Zombie Apocalypse Whiteout - 22
EP22 120 Kilometers (7)
“Aaaaghhh!”
Startled, Yu-bin screamed and stumbled backward onto the dock.
Gwaaagh!
The zombie’s grip on his leg tightened, yanking him toward the water. Its filthy nails dug into his pants, the pain stabbing straight through the skin of his calf.
“Let go! You bastard!”
Yu-bin kicked wildly at both the zombie’s hand and his own leg. If he got pulled even a little closer to those gnashing jaws, it was game over.
Whack! Whack!
Six solid kicks with the steel-toed soles of his work boots, finally, the zombie’s thumb joint snapped, and the grip broke. Yu-bin tore himself free.
Graaagh!
The zombie howled in frustration, thrashing its arms as it sank. The river water surged and splashed over the dock’s edge, pouring into the thing’s gaping mouth, but it didn’t care. All it wanted was Yu-bin’s flesh, and the firelit cigarettes.
Splash! Splash!
More zombies surfaced nearby, flailing their arms and slapping the water as they tried to swim closer. While Yu-bin had focused on luring the ones on land, these submerged ones had been silently closing the gap.
Creeeeak!
While the water zombies thrashed and flailed, the duck boat, its mooring unhooked, began to drift slowly away from the dock.
“No! Don’t do this!”
Panic rising, Yu-bin lunged and grabbed the boat’s rear post, pulling it back before it could float out of reach. If he lost it now, he’d either be torn apart by the hundreds of zombies swarming the dock or have to dive into the freezing November Han River with zombies floating all around.
Thunk!
Just as he managed to reel the boat back in and was about to climb aboard, one of the waterlogged zombies grabbed the dock’s tire bumper and started hauling itself up. Yu-bin kicked at its hand in a panic.
Splash!
Its shattered fingers gave out, and the zombie slipped back into the river, crashing into the water with a loud splash.
GRRRAAAAAGH!
Behind him, the horde had already reached the floating dock, their roars and thunderous footsteps pounding ever closer. Time was up.
“Shit!”
Yu-bin scrambled into the front seat of the boat, turned the rudder as far left as it would go, and started pedaling with everything he had.
Creak! Creak! Splash!
But despite his desperation, the duck boat let out its usual pitiful groans as it inched forward ever so slowly. Zombies clung to both sides.
Crack!
He kicked off the ones on the right as soon as he saw their hands, but the other three sides were overwhelmed. One even had its arm wrapped around the duck’s plastic neck at the front.
Splash! Spin…! Slosh…!
The weight of the clinging zombies and their tugging forces made the single-passenger duck boat spin uselessly in place. At this rate… no matter how hard he pedaled, he wouldn’t even make it three meters from the dock.
Thudthudthudthudthud!
The sound of zombies charging across the dock echoed like death. He hadn’t created enough distance yet…!
Yu-bin unzipped the front pocket of his backpack and turned to look. Beyond the blazing flames of the burning cigarettes, only a few meters from the duck boat, rotting zombie faces packed the area, squirming, snarling, and closing in fast.
This was exactly what he’d planned for… but seeing it in person, it chilled his blood. Just a few of them reaching him would be the end. Yu-bin wasn’t like the sheriff, Jin-woo, or Min-gu, he couldn’t take on half a dozen of them at once.
“Ah, damn it… Shit. I’m seriously gonna lose it.”
He kicked and kicked to shake them off, but they clung like gum on a hot sidewalk. Gritting his teeth, Yu-bin tore open the Velcro strap and pulled out his Glock and a spare magazine. There hadn’t been time to bring anything else.
Creak! Creak!
All the while, his legs kept pedaling furiously, and the zombies clutching the boat howled with hunger, their milky eyes wild with rotten obsession.
Gwaaagh! Gwaaaagh!
Their cries felt like alarm bells, alerting the others exactly where he was. The frustration boiled over.
“Shut the hell up, you freaks!”
