Chapter 171

               

It was utter darkness.

It wasn’t simply because the gymnasium interior was dim with little light coming in. A few rays of light filtered in by the windows, but the place was filled with people broken and collapsed in despair. Pitch-black darkness had descended over the entire gym.

The failure of the Rapid Response Unit. And the appearance of the first suicide snatched away the last thread of hope.

Only the soldiers returned, while the leaders, Sergeant Sung and Sergeant Kim, who were in charge, died. Thanks to the sergeant who fled in fear at the front, at least half managed to make it back alive.

“We were ambushed by zombies in front of the big supermarket… I fired my gun trying to save Private Park who was caught by a zombie, and that’s when it started. Dozens, hundreds of zombies swarmed from all around. We ran and ran, but there was no end…”

The higher-ups, upon hearing the report that the team didn’t even make it inside the store, couldn’t blame the soldiers. To hold those who survived accountable would only mean sending out future groups to die.

With the leadership falling silent, incidents verging on riots began to break out within the shaken gym. The ripple that started as mild conflict quickly became politics and arguments, and finally escalated to violence.

The soldiers rushed about trying to control the increasingly violent survivors, but in places out of their sight, people would beat each other just to steal a single chocolate bar.

Sweeper observed everything from a step back.

After the commotion on the first day, no more thugs approached Sweeper, but every evening, the number of people loitering around him grew.

He thought, ‘It’s time to leave.’

He felt bad for the struggling soldiers, but there was no hope.

On a night thick with darkness, Sweeper opened his eyes as he lay down. Then he slowly sat up.

He quietly stared at the cell phone and boat call device carefully kept in both jacket pockets. The signal had never come. Headquarters must have fallen apart from all this chaos, too. He decided it was time to survive on his own rather than depend on rescue.

Just as he was about to get up, he felt something tightly gripping him.

It was Bora. The little kid was clinging to his sleeve with her eyes closed, as if begging him not to abandon her.

‘This is why I don’t like kids.’

The faint trembling proved she wasn’t asleep. In truth, even if he left, the child wouldn’t have the strength to stop him.

‘…Whatever.’

Staring at her tiny hand, Sweeper lay back down. Things would work out somehow.

When he opened his eyes again, Bora was gone. As Sweeper rubbed his eyes and looked around, he saw her in the distance coming back with a water bottle.

“Where’d you go so early in the morning?”

“To get rations. These days, if you’re late, even water is hard to get.”

“You don’t need to get that stuff.”

Sweeper answered as he put on the jacket he’d used as a blanket. Bora blinked, confused.

“Huh?”

“We’re going to go get it ourselves from now on.”

“What do you mean…?”

Bora just blankly stared at his back.

Sweeper went straight up to the second-floor gate where the guards stood. Below the gate, about forty or fifty zombies were reaching up toward them, and the soldiers watched with horrified faces.

Sweeper called out to a guard whose face was now familiar.

“Hey, soldier.”

“Yes?”

“Do you have any rope?”

“Ah, yes. There should be a spare firearm anti-snatching rope.”

“Can I borrow that and my hand axe for a bit?”

The two soldiers looked at each other briefly, then shook their heads.

“…That’s difficult.”

“Do you still not trust me?”

“It’s not that…”

“I’ll use it right here. Just for a moment.”

At Sweeper’s firm tone, the corporal hesitated, then jerked his chin at the private. The private brought out the hand axe and the spare anti-snatching rope. Sweeper tied the rope through the small hole in the axe handle.

“It’s dangerous, so stand back for a bit.”

“Huh? What are you going to do?”

Sweeper answered with silence, then began to spin the axe tied to the rope like a cowboy. The hand axe spun on the end of the rope, making a threatening whistling sound.

Soon the hand axe left Sweeper’s hand and flew straight down, smashing a zombie’s skull.

“Whoo!”

Sweeper pulled the rope with all his strength, and the axe came back up, spattering dark red blood.

“Whoa, whoa…”

It was a sight that made their mouths drop. He kept repeating this, smashing zombies. Even the ones attracted by the noise only ended up as another pile of corpses.

By the time his whole body was soaked in sweat, only twitching zombie corpses were left below the metal ladder.

Sweeper untied the rope from the axe, wrapped it around his waist, and fastened the axe on top.

“If anyone asks, tell them I just stepped out for a bit.”

“Lieutenant! Where are you going?”

“Shopping.”

Sweeper’s answer was curt.

—

Sweeper had set out matter-of-factly, and about three hours later, he returned to the shock of the guards. His pants and sleeves were stained with blood, and he wore a mask.

Three boxes were strapped to his back like a backpack. Sweeper climbed onto a pile of corpses and unloaded the boxes.

“Two are ramen, one is water. There’s butane gas on top of the ramen boxes. There’s a burner in the storage, right?”

“All this…”

“A-are you alright?”

Sweeper nodded as he smashed the skull of a still-living zombie among the mountain of corpses at his feet.

“What are you doing? Aren’t you going to take these?”

At his words, the soldiers snapped out of it and rushed down. Sweeper checked carefully to make sure there were no more approaching zombies or moving corpses.

Then he moved again.

Two boxes weren’t nearly enough for five hundred people.

That night, for the first time in a while, the gym was filled with the smell of food. The people’s faces finally regained some life.

