Red Dot - 21

Chapter 21

Junseong, who was running forward with all his might, soon saw a guiding light showing the remaining distance.

The distance to Gaeyan Station was 105 meters.

If he pushed himself just a little more, he would reach Gaeyan Station. From there, after passing the section where the platform was visible, a split path leading to the train depot would appear.

Junseong took deep breaths, trying to steady himself, and listened carefully to the sounds coming from behind.

Kyak, Kreak!

Kaaaak-!

Grr! Kuk, Keoheo-!

The growing sounds of screams and footsteps pressing closer made Junseong’s heart pound even harder.

Finally, the two reached the screen doors that revealed the Gaeyan Station platform. As expected, Gaeyan Station was also filled with a large number of zombies wandering around. Seeing Junseong and Hanseo through the screen doors, the zombies rushed to the glass, pressing themselves against it.

Fresh red handprints smeared the screen doors, which were already stained with dried bl00d. Junseong knew from his dream that the screen doors at Gaeyan Station wouldn’t break, but thinking about how the glass at Inhan Station had shattered and let zombies through made him nervous.

Without hesitating, he and Hanseo ran past the screen doors and rushed into the dark tunnel again.

Junseong was out of breath after running at full speed for so long.

Hanseo, who was only slightly out of breath, pulled Junseong’s backpack off and put it on himself.

“Do you want me to carry you?”

Junseong was too exhausted to answer and just scowled at him. Hanseo let out a quiet laugh as if he found it amusing. It was hard to believe they were being chased by a horde of zombies with how carefree he seemed.

Even though Hanseo lacked tension, thanks to him carrying the backpack, Junseong’s body felt a little lighter. Despite Hanseo’s strange and hard-to-understand nature, Junseong was genuinely grateful for his consideration.

Finally, the dark tunnel split into two paths.

“Left!”

Junseong turned in the opposite direction from the tunnel he had walked in his dream, which had led to the hospital. As he stepped onto the track, he momentarily lost balance, but Hanseo grabbed his arm, helping him keep running.

The zombies chasing them roared even louder.

The distance between them and the zombies was only about 5 meters.

At this rate, the gap would only get smaller and smaller.

Junseong reminded himself that zombies had a visual range of about 3 meters and squeezed out his remaining strength. He endured the painful strain in his legs, something he hadn’t felt in his dream.

When the distance shrank to around 4 meters—

He spotted a wall with a glowing sign that read “Emergency Exit.” Because the tunnel lights were off, the only reason they could see the passage next to the wall was thanks to the light from their flashlights.

“Turn off the flashlight now!”

After confirming the emergency exit, Junseong switched off his flashlight. The two flashlights had been the only source of light in the tunnel, and once they were turned off, darkness swallowed everything. Only the emergency exit sign continued to glow faintly.

Junseong figured that the reason the bitten man had been able to escape after being bitten once was thanks to the darkness of the tunnel.

It was true that the zombies’ visual range was about 3 meters, but that only applied when there was light. In complete darkness, even if a person was right in front of them, they couldn’t detect them unless they made a sound or had a strong scent of bl00d.

So, Junseong had turned off the flashlight just before entering the zombies’ sight. By the time he got even closer, the tunnel was already pitch black, leaving the zombies to rely solely on sound.

Just as he neared the emergency exit, Junseong threw the alarm he was holding far away. Then, he quickly turned and slipped into the passage with Hanseo.

Just three steps in, they saw the door connecting the two tunnels. It was a heavy metal door, so afraid of making noise, Junseong leaned against the wall beside it and held his breath.

The loud beeping of the alarm drew the zombies away, and they ran towards the sound, shrieking wildly. Hiding in the passage, Junseong watched them go with his eyes adjusting to the darkness. His hands trembled slightly.

After the horde passed and rushed deeper into the tunnel—

Junseong finally let out a breath of relief.

Kaaaak!

A single zombie, trailing at the back of the group, suddenly turned its head toward Junseong and let out a shriek. Junseong instinctively grabbed his right hand.

