Chapter 31

A sickening sensation swept through Yu-su as the entire vehicle lifted from the ground. Screams filled the air.

Thud. Crunch, crunch, crunch.

The bus slammed onto its side and skidded along its chassis for several meters before finally grinding to a halt.

“Ugh…”

Yu-su’s consciousness flickered in and out. When his vision finally steadied, a gruesome scene unfolded before him. The passengers who had been wearing seat belts had fared relatively well. Those who had not were either missing, having been hurled somewhere during the crash, or crushed between seats and other bodies.

The driver was no longer behind the wheel.

At the front of the bus, nothing remained but shattered windows smeared with blood, scraps of flesh, and glittering fragments of glass.

The lucky ones had died instantly.

“Aah! Argh! It hurts!”

“S-save me! Ugh… get off me!”

“No! Honey!”

Those still clinging to life screamed in agony.

There was no time to help them.

Tap, tap.

Tap.

TAP.

A chilling knock sounded against the overturned bus.

Zombies had gathered around the wreck and were tapping against the chassis, searching for the prey trapped inside. Their arms pushed through the shattered front windshield, fingers clawing blindly through the air.

“Fuck…” Muwon drew a ragged breath. “Jeong Yu-su. Joo Hee-eun. Are you both alive?”

“I’m fine,” Yu-su answered.

“I feel like I’m going to throw up, but I’m alive too…” Hee-eun called back.

Having recovered his composure, Muwon unfastened his seat belt and pushed himself upright. He planted his feet against the sides of the seats, which had become the floor when the bus overturned.

“I’ll unbuckle you. Climb out through the window.”

“There are still people…” Hee-eun protested.

“Are you out of your mind?” Muwon snapped. “Is this really the time to worry about strangers? We need to get out before those zombie bastards swarm the bus.”

As Muwon tried to haul Hee-eun to her feet, though she could barely stand on her own, a faint cry drifted from across the aisle.

“Help us!” a young man pleaded. “Please, somebody save my younger sister!”

“Oppa… it hurts. I… I think I’m going to die…”

“No, you’re not. You’re not going to die. You’ll be okay.” The older brother raised his voice. “Hey! Somebody, please help us!”

“Oppa, it hurts so bad… I think I’m going to die…”

Yu-su’s head whipped toward the sound. Amid the sporadic, desperate cries for help erupting throughout the bus, the siblings stood out as though a spotlight had fallen over them. Instinct took over. He climbed onto a seat and began making his way toward the rear.

“Jeong Yu-su! Goddamn it.”

Muwon swore under his breath, yanked the key from the ignition, and thrust it into Hee-eun’s hand.

“Joo Hee-eun.”

“Yes, Manager Do.”

“Climb out through the upper window. You’ll find the cargo compartment below. If it’s locked, use this key to open it and gather our supplies. Can you manage that?”

“Yes!”

The bus had rolled onto its side, turning the windows along one flank into the floor and those on the other into the ceiling. Since it was a large tour bus, the upper windows stood high enough that even a swarm of zombies would have trouble reaching them. Muwon helped Hee-eun climb out and waited until he was certain she had found secure footing. He then seized Sim Gorak, who lay crumpled at his feet, by the collar and hauled him upright.

Slap! Slap!

The two sharp blows cracked across Gorak’s face.

“Hey. Wake up, Private Sim Gorak.”

“Argh! Huh?” Gorak blinked wildly. “Wh-what happened? Did I fall asleep?”

“The bus overturned, and you blacked out. Can you stand? We’re getting the survivors out.”

Still dazed from the crash, Gorak seemed unable to remember what had happened. Muwon studied his unfocused eyes, then snapped his fingers twice directly in front of his face.

Snap. Snap.

“Pull yourself together. If you can’t do that, climb outside and help the woman up top.”

“N-no, sir. I can do it…”

Meanwhile, Yu-su had already freed several people trapped between the seats.

“You need to get out of the bus,” he told them. “Climb through the upper window and help gather the supplies.”

“Thank you. Thank you so much…!”

Most of the survivors thanked him and scrambled away, but one man clung to Yu-su even after being released from his seat belt.

“If we go out there, those things will kill us! What the hell are we supposed to do?”

“You’ll die if you stay in here, too.”

Muwon’s voice rang out from behind them.

“Jeong Yu-su, get away from him. Damn it, some people won’t listen even when you’re trying to save their lives. Leave him if he refuses to move!”

With Muwon and Gorak helping, every survivor except those already dead eventually managed to climb onto the bus’s exposed side. Hee-eun had not escaped the impact unscathed, but she had nevertheless worked diligently, gathering the group’s supplies from the cargo compartment.

Kieeek!

“Ah! Aah!”

Once they had climbed onto the bus frame and looked down, they saw zombies swarming across the road below. Yu-su pulled the nameplate marked [Division Head Kim Hyeoktae] from his hiking pack and gripped it tightly.

“We run the moment the next firework goes off.”

“Understood…!”

“Jeong Yu-su, do you know the area?” Muwon asked.

“Yeah.”

“Then I’ll cover everyone.”