‘At least the hard work paid off,’ Sweeper muttered.

“How did you manage to do this?”

At the battalion commander’s question, who was eating ramen in front of Sweeper, he calmly replied.

“It was tough.”

It wasn’t easy. He’d made the trip three times. In the process, he killed over a hundred zombies. He could avoid the zombies on the way out, but on the way back, fighting was unavoidable. Fighting with his back exposed, unable to defend behind him. He had to smash every enemy ahead of him and preempt any zombie ambushes from behind.

Under the gazes looking at him as if he were a god, Sweeper looked away. Those burdensome looks weren’t for him.

“Why did you go through all that alone? Next time, let us soldiers help you.”

“No, it’s actually safer to go alone.”

“…I understand you’re cautious, but you can’t do it alone. It’s too dangerous.”

“Then just give me one physically fit, agile ace. But only if they volunteer, not by force.”

Relenting to the battalion commander’s sincere concern, Sweeper nodded. It might be a burden, but truthfully, carrying loads and fighting zombies alone was overwhelming.

“Alright, let’s do that.”

Only then did the battalion commander show a satisfied smile, and Sweeper gave a wry smile back. He then tapped Bora, who was sitting beside him.

“Eat up, kid.”

“Yes, mister. Thank you again today.”

He ruffled her hair affectionately, then sucked down every drop of broth from his ramen packet before getting up.

“Where are you going?”

“What do you think? Obviously, this.”

Sweeper made a gesture with his index and middle fingers to his mouth. Just as he was about to look ahead, a soldier running from the opposite direction bumped into him.

“Hey, be careful, man.”

What’s he running around for, anyway? No sense of decorum.

“Commander!”

A shout came from behind. Sweeper glanced over.

“Corporal Kim Seoryeong, what is it? Don’t make such a fuss.”

“T-the zombies are acting weird.”

“Weird how?”

“They’re running. And they’re gathering here!”

At Corporal Kim Seoryeong’s words, the battalion commander jumped to his feet and hurried off. Sweeper followed right behind.

“What… is this…”

Those who saw the scene let out despairing breaths. Zombies were swarming in front of them. Like a swarm of locusts causing a drought.

They weren’t those zombies that used to stumble around—they were almost sprinting.

The barricade at the main gate meant nothing. The zombies trampled over each other and came right over. Seeing the horde of zombies cross the barricade and approach the gym, everyone’s faces turned pale. Thousands? No, maybe even up to ten thousand. The sight of countless zombies converging like hyenas was truly bizarre and chilling.

“They’re really targeting this place, aren’t they?”

“…It looks like it.”

A middle-aged man who’d followed quickly hurried down, his face white.

“We need to get out of here right now.”

The battalion commander muttered in a daze. Sweeper realized it, too. If those things attacked this place, even he wouldn’t survive.

For the first time since coming to Korea, he felt a threat to his life. If that many zombies surrounded the place, there’d be no escape. They’d be completely trapped and starve to death.

They had to escape before they were surrounded. Now was the time.

When Sweeper went down, others who’d thought the same were crowding at the back exit. He immediately hoisted Bora onto his shoulder.

“Kyaa?! What are you—”

“I’ll explain later, kid. Let’s run for now.”

Sweeper headed for the auditorium’s back exit. It was already jam-packed with people trying to get out and soldiers blocking their way.

“Let us out, quick!”

“Please wait a moment! The commander’s orders haven’t—”

“The zombies are coming! We have to get out before we’re surrounded!”

“It’s dangerous outside. Please wait a moment.”

“It’s even more dangerous in here!”

“We’re bringing out firearms and ammo! Please wait just a moment! If you go out now, it’s dangerous! Once our troops are ready, we’ll help you evacuate safely!”

Whether it was luck or misfortune, the battalion commander’s decisions were quick and his actions nimble. Soon the soldiers finished distributing weapons and ammo and started lining up on both sides.

“Step back! There may be zombies outside the door!”

The battalion commander stood in the lead, pistol holstered. Then, a young man who’d been bedridden with injuries got up and staggered forward. He walked a few steps, then suddenly rushed toward the crowd. His friend, sensing movement, glanced back.

“Woojin, what are you—hey, you’re hurt, just sit—kyaa!”

A fountain of blood sprayed out. The suddenly appearing zombie attacked the survivors in the rear without hesitation.

Those bitten turned into zombies in an instant. The infection was fast—within minutes, no, almost seconds.

Screams erupted like thunder.

“Aaagh!!”

“Z-zombies at the back!”

“The door! Open the door!”

As chaos broke out at the back, desperate survivors pushed aside the soldiers and began opening the tightly shut door.

Clunk—

The door opened, and the wide night street was revealed. A man smiled brightly and stepped out.

“Gyaaa!”

In that instant, a zombie right next to the door bit into the man’s face.

Bang!

A sound rang in the ears.

The battalion commander shouted in panic.

“W-who fired…?”

A private had fired his gun at the zombie coming for him and was trembling. Hearing that gunshot, the zombies began swarming from afar like a pack of wild dogs. As the commander, flustered, shouted orders to the soldiers, another zombie appeared and bit into his neck.

“Commander!!”

“Kyaa! Aaaagh!”

Screams and shouts swirled together.

It was pure pandemonium.

“Damn it.”

Watching the scene, Sweeper bit his lip and turned away.