Chapter 9: Police, Thieves, and Zombies

A field planted with what might’ve been cabbage, lettuce, green onions, potatoes – I couldn’t tell what exactly. The only light in the pitch darkness came from a farm shelter in the distance, far from any streetlights.

“…”

“…”

We instinctively backed away, gripping our phones. Making the call would make noise – would the zombie hear and come after us?

White light from an electric lantern illuminated the farm shelter.

It looked like someone had been drinking makgeolli after finishing their day’s work. Various dishes, several bottles of makgeolli, and brass bowls were scattered around.

A zombie in farmer’s clothes wandered aimlessly. Sometimes it would bury its face in bowls to eat, drooling and growling.

“Let’s make the call.”

We retreated far back before gripping our phones.

I held up my old phone with the USIM removed. Emergency calls like 119 or 112 still worked without a USIM.

“Wait.”

Do-hyung tapped his phone. His masked face looked ghostly in the white phone light. I glimpsed cold sweat and trembling eyes.

Soon, he finished preparing some kind of audio file.

“Ready.”

“Good.”

I held my breath and dialed 112. I put it on speaker and held the receiver up to Do-hyung’s phone speaker when the call connected.

“112 emergency.”

At the same time, Do-hyung played the audio file. A woman’s voice came from the speaker.

“Police? Over here-“

A pre-recorded file. A woman’s voice altered by a voice changer app rapidly recited the script, giving this location’s address before screaming.

“There’s one zombie! Ahhh! I think it’s coming this way!”

“Ma’am, please stay calm and evacuate first-“

The police tried to say something, but we threw the phone down and quickly hit end call.

Looking at the ended call screen, I let out a long breath as I retrieved the phone. Do-hyung did the same.

It felt like making a prank call to emergency services on April Fool’s Day. The tension of doing something wrong mixed with excitement.

“We’re really doing this.”

Do-hyung spoke in a dazed voice.

I glanced at him and nudged him.

“Let’s do one final check.”

“Y-yes.”

We put on work gloves and practiced the movements.

It was a chokehold position we’d learned from the internet. One arm goes inside the other arm’s bend, while the other arm pushes down on the back of the head.

While the police focused on the zombie, we’d ambush them from behind with a chokehold…

Do-hyung suddenly spoke while gripping the hatchet I’d passed him.

“Wouldn’t it be better to just kill them? Rather than just subduing them like this. Feels like this’ll fail.”

I shook my head.

Though Do-hyung seemed to lack confidence in close combat due to his short stature, it was better not to kill the police.

“No. Keeping them alive is better than killing them. It’s more efficient.”

“I don’t understand…”

Do-hyung’s feet were trembling when he suddenly stopped. His voice filled with shock.

“Oh, oh.”

“What’s wrong?”

I looked at his face but couldn’t read his expression clearly through the darkness and mask.

I could only see him pointing somewhere.

“Zombie, zombie.”

Not toward the farm shelter. Near us. I whipped my head around and heard it. Dark figures walking steadily. The distinctive growling of zombies.

Not just one.

Shadowy forms that might’ve been darkness or people writhed across the wide field toward us.

“Ah.”

My mind raced to piece together the situation.

The farmers or villagers must have been infected as a group. They turned while eating dinner at the shelter. Someone turned and others changed while fleeing into the field. Now they were coming toward us after hearing the call and seeing our phone lights.

We were screwed.

I spoke while trembling.

“When will the police get here?”

“Even if they’re fast, probably 10 minutes…”

There looked to be at least five zombies. And we were in an open field.

***

I heard Do-hyung grinding his teeth. He tried to turn and run, but I quickly grabbed his wrist and whispered.

“Quiet. They haven’t noticed us yet.”

Do-hyung stopped. The zombies were still shuffling slowly toward us.

Sneaking away quietly was the right move. No, we needed to lure them too.

I turned on my old phone. Maybe because of the light, the zombies that had been wandering aimlessly now moved straight toward us.

Do-hyung spoke in a voice on the edge of madness.

“Why did you turn that on?”

His voice was low with suppressed rage. I ignored him and quickly tapped the phone.

Setting an alarm.

One minute from now, though it would actually be less than 60 seconds. Do-hyung let out a short gasp seeing the screen, and I threw the phone far away.

The zombies’ direction shifted as if following the phone.

“When the alarm goes off, we retreat.”

“Okay.”

So we counted – one second, two seconds. My heart felt like it was beating dozens of times per second. Gripping sweat in our gloved hands, we waited while stifling even our breathing.

Grrrr-

A zombie approaching from behind got close. I froze like a statue, not even breathing. Animal-like growling. Irregular footsteps. Passing by.

My mind went white and I automatically gripped my hammer when-

Thump-

Fortunately, whether due to the deep darkness or being drawn to the phone light, the zombie passed right by us. A rough breath escaped as tension released and my lungs nearly burst.

That breath was a bit too loud.

The zombie turned. Crowned with white light from the electric lantern like a halo, shadows cast over its face as it crouched.

Just as we stumbled backward.

Beep-beep-beep-!

The phone blasted its unpleasant alarm. That sonic assault on the mind.

“Graaaaah!”

“Kreeeek!”

The zombies went berserk. The ones approaching the phone suddenly charged, and the zombie that had been suspicious of us also turned with a howl.

