Zombie Apocalypse Whiteout

Chapter 28 : Shoot Out (2)

Zombie Apocalypse Whiteout - 28

EP28 Shoot Out (2)

Pop! Pop-pop!

As the black-clad soldiers rushed forward, the ones whose heads had popped up over their shields were struck down in a mist of blood, tumbling off the bridge and into the waters below. Now only three enemies remained.

“Shoot! Fire! Over there!”

Jin-woo could make out the shape of their mouths yelling as the remaining black-uniformed soldiers turned toward his hiding spot.

Tututututu! Tututututu!

They abandoned the fake General Park they’d been using as a hostage, hunkered behind their shields, and began blind-firing in the direction the sniper rounds had come from, muzzles barely sticking out.

But now… their firepower had thinned. And so had their shields.

Jin-woo remained perfectly calm, hidden beneath his camouflage netting, patiently waiting for an opening. They were only armed with MP5s, firing 9mm rounds. At this range, over 500 meters, and without a clear idea of his location, those submachine guns weren’t much of a threat.

“I told you, you’re not getting away.”

As soon as they started inching sideways behind their shields, Jin-woo whispered coldly and squeezed the trigger again.

Bang!

Blood burst from the side of the soldier furthest to the right, just above where his shield couldn’t cover. He collapsed forward, and Jin-woo fired another shot before the body even hit the ground.

Bang!

A clean shot straight through the face, another enemy went flying backward. As his body hit the ground, it jostled the remaining two shields, opening up a narrow gap.

Jin-woo didn’t miss it.

Bang! Bang!

One bullet tore through a thigh, the other pierced a shoulder. He hadn’t killed them, on purpose. There were still things he wanted to learn from those two.

With that, all eight of the black-clad soldiers had been neutralized.

“Gaaah! Aaagh!”

Though their screams couldn’t reach Jin-woo’s sniper nest, the way their mouths stretched open said everything. He could almost hear the pain.

Haa… haa…

Amid the carnage, the fake General Park, somehow completely unharmed, stood up shakily, gasping for breath. He looked around frantically, eyes darting between the floating café and Ttukseom Park Plaza.

He was clearly lost. If he ran toward the café, he might become a hostage again. But if he bolted toward the plaza… he’d be alone, thrown into a world overrun by zombies. A tough choice, for sure.

“Don’t pick it up. Just surrender.”

Seeing the man’s gaze drift toward one of the fallen soldiers’ MP5s, Jin-woo muttered to himself, still watching through the scope. The fight was over. But if the man so much as reached for the weapon and turned toward Yu-bin’s direction, Jin-woo wouldn’t hesitate to pull the trigger.

“…Ughhh…”

After a brief hesitation, the fake brigadier raised both hands high and started running toward the floating café.

“…Smart move.”

Jin-woo gave a slight nod, his finger still resting on the trigger. But then…

Thwack! Whump! Crack!

The man’s body jerked violently as bullets tore through him, spraying blood as he crumpled to the side.

“…What the hell? There was another one?”

Startled, Jin-woo whipped his rifle toward the direction the man had fallen from, just as the delayed sound of gunfire reached him.

Rat-a-tat-tat! Rat-a-tat-tat! Rat-a-tat-TANG!

“Two seconds behind the impact…”

Jin-woo ran a quick mental calculation as he scanned for the shooter's position. Judging by the time it took the sound to arrive and how fast the bullets hit, the enemy shooter was about 1 kilometer from his current position. Roughly 400 meters from the now-dead fake Park.

Which meant, it wasn’t fired from a submachine gun, at least.

Ratatatatata! Ratatatatatang! Ratatatatata!

The shots kept coming.

Splat! Splat-splat!

Blind rounds rained down, hitting the bodies of the fallen black-clad soldiers, kicking up blood and bits of flesh.

“Yu-bin! Rotate the bulletproof table! Move it east!”

Jin-woo immediately called it in over the radio. Figuring out how the enemy had reached that position could wait. The first priority was making sure Yu-bin and the others at the café were safe. The chicken shop on the fourth floor provided some cover, but it wasn’t made of bulletproof materials.

- Kzzzzt…! East? East as in Gangnam?

“No, Gangbuk side.”

- Sheriff, move the table! Over here! But… what the hell is this? Where did that come from? Kzzzt…!

The confusion in Yu-bin’s voice was obvious. They had taken out all eight soldiers from the helicopter just moments ago. The fact that there was still another enemy nearby made no sense.

Jin-woo scanned the suspicious areas quickly and replied,

“I’m looking. Just stay low and wait.”

