Red Dot - 28

Chapter 28

“Aaah!”

“Open the back door, Hanseo!”

In response to Junseong’s words, Hanseo reflexively unlocked the back door. The man who had just boarded in the back seat immediately chanted a spell from the middle seat.

“Quickly! Quickly! Quickly! Quickly! Quickly!”

Hanseo glared at the loud man for a moment, then calmly reversed the car. The smoothly rolling vehicle distanced itself from the approaching zombie horde through the reverse. Navigating through the spaces between stationary cars, they turned the vehicle around, heading in the opposite direction.

Although it meant retracing their steps, it was better than directly confronting the vast number of zombies that seemed unstoppable, even if they were to push through.

After a while of retracing their steps.

They parked the car in the middle of the road they had traveled, where there was no sign of zombies.

Finally, the relieved man let out a cool laughter.

“Thank you for helping. Thanks to you, I survived.”

Junseong handed him a 500ml bottle of water and a calorie bar from his backpack.

“Take a breather.”

The man, who looked surprised at the sight of Junseong’s offered water and calorie bar, accepted them gratefully.

“Thank you! How did you know I was starving.”

Even though Junseong could roughly guess from his scruffy face, he could understand better since he had met him in a dream. The man was the person Junseong had encountered on the day he decided to wait for the rescue team at the subway tunnel shelter. On the second day, or today’s date, he had moved to the underground shelter and planned to stay there until the fifteenth day.

At that time, Junseong had prepared thoroughly and stayed at the shelter until the fifteenth day. However, on that day, zombies that had started from a subway station quite far away had completely occupied the tunnel, forcing him to abandon that plan.

Junseong didn’t know the man well enough to call him a friend. However, among the people at the shelter, he remembered the man because he had rescued Chaeyi on the fifteenth day and became a zombie himself. So, in a way, this could be considered repaying a debt.

Junseong checked the time on his left wristwatch.

If he vaguely recalled, the man had arrived at the shelter around 10 a.m. Whether he could reach the shelter at that time was entirely thanks to Cheolho. Cheolho had been patrolling the Inhan Station because he didn’t know if there were survivors. The man had escaped to the platform and received help from Cheolho.

But now, scouting was impossible, and the screen doors of Inhan Station weren’t functioning as intended. The subway tunnel was no longer a safe zone.

Junseong didn’t wish for the man’s death.

“Where were you headed?”

“Haha! Ah, yes. It was a long journey to find a shelter. Out of the places labeled as emergency shelters, the ones I found were all duds. Where are you two going?”

“We’re heading to Inhan Hospital. There’s a rumor that a rescue helicopter is coming there.”

“Really?!”

The man’s eyes widened with delight.

“Take me with you, please! Please!”

As the man pleaded, Hanseo’s eyes in the back seat showed a glint of determination. Seeing that, the man sighed and rolled his eyes. Although he might have wished to leave him behind and go, the immediate future was uncertain, and somehow, he would want to go with them.

Junseong, seeing Hanseo’s displeased expression, grabbed her arm. Hanseo, as if saying, “Do whatever you want,” turned her head directly.

As soon as Junseong said to the man, “Let’s go together,” he screamed as if he had been waiting for it.

The journey to the hospital was by no means smooth.

Zombies suddenly emerged, blocking the front of the car one after another. Some were even persistently chasing, hanging onto the trunk.

The most dangerous situation occurred when they encountered numerous zombies in front and behind a narrow path where only one car could barely pass. Thanks to Hanseo’s bold charge, they managed to break through, but in return, the front windshield and bumper were significantly damaged.

Nevertheless, from a certain point on, they encountered almost no zombies and were able to proceed quickly.

The road before the hospital’s midpoint was unknown to Junseong, who had only moved through tunnels until then. However, since coming out of the tunnel, he remembered it clearly. This allowed them to choose the path with the fewest or no zombies and utilize shortcuts without encountering any obstacles.

In this way, the three of them reached the Inhan Hospital grounds.

“Oh? Z-Zombies are filling the entrance and windows of the hospital!”