‘Bl00d!’

The deep wound from earlier was still dripping bl00d.

‘This is bad!’

Having caught the scent of fresh bl00d, the zombie locked onto Junseong as its primary target.

Seeing the zombie enter the passage, Junseong immediately stepped in front of Hanseo.

‘It’s after me, so just me…!’

He couldn’t let Hanseo get caught up in this. Since zombies couldn’t see and only followed the smell of bl00d, even if he got bitten, as long as he blocked the zombie, Hanseo could escape safely.

“Hanseo, open the door and go inside!”

As he shouted that and prepared to throw himself at the zombie—

His body was suddenly yanked backward.

Caught off guard, Junseong was pushed against the wall next to the door. Two hands were placed on the wall beside his face, trapping him in place.

Before Junseong could even process what was happening, Hanseo’s body pressed against his. His thigh slipped between Junseong’s legs.

More than the strange and shocking position, the real problem was that Junseong was now completely covered by Hanseo. If things stayed like this, the zombie could attack both of them.

“What are you doing?!”

“Shh.”

Ignoring Junseong’s protest, Hanseo simply stared at him, keeping him enclosed in his arms. Meanwhile, Junseong kept his tense eyes locked on the approaching zombie.

Something was off.

The zombie that had been rushing at Junseong just moments ago suddenly stopped, right in front of them.

Ugh….”

Suddenly, the zombie became quiet, groaning weakly as if it were standing alone in an empty space with no prey around. Then, it seemed to focus on the alarm sound and turned its head toward the tunnel, letting out another screech.

The zombie twisted its body in a grotesque way and then ran quickly toward the alarm, just like the others.

Watching the last zombie move toward the alarm, Junseong realized that he had been frozen in place, holding his breath without noticing.

Letting out a deep breath in relief, he finally met Hanseo’s eyes. It was too dark to see each other’s expressions clearly.

Hanseo, who had been keeping Junseong trapped in place, slowly moved away. Then, he grabbed Junseong’s uninjured left hand and led him through the passage door.

The metal door was just a partition set up in the middle of the passage that connected the two tunnels.

Now in the tunnel leading to the next station, Junseong felt his legs trembling from the running and tension earlier.

But his face was too serious to care about that.

“Do Hanseo.”

When Junseong called his name, Hanseo, who was still holding his hand tightly, turned to look at him.

Junseong turned on the flashlight in his sore right hand. Although the light was aimed at the floor, it was enough to illuminate Hanseo’s face properly.

Hanseo’s face was terrifyingly expressionless. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking.

Hanseo was the first to speak.

“You said you’re doing all this to survive, so why did you try to get yourself killed?”

His voice was ice-cold. It was the sharpest Junseong had ever heard from him, to the point that it was frightening.

Junseong pointed at his injured right hand.

“It was because of the smell of my bl00d. I was the target, so it made sense for me to be the only one bitten.”

“So, you were trying to protect me?”

Hanseo tilted his head slightly, his gaze sharp with disbelief.

“If you’re struggling to survive, you should’ve used everything at your disposal.”

“Are you saying I should’ve used you as a shield?”

“Isn’t that obvious?”

Hanseo’s words made Junseong let out a breathless laugh. Even if it was a joke, it was absurd. But judging by Hanseo’s serious expression, he wasn’t joking.

Junseong seriously doubted how Hanseo’s mind worked.

After staring at him in silence, Junseong finally spoke.

“Is that what you think because the zombies seem to avoid you?”

Junseong recalled the strange behavior of the zombies. When they came past the screen door, they didn’t properly attack Hanseo. When they moved in a straight line, the ones at the back passed by Hanseo to go after Soyeon instead. And Hanseo had appeared in the drill instructor’s room in perfect condition.

Looking back on everything as if rewinding time, Junseong could only come to one conclusion.

“You… are immune, aren’t you?”

Junseong was now facing the key to solving every zombie outbreak—the “immune person.”

Hanseo gave a small smile at Junseong, who spoke with certainty.