Red Dot - 121

Chapter 121

Junseong lowered the walkie-talkie from his mouth and took a deep breath.

‘She’s safe.’

Even though he had immediately recognized the person waving a flashlight on the bus as Chaeyi, his anxiety had not been completely relieved. There had been a moment when he had firmly believed it was her, after seeing a video on a cellphone left behind by Nam Ki-hyuk, where a woman with the same short haircut appeared. So, even now, he couldn’t shake the thought that it might just be someone who looked like her.

Fortunately, Jang Daewook, being an old friend, easily understood Junseong’s thoughts and quickly conveyed the good news that Chaeyi was safe. He had always been quick to pick up on things.

Junseong, still holding the walkie-talkie, wanted to hear Chaeyi’s voice and check if she was injured, but this was not the time for such luxuries.

After slipping the walkie-talkie into his coat pocket, Junseong quickly moved his legs, which had been momentarily still. Hanseo, who had been standing like his shadow, matched his pace as they descended the dark staircase, the flashlight illuminating the way.

As they cautiously made their way down the pitch-black stairs, they saw their group, tense and gathered on the floor below. They had hurriedly left with only the essentials, their faces filled with anxiety and unease.

In reality, the bomb’s destructive power was not very great.

While the sudden explosion had startled them, there was little damage on the 7th floor apart from some vibrations, similar to an earthquake.

According to Changmin, the timed bombs attached beneath the air conditioning units were either the same kind as the first bomb or smaller. So, even if all those bombs went off simultaneously, the worst they could expect was part of the ceiling collapsing.

That is, if the bombs were placed over an empty floor beneath.

When the bomb exploded and the floor cracked, the heavy outdoor air conditioning units would fall down onto the lower floors. There had been cases abroad and also in Korea where buildings collapsed all the way from the roof to the bottom when the weight of air conditioning units on one side overwhelmed the structure.

Even though the hospital building was much sturdier than a commercial building, if one side of the floor were to collapse due to the bomb, the heavy air conditioning units would fall onto the building, potentially causing it to collapse entirely.

Nam Ki-hyuk’s parting gift was not just a phone to bait Junseong.

‘That ignorant bastard.’

Junseong clenched his teeth as he thought of Nam Ki-hyuk’s unpleasant face and glared at the door in front of him.

There were less than 3 minutes remaining before the explosion.

Just as Junseong was anxiously watching the clock while gripping the doorknob, a loud honk from the bus startled everyone. Immediately after, they heard the zombie horde outside screaming and rushing somewhere.

“Everyone, please follow my instructions,” Junseong said, and his group nodded in the darkness.

Receiving the flashlight from Hanseo, Junseong turned on the light and listened carefully to the sounds outside the door.

A few seconds later, he motioned to his group and swung the door open.

“Kyaaah-!”

“Keek-!”

“They’re coming, they’re coming!”

One of the group members from the bus shouted in alarm. Through his night vision goggles, he could see an enormous number of zombies chasing after the bus.

Having entered the underground 3rd floor parking lot of Inhan Hospital, Daewook’s group increased the speed of the bus, still keeping the headlights off. Unlike the outside, where some sound was dispersed, the closed underground 3rd floor seemed to intensify the noise, and the heavy exhaust sound of the bus began to stir the zombies. To make matters worse, the driver aggressively honked the horn every second.

BEEP- BEEP-!

Kyaaah-!

The zombies in the underground 3rd floor started chasing the bus, and the skilled driver skillfully maintained a distance just short of being caught by the zombies, taunting them calmly.

While looking through the night vision goggles to assess the number of zombies closing in on them, Daewook also observed the empty spaces around them. Through the open emergency exit door, a group emerged. The zombies were all focused on the bus, so the emergency exit and the surrounding area appeared strangely calm, as if they were in a different place.