Jin-woo stole a quick glance to check on his friends. The sheriff had swiftly rotated the bulletproof table, and Min-gu had moved the icebox to a safe spot. That alone drastically lowered the chances of anyone getting killed or injured by a direct hit.

“...Good.”

With the floating café secured for now, Jin-woo pressed his eye back to the scope and began scanning the suspicious area.

“There you are.”

A few moments later, he narrowed his eyes and muttered to himself. Hidden between the rose garden and the walking path was a small squad intermittently firing rounds toward the café.

“So they crossed the bridge.”

Piecing things together, Jin-woo reached a conclusion. If they had landed the helicopter on the southern bank and crossed via Jamsil Bridge, their sudden flanking maneuver would make sense. They must’ve used suppressors during the crossing. Still…

‘But they’re not wearing the black uniforms...’

From their gear and equipment, it was clear, they were army. That raised an unsettling question: Why were regular soldiers involved in trying to kill the daughter of the Taeyang Group’s chairman?

Regardless, now that things had reached this point, it was either kill or be killed. And as always, Jin-woo chose to kill.

Click.

He racked the bolt on his PGM338 and held his breath as he slipped his finger inside the trigger guard. The crosshairs in his scope were already fixed on a perfectly lined-up target.

BOOM!

The massive sound of the Lapua Magnum round echoed in Jin-woo’s ears. Two seconds later, the squad leader's face exploded and his head snapped backward.

Click.

Without hesitation, Jin-woo adjusted his aim slightly and fired the second round.

BANG!

Another direct hit. This time, the bullet tore through the side of the man's face, sending him crashing to the ground in a spray of blood over his comrades.

Tatata-ta-ta! Tatata-ta-ta! Tatatatat!

Panicked by the loss of two men in an instant, the enemy squad unleashed suppressive fire as they scrambled backward. The shock was evident in their wide, panicked eyes. But Jin-woo wasn’t about to let them retreat and regroup.

BOOM! Thud! Click! BOOM!

He fired again, then swapped magazines and continued pulling the trigger with the mechanical detachment of a machine. If he let these K2-wielding soldiers go, or even bought them time, his friends would be trapped with no way out.

Click! BOOM!

The final soldier tried to duck behind a streetlight, but Jin-woo’s bullet pierced his skull cleanly. Still peering through the scope, he pressed the radio transmitter.

“All clear, Yu-bin. How much time do we have before the next wave of zombies arrives?”

- Ksshh, 17 minutes. No, 16 minutes and 15 seconds. Ksshh.

Yu-bin replied. Jin-woo quickly ran the numbers in his head.

It’d take them about five minutes to pack and leave the café, and another five to run to the subway station with all that heavy gear. Even in the best-case scenario, they’d need at least 10 minutes. That’s assuming nothing unexpected happened along the way.

But right after that, the area would be swarming with zombies. Dangerous, yes, but also useful. The black uniforms had no idea when, where, or how the zombie hordes would move.

“Leave for the station in five minutes, no later. Take only what you absolutely need.”

Jin-woo issued the order, his mind already racing through contingencies. Once the Black Hawk that had retreated south of the river returned after rearming, his PGM338 would be no match. He’d only been able to take out the sniper earlier because the chopper had foolishly hovered in place.

These people had at least three high-speed helicopters, and now even regular army troops were involved. Their only option was to flee, fast. Before releasing the transmit button, Jin-woo added one more thing.

“We’re not coming back here.”

Spotting one squad meant there were likely more troops waiting in ambush. There was no way army officers deployed just a single unit. That meant their current location, the café and Point Alpha where they were supposed to meet Grandpa Paul, was now unusable. Coming back would be suicide.

- Ksshhh! Got it! Haaah… I’ll start packing now! Ksshh.

Yu-bin’s voice crackled with tense urgency. Jin-woo checked his watch once more and spoke.

“You need to be at the station within ten minutes. If you’re not, you’ll be trapped here.”

“He said ten minutes to the station! Grab what you need! Dump the rest! You too, bro!”

Finishing his transmission, Yu-bin picked up the icebox first and barked orders at the sheriff and Min-gu.

Rip… Rip…

He tore off blue tape and hurriedly began sealing the icebox. The last thing they needed was for the lid to fly open mid-run and spill everything.

‘Four more days… Can it hold out that long?’

As he tightly wrapped the icebox with tape, Yu-bin bit his lip. They’d filled it with ice that very morning, and while the late-November air was cold, he couldn’t be sure it would keep the temperature low enough for four whole days. If the ice melted completely… the precious Terra blood inside would spoil.

“Where are we even going?”

The sheriff asked with a baffled expression as he slung a duffel bag over his shoulder.

