Chapter 24: Wave [3]

Chapter 24: Wave [3]

The city where the power outage has arrived. A van crawling along the dark road and the zombies following behind.

A cool night breeze blew in through the wide-open window. Nayeji stuck her phone out the window. Sometimes the flash went off a few times brightly, and she also filmed video.

Nayeji shook her phone and cheerfully shouted,

"Go a little slower! Let them film well!"

"What are you doing! Close the window quickly!"

"How can I not film this! Ah, ugh-"

Jeon Do-hyeong shouted angrily, and the other patients forcibly pulled Nayeji back and raised the window again, a noisy commotion.

I tightly closed my eyes.

Hope is easily extinguished. I keenly realized this fact as I watched the zombies following behind.

"...They can't keep up."

There are fewer zombies following. The zombies that had been chasing furiously like dogs chasing a thrown ball were now panting and stopping in their tracks, quickly changing their target to the surrounding buildings.

The horde of zombies I had been leading to the church spread out like waves, the dim sight of them breaking the glass windows and invading the buildings visible. Just like the ripples left behind by a passing ship.

Of course, there are still zombies chasing the car and new ones joining, but they are not as capable of outpacing the machine.

If they had the endurance to surpass the car, I might as well catch the zombies and have them pull a carriage.

'Ah, this way... I can only take a few zombies with me? This isn't a wave.'

Not a wave at all, maybe just the amount in a water cup. It seems like only one zombie with the stamina of a marathon runner and a few zombies around the church will be lured.

I counted the number of zombies one by one in the side mirror. The closer we got to the church, the fewer zombies there were.

It's over. This wasn't even a wave. The people in the van could win against this. With an enemy like this, how could the people unite?

"I'll park by the entrance!"

Bwoong-!

As soon as the van entered the church grounds, it accelerated. Screeching, it braked roughly and stopped diagonally next to the church entrance.

As if waiting, the glass door of the entrance was suddenly pulled open, and Elder Jeon hurriedly gestured.

"Come in quickly!"

As I slowly got out, I briefly looked back. I could only faintly feel the presence of a few zombies. Blurry figures. Muffled footsteps.

One zombie approaching with thudding steps was the first to draw near. Clearly a marathon zombie, wearing training clothes and showing the stamina to have chased from the beginning.

Did I vaguely check the entrance?

Like a track and field athlete nearing the finish line, I increase my speed. Tata-tak, the regular sound of footsteps draws closer, and the dark silhouette becomes clearer.

"Whoa!"

"Hurry!"

People hurriedly cross the entrance. I take a deep breath and enter last, then time it right and push the glass door with my whole body.

The marathon zombie rushed with full force, colliding with the weight-bearing door as it slammed shut.

The result was a collision.

Boom!

"Ugh!"

The zombie screamed and fell backwards. Even a few paving blocks from above came crashing down, completely crushing the zombie. They had been thrown from the rooftop.

It was so futile that I didn't even feel a sense of accomplishment from the carefully prepared defensive posture.

'Is this what a "wave" is?'

Click, the elder deacon shone his phone's light and lifted the lock on the top of the glass door. The elder spoke calmly.

"The first floor is cleared, the second-floor defense team and the rooftop siege team are ready. ...Disinfection first."

"Ah, disinfection. Please do it quickly."

Tick-tick-tick, the disinfectant sprays thoroughly soak our clothes. Even our hair and exposed skin are damp, like just stepping out of the shower.

I rub my gloved hands a few times while looking at the people. The patients have gaunt expressions, while the elder deacon and the evangelist seem calm. Nayeji even looks excited.

'It's really not enough...'

Suddenly, my thoughts turned to another person. The fellow looter who had left in a different car, whom I had completely forgotten.

I asked right away.

"The deacon, I mean, the looter, where is he?"

"He came back a while ago. But the situation in the city seems serious."

The elder deacon looked out into the dark entrance. During the disinfection, a couple of zombies had wandered around. Separated by a single pane of glass, their grunting sounds could be heard.

The elder deacon carefully blocked the entrance with desks and chairs, whispering softly.