Yu-bin muttered through gritted teeth, scowling as he hissed the words at them. Not that they’d listen.
KAAAAAGH!
With the paddle boat spinning in circles and splashing to the left, a zombie hauled its upper body onto the rear of the boat. The moment a splash of water from the creature hit his face, Yu-bin made up his mind.
Bang! Bang, bang!
Whipping around, he pulled the trigger. The Glock roared, its muzzle flashing with fire.
Thwack! Splurch!
The zombie clinging to the rear left side of the boat took bullets to the face and head, its body slipping limply back into the water. He’d fired three shots, but where the third one went, who knew? No time to worry about minor details.
Bang, bang, bang! Bang, bang!
Yu-bin twisted from side to side, emptying rounds as he turned. Just like Jin-woo had taught him: grip the handle tightly with both hands and put at least two bullets into each one. Better to end it quickly than waste time lining up a perfect shot.
Thwack! Crack! Splurt!
Zombies took bullets to the forehead, crown, or eye sockets and slipped into the water one after another.
Splash!
Only after knocking off all six of the clingers did the paddle boat finally start to pick up speed.
Swoosh! Clunk!
As the boat cut through the current, the zombie hanging off the duck head up front lost its grip and was dragged under the boat.
“Haa… haa…”
Panting heavily, Yu-bin pedaled with all his might and looked back, only to see…
Graaaagh!
The gaping jaws of zombies, mid-air, flying at him from the motorboat dock, filled his vision.
Thud! Thump!
The sound of zombies crashing down onto the roof echoed as the small paddle boat rocked violently, like it had been caught in a storm. Yu-bin couldn’t withstand the impact and slammed face-first into the boat.
Crack!
Stars burst in front of his eyes, and the metallic tang of blood filled his nose. That sharp, bone-jarring pain was something he hadn’t felt in a long time.
“Aagh!”
Clutching his face with his prosthetic hand, he cried out. And yet, even amid the chaos, he never let go of the Glock. His finger was off the trigger too, no accidental discharge. Another thing he’d been drilled on relentlessly by Jin-woo.
Thump! Crash!
Zombies kept landing on the roof, sending sprays of water in all directions. A few even managed to grab the pillars of the paddle boat as they fell.
“Let go, you bastard!”
Yu-bin shoved the muzzle straight into a zombie’s face and pulled the trigger without hesitation.
Bang! Bang!
The close-range shots tore through rotting skulls, sending green brain matter splattering across his pants and the inside of the boat. He didn’t care. He just kept pedaling forward and firing into the heads of anything that tried to climb aboard.
Click!
The Glock’s slide locked back, it was empty. Yu-bin fumbled for a new magazine with his bloodied prosthetic hand and reloaded. Even in that short moment, another half-dozen zombies had latched onto the right rear of the boat.
Splash! Whooosh!
Their combined weight tilted the boat dangerously, lifting the left side up. But worse, through the shallow hole near the base, water was starting to pour in.
“Shit!”
Yu-bin scrambled over to the left seat to try and balance the weight, but in this situation, it barely made a difference.
Gurgle… glug…
Water kept pouring in, and the sound alone was enough to make his skin crawl. If he didn’t get rid of those zombies in the next few seconds, the boat would sink, and with it, any hope of surviving.
“Fuuuu…”
Yu-bin took a deep breath and clenched his jaw to steady his aim. He extended his arm toward the heads of the climbing zombies. They were only about five feet away, but between the rocking boat and their thrashing limbs, getting a clean shot was anything but easy. He wished he’d brought the MP5, but there hadn’t been time.
No, no… I’ve got this. Don’t panic. Just shoot. Be bold…
Bracing his prosthetic hand under his right arm, Yu-bin focused and fired at the head of the leftmost zombie clawing its way up.
Bang! Bang!
He didn’t bother trying to conserve ammo. He wasn’t good enough to take them down with one shot like Jin-woo, and the situation was far too urgent for restraint.
