episode_0039

A group of people were walking down an alley.

Their pace was quicker than a walk; they were hurrying their steps severely.

Their movement was utterly without order, but they maintained a consistent distance between them.

The quiet alley was filled with a frantic sound of footsteps.

It wasn’t just the footsteps that were chaotic.

Some people had dazed expressions, while others were constantly shedding tears.

Expressions of great shock had completely drained the color from their faces.

Neither men nor women could keep their eyes still for a moment.

Precarious figures on the verge of losing their minds.

The people were being chased by fear.

Among them were some who had managed to retain a degree of composure.

Their military uniforms and rifles in hand indicated they were soldiers.

But even the soldiers weren’t much different.

They merely appeared slightly better than the civilians following them.

Their necks were rigid from tension.

Whether they knew it or not, their hands gripping their weapons were so tight they looked white. Their gazes were so fixed, or perhaps still reeling from shock, that they seemed dull.

Even the armed soldiers looked terrified, their faces pale and drained of blood.

Twelve soldiers and six civilians.

They were fleeing in terror.

There was no talk.

Only their harsh, ragged breaths spoke for their feelings.

“S-Sergeant Kang-nim! Gasp, gasp! The sun has set! We need to hide…!”

“Shit…! Over there! To that convenience store!”

The soldier called Sergeant Kang looked around and then pushed everyone into the convenience store.

It wasn’t large, but it was big enough for everyone to enter.

As soon as they entered, several soldiers quickly scanned the interior with their rifles raised.

Some, perhaps injured, moved with difficulty, supported by others.

Once everyone was inside, Sergeant Kang quickly gave orders.

“Block the entrance! Find the switch and turn off the lights! Anything unusual inside?!”

“Nothing unusual!”

Perhaps suppressed by fear, they couldn’t shout loudly, only called out quietly.

However, the urgency in their voices seemed to be fully conveyed, and the soldiers’ movements were swift.

Some civilians, without hesitation, also helped the soldiers.

Awkwardly, they stacked chairs and similar objects to block the entrance, and everyone hunkered down.

As if by promise, everyone fell silent.

The narrow convenience store interior was filled only with uncontrolled breaths.

More accurately, faint groans of pain were also present.

“Urgh… Cough! Ugh…”

“L-Second Lieutenant Lee-nim!”

Sergeant Kang approached the woman, who was lying down and moaning.

The female soldier lying down was so pale, her face utterly drained of color.

Her lips were slowly turning purple, indicating a dangerous condition.

Covered in cold sweat, the female soldier looked as if she might crumble at any moment.

Her left thigh was bound with a towel.

And the towel, unable to stop the bleeding, was completely soaked with blood.

Sergeant Kang and everyone else looked at Second Lieutenant Lee with pity, but that was all.

They couldn’t do anything for her.

They could only wipe away the beads of sweat on the female soldier’s fair face.

“Second Lieutenant Lee-nim! Snap out of it! You can’t give up!”

“Huuu… Huuu…”

Seemingly lacking strength, Second Lieutenant Lee could barely keep her languid, closing eyes open, and her gaze was unfocused, as if her consciousness was fading.

Facing the injured, Sergeant Kang could do nothing.

Another soldier also had an arm injury.

Everyone had one or two scrapes, big or small.

Despair descended upon the people holding their breath in the dim interior.

The cold chill rising from the floor became a catalyst, reviving the terrifying, unprovoked murderous intent they had felt.

As everyone bowed their heads and clutched their trembling shoulders.

“There’s nothing to eat, but I found some bottled water.”

A young soldier emerged from the storage room, carrying a bundle of 500ml bottled water.

He quickly peeled off the packaging and began distributing it to the people.

“Second Lieutenant Lee-nim. Here’s some water.”

Sergeant Kang carefully trickled the water the young soldier handed him into her mouth.

Second Lieutenant Lee struggled to drink the water, but most of it spilled out.

“Just a little more. Please drink just a little more.”

But Second Lieutenant Lee only rested her head on the floor, breathing heavily.

A weak voice flowed softly from Second Lieutenant Lee’s lips.

“L-leave… me behind…”

“…Don’t talk nonsense.”

“You’ve done enough…. It’s okay…”

“If you do that, won’t you just die to the Terminator?”

“Pffft… Cough….”

Sergeant Kang made a joke unfitting for the situation.

At his single remark, the soldiers chuckled, despite the inappropriateness of the situation.

“True. If we did that, we’d be killed by the two Second Lieutenants-nim.”

“We’ve survived this far; we can’t die at their hands, can we?”

“Those two, they’d probably wake us up and work us even if we were dead, wouldn’t they?”

“Khahaha…. Damn, that’s chilling….”

The soldiers uttered one word each in low voices, a faint smile on their lips.

The civilians seemed oblivious, but laughter spontaneously followed.

The young private who found the water added a remark.

“We’ll definitely survive and meet them. And we’ll snitch on everything.”

“Oh!! You’re right! Private Kang is right. A complaint report? No, a civil petition?”

“Pffft. It’ll be a report based on facts, without exaggeration or omission.”

“If that’s the case, I’ll help you too.”

A man interjected into the soldiers’ nonsensical chatter.

Though his appearance was haggard, his eyes were alive, giving him a resolute look.