"I tried to contact the local defense teams, but many places are unreachable, and many are already defending. It seems the zombies have swarmed out almost simultaneously..."

"There really is a bad person..."

"Ugh. That's why I said to throw them little by little."

The scene of the ajummas turning their heads in a flurry after turning on their phones, or suspecting each other as if wondering who did it. Somehow, this felt more familiar to me. A comfortable feeling?

At the same time, I realized something. An instinct or solidarity as a fellow predator.

'The person who threw the stone at the car is the thief elder.'

I'm confident he's telling lies. As expected of the main member. Covering himself in lies, and driving people into distrust and suspicion just by his presence.

And on top of that, triggering the zombie wave. Perfect.

Around that point, I revealed my presence.

"Elder. I'm here."

"Ah, Deacon Kwon. You weren't hurt? I'm relieved. I felt uneasy about sending you to the hospital for no reason."

How much truth is there in that statement? But distrust is the basic premise, isn't it? After all, we don't even know each other's real names.

"I'm fine. I'm glad you're well too, Elder. I was really worried."

I approached the railing, smiling. Due to the cloudy sky, even the moonlight was faint on the ground. Blinking headlights and repeated honking in the darkness.

The zombies had arrived.

Eeeek, kiiiek, ghastly cries. Countless footsteps marching. Writhing darkness.

'It's too dark to see well.'

I frowned deeply. I don't know how effective the ropes hanging on the streetlights or trees are. I planted awls, kitchen knives, and iron skewers in the ground at places where they might trip.

I couldn't even distinguish the sounds. The ghastly cries were too much like screams.

Instead, a sound came from behind. The thief elder, seemingly frightened, spoke in a trembling voice.

"Aren't there a lot? A lot of them?"

"Calm down. There are fewer than you imagine. It just looks like more because it's hard to see well...."

He couldn't continue his words.

The van was still blaring its alarm. The range of its headlights was filled with zombies. The wave of zombies was encroaching, as if eroding the blinking lights.

"...Deacon Kwon, there are really a lot."

"Ah, no, no. It's just that area with the lights... No! Throw stones!"

I hastily picked up paving blocks and threw them down with force. I don't know if they hit or missed. Anyway, the throwing was important.

People rushed over and started scattering bricks haphazardly.

"Die, die, die!"

"Damn Satan! You can't touch the church!"

Briefly, the sharp ferocity was etched on the faces of the ajummas in the phone light.

But the situation itself is not being grasped. Over time, the alarm went off and the headlights were naturally turned off. The darkness was a terrible obstacle.

In the midst of that unknown pressure, I listened carefully. Sound is the only clue to grasp the situation.

'The shrieks and shouts are too noisy. Is that a scream? Ah, the sound of glass breaking. And.'

Thud? Sounds like pulling out the barricade in the entrance? I broke out in a cold sweat for a moment. That's right. Zombies can use their hands a little.

We can break the glass with the bricks we threw, and move the furniture we set up as barricades.

'I should have nailed the furniture to the wall in the first place. At least I should have welded the furniture together.'

Somehow the situation is not good?

I quietly stepped back and looked for the thief elder. The thief elder was peering out over the railing, as if he could see something, and then came to me.

"Deacon Kwon, my night vision is a little better."

The elder, boasting of his thief skills, looked around cautiously and said in a small voice.

"The zombies have dispersed. No, they're breaking all the first-floor windows and moving down to the first floor. It's almost surrounded. And more seem to be coming."

"Ah, that's good. All the first-floor doors are locked. It's good that they're dispersed."

"Locked doors can be opened. And they're wooden doors, right? Those guys can probably break through that kind of door."

"..."

Is that so? Compared to steel doors, wooden doors do look very weak.

'If there are health zombies or zombies with axes, they'll probably break through.'

In the darkness, we made eye contact. Just like the day we plotted betrayal, I felt a sense of shared intent.

I admired the thief elder, who was the quickest to time the moment of betrayal, and said,

"Everyone is throwing stones well. We don't need to manage them. Shall we check the 3rd floor?"

"Right. There's no one at all on the 3rd floor. We should at least keep watch, shouldn't we?"