Bang! Bang, bang! BANG! Splurt! Crack!
Even after emptying another full magazine and firing five more rounds into a fresh one, it was only then that he finally managed to clear all six zombies off the paddle boat.
GRRAAAAH!
From the riverside walking path, the distant moans of zombies lined up like a parade carried over the water. Their cries, drawn by the scent of cigarettes, echoed like a frenzied chant. Yu-bin still couldn’t risk heading back to the floating café, not with the fear that those things might follow him.
“Haa… haa…”
Having barely made it out alive, Yu-bin occasionally glanced nervously over his shoulder as he steered the duck boat toward the center of the river. His nosebleed made it hard to breathe, but he didn’t stop. He was out of ammo now, which meant he had to get as far away as fast as he could.
“God… damn it…”
Only after he’d paddled the boat to a relatively safe distance did Yu-bin finally lean back against the seat and run a hand over his face.
Swipe.
Fresh blood from his still-bleeding nose smeared across the glove of his prosthetic hand.
“Every damn time I come to this bug-shaped place… I end up bleeding… Huu… huu… Maybe this place just isn’t meant for me.”
He gently poked at his swollen nose. Ouch. Probably not broken, but it hurt like hell. Still, compared to his thighs, which felt like they were about to explode, the pain in his nose was nothing.
“Ugh…”
Yu-bin groaned through clenched teeth as he massaged his legs. He’d kept up with his workouts during his time on Big Island, or so he’d thought… but today’s paddle boat mission had pushed him to his absolute limit. The nosebleed hadn’t helped either, it made breathing a struggle the entire time.
As he sat there, mouth open and savoring his brief moment of sweet relief, Jin-woo’s voice suddenly came through the receiver in his ear.
- kkshhh! Yu-bin! Are you okay?!
Ah, thank god!
Just hearing Jin-woo’s voice filled Yu-bin with deep gratitude. It was just a short question, but it told him everything he needed to know. The three of them were safe.
Wiping his nose once more, Yu-bin pressed the transmit button and replied.
“Yeah… I’m okay. I’m floating in the middle of the river right now. What about you guys? Everything alright?”
- Yeah, we’re at the subway station now, kkshh! That fire you set really helped. We got out thanks to that, kkshhh!
“That’s great.”
Yu-bin turned to look in the direction of the station. He couldn’t see much from here, but somewhere behind one of those dark windows, Jin-woo was there. Safe, thankfully…
“There are so many zombies swarming the area now, I don’t think it’s going to be easy for you to come back this way anytime soon.”
Yu-bin shifted his gaze toward the plaza. The place was teeming with the undead. Through the haze of smoke, he spotted a teddy bear balloon bobbing lazily in the air.
Which meant the smug bastards had joined the cigarette party too. And soon, other roaming hordes would pass by, catch the scent, and stop to join the 120-kilometer zombies in a nicotine-fueled zombie block party.
“Heh…”
Despite all the earlier panic, a smile tugged at the corners of Yu-bin’s lips. He hadn’t planned for this, but after enduring a near-death ordeal over the past fifteen minutes, he’d accidentally pulled off perfect zombie traffic control. With a little luck, even those 2,500 yellow balloon zombies might end up getting dragged into the mess. The stench of tobacco still hung thick in the air, after all. The only downside was that with everything in such chaos, it would be nearly impossible for the others to make it back to him from the subway station.
“You guys still have ammo?”
Now that he’d regained his composure, Yu-bin pressed the button again and asked. Jin-woo responded quickly.
- Yeah, kkshh! Still got around 300 rounds.
That was plenty, unless they got completely surrounded by a massive horde, they’d be fine. They should still have a day’s worth of food left in their standard packs, too. With that in mind, Yu-bin wiped his nose once more and said:
“Alright. Find a tall building and hole up there for now. I’ll keep watch from here and let you know when things quiet down a bit.”