At the friendly suggestion, Sergeant Kang nodded.

“If the Reporter-nim helps us, there’s no reason to refuse.”

“Yo? Yo? Wow~ Big Guts, have you already run out of steam?”

“What’s with you? I’m practically a civilian now-”

Crunch- crunch-

“!!”

Click! Clack!

During their conversation, an unpleasant sound, grating on their eardrums, was faintly heard.

A sound that shouldn’t be heard, like bones twisting, arrived.

As soon as the sound was heard, the soldiers simultaneously aimed their rifles.

Their trembling eyes and shaking muzzles pointed towards the convenience store entrance.

‘T-that bastard!’

‘Shit! I know! Shut up!’

‘That son of a bitch, surely not even here…!’

How many people had sacrificed themselves because of that one bastard!

They had clearly thought they’d shaken it off.

The sacrifice of their superior, who had given up his life and charged with the resolve of a mutual demise, just to save the remaining personnel. Thanks to that glorious and noble sacrifice, they had managed to escape this far.

Crunch- crunch- Squeal-!

Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-

It was a delusion.

That monster outside hadn’t missed a group of humans.

It had slowly followed along with other monsters, leisurely enjoying itself.

The struggling of the living.

That was the only way it could be interpreted.

As proof, the bastard was still only making strange cries outside.

It wasn’t coming inside.

With the resurfacing fear, the people inside the convenience store couldn’t move.

They could only swallow dry saliva.

Then, one fact came to everyone’s mind.

“This is where we die.”

Grind!

“Even if we go, we’ll kill at least one more of those bastards before we do.”

At Sergeant Kang’s teeth-grinding resolve, the soldiers quietly closed their eyes.

For a moment, the space grew quiet.

“Cleaning up after Sergeant Kang-nim is finally over, isn’t it?”

Private Kang, who had found the bottled water, said as he checked his magazine.

“Even if that punk says… Thank you so damn much!”

“Thank you for taking care of me too. …Hyung.”

“Huh?! That punk’s gotten out of hand!”

“Ah, I just wanted to call you that once before I die, you see.”

“You crazy bastard….”

For a moment.

The trembling muzzles of the soldiers’ rifles stopped shaking.

Perhaps it was because they had acknowledged and accepted that this was the end.

Their eyes, which had been quivering with fear, began to emit a sharp, fierce light.

“Thank you, everyone. I’m sorry for leading you so well.”

“That’s cheesy. Stop it, and let’s just meet again if we die.”

“Oh, damn it! How can you say such vicious things!”

“…I see very well how you thought of me, you punk.”

Eventually, snickering laughter burst forth.

Sergeant Kang spoke to the civilians.

“Everyone… I’m sorry. I have nothing to say.”

Sergeant Kang’s concise but heavy apology.

Upon hearing his words, the civilians closed their eyes and shed tears.

But no words of resentment were spoken.

“No, it’s not. We’ve come this far thanks to all of you. You’ve already done more than enough. Rather, we should be thanking you. Thank you very much, Sergeant Kang-nim.”

A middle-aged man with a refined demeanor bowed heavily.

Though his luxury suit was stained and torn in places, his bearing remained polite and dignified.

As if his greeting spoke for everyone, no one said anything further.

Sergeant Kang looked at Second Lieutenant Lee, who was losing consciousness.

“Second Lieutenant Lee-nim. No, Sohee Noona. I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you.”

Perhaps it was due to the thought that this was the end.

Sergeant Kang, who had hesitated for a moment, brought out a single phrase he had kept hidden deep in his heart.

“…In the next life, please be an angel, not a witch. Okay?”

“……Y-you, you bastard…!”

Second Lieutenant Lee uttered a fierce remark in a dying voice.

Laughter burst from everyone’s lips.

Crrunch-!!

A crack appeared in the closed convenience store glass door.

A strange sound, like bones being gnawed.

The sound of monsters rushing forward.

The sound of the convenience store glass door shattering.

Crash-!!

Beyond the shattered glass door, the bastard could be seen.

A grotesque figure, its human skin almost entirely sloughed off.

It bled a sticky, dark crimson liquid instead of red blood.

Its body was haphazardly entangled with horrible black veins that seemed to replace its skin.

It was that bastard.

The bastard seemed to roll its eyes, which were dull and rotten like a dead fish’s.

As if checking each person inside the convenience store.

Grrrrowl-

It was clear.

That bastard was clearly enjoying seeing everyone here, and was about to…

Bang-!

Thud-!!

At the single gunshot, silence fell as if by a lie.

The owner of the weapon that fired the shot was Private Kang.

Standing in an excellent shooting stance, he looked like a veteran rifleman.

“Ha! Damn it. That thing didn’t die?”

He had shot it precisely in the head, but whether it was a glancing blow or simply insufficient, the bastard was still standing upright. The monster slowly turned its head, which had been twisted around.

A sticky black liquid oozed from its crumpled eye.

Soon after, it adopted an expression similar to the reanimated corpses.

Rage directed at the living.

A murderous intent to surely chew and swallow them whole.

And it expressed it without reservation.

Grrroooaaar-!!

“All units, open fire! Mangle them!”

Tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-!

At Sergeant Kang’s shout, the soldiers’ rifles all spat fire.