Walking Daddy

For some strange reason, though, it felt as though I was wading through a muddy swamp. My hair stood on end, and a sudden wave of murderous intent sent chills down my spine. I ducked instinctively without looking backward.

Whoosh–

The black creature’s fist passed right above my head. I placed my palms on the ground, raised my legs, and kicked it in the lower abdomen as hard as I could. I landed a solid hit on its belly; a thick wad of saliva flew out of its mouth as it was launched about ten meters off the ground. I accelerated my blood flow and continued to follow Kim Hyeong-Jun and Do Han-Sol.

When we finally reached our next destination, I saw Do Han-Sol staring straight ahead with a futile expression as if something had gone wrong.

“What are you doing? Why aren’t you making the preparations?”

“Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok… Look over there…"

When I turned to look at where he was pointing, my jaw dropped to the ground at the absurd sight in front of me.

All of the traps we had prepared were broken. Instead of empty, ready-to-use traps, the traps that we had prepared were filled with hundreds, even thousands of zombies, squirming and struggling to get out. Zombies were caught in the tunnels and the nets we had prepared. To make matters worse, the rocks we were planning to drop on top of the black creature had already fallen to the ground.

Now that I thought about it, if the zombies running from the northwest side of Jeju had rushed to Port Jeju to avoid the black creature, it only made sense for the zombies from the northeast to do the same as well. Perhaps why the northeast front had been quiet so far was because of the traps in front of us, the traps that we’d prepared in advance to catch the black creature.

I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought this through.

Do Han-Sol spoke up in a bewildered tone.

“No, no. They weren’t here earlier. It was quiet when I was here earlier…”

Do Han-Sol had been standing by in this area previously, but he’d come back to help when we didn’t appear like we were supposed to. In that brief moment, the street zombies had sent our plan down the drain. I took a moment to clear the confusion from my mind, then looked behind me.

The black creature was racing towards us, steam rising from its entire body. Behind it, I saw Mood-Swinger and Ji-Eun trying their best to catch up. However, I didn’t see any stage-one mutants.

I could tell that all of them had died.

All forty-five of them were dead.

At that moment, Kim Hyeong-Jun, who was still on Do Han-Sol’s back, spoke up.

“I’m done recovering. Put me down please.”

When Do Han-Sol put Kim Hyung-Jun down, he stood on his own two feet and took a deep breath.

“Ahjussi, the rocks are blocking the escape route,” he said as he looked at me.

“We can get over them. It shouldn’t be a problem.”

“What if there are zombies on the other side of the rocks? Do you think we’ll be able to take down the black creature while we’re busy handling them?”

I remained silent, and Kim Hyeong-Jun looked at Do Han-Sol.

“Han-Sol, how many underlings do you have left?” he asked him.

“I have six stage-one mutants and nine hundred ordinary zombies left.”

“Wait… then… Ahjussi only has Ji-Eun, and I only have Mood-Swinger. So I think there’s only one way to get through this.”

I frowned after listening to Kim Hyeong-Jun.

“So you want to go the distance?”

“Can you think of any other way?”

“...”

“I’m pretty sure that the black creature’s regenerative abilities are already at their limit. It’s already killed eighty-nine stage-one mutants by itself. And think about the damage it’s already taken. The damage that Mood-Swinger, Ji-Eun, and you and I have dealt to it.”

I remained quiet, and Do Han-Sol broke the silence.

“It must’ve taken a lot of damage while in that hole earlier. It probably pushed itself to its limit to regenerate its melting skin. I’ll fight alongside you two as well.”

“There’s another way to fight it rather than attacking it impulsively,” I said with a grimace.

Kim Hyeong-Jun and Do Han-Sol titled their heads and looked at me, as if wanting me to elaborate. I slicked my bangs back and continued to speak.

“We could inject it with the sample that Lee Jeong-Uk spoke about.”

“I thought we weren’t going to use that method,” Kim Hyeong-Jun frowned, objecting to my suggestion.

It made sense for him to say that since injecting it with the sample could make the already difficult-to-kill black creature immortal. It was also the reason why we’d gone for the plan of making traps instead of using the samples in the first place.

Given the situation we were in, however, it was the only way for us to increase our odds, even by a little. I knew that my regenerative ability was at its limit, and the same could probably be said for Kim Hyeong-Jun. I guessed that I’d be able to regenerate about two to three more times, and that would be it. Do Han-Sol was still pretty functional, but since he was a zombie with red eyes, I wouldn’t have been surprised if the black creature wiped him out in one blow.

