Red Dot - 122

Chapter 122

The sudden vibration caused everyone on the bus to tense up and shrink back, showing signs of nervousness. It was a situation that could be more frightening than a zombie attack.

This was the third basement floor.

It wasn’t the first floor where they could just run in a straight line.

The remaining time to escape was uncertain, but it was clear that it was a very critical moment to go all the way up to the ground level.

The ground-shaking vibration caused Junseong and Hanseo, who had briefly slowed down, to start moving even faster.

As soon as Dujae boarded, the bus started moving without even closing the front door, passing by the parked cars and heading toward the direction where Junseong and Hanseo were running. Daewook, anxiously watching Junseong from the wide-open front door stairs, swallowed the name that was rising to his throat, silently hoping that the building would hold out a little longer.

Boom!

The ground rumbled again.

This time, it sounded a little closer than before, and the vibration was stronger.

The shaking ground made it difficult for Junseong to maintain his balance, but Hanseo quickly caught him and supported him as they kept running.

“Should I carry you?” Hanseo asked.

Even in such a moment, Hanseo was calm.

Junseong couldn’t help but wonder what was going on in Hanseo’s mind.

Relying on the faint light from a flashlight, Junseong glanced at Hanseo’s broad back and shoulders.

Junseong’s backpack was usually taken by Hanseo by force, but right now, it was with Changmin. Since Junseong and Hanseo were lagging behind, they needed to run faster, and Changmin had reluctantly agreed to let Junseong take the backpack for the time being. Because of this, Hanseo’s broad back appeared strong enough to carry just Junseong without difficulty.

However, Junseong smirked and turned his eyes away.

“Shut up and just run.”

Hanseo was already paying way too much attention to him, and he didn’t want to make him suffer even more by being incapable of running properly.

In the meantime, the rumbling noise and aftershock made it even harder to run, as the ground felt as if it had softened. When they saw the bus heading toward them, they thought they just needed to run a little more.

Rawr-!

The horrifying sound of zombies growling came from behind.

One by one, the growls were much clearer and closer than the shaky sounds of the crumbling building.

Now that they thought about it, the horn that had been blasting in their ears earlier was no longer heard. It seemed that the loud vibrations had knocked the steel pipe wedged between the steering wheel and the seat, which had caused the horn to blare. The increasing growls behind them were the proof.

Even if they stopped now and turned off the bus engine coming toward them, they wouldn’t be able to stop the zombies, who had already begun chasing after prey. Even if they did manage to stop them, they would end up buried under the collapsing building, dead.

“Dammit!”

They had no choice but to keep running, whether they lived or died.

The sound of the bus’s exhaust getting closer.

The terrifying growls from the zombies behind them, as if they would tear at their necks.

Their breath quickened with both tension and excitement.

The dull cries of the collapsing building.

In the darkness, their sharpened hearing made every sound feel like it would pierce their nerves.

What kept them focused amidst the chaos was the sound of Hanseo’s steady breathing next to them.

Hanseo’s presence made Junseong feel like he wasn’t alone in the darkness.

Not only that, but Junseong’s mind was filled with the thought that he had to escape for Hanseo’s sake.

Who could have ever thought they’d die in a place like this?!

He needed to save Hanseo, find his younger sibling, and confirm with his own eyes whether Daewook and the others were safe. To do that, he had to make sure he boarded that bus, no matter what, even if it meant breaking his legs in the process.

Rawr-!

When the growls from behind them seemed to get louder than the rumblings of the earth, the bus that had been charging toward them swerved smoothly to the side, thanks to the driver’s skill. In the light of Junseong’s flashlight, he saw someone waiting at the wide-open entrance.

“Junseong, hurry up!”

Daewook, who had taken off his night vision goggles, reached out his hand as if he were going to pull Junseong up right away. Junseong felt an overwhelming surge of emotion when he saw Daewook again and bit his lip, reaching out to grab his hand.

Just then, someone suddenly grabbed Junseong from the side, pulling him into a tight embrace. The next moment, there was a suffocating choking sound, followed by a black shadow being thrown out.