The man in the back seat trembled, seeing the entrance and windows of Inhan Hospital crowded with a horde of zombies. It seemed impossible for anyone to enter.

Crash!

Crack! Clack!

Some zombies, noticing a new moving car, rushed toward Junseong’s car. Hanseo, pressing the accelerator to shove the zombies blocking their way aside, calmly asked, “Which way should we go?”

“Charge into the underground parking lot.”

Following Junseong’s instructions, Hanseo ran towards the underground parking lot, deliberately shaking the car as she drove. There was a thin bar blocking the entrance, but since Junseong didn’t tell her to stop, she accelerated to break through it.

Crunch!

The broken bar split in half and flew away. As they entered, the broken bar created a loud noise, attracting zombies from all around.

Kyaah!

Eueee!

Zombies rushed from all sides toward the car, grabbing onto side mirrors, trunks, and the roof. They reached out their hands towards the group visible through the car windows.

“Aaah!”

Seeing the zombies clinging to the car and not letting go, the man screamed. He was now almost in tears.

While Hanseo drove through the parking lot, she deliberately shook the car, causing the zombies hanging on for dear life to drop off one by one.

“We need to go down to the third floor.”

The entrance was completely blocked by zombies, and most of the emergency staircases were locked due to the caution of the people inside. Despite appearing locked, the only thing not locked was the door leading to the staircase on the fourth floor.

Although they reached the third floor, they couldn’t drive the car to the entrance because of the chaotic arrangement of cars and the zombies chasing them.

“Let’s get off and run.”

“Run?!”

The man in the back seat shivered with a terrified face and shook his body. Nevertheless, when Junseong and Hanseo got off without hesitation, he had no choice but to follow.

Hanseo ran right next to Junseong, ready to hug him to protect him. Seeing that, Junseong spoke to her in a low voice.

“Even if it gets dangerous, don’t hug me. We might be exposed. Especially now, we don’t know how people will react.”

Although the “vaccine” was undoubtedly important, it wasn’t good for people to discover his ability from an early age. Especially in times like this, no one knew how people would change.

Therefore, Junseong intended to keep his ability hidden until Hanseo boarded the rescue helicopter.

Entering the stairs, Junseong hoped the door would open as refreshingly as it did in his dream. Hearing the footsteps and screams of the nearby zombies, he turned the handle of the emergency staircase door.

Click.

As expected, it opened.

The three of them quickly entered and closed the door. Soon, the sound of zombies rushing to the door and the impact of them colliding with it echoed, accompanied by their screams and the relentless pounding on the door.

“Ugh….”

The man breathed a sigh of relief, leaning against the wall. Junseong also took a deep breath, allowing himself to relax a bit.

“But, heh, it’s so dark here….”

The emergency staircase they entered was pitch-black, with no light coming in at all. Even the emergency exit signs were turned off.

“The hospital’s power must be completely out.”

The zombies probably chewed through the wiring, cutting off the power to the entire hospital. As Junseong knew, the backup power was only being used on the seventh floor, where people had gathered.

This building had a maximum of seven floors. The first to the fourth floors were already completely occupied by zombies, and from the fifth floor onwards, all facilities were intact. People were saving the backup power as much as possible, gathering on the seventh floor.

“Let’s go up for now. We only need to go up to the seventh floor.”

“The seventh floor?!”

“As far as I know, up to the fourth floor is a zombie haven, and the fifth and sixth floors are not in use at all. People are gathered on the seventh floor.”

“Ugh…, the elevator… Oh, right, the power is out….”

Even without directly seeing the man’s face, it was clear how grim his expression was. Although he spoke as if it were nothing, Junseong, with his legs full of muscle pain, had to climb as well.

The staircase led down to the third floor below ground, and up to the seventh floor above ground, totaling ten floors. Among the three, only Dohanseo, who was in good physical shape, could calculate that and still speak casually.

Taking a moment to catch his breath, Junseong watched as Hanseo took out a flashlight from the backpack she was carrying. They began to climb the stairs one by one.