Marauder of the Apocalypse

Chapter 9: Police, Thief, and Zombies [2]

A field where cabbage, lettuce, green onions, potatoes, or who knows what, are sown. The streetlights are far away, and the only light in the dark land is the farmhouse in the distance.

"..."

"..."

We instinctively step back and grip our phones. If we report it, the sound might alert that zombie and make it come towards us.

The farmhouse with the electric lantern shining a white light.

It seems to be the place where the farmer finished his daily work and drank makgeolli, as there are many bowls containing various foods, several bottles of makgeolli, and several brass bowls scattered around.

A zombie dressed like a farmer wanders around. Sometimes it sticks its head in the bowls and eats the food, gurgling and drooling.

"Let's report it."

We step back further and hold our phones.

I take out an old phone without a USIM. Even without a USIM, emergency calls like 119 or 112 can still be made.

"Wait a moment."

Jeon Do-hyeong taps his white phone. His masked face looks like a ghostly figure, and you can see a hint of cold sweat and his eyes trembling.

Soon, he finishes preparing an audio file to play.

"I'm ready."

"Okay."

I hold my breath and dial 112. I turn on the speakerphone so the dial tone can be heard. I hold the receiver of that phone up to the speaker of Jeon Do-hyeong's phone.

The call connects.

- This is the 112 emergency line.

At the same time, Jeon Do-hyeong plays the audio file. A woman's voice flows from the speaker.

- Is this the police? Here-

A pre-recorded file. Using a voice changing app, the woman's voice quickly recites a script. It gives the address of this place and screams.

- There's one zombie out! Aah! It seems to be coming this way!

- Caller, please remain calm and evacuate first-

Whatever the police say, the phone is thrown to the ground. And the call end button is pressed immediately.

The screen of the disconnected phone. I retrieve the phone, exhaling a long breath. Jeon Do-hyeong does the same.

It feels like playing a prank call to a public institution on April Fool's Day. I feel tense and excited about doing something bad.

"So this is really happening."

Jeon Do-hyeong says in a somewhat dazed voice.

I glance at him and give him a nudge.

"Let's do a final check."

"Yes, yes."

We take out our work gloves and move our hands around.

It was a choking hold position. A definite posture learned from the internet. One arm was inserted into the crook of the other arm, and the other arm pressed the back of the head.

While the police are focused on the zombies, we can ambush them from behind with a chokehold....

Jeon Do-hyeong suddenly said. As I handed him the hatchet.

"You know, it might be better to just kill them, rather than just subduing them like this. I feel like this way will fail." shook my head.

Jeon Do-hyeong, being short, seems to lack confidence in close combat, but it's better to not kill the police.

"No. It's better to keep the police alive than to kill them. That's more efficient."

"I don't understand..."

It was when Jeon Do-hyeong's feet were trembling. His feet suddenly stopped. A perplexed voice was heard.

"Ah, uh."

"What's wrong?"

I looked at his face, but due to the darkness and the mask, I couldn't read his detailed expression.

I could only see him gesturing to point at something.

"Zombie, zombie."

Not in the direction of the farmhouse. It's near us. I quickly turned my head and heard the sound. A black shadow walking with a thud. The distinctive groaning sound of a zombie.

It's not just one.

Crawling across the wide field, indistinguishable forms between darkness and people are approaching.

"Ah."

My head spun rapidly, reconstructing the situation.

The farmer or villager must have been collectively infected. They mutated while eating dinner in the farmhouse. Someone mutated and ran into the field, and they all mutated. They heard the report sound and are approaching the phone light.

We're done for.

I trembled and said,

"When will the police come."

"It won't be for at least 10 minutes..."

There seem to be at least five zombies. And in the wide open field.

***

Crunch, I heard the sound of Jeon Do-hyeong grinding his teeth. He quickly turned his body to try to flee, and I quickly grabbed his wrist and whispered softly.

"Quiet. They haven't spotted us yet."

Jeon Do-hyeong stopped. The zombies were slowly approaching, just as I said.

Quietly and stealthily escaping is the right thing to do. No, we should lure them.

I turned on my old phone. Perhaps because of the light, the zombies who were aimlessly wandering are now approaching us in a straight line.

Jeon Do-hyeong said in a voice about to go mad,

"Why did you turn that on?"

A voice that suppressed anger. I ignored him and quickly tapped on the phone.

Setting an alarm.

The time is 1 minute later, but in reality it will be less than 60 seconds. Seeing the screen, Jeon Do-hyeong briefly exclaimed, and I immediately threw the phone far away.

The direction of the zombies shifts as if chasing the phone.

"When the alarm goes off, they'll retreat."

"Yes."

We counted 1 second, 2 seconds like that. It felt like my heart was beating dozens of times per second. Clenching my sweaty gloved hands, I held my breath and waited.

Grrrr-

One of the zombies approaching from behind got close. I froze like a statue, not even breathing. A sound like an animal's cry. Irregular footsteps. It brushed past me.

My head turned white, and I instinctively grabbed the hammer.

Thud-

Fortunately, perhaps due to the thick darkness or the fact that the zombie was drawn to the phone light, it passed by us. I let out a ragged, relieved breath.

That breath was a little too loud.

The zombie turns its body. The zombie with the white light of the electric lantern like a halo around its face, its shadow cast on its face, crouches at that moment.

We step back hesitantly.

Beep beep beep beep beep-!

The phone emitted a hateful alarm sound. That mental attack sound wave.

"Aaaaargh!"

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"Eeeek!"

The zombies went crazy. The zombies who were approaching the phone suddenly ran, and the zombie that was suspicious of us also let out a scream and turned its body.