One of the zombies, running faster than the rest, had charged at Junseong. While Junseong was distracted by Daewook, Hanseo had been fully aware of the danger around them. As a result, he was able to shove the charging zombie aside in an instant, treating it like a piece of luggage.

Hanseo, holding Junseong in his arms as if protecting him from the zombies, glared at Daewook.

“Move.”

Daewook, flinching under Hanseo’s cold glare, quickly stepped back. Hanseo, still holding Junseong, carried him up the bus steps and, without hesitation, kicked the second zombie that had charged at them.

“Let’s go!”

As soon as Daewook gave the order, the bus roared to life and sped down the opposite path.

Boom!

The sound and powerful vibrations felt completely different from before. As a result, the bus, heading uphill in the underground, shook violently, as if it were about to veer off its course.

The shaking was so intense that Junseong, who had crouched near the entrance, didn’t even have time to get inside. He felt arms wrapping around his waist. It was Hanseo, who had bent down by the entrance stairs, holding on to the nearby pillar. With the vehicle shaking uncontrollably, Hanseo seemed to be holding on tightly to prevent him from getting hurt.

Junseong, who had been worried that Hanseo might fall through the thin door, tightly gripped Hanseo’s arm around his waist. In the pitch darkness, with the flashlight turned off, Junseong could almost feel Hanseo smiling.

Boom! Thud! Boom!

Now, even inside the bus, the loud noises were painful to hear. Those without night-vision goggles didn’t know, but concrete chunks were falling from the broken ceiling, like missiles, onto the road they were driving on.

If the driver hadn’t been a seasoned bus veteran, having driven for nearly 20 years, they might have already been crushed by those concrete pieces. Instead, the bus skillfully avoided them, but with the vehicle shaking so violently, it was a nightmare for the passengers inside.

Thud, thud!

Hiss-!

Grrr!

The bus, racing through the dark, collided with something, and muffled, monstrous growls echoed and disappeared against the window.

The passengers knew what the sound was, so they tightly shut their mouths and crouched even lower. Only the driver, who had to deal with the zombies smashing into the bus, sweated coldly and pressed the accelerator harder.

When the bus reached the first underground floor…

Boom-boom-boom-!

Part of the ceiling on the first underground floor finally collapsed. The driver, seeing the ceiling fall like a domino toward the exit from far away, shouted.

“Hold on to anything!”

No sooner had he shouted than the bus shook wildly, and a loud exhaust sound erupted. The speed was so fast that it felt like they were driving on the road, not a parking lot, and the terrifying sound of zombies colliding with the bus made it worse.

Crash! Crack-!

One zombie, dangling from the groove between the front glass and the body of the bus, was gnashing its teeth and growling. The other zombies were either shoved aside or run over, but this one stubbornly hung on, causing trouble.

It happened to be right in front of the driver’s seat, and the zombie’s head, peeking up, was particularly annoying.

However, the driver was a bold veteran. He skillfully spun the wheel and drifted the bus, sending the zombie flying, only for it to get hit by a concrete chunk falling from the ceiling.

Perhaps encouraged by the success of knocking the zombie down with his skill, the driver confidently snorted and quickly straightened the bus, pressing the gas pedal harder.

“Let’s go!”

He slammed the accelerator as if to break it and gripped the wheel tightly. The back of the bus was already collapsing, so there was no time to waste.

Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud!

Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud!

Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud!

All around, rocks and debris fell, and the ground shook dangerously as if it might collapse. The roaring exhaust from the desperately speeding bus sounded like the harsh breaths of someone struggling to survive.

Finally, the bus reached the swirling exit, its front wheels touching the ground.

Though the bus’s front corner scraped along the curved wall, it luckily managed to reach the damp, rain-soaked ground without any further issues.

As the bus emerged from the underground, looking like a black snake escaping its den…

Boom!

The entrance to the parking lot collapsed completely, as if the snake was closing its mouth in regret.