novelraw Chapter 29 : Shoot Out (3)
Chapter 29 : Shoot Out (3)
Zombie Apocalypse Whiteout - 29
EP29 Shoot Out (3)
“Gah!”
Realizing what he was about to do, Yu-bin hurriedly grabbed his shoulder to stop him.
“Don’t do it, bro!”
“He doesn’t need it anymore anyway. And there’s still room in the cooler.”
Min-gu’s voice was cold, merciless. It was like he was ready to hack off the left arm of every body here.
To be fair, the fake General Park would be dead any minute now, and the rest were already corpses. So technically, he wasn’t wrong. But… Yu-bin just couldn’t bring himself to accept this reality.
He’d seen people get torn apart and die gruesome deaths more than once. But someone cutting off a limb for his sake, that was a whole different story. And carrying around a bunch of bloody, severed arms in an icebox? That was a hard no.
“No, no! Just leave it, bro. This isn’t the time to be lugging around stuff like that. We don’t have time to tape it up and seal it again! And besides…”
He pointed to the cooler slung over his shoulder and raised his voice.
“The more we cram into this thing, the faster the ice melts. We could end up losing the most important thing in there, the blood!”
“Tch.”
Maybe Yu-bin’s logic got through to him, or maybe he just didn’t want to force something Yu-bin clearly hated. Either way, Min-gu clicked his tongue and shoved the machete back into his bag.
“Forget the arms and grab a shield instead, bro! We might need it!”
Yu-bin pointed ahead at a shield lying on the ground as he moved forward. In a situation where gunfire could erupt at any second, a shield, or body armor, could make all the difference. Granted, the guys lying here in black uniforms had all gone down to Jin-woo even with shields, but still.
Thunk!
Without a word, Min-gu strapped the shield to his left arm and adjusted his bag. Now that he acknowledged the clever kid as their leader, it only made sense to follow his orders, at least most of the time.
“What are you doing?! Hurry up!”
The sheriff, already ahead, turned and shouted. Despite carrying a hammer, a weapons bag, a backpack, and dragging the witch along, he was full of energy.
Tak tak tak tak tak!
The four of them dashed along the trail, up the stairs, and toward the subway station, drenched in cold sweat. Even the witch, their hostage, was sprinting for her life with a look of panic on her face. She understood just as well: getting left behind here meant certain death.
“Move it!”
Jin-woo, who had already made it up to the second floor of the Bug Pavilion to provide cover, waved them forward. Sam-soo gave a solemn bark.
Woof!
“Damn it! Why is it so damn far? Haa… Haa…!”
Just as they passed under the pavilion, the witch stumbled and fell forward, gasping for air. The sheriff quickly grabbed her by the shoulder and hauled her upright.
“Seriously? That’s all it took to knock you over? What, never exercised a day in your life?”
“I get PT every damn day from a former Olympian, you idiot! Haa… Look at these shoes!”
Face twisted in frustration, she pointed at her ankle. The shredded remains of her stockings were soaked with blood. Cheap, unfamiliar military shoes had torn the skin around her Achilles, and blood was oozing out. Not that she could’ve imagined she’d be sprinting in them when she put them on.
“Oh, come on! It’s just a scrape! You’re not gonna die from that. Quit whining and keep running!”
The sheriff showed no sympathy whatsoever and yanked her by the wrist. They weren’t out of danger yet, this wasn’t the time for pointless delays.
“Damn it! Ouch! Shit!”
The witch cursed in English as she limped along behind him.
“Haaah… haaah…”
A few meters back, Yu-bin was panting hard too. The icebox on his back weighed over 25 kilograms. Add the now-heavier backpack and an MP5, and it felt like something was dragging him backward with every step. His breathing grew labored under the crushing weight.
“Give me the cooler.”
Unable to watch anymore, Min-gu reached out his hand. But Yu-bin stubbornly shook his head.
“No, bro. You need to keep one hand free.”
If any zombies popped out of hiding, the only one who could quickly take them down was Min-gu.
“I can run!”
Yu-bin wiped the sweat from his forehead and pushed himself to pick up the pace again. Only 150 meters to the station. He told himself he could handle it. No, he had to handle it.
Whup-whup-whup-whup! Whup-whup-whup-whup!