I continued to keep an eye on the black creature that was making its way toward us.

“We have to decide now,” I said. “I’d rather take a leap of faith, than die without giving it a shot.”

Kim Hyeong-Jun bit his lower lip and hesitated a little, but it didn’t take him long to speak up.

“Well, if you say so, ahjussi, then I guess that’s what we’re going to do. I mean, I can’t think of anything else.”

Do Han-Sol grimaced. “I’m assuming you don’t think we stand a chance of taking it down in a head-on fight. I’d say we roll the dice.”

When I nodded, Do Han-Sol’s red eyes flashed.

“I’ll go get us a sample,” he said. “Hold it off until I get back. Don’t die.”

Do Han-Sol took off toward Port Jeju. Six stage-one mutants approached us, coming over the hill. I knew they were Do Han-Sol’s underlings, since they looked purple to me. My blue eyes flashed as I accelerated my blood flow, and I looked over at Kim Hyeong-Jun while heat and steam rose from my body.

“You ready?”

Kim Hyeong-Jun nodded, and his blue eyes flashed as well. I pushed myself off the ground and rushed toward the black creature, an odd mix of nervousness, nausea and unexplainable joy welling up within me.

* * *

“Covering fire!!”

Lee Jeong-Uk leaped over the second line of defense and started running toward the soaring flames. As he made his way through the fire, Hwang Ji-Hye, Park Gi-Cheol, Bae Jeong-Man, and Park Shin-Jeong took out the zombies approaching him as they kept their eye on the dying flames.

When the flames died completely, the hesitant zombies began to rush at them, letting out throat-rending noises.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Lee Jeong-Uk fired, his bullets piercing their heads as he approached Kim Dae-Young.

“Mr. Kim Dae-Young, Mr. Kim Dae-Young!”

Kim Dae-Young’s entire body was an utter wreck. His cheekbones were sunken in, making it difficult to tell if he was even alive or not. Lee Jeong-Uk slung his K2 over his shoulder, lifted Kim Dae-Young’s body, and ran with all his might toward the second line of defense.

GRRR!!!

The stage-two mutant that everyone assumed was dead suddenly let out a roar and raised itself up. Even though its left foot had been shattered to pieces and it no longer had a right arm, it had still managed to survive. Lee Jeong-Uk looked back and gasped, and without the slightest hesitation, ran toward the second line of defense with all his might.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

The second-stage mutant slowly found its balance and began chasing Lee Jeong-Uk by using its right foot and left arm. The survivors could not keep despair from their faces as they observed the mutant’s unusual movements and tenacious vitality. Jeong Jin-Young gave Lee Jeong-Uk a sidelong glance as he fought off the stage-one mutants. There was no way for him to help the man since he was still fighting the zombies in front of him.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to. He just couldn’t, because the stage-one mutants were already overwhelming him, and he wasn’t even sure that he would be able to survive their onslaught. The guards began to grow nervous as they realized that they were quickly running out of bullets and Molotov cocktails.

However, no one dared to leave the battlefield. Despite their fear, they were willing to fight until the end, their thoughts firmly on the families and children that were counting on them.

“Get your bayonets ready!!” Hwang Ji-Hye shouted as she stepped up to the second line of defense.

“Bayonets ready!!”

The guards repeated her command and quickly got their bayonets ready.

“Stab every zombie that tries to make their way up!” Hwang Ji-Hye continued, shouting so loudly that the veins on her neck stood out. “Don\'t let even a single ant get through!”

“Yes, Ma’am!” replied the guards, their voices full of vigor.

Hwang Ji-Hye hopped over the second line of defense and started running toward Lee Jeong-Uk. She crossed over to the other side even though she knew she was risking her life, because she knew it was only a matter of time before Lee Jeong-Uk and Kim Dae-Young were finished off if no one helped them.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Hwang Ji-Hye fired three-round bursts at the stage-two mutant’s face to draw its attention so that Lee Jeong-Uk and Kim Dae-Young could escape safely. The sudden attack made the mutant cover its face with its left arm, and it quickly lost its balance and fell to the ground.

However, a gun wasn’t enough to bring a being like this stage-two mutant down.

Hwang Ji-Hye slid in a fresh magazine and shot the stage-two mutant in its right foot. It didn’t seem like she was trying to take it down in a serious fight. Rather, it seemed like she was desperately trying to buy time for the other two.

