Red Dot - 14

Chapter 14

The entire city of Inhan was already taken over by zombies. Everywhere they went, energetic corpses would run at them, craving bl00d and flesh.

Standing in the middle of it all, no one could avoid feeling emotionally drained. The overwhelming fear and anxiety constantly ate away at their minds. Even Kang Chaeyi, who barely showed emotions, was becoming more depressed as time went by. This hell was simply too cruel.

If he hadn’t experienced this hell for the past two months, he would have felt the same hopelessness as the others by now.

Junseong thought that Hanseo’s calm attitude wouldn’t last long either.

Looking around at the group, Junseong examined the weapons they were holding.

Hanseo had a long, pointed stick. Chaeyi held a hammer that Junseong had bought from a hardware store. Soyeon carried a broom she had taken from a restroom, while Jiwoo held a silver wrench that was heavier than it looked.

Junseong could have bought them blades at the hardware store they had stopped by before setting off. But to stop a zombie, they had to pierce the skull and destroy the brain.

Even though Chaeyi, Soyeon, and Jiwoo were all sports science students, they weren’t particularly strong. Even if they had blades, breaking through a skull would be too difficult. It was better to use blunt weapons or long sticks to strike hard and cause concussions. A concussion would only stop the zombies temporarily, but with luck, they could crush the skull and shake the brain enough to cause serious damage.

The one who really needed a bladed weapon right now was Hanseo. He was stronger than Junseong, and since he had actually studied kendo, he had the skills to use it properly.

Even so, Junseong hadn’t given him his machete. He wasn’t sure if Hanseo fully grasped the situation. If they got surrounded by zombies and Hanseo, who was holding a deadly weapon, panicked or ran away alone, they would be doomed.

‘Still, since he was the top student in the kendo department, he should at least be able to hit heads with a stick.’

When their eyes met, Hanseo gave Junseong another bright smile.

Even after seeing this chaos, he could still smile like that. Was he really insane?

Junseong glared at Hanseo, who was impossible to read, then checked his watch.

‘The timing is just right.’

As Junseong went over the safest possible routes in his head, Jiwoo spoke in a trembling voice.

“Hy-hyung, let’s just go back to the instructor’s office, okay? How are we supposed to get through all those zombies to the hospital?!”

Tears welled up in Jiwoo’s eyes again, refusing to dry.

“We can’t go back to the instructor’s office. If you think you can climb to the third floor using just a rope, go ahead. But you won’t last long there.”

Junseong swallowed the words, ‘You’ll just end up being bitten by the instructor and dying.’

Chaeyi spoke up next.

“There really are too many zombies. Even if there weren’t, it looks like it’d take a long time to get there. Do you have a plan?”

Chaeyi still wanted to believe in her brother. He had shown an almost shocking level of preparedness and calculation, as if he had predicted this disaster. Maybe this time would be the same.

Just as Chaeyi hoped, Junseong was thinking of the safest possible route to get them to the hospital.

“As you can see, there are too many zombies on the streets. If we just try to run straight to the hospital, we’ll all be dead within minutes.”

“Th-then what do we do?!”

Junseong pointed at the ground beneath his feet.

The group followed his finger and looked down, but they didn’t understand what he meant.

“Ah.”

Hanseo’s eyes lit up.

“You’re planning to go underground?”

“That’s right.”

Junseong nodded. He pointed to the subway entrance about 50 meters away in the alley. The blue rectangular pillar next to it had the words ‘Inhan University Station’ and the number ‘3’ written on it.

“We’re going to go down into the subway through that entrance.”

“Are you crazy?!”

Jiwoo shouted loudly, then quickly covered his mouth in shock, looking around nervously. Luckily, Junseong had led them to an alley without zombies, so there weren’t any close enough to hear Jiwoo’s outburst and rush at them.

While everyone stayed silent, straining to hear any noises around them, Chaeyi spoke up instead of Jiwoo.

“I’m against the subway idea too. Do you have any idea how many people go in and out of the subway? They must have all turned into zombies by now. Why would we go down there?”

Chaeyi had a point. The subway was always packed with people, and the entrances were wide open without doors. There was no way zombies would leave it untouched. The underground tunnels were probably another hellscape.