Just as they neared the station, the sound of helicopter rotors thundered from the direction of Gangnam. This time, there were two. Rising above the buildings, the helicopters zipped across the river and headed their way fast.
“They’re back again, those fuckers!”
The sheriff scowled and clicked his tongue in disgust. Those assholes wouldn’t last a second in a fair fight on the ground, but up there in the sky, they acted like gods. And the fact that he couldn’t do a damn thing about it, just run, only made it worse.
“Don’t get mad, just keep running, Sheriff!”
Yu-bin shoved the sheriff’s back and shouted. Luckily, this area was a tangled mess of tall obstacles, the circular overpass, the Jabeolle building, the subway station, and Cheongdam Bridge. The helicopter gunners couldn’t get a clear line of sight, and even if they stayed hidden under the bridge pillars, the chance of getting hit by machine gun fire was much lower.
Tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat! Tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
The two helicopters announced their arrival with a barrage of gunfire at the Han River cruise ship dock. It looked like they’d figured out roughly where their sniper had been firing from a few minutes ago and had set out accordingly.
“Ugh!”
The moment the shots rang out, the witch instinctively covered her head and dropped to the ground with a scream. The sheriff quickly grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back up.
“They’re not shooting here! Get up!”
Tat-tat-tat-tat-tat! Tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
As the helicopters crossed paths overhead in an X formation, each volley shredded the third floor of the dock where Jin-woo had been hiding just five minutes earlier. The place was riddled with bullet holes. If anyone had still been hiding there, their body would have been torn apart. The relentless helicopter gunfire continued mercilessly.
But this delayed retaliation, or rather, the elimination of the threat, gave Yu-bin’s group a precious few extra steps to escape.
“Jin-woo! Run to the subway station now! Get there and wait for us!”
Yu-bin pressed the transmit button on his radio and shouted as he ran full speed. In his mind, after tearing up that dock, the next logical target was the Jabeolle building, the most open and vulnerable spot nearby, perfect for an ambush.
“Got it! Running now!”
Jin-woo’s breathless voice answered. Seeing the helicopter gunfire, he’d made the same call and started running.
“Get down to the second floor and run! Don’t fight back! Don’t reveal your position!”
Yu-bin made sure to emphasize that before cutting off the radio. If Jin-woo fired a single shot and gave away their location, he’d be dead immediately.
Whoooosh! Tat-tat-tat-tat-tat! Tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
When the four of them stepped into the shadows beneath the overpass connected to the subway, the helicopters started firing at the Jabeolle building.
BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG! Crash! Crash! BANG!
The terrifying volume of firepower shattered the metal walls and glass windows of the Jabeolle building into pieces.
“Ahh, damn it!”
Even the sheriff and Min-gu flinched at the overwhelming blast.
Tat-tat-tat-tat-tat! Ping-ping-ping-ping!
Bullets rained down on the sunlit park pavement, the second floor of the subway station, and the right exterior stairs, kicking up clouds of dust and debris. Yu-bin clearly understood what the enemy was saying with this gunfire:
If they stepped out of the overpass’s shadow onto the exposed second floor or the external stairs, they’d be riddled with bullets like a beehive. In other words, this attack was meant to pin them down.
Tat-tat-tat-tat-tat! Crash! Crash!
Just to be sure the message was received, the helicopters circled again over the subway station, hammering it with another round of gunfire. The subway glass shattered completely, and the transparent roof over the stairs crumbled into pieces.
Tat-tat-tat-tat-tat! Tat-tat-tat-tat!
This time, the left exterior stairs were turned into a bullet-riddled mess, along with the connected pavement and the subway station entrance.
“Haaah… haaah…”
The four of them hid behind the Cheongdam Bridge pillars and overpass columns, trying to catch their breath. Just watching the building get torn apart was enough to make their hearts pound and veins throb.
Whoooosh!
The two helicopters patrolled the subway station nonstop, circling swiftly without pause after the painful lesson Jin-woo gave them. Fortunately, the concrete pillars were thick and tall enough to hide all four safely.
“Damn… showing off like hell.”
The sheriff peeked out, grinding his teeth as he checked the enemy helicopter’s direction. The intact left subway stairs, hidden behind Cheongdam Bridge, were just a few meters ahead, but they couldn’t go there. If they exposed themselves, the helicopters would open fire indiscriminately.