“That’s, uh…”

Yu-bin faltered. The designated Point Bravo he and Grandpa Paul had agreed on was the Costco in Sangbong-dong, but he couldn’t take the witch there. That place was a kind of paradise, an oasis for his friends. It was the one truly safe and peaceful shelter left in Seoul. There was no way he could risk exposing it to her.

“For now… somewhere near Konkuk University.”

He came up with a plan on the fly and unzipped two duffel bags. With someone needing to carry an SMG and the Witch in tow, they had no choice but to cut down on their gear. The icebox was non-negotiable, and the extra magazines were literally a matter of life and death. That meant sacrificing food and other non-essential equipment.

“Toss all the food!”

Speaking more to steel himself than to inform the others, Yu-bin packed the SMG and magazines into one bag. He crammed everything else, food, extra gear, into the other bag and heaved it over the railing.

Splash!

The bag hit the surface of the Han River with a loud plop and immediately began to sink. The sheriff spun around, startled.

“Dude! We could’ve just hidden it or something! That was good stuff!”

“No. We’re not coming back here. Not ever. None of it’s worth keeping.”

Yu-bin shook his head. Leaving behind any gear that might tie them to JL was far too risky. The reason Big Island and Thetis could enjoy peace was because no one knew they existed, and it needed to stay that way.

“Get her up! We have to move!”

The sheriff yanked the witch to her feet.

“Ugh…”

With two black tear streaks down her cheeks, the witch stood up slowly, still dazed and shaky. Her legs looked like they could give out at any moment.

“Get a grip!”

The sheriff slapped her lightly but firmly across the cheek.

“We’ve got to run. Nobody’s gonna carry you! If you don’t want to die, then haul ass! Got it?!”

“…H-hah!”

The witch trembled violently, her face flushed from the slap. It looked like she’d finally snapped back to reality.

“…What’d you say? Where are we going?”

“We’re heading to the subway station! Jesus, just keep up, you pain in the ass!”

The sheriff pointed once more in the direction of the station and slung the duffel bag full of guns and ammo across his back.

“Move!”

Min-gu, carrying the machete bag, took the lead, sprinting down the stairs.

Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!

In a matter of seconds, they barreled down the spiral staircase and raced toward the floating bridge. Surprisingly, the witch ran with them without protest. She understood what staying behind meant, death.

“Hnnnnn…”

But as they neared the bridge, now littered with bloodied corpses, the witch’s face turned deathly pale.

“I… I-I can’t go across. Not there… not there…”

She clattered her teeth, her body trembling violently. The bridge was a gruesome massacre site, soaked in blood and gore. Anyone seeing it up close for the first time would freeze in horror, it wasn’t something you could just glance at from above. You had to walk through it.

“Are you kidding me? Acting all innocent now? You’re the one who fed people to zombies, remember?!”

The sheriff grabbed her wrist and pulled her forward with no mercy.

“KYAAA!”

Eyes squeezed shut, the witch shrieked as she was dragged across the bridge, stumbling through the blood and remains. Though for different reasons, Yu-bin and Min-gu also paused briefly before stepping onto the bridge.

“Magazines!”

Yu-bin knelt beside the corpse of a man in black fatigues, rifling through the tactical vest pouches.

“We need those magazines! Sheriff, go on ahead!”

Even if they were just 9mm Parabellum rounds, ammo was invaluable. They’d gone through over 300 rounds in the centipede building three days ago, and used even more today. In a situation like this, a single magazine could mean the difference between life and death.

As he unzipped his bag and tossed in every magazine he could find,

Clack!

A blood-covered hand clamped around his wrist. It was the dying fake General Park.

“Gghhh… gghhh…”

His unfocused eyes stared blankly into space as his feeble fingers tightened around Yu-bin’s arm. But there was barely any strength left in that grip, less than a child’s.

Gurgle… gurgle…

Thick red blood poured from the man’s lips as he struggled to speak. He wanted to say something. That much was clear. But in this state, he wouldn’t be able to utter a single coherent word. He had only minutes left, at most, before shock and blood loss took him.

“I can’t help you.”

Yu-bin pressed his stomach tight and forced the words out. He shook the dying man’s hand off, then turned to the next corpse and retrieved another magazine, doing everything he could to avoid meeting Park’s eyes.

He didn’t want to see them, that desperate, pleading look. It drained too much from you. It lingered for far too long in your memory. Even if the person wasn’t worthy of sympathy.

“Let’s go!”

Yu-bin slung the blood-soaked MP5 over his shoulder, now fully stocked with magazines. Just then, Min-gu walked over, gently lifted Park’s limp left hand, and laid it across the chest of another corpse.

Then he raised the machete and muttered,

“Would’ve been nice if we’d asked his blood type first…”