In an instant, they gathered around the phone, hitting and stomping on it. They pick it up and throw it, and then chase after the thrown phone.

Their attention is focused only on the noisy phone.

Suddenly, the strength left my body. As the tension was released, fatigue set in.

"..."

"..."

We silently moved away from the horde of zombies, carefully without making a sound.

As we moved a little further away, Jeon Do-hyeong said,

"Hey. I think the plan failed."

I glanced at the zombies. Thanks to throwing the phone near the barn, I could see the vague outline under the dim light.

'One zombie, two, three, four, five?'

Zombies wearing what looks like villager clothes, farmer clothes, and even ones picking up food from the barn, five in total.

Even if the police came in four, it would be a bit iffy.

'The police equipment is tempting, but it's too dangerous.'

He looks a bit older, but he's not a zombie. The brief deliberation is over.

"Okay, let's get out of here-"

At that moment,

Whoosh, thud-

Beep beep beep beep eek-

Suddenly, the cell phone fell in front of my feet. The cracked, broken screen. The eerie alarm sound like a broken speaker. The cursed phone that the zombies had kicked, hit, and thrown.

I trembled and looked up.

"Aaaaargh!"

"Eeeek!"

I saw the sight of five zombies rushing at us like wild boars.

In an instant, Jeon Do-hyeong and I were in sync. Without a word, we simultaneously turned our bodies and dashed away.

A cracking sound came from behind as the phone was crushed, and the alarm stopped. But the zombies still let out their unpleasant screams and chased after us. The footsteps of the five zombies approached like the rumble of a tank.

***

Panting, panting.

The pounding of my heart seems to be ringing in my ears.

Fortunately, it's a dark night and the field has no lighting, so they haven't caught up to us yet, but that's just a matter of time. Those farmer zombies seem to have spotted us like thieves, and they're relentlessly chasing us.

I don't know if they heard the sound of our running or our ragged breathing, and I don't have the leisure to analyze it.

"The police, they're coming, right?"

"There!"

Suddenly, Jeon Do-hyeong jumped up. I instinctively searched for the light in the darkness.

In the distance, the police car. The blue and red flashing lights. And two people approaching, one with a flashlight.

Suddenly, a new strength seemed to surge up.

Jeon Do-hyeong and I waved our arms wildly and ran towards the police.

"Here! Here!"

"Please save us!"

Didn't they hear? There was no response. I gritted my teeth and pounded the ground. I'll run with all my might until I hear the voice of the police.

The sound of the zombies' footsteps gradually faded, and the faint voices of a man and a woman could be heard.

"I just want to shoot all the zombies dead. They say the number of infected will exceed 1 million in a month. How do you isolate and manage 1 million zombies?"

"If you kill them all, that's a mass slaughter. The military will intervene."

"The military? There's no place more vulnerable to the epidemic than there. Even if a cold goes around-"

I smiled. It's not because of the good news that the government is not functioning properly.

It's the joy of the existence that will save us. I, and Jeon Do-hyeong, shouted at the top of our lungs. Despite being out of breath, our voices came out loudly.

"Here! Zombies behind!"

"Hurry!"

Swoosh, the flashlight shone on us, and the two police officers immediately drew their weapons.

The female police officer aimed a taser gun loaded with a cartridge, and the senior-looking male officer was swinging two handcuffs.

"First, please retreat to the back-"

The exhausted voice stops. The flashlight shook. The police who looked behind us opened their eyes wide and let out a scream-like cry.

"It's not just one, is it!"

They must have seen the five zombies.

We quickly hid behind the police, and watched as the police responded skillfully.

The zombies rushing madly. The distance quickly closing. The police, as if they had experienced a similar situation before, did not waste time requesting backup on the radio.

Bang!

The taser gun was fired without warning. With a sound like a bursting balloon, the electrodes flew and stuck to the zombie, and the paralyzed zombie fell to the ground.

"Yes!"

The man glared at us as if he was going to kill us, then pulled out a gun and immediately pulled the trigger. The successive gunshots echoed.

One rubber bullet, two rubber bullets, and two live rounds hit the bodies of the zombies.

One zombie fell back as if it had died instantly, but that was it. The other three zombies limped or bled, and attacked.

"Aaaaargh!"

The zombie's scream-like cry.

"Baton out!"

The man, with the gun dangling from a strap, unfolds the baton, and the woman, while pulling the trigger of the taser gun to electrify it, also holds a baton in the other hand.

“….”

Immediately they were entangled. The swinging baton and the relentless zombies who seemed not to feel the pain.

I took a few steps back and gripped the hammer. The red rubber of the work glove made a creaking sound of friction.

The desire for the police's weapons, the fear of the zombies, binds my feet, unable to do either.

In the end, it was fear that prevailed.

In this short time, all the police had fallen to the ground. The flashlight rolling on the ground illuminated the blood-soaked field. The gun and bulletproof vest contaminated with the blood of the zombies.

And the zombies turning towards us.

"Grrrr."

As if venting their anger, the zombies who had almost butchered the police officers who had shot them slowly got up. The zombies paralyzed by the taser also recovered and approached, dragging the taser gun connected by the wire.

Escape is the answer.

"Run!"

Me and Jeon Do-hyeong ran quickly. My steps are heavy.

Regret weighs on my shoulders.

I didn't mean to kill the police. At most, I was planning to infect them with the virus and send them back. But they died a month earlier at the hands of the zombies.

Their unexpected death did not seem like someone else's business.

The victory of the zombies. A world where people die meaninglessly. A world where it is difficult to obtain resources. It was an apocalypse.