“I’m telling you… if I get handed over, they’ll kill you guys too! I’m a witness! Since things are like this, we have to survive together! As a team! You get what I’m saying?”
The witch, clutching the sheriff’s wrist tightly, shouted at him.
“What are you talking about? Shut up, you crazy woman! I’m already stressed enough. Hey! Don’t scratch my arm!”
Even as the sheriff snapped at her, the terrified witch kept talking.
“Don’t think about surrendering and handing me over! Either way, we’re dead! I’ll help! Don’t abandon me, contact your backup…!”
“We know that already! Do you think we’re idiots? We’re not leaving you behind, so shut up already! You’re just distracting me!”
The sheriff raised his eyebrows, trying to calm her down, when,
Tat-tak! Tat-tat-tak!
Taking advantage of a moment when the helicopters flew away, Jin-woo and Sam-suk came running down the Jabeolle building’s exterior stairs like madmen.
“Haaah… haaah… it’s suffocating!”
Jin-woo ran desperately toward the pillars, clutching his chest and gasping for air. The witch’s big eyes filled with despair as the single sniper and the dog appeared.
“One? Just one? Where’s the rest? You guys have choppers too! Backup! Request backup!”
“Huff... huff...”
Jin-woo didn’t answer her but wiped the sweat off his face and gripped the handle of his K-2 rifle tightly, as if ready to pull the trigger the moment anyone appeared.
“What are you going to do? Just stand here like this?”
The sheriff’s irritation was about to boil over. Jin-woo kept his gaze fixed ahead and shook his head slightly.
“No. We can run. Just hold out a few more minutes.”
“How long until those helicopters disappear? Feels like they’ll be circling here all day.”
“There’s a limit to their operational range.”
Jin-woo answered for Yu-bin’s unspoken thought. Every helicopter has a fuel limit, a maximum flight radius it can cover without mid-air refueling.
According to what Jimmy, the rescue team leader, had told them, and Jenny relayed, the Black Hawk’s combat radius is 392 miles, just under 600 kilometers. Once it burns through the fuel for about 600 kilometers, it has to turn back.
The two Black Hawks hovering above had already flown a long distance from Busan to Seoul, avoiding conflict zones, dropped off the witch, and now had been circling and waiting somewhere for about 40 minutes. So, in roughly 40 to 50 minutes, they’d hit their flight time limit. Plus, flying low and constantly changing speed and direction would only shorten that time.
The whole drawn-out negotiation and stalling, they had planned for exactly this scenario. If the helicopter pilots had any sense, they’d try to end this standoff within 20 minutes at most. Otherwise, they’d be forced to turn south empty-handed.
“So, you’re saying if we just stay put and stand by for a few minutes, that’s it? The dangerous part will be over?”
The witch asked, her strange accent making half her words almost unintelligible, like someone who hadn’t spoken to Chris for months. Even the translator from Thetis spoke better Korean than her. Jin-woo gave her a dumbfounded look, then shook his head.
“No way they’re that dumb. While the helicopters keep us pinned down, they’re moving in on foot.”
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat! Pew pew pew!
Before he finished speaking, the helicopters opened fire again, two machines crossing each other in the sky, raining dozens of bullets in seconds.
The pavement blocks just ten meters from their hiding spot shattered, and the glass walls connecting to the subway station in the left tunnel exploded into sharp shards flying everywhere.
“Hold on. Hold on...”
Yu-bin tried to calm everyone down. If they panicked and ran now, that’s exactly what the helicopter guys wanted.
“Stay low. They’re coming this way. Probably from two directions...”
Jin-woo raised his left hand, pointing toward the Han River walkway. The troops approaching along the path under the stairs were out of sight, but the relentless helicopter gunfire clearly showed that the ground forces were dangerously close. The only unknown was how many.
“How many helicopters took off when you left?”
Yu-bin asked the witch.
“...Five.”
She answered blankly, seeming confused by the question. Yu-bin glared at her and pressed again.
“Be honest. Five? If you lie, you’re putting yourself at risk.”
“Five. Why? Why is that important?”
The witch snapped back irritably.
“Because we need to know how many enemies are coming.”
Yu-bin kept it short.
“...Five minutes.”
Looking at his watch, Yu-bin muttered while wiping the blood off his MP5’s safety catch. If five more minutes passed, more than 3,000 zombies approaching from the east would flood this area like a tidal wave.