As she fired away, the stage-two mutant hesitated a little, but it didn’t take it long before it started screaming and charging toward Hwang Ji-Hye. Her eyes widened, and she began to run for her life. She knew that one punch from that creature would kill her instantly. She kept running, believing that she could get away since the creature had lost its ability to see.

Unfortunately, she’d miscalculated. She had overlooked the fact that such logic only worked on humans or beings close to humans. The stage-two mutant focused all its attention on her footsteps and began chasing her down mercilessly. Despite the fact that the mutant was missing a leg, she was not fast enough to shake it off.

GRRR!!!

Before she knew it, the stage-two mutant was an arm’s length from her. It roared and swung its fist. She heard its roar from behind her and instinctively threw herself to the ground without looking back.

Pow!

The mutant barely missed Hwang Ji-Hye, and struck the ground instead.

KIAAA!!!

A stage-one mutant next to her on the ground let out a cry. Her eyes went wide, and she turned around, only to find a stage-one mutant in front of her, its mouth wide open, aiming for her neck.

\'This is it.’

She decided that if this were going to be her end, she would at least make sure that her last moments would not be a waste. Just like the saying that even a worm will turn, she was going to fight like hell before her life was taken away from her.

She desperately raised the gun she had put down.

Click—Click—

She was out of bullets. In her mind, the cold, empty clicking heralded her death.

“Ah…”

A short sigh unwittingly escaped her half-open mouth. A strange sensation came over her, and all the noise around her seemed to disappear. The brief moment felt like an eternity to her. She even pictured her own head getting cut off.

"Oppa…”

She recalled the face of her boyfriend, who had passed away a while back. He had tried his best to save others, even when he was being eaten alive by zombies. He was the person who had cleaned up all the zombies in Shelter Silence and even shot himself in the head while smiling gently right in front of Hwang Ji-Hye. To her, he was the man who was in charge of the Survivor Rally Organization.

He was her everything.

The thought that she could finally meet him flashed through her mind. She looked up at the stage-one mutant, close enough that she could reach an arm out to touch it, and thought to herself, \'I’ll get to see you soon, oppa.’

Hwang Ji-Hye smiled gently and closed her eyes.

Wham!

Hot, musty blood splattered over her face. She slowly opened her eyes to see what was going on in front of her. When she finally processed what she was seeing, her mouth fell open.

The face of the stage-one mutant was sunken in as far as it could go, and a man was standing on top of it. He had glowing red eyes, and steam was coming off his body. Do Han-Sol looked back at her.

"Are you okay?" he asked her.

She stared blankly at Do Han-Sol, like a person who had just seen a ghost. The moment that had felt like an eternity passed. Time began to tick again, and the cacophony of the battlefield quickly filled her ears again. At the same time, she felt her heart beating like crazy.

Hwang Ji-Hye had humbly accepted death, but only at the last moment did she feel her heartbeat, her longing for survival. She bit her lower lip, and tears welled up in her eyes, threatening to leak out at any second.

Mixed feelings warred within her—regret about the fact that she had not been able to die, and relief that she was alive. Hwang Ji-Hye sniffed once and got to her feet. As she turned around, she saw red blood gushing out like a fountain from the nape of the stage-two mutant. Do Han-Sol had taken care of the stage-two mutant within a matter of seconds and had saved her as well.

GRRR!!!

Do Han-Sol’s underlings threw aside the janggis and gongs that they were carrying and came rushing in like a violent wave. The survivors manning the second line of defense began to cheer at the top of their lungs when they saw them. They couldn\'t control the adrenaline that rushed into their systems when they realized that reinforcements had arrived.

The survivors started jumping up and down and hugging each other, feeling relieved that they had survived and thinking that they’d won. However, there was one person, just one person, who did not share the same feelings.

\'Where’s So-Yeon\'s dad and Kim Hyeong-Jun?\'

Lee Jeong-Uk looked around as he wiped the zombie blood off his face. As Do Han-Sol passed through the second line of defense with Hwang Ji-Hye in his arms, Lee Jeong-Uk approached him.

“What happened?” he asked. “Did you take down the black creature?”

“Where are the samples?”

"Samples?" Lee Jeong-Uk asked, tilting his head.

“I’m talking about the samples from Daegu!” shouted Do Han-Sol in desperation.

Only then did Lee Jeong-Uk grasp the situation, and he led Do Han-Sol to the passenger terminal.