardened as he picked up his radio.
“Sergeant Ong.”
-Captain, are you okay?!
“For now. We’re pinned down. Can you see the machine gunner?”
-Negative. He’s inside the garage.
“Move to a position where you can take him out. You have to do it.”
-But the zombies—
“Yohan!”
Sweeper’s voice cut over the transmission.
The zombies were almost on top of them.
Yohan slowly straightened, and the other two followed suit, keeping low. The sedan they hid behind wasn’t large enough to fully conceal them.
If they made even the slightest wrong move, their position would be exposed. They crouched into a half-circle formation, bracing for battle.
A zombie approached with a guttural groan. The scorching weather had reduced its body to a rotting husk.
Its abdomen was split open, its intestines dangling loosely, half-dried from the summer heat. Maggots squirmed in its melted eyeballs.
Most of the zombies here were in similar conditions. With no one to clean up the dead, the entire city was decaying.
The three of them pressed against the car, kicking at the approaching undead and caving in their skulls. The sun had barely risen, yet the metal surface of the vehicle was already burning hot.
For once, Sweeper groaned in frustration.
“Shit, this is bad.”
“Hold out. That bastard keeps firing the machine gun, which means more zombies are getting drawn his way. He doesn’t have unlimited ammo. Once the gunfire stops, we raid the garage.”
The situation was barely manageable with just the three of them, but neither Hyuk nor Sweeper complained.
They stuck to melee combat to avoid attracting attention. If things got too dire, they could use their rifles to carve out a quick escape route.
Either Sergeant Ong would take out the enemy, or the bastard would run out of bullets.
One way or another, their opportunity would come.
But every second brought new dangers.
While Hyuk struggled to push back two zombies, a third suddenly lunged from below, its jaw wide open.
He gasped, instinctively lifting one foot to avoid its bite.
Before he could react, Sweeper’s hand axe slammed into the zombie’s jaw, shattering it.
Even for hardened veterans, this sheer number of undead was overwhelming. The three of them were on the verge of being swallowed by the horde.
If even one of them got bitten, the rest wouldn’t last much longer.
Endure. Survive.
Yohan murmured the words like a mantra, drilling them into his comrades’ minds.
—
“Ahh! Damn it!”
Sergeant Ong clutched his head in frustration. Since Yohan’s last radio message instructing him to eliminate the enemy officer, there had been only silence.
From the balcony, he could barely make out the three of them hiding behind the car. Even from a distance, they looked like they were on the brink of collapse.
If anyone could take out that bastard, it had to be him.
He was the only one who could do it.
“This is insane…”
Easier said than done. The entire area was a sea of zombies. He had nothing but a sniper rifle and a combat knife.
Getting through that horde was impossible.
Impossible…
“Fuck this!”
There was no choice.
Sergeant Ong strapped his rifle tightly across his back and secured the sling.
The K-14 sniper rifle was heavy, an unbearable weight that made it feel like something was dragging him down to his death.
He scanned the area, searching for a viable vantage point.
The garage itself was inaccessible—there was no angle where he could get a clean shot.
Ideally, he needed elevation. A place where he could shoot and stay hidden.
To the side of the garage were a gas station and a scrapyard—potential high points. But the road directly opposite was just open ground.
The gardening shop he was in now was the closest cover available.
If he moved to the open road, he’d be committing suicide.
Then he spotted the greenhouse.
It was risky, but if he could reach it, he might get an angle.
But then what?
Even if he took the shot, how would he escape the zombie horde that would come after him?
Sergeant Ong shoved that thought aside.
The first priority was saving Yohan’s team.
He bolted for the stairs, sprinting down. But as soon as he reached the entrance, he froze.
A horde of zombies was passing right in front of the glass doors.
His whole body stiffened, his breath catching in his throat.
The undead turned toward him, their cloudy eyes flickering with recognition. With frenzied shrieks, they slammed against the glass.
The sound of gnashing teeth filled the air.
It felt like his body was already being torn apart.
“Ugh—!”
If he opened that door, he was dead.
His muscles locked up, refusing to move.
He couldn’t do it. He wasn’t strong enough.
For the first time, he truly realized how much he had relied on his comrades. How much he had been shielded by the older soldiers who always praised him, always told him he was doing well.
Just then, one of the zombies’ heads exploded.
Then another.
And another.
Beyond the blood-smeared glass, Hajin stood, his entire body drenched in gore.
Sergeant Ong staggered, then rushed to yank open the door.
“Sergeant!”
“I heard the radio. Let’s go.”
“How did you get here…?”
“No time for that. Where’s our position?”
“Five hundred meters past the garage—there’s a hill.”
“Lead the way. Keep your gun ready.”
Hajin exhaled sharply.
There was no way anyone else could have made it here alone.
The unit was already spread thin, each soldier covering a different position.
But among them, Hajin was the only one capable of breaking through on his own.