Walking straight into a place like that—of course, everyone was hesitant.

Except for one person.

Only Hanseo looked at Junseong with curious eyes, waiting for his answer.

Junseong had already expected the group’s resistance, so he answered without hesitation.

“There are three reasons why we’re heading into the subway. The screen doors, the emergency shelters, and the subway routes.”

These short words didn’t explain much. The group stayed quiet, waiting for his explanation.

“All subways in Korea have screen doors. Normally, they work automatically, but in emergencies, they can be opened manually.”

As he said, inside the screen door, there was a handle that could be used to open it manually in an emergency.

“But zombies don’t have intelligence, so they can’t open the screen door manually.”

“Even if they can’t open it, the problem is that the subway is already full of zombies, regardless of the screen door.”

“What I mean is, there shouldn’t be any zombies beyond the screen door on the tracks. They don’t know how to open it, and since it’s made of reinforced glass, the chances of it breaking are low.”

He explained it to Jiwoo as clearly as he could, but that alone wasn’t enough to fully convince him that they had to go into the subway, where the zombies were. So, he brought up something more tempting.

“If we get past the screen door and onto the tracks, we can reach an emergency shelter inside the tunnel.”

As he spoke, he showed the time on his watch.

[04:31:29 PM]

It was early December.

In winter, it gets dark quickly after 5 PM.

“In just an hour, it’ll be completely dark. Once the sun sets, we’ll be at a huge disadvantage. Zombies can track us just by sound, and on the other hand, our vision will be limited, making it hard to react properly. So we need a safe place to rest at night.”

“That… is true.”

Soyeon nodded in agreement. No one here, including her, would want to travel at night. Besides, they were already exhausted from the tension of dealing with the sudden zombie appearances.

Jiwoo and Soyeon, who hadn’t even thought about where to rest tonight, now looked worried.

“The subway route leads to the hospital, right?”

Chaeyi, who had accurately grasped what Junseong meant, looked at the subway entrance outside the alley.

“If we use the subway tracks, it’ll definitely be closer. When I checked the map earlier, the road to the hospital was really winding.”

“We can’t reach the hospital directly, but we can get to a midpoint quickly and safely.”

“Then I agree.”

Chaeyi, looking slightly more reassured, turned to Soyeon and Jiwoo.

“Do you have any other options?”

“…….”

“…….”

Neither of them could suggest another choice. After exchanging hesitant glances, they simply nodded.

Seeing Hanseo remain expressionless and silent despite the ongoing discussion, Chaeyi asked him directly.

“What about you, senior?”

“I’m okay with it.”

Hanseo, still smiling, looked at Junseong. Meeting his gaze, Junseong felt the same strange chill he had experienced in the TA office.

“I’m curious about the outcome.”

His words and tone felt like ice sliding down Junseong’s spine.

His muttering was so quiet that no one else heard it. Only Junseong, who had caught his words, paid attention to them.

‘What the hell is he thinking?’

It was beyond just being calm—he seemed to be watching everything from afar, as if he were enjoying a show. Junseong didn’t like that feeling.

But this wasn’t the time to dwell on it.

Checking the time again, Junseong took out the machete strapped to his back.

“We’re leaving soon.”

“Are we really going?”

Jiwoo, looking terrified, stomped his feet anxiously and bit his lips.

“I’ll take the lead, so just follow me. We’ll move through areas with as few zombies as possible.”

At this moment, even Junseong’s voice was tense.

Even though he had gone through this situation many times in his dreams, he couldn’t deny that this was real. That meant he only had one chance. If he made even a small mistake… everyone would die.

‘I can do this. Stay calm.’

Encouraging himself, Junseong gripped his machete tightly.

“Run!”

With a short signal, he dashed out of the alley. Immediately, the sound of four sets of footsteps followed. Even Jiwoo, who had been frozen with fear, ran desperately, knowing that falling behind meant death.

Instead of heading straight for the subway station, Junseong calculated the zombies’ line of sight and took a slight detour. Avoiding groups of zombies with precision, he sprinted toward a lone zombie standing in front of him.

Because of the monstrous screams coming from all directions, the zombie only noticed Junseong when he was already too close. It turned its face, twisted and terrifying.