Daewook watched as the group that had exited the emergency stairs split in two. The first person, Junseong with a flashlight, and a man in black clothing headed toward a nearby car, while the second person, a bald, muscular man holding a flashlight, led the rest of the group in the opposite direction, away from the bus.

Once Daewook confirmed that Junseong had opened the car’s driver’s side, he immediately bent down and signaled to the group.

“Everyone, pull the curtains on the windows and lie down so you can’t be seen. If even one person is near the window, they might be spotted because of the shadow.”

The bus they were on had curtains on every window, which helped block outside visibility, making it easier to sleep comfortably in the seats. Since they were moving in the dark, the inside of the bus wasn’t visible, but just in case the shadows might attract attention, they decided to make sure the curtains were fully closed.

As the group crawled on the floor or squeezed into the space between seats, Junseong signaled the driver. The driver, who had been honking the horn, stopped and immediately turned off the bus’s engine.

With the honking and exhaust noise gone, the zombies had already gathered in full force.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The zombies surrounding the bus began to pound on it. The vehicle shook violently, and the eerie sounds of the zombies were heard through the tightly closed windows.

Gyaaah-!

Heeerr-!

Although the group had been trained enough to handle zombies, being surrounded by such a massive horde made everyone tense.

Fortunately, the bus they were on was fairly durable. It was a strong coach bus, and with the advice of one of the group members, they had added extra metal plating from a construction site. The bus could withstand the dozens of zombies pounding on it.

Just as the zombies’ cries grew louder, the sound of a horn blared again.

BEEP-!

This time, the horn sounded from a different direction. There was no sound coming from the bus anymore, and even the group inside had stopped breathing, so it was only natural for the zombies to focus their attention on the new horn.

Kyah!

The zombies gathered on the bus ran toward the continuous blaring horn. In response, the shaking of the bus gradually died down.

Daewook, hearing the horn of a car near the emergency exit, looked around at the three members assigned to watch for danger and said:

“Let me know when all the zombies have moved.”

“OK.”

The three members, wearing night vision goggles, whispered as they carefully positioned themselves at the left side, right side, and the window seat in the back center. They slightly opened the curtains just enough to check outside and quickly signaled to Daewook by making an “O” with their fingers.

Only after confirming that there were no zombies left around the bus did Daewook nod at the driver. The driver, who had been waiting for orders, immediately grabbed the steering wheel and started the engine. The loud noise from the car and engine filled the air, but the zombies seemed unaware due to the constant blaring of the horn.

Contrary to Junseong’s concern that the noise from the bus might spread the zombies out, they were extremely sensitive to the sound of the horn that stimulated their hearing.

The driver, having started the bus, drove past the row of parked cars and applied the brakes. He chose a path in the opposite direction to the zombies’ movement, and it wasn’t until the group of bald men, crouching as they ran, finally met the bus.

As soon as the driver opened the front door, Daewook and another man from the group helped the bald men get on.

Kwak Dujae, who had been first to board the bus, anxiously glanced toward the direction where Junseong was.

According to Junseong, there was a car parked near the emergency exit that he and Hanseo had come in together. At the time, they hadn’t had the luxury of properly locking the driver’s seat, so they decided to make use of it.

Left alone with Hanseo, Junseong grabbed the steel pipe used as a support for the bomb filled with gravel on the 7th floor and wedged it between the steering wheel and the driver’s seat. This caused the horn to blare continuously, and as long as the pipe remained in place, it would relentlessly stimulate the zombies’ hearing.

Just as Junseong had predicted, when the bus went quiet and the new horn blared, the zombies flocked toward it. All that remained was for the two members, who had been left behind to set up the horn, to safely board the bus.

In the distance, Junseong and Hanseo, choosing the opposite direction from the zombies rushing toward the horn, could be seen running toward the bus.

When Dujae, now somewhat relieved, was the last to board the bus, the following happened:

Boom-!

Instead of a clear explosion, a chilling sound of the entire building shaking echoed.