They instantly gathered around the phone, pounding and kicking it. Stomping on it randomly, kicking it, even picking it up to throw like rocks, then chasing after the thrown phone.

Totally focused only on the noisy phone.

Suddenly strength left my body. As tension released, fatigue rushed in.

“…”

“…”

We silently moved away from the zombie group. Carefully, making sure our footsteps made no sound.

After getting some distance, Do-hyung spoke.

“Hey. Looks like the plan failed.”

I glanced at the zombies. Thanks to throwing the phone near the farm shelter, I could roughly count them in the dim light.

‘One, two, three, four, five zombies?’

Between the zombies in villager clothes, farmer clothes, and the one that had been eating at the shelter – five total.

Even if four police officers came, it would be dicey.

‘Though I want their equipment, it’s too dangerous.’

They looked somewhat older, but they were zombies after all. My brief deliberation ended.

“Yeah, let’s get out of here-“

Just as I said that.

Whoosh, thud-

Beep-beep-beeeep-

A phone suddenly landed in front of my feet. Screen cracked and shattered. Making bizarre alarm sounds like a broken speaker. The cursed phone that had been kicked, beaten and thrown by zombies had returned.

I looked up while my body trembled violently.

“Graaaah!”

“Kreeeek!”

I saw five zombies charging like wild boars.

In that instant, Do-hyung and I were of one mind. Without a word, we simultaneously turned and sprinted away.

Behind us came the crunch of the phone being crushed and the alarm cutting off. But the zombies still chased us with horrible howls. The footsteps of five zombies thundered like tanks approaching.

***

Huff- huff-

My lungs burned. My heartbeat seemed to pound in my ears.

Though we hadn’t been caught yet thanks to the dark night and unlit field, that was just a matter of time. Those farmer zombies chased us relentlessly like they’d caught thieves raiding their crops.

Whether they heard our running footsteps or rough breathing, I didn’t know, and had no time to analyze it.

“Shouldn’t the police, be here, by now?”

“Over there!”

Do-hyung suddenly jumped. I instinctively looked for light in the darkness.

A police car parked in the distance. Red and blue flashing lights. And two people approaching with what looked like flashlight beams.

Suddenly strength seemed to surge through me.

Do-hyung and I ran toward the police while wildly waving our arms.

“Here! Here!”

“Help us!”

Did they not hear? No response. I grit my teeth and kicked the ground. Sprinting at full speed until we could hear the police voices.

The zombies’ footsteps gradually grew distant as muffled voices of a man and woman became audible.

“I just want to shoot all the zombies dead. They say infected will pass a million within a month. How can we isolate and manage a million zombies? We can’t even keep up with zombie outbreaks now.”

“That’d be mass murder if we killed them all. The military will step in, right?”

“Military? No place is more vulnerable to epidemics. Even when just a cold spreads-“

I smiled brightly. Not because of the good news that the government couldn’t function properly.

But from relief at finding someone to save us. Despite being out of breath, I and Do-hyung shouted at the top of our lungs.

“Here! Zombies behind us!”

“Hurry!”

Swoosh, flashlights illuminated us and both officers quickly drew their weapons.

The female officer aimed a taser with cartridge loaded while her senior male partner jangled two sets of handcuffs.

“First get behind us and-“

The tired voice cut off. The flashlight wavered. The officer’s eyes went wide seeing behind us before letting out a scream-like shout.

“There’s more than one!”

Must have spotted the five zombies.

We quickly hid behind the police and watched them respond with practiced movements.

Zombies charging madly. Distance closing rapidly. The officers, perhaps having faced similar situations before, didn’t waste time trying to radio for backup.

Bang-!

The taser fired without warning. With a pop like a balloon bursting, the electrodes struck a zombie and it collapsed from paralysis.

“Eek!”

The man glared at us murderously before drawing his pistol and immediately pulling the trigger. The echoing gunshots came in rapid succession. One blank, two non-lethal rounds, and two live rounds struck the zombies.

One zombie fell backward, perhaps killed instantly, but that was it. The other three zombies limped or bled but still charged forward.

“Graaaah!”

The zombie’s scream-like howl.

“Take the batons!”

The man dangled his gun by its strap while extending his baton, and the woman drew her own baton while still pulling the taser trigger to maintain current.

Then they clashed. Swinging batons against zombies charging ferociously as if unable to feel pain.

“…”

I stepped back while gripping my hammer. The red rubber of my work glove made a creaking sound.

Desire for police weapons warred with fear of zombies, paralyzing my feet.

Fear won in the end.

In that brief time, both officers went down. The rolling flashlight beam illuminated the blood-soaked field. The gun and body armor contaminated with zombie blood.

And the zombies turning toward us.

“Grrrr.”

The zombies that had practically butchered the gun-wielding officer slowly rose. Even the taser-paralyzed zombie recovered, dragging the wire-connected taser as it approached.

Escape was the only answer.

“Run!”

Do-hyung and I sprinted away. My steps felt heavy.

Regret weighed on my shoulders like a burden.

I hadn’t planned to kill the police. At most I’d planned to infect them with the virus and send them back. But they died a month early at zombie hands instead.

Their unexpected deaths felt personal somehow.

Victory for the zombies. A world where people died meaninglessly. A world where getting even basic supplies was difficult. The apocalypse had arrived.