Yu-su’s group remained relatively calm, but the other survivors were unraveling. Some families sat huddled together, sobbing into one another’s shoulders. Others trembled uncontrollably, while a few simply stared into space, likely too deeply shocked to process what was happening.

“Wh-what are we supposed to do?” a woman whispered.

“What do we do now?” someone else asked.

“We climb down and run,” a man answered bitterly. “What other choice do we have?”

“It’s okay, honey.” Another survivor adjusted the child on his back. “I’ve got him. I did well, didn’t I? We just have to hang on a little longer.”

Yu-su spotted the siblings he had rescued earlier among the crowd and tapped the older brother on the shoulder.

“You need to stay with us. Can you do that?”

“Yes…” The young man nodded quickly. “Yes, I can!”

Yu-su raised his voice so everyone could hear him.

“When the next firework goes off, we climb down and run.”

“But the zombies aren’t even looking at the fireworks anymore,” someone objected.

“We still have to move.”

“Where are we going?”

“I don’t know yet.”

Dissatisfied muttering spread through the crowd, but Yu-su ignored it. A moment later, someone tugged at his sleeve. He turned and found Sim Gorak standing beside him, his face streaked with tears and snot.

“C-can you take me with you?” Gorak pleaded. “Please?”

“I wasn’t planning to abandon you.” Muwon smacked Gorak hard between the shoulder blades. “You bastard. Pull yourself together and cover us.”

“Yes, sir!”

Hee-eun frowned at Gorak’s filthy face.

“Wipe your tears. Stop crying.”

“Yes, Sis!”

Hee-eun opened her mouth, apparently intending to ask when exactly the two of them had become siblings, but the sudden boom of another firework cut her off.

Boom!

The explosion flooded the sky with light. Muwon checked the zombies below, took the nameplate from Yu-su, and jumped down first.

“This way!”

“Move!”

“Follow them!”

The zombies quickly regained their senses. Muwon charged ahead, smashing aside every creature that lunged at the group. Each time the nameplate struck, the words [Division Head Kim Hyeoktae] flashed with a dazzling golden light.

“That way!” Yu-su shouted.

The breakout was not limited to Yu-su’s bus. Shouts from other survivors and the muffled reports of firearms echoed from every direction. Whenever a suppressor gave out, gunfire cracked violently through the air, followed almost inevitably by screams.

Muwon sprinted beside Yu-su, gunning down some zombies and crushing others beneath his fists. As they passed the dismembered torso of a soldier lying in the street, he snatched up the fallen man’s gun, gave it a rapid inspection, and held it out.

“Jeong Yu-su. Take this.”

Yu-su shook his head.

“I don’t know how to shoot.”

“What?”

“I haven’t done my military service.”

“Goddamn it, what?”

Muttering another curse, Muwon tucked the gun into his waistband and remained close on Yu-su’s heels.

“There are more zombies ahead. We need to get inside somewhere, fast.”

“I’m looking.”

“What about that mart?”

Perhaps drawn by the golden flare of Kim Hyeoktae’s nameplate, more and more survivors had fallen in behind Yu-su’s group until they formed a sizable crowd, trailing them like a long tail. Several people had already broken away and were sprinting toward the mart.

“That place has too many entrances,” Yu-su said. “It’ll be difficult to secure.”

“I don’t think we have time to be picky.”

The zombified soldiers were especially dangerous. Many still wore body armor, and several abnormally large ones moved among them, making them difficult to kill even under repeated attacks.

Yu-su ran for another thirty seconds before darting into a building.

“Let’s go up.”

He passed the second floor and led them to the third, where a row of restaurants lined the corridor. After quickly scanning the partitioned interiors, Yu-su slipped through the half-open door of one restaurant. Without needing instructions, Muwon and Gorak immediately began sweeping the interior while Yu-su turned to Hee-eun.

“I’ll start barricading the entrance.”

“Yes.” Hee-eun looked toward the survivors pouring inside. “Everyone! Bring the heaviest furniture you can find to the door!”

Hee-eun and Yu-su led the effort, lifting and dragging tables across the floor. Meanwhile, the people who had escaped the jaws of death continued trickling into the restaurant, gasping for breath yet refusing to stop.

“Close the door!” someone shouted.

“There are still people coming!”

“And if a zombie slips inside, do you want all of us to die?” another man roared. “Close it. Now!”

The order came from a middle-aged man with a filthy, unkempt beard. When he shouted, several people near the entrance immediately began pushing the door shut.

Someone still sprinting toward them screamed in desperation.

“Let me in! Just me! Please, wait for me!”

“Please! No!”

Yu-su and Hee-eun returned from the dining hall carrying a large sofa, arriving just in time to witness the scene.

“Wait…”

Before Jeong Yu-su could finish, the door slammed shut.

“Barricade it!”

“Over here! Hurry!”

The pleas beyond the door stretched into screams, then merged into a chorus of agony as the survivors inside piled furniture against the entrance until it was completely sealed. Muwon and the others who had rejoined the group glanced toward Yu-su, seeming to understand what had just happened from the look on his face.

Outside, the dying gasps gradually faded into ragged breathing, which soon twisted into the low, guttural moans of the undead.