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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Simzy
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The zombies that gathered were all humanoid. Five at a distance of about 50m, four at a distance of about 100m. They were gathering, ambling about while keeping a moderate distance from each other.
This is a bit tricky.
If other zombies were packed together, a zombie would think of them as an obstacle. It meant that if the five in front were scuffling with the gendarmerie zombie, the four in the back would lose interest and go somewhere else.
If so, then I would have to gather them together.
I was also curious as to how the zombie tied to that utility pole would deal with this many zombies.
I got on the electric bicycle. I connected it to the electric motor so that it could go even without pedaling. A terrain close to a plain, though it was a bit pitted. The one with the faster speed could honestly gain the upper hand.
If I had been facing those zombies alone, I would have waited until they were within about 30m. One shot to the head, and another aimed at the lower abdomen or lower body.
If I hit the head, they would just collapse, and if I hit the leg, their mobility would drop drastically. If it felt like the distance was closing, I would go about 10m further and then another two shots.
Slowly, calmly, mechanically, I would have taken them out one by one.
But today was not that day.
So I drastically slowed down and approached the zombies. I didn’t sing because my throat hurt, but instead, I turned up the volume of the music on my phone to the maximum.
The five that were getting closer swarmed toward me. I narrowly escaped their grasp. I increased the speed of the electric bicycle to be a little faster than their running speed.
“Don’t you want to eat me?”
The things sped up even more with a kyak, ka kak. Ignoring them, I headed toward the other four. The four zombies that were coming from a bit further away became wary, seeing one electric bicycle and five zombies suddenly approaching.
I turned the handlebars smoothly in front of them.
Had they realized they were being toyed with? The group of five zombies and four zombies merged into one. Now nine zombies were chasing after me in a frenzy.
I moved here and there in an S-shape. The zombies also followed behind me in an S-shape.
If you run like this, you can subtly put a great strain on the leg muscles and joints.
No matter how doggedly a zombie crawls, it was originally human, and humans are animals that are powerless once their joints and muscles give out.
When they got far, I waited until they got close. When it felt like they were a little close, I took off on the bicycle. For some reason, it seemed like anger was gradually rising on the zombies’ faces.
“This should be about enough.”
Just like that, I passed by the gendarmerie zombie. The thing, which had been growling at the suddenly appeared nine zombies and getting annoyed by the annoyingly moving electric bicycle, floated up and tried to grab me.
But this time too, clank, it got caught on the iron chain. The thing, as if annoyed, grabbed the iron chain with both hands and shook it. But it seemed there was no way to remove the thing that was firmly wrapped around its legs and waist.
“Graaaah! Gua! Gra! Gyaaaaak!”
Finally, the thing shook its limbs and dug at the ground haphazardly. It seemed to be its own way of expressing, ‘I can’t live like this, I’m so frustrated.’
In the midst of that, it was throwing whatever it could get its hands on, branches, bones, and pebbles, in all directions.
Was it a coincidence? Or was it some kind of instinctive action?
Whistle!
I whistled. The gendarmerie zombie flipped its body up and glared at me. I kindly pointed to the area behind the thing.
“You’ll get eaten if you do that.”
The nine zombies had already come very close.
They were nibbling on the gnawed bones and the rotten or dried-up flesh that the gendarmerie zombie had thrown here and there.
The saying ‘suck the marrow from the bones’ was not a metaphor. The things grabbed the thick bones with both hands, smashed them on the ground, and then sucked on the split bones.
But that much was not enough to fill them up. Rather, it had only made them more desperate.
In the end, the things ambled over to the gendarmerie zombie.
“Grrrrrrrk!”
The gendarmerie zombie glared back and forth between me and the nine zombies. I aimed the Glock pistol.
“Want me to show you something cool?”
Just like that, I aimed at the lower abdomen of the one that had come closest and fired. The bullet hit the lower abdomen precisely.
The zombie, its posture broken, staggered and then dropped to its knees. As if it couldn’t believe it, it looked down at its own lower abdomen, from which blood was gushing.
It covered it with both hands and then sucked on them as if it looked delicious.
As the smell of rotten blood wafted, the zombies’ eyes rolled back. Until just now, they had shown a strong sign of being annoyed and reluctant, but now they were more proactive, as if their mouths were watering.
But perhaps because the concentration of the hunger virus contamination was lower than in the places I had visited so far.
In those places, they had eaten the wounded zombie first. I had even seen one that thought of its own wounded body as food and ate itself.
But not here.
The eight zombies looked back and forth between the bleeding zombie and the gendarmerie zombie.
For a moment, the gendarmerie zombie stretched its neck long and let out a howl-like sound, wooooo!
The gendarmerie zombie charged in that direction. Clank! Clank! A grim sound came from the taut iron chain.
“Grng. Grrrk…”
They were different. They were definitely different from the zombies in other areas. Those nine zombies were showing clear hostility toward the gendarmerie zombie.
It meant that even zombies could make their own risk assessments and prioritize.
Before long, the nine zombies all charged, swinging their arms.
The one that had been shot in the stomach was in the lead. Even while bleeding, it roared fiercely and charged. The gendarmerie zombie, which had been waiting calmly, clenched its fist and uppercutted from below.
It accurately struck the area where it had just been shot and was bleeding. The thing faltered.
Because it was in pain? No. Zombies don’t feel pain. It faltered purely because it had lost its balance. So it didn’t scream either. Only a roar of rage.
While the staggering thing was falling backward, the other two detoured and charged. The gendarmerie zombie quickly extended its arms. It grabbed them by the scruff of their necks and slammed them together like cymbals.
But was it impossible to overcome the numbers?
The rest of them all charged at once. They pushed with their body weight, not with technique. This side, that side, it was all a mess. The gendarmerie zombie seemed to be holding on but was slowly being pushed back.
What was surprising was what happened next.
The thing leaped backward. The nine zombies lost their balance and fell forward.
The gendarmerie zombie let out a monstrous roar and bit their necks and tore their flesh with its hands. It clawed their skin with its nails and then plunged its hands in and ripped them open.
The thing’s body was not intact either. Teeth sank into its arms and legs. Like a dog with a large piece of meat, it sank its teeth in and shook its head from side to side.
With two of them clinging to one arm, the creature, as if it had no other choice, fell and twisted its body. I aimed the silenced pistol and quickly fired eight shots.
The zombies were so excited and were making so much noise among themselves that they didn’t seem to even hear the sound of the pistol.
The bullets shattered the heads, jaws, and temples of the ones clinging to the right arm. The zombie with its jaw blown off went, ‘uhh, ugh,’ and then fell backward when the gendarmerie zombie shook its arm.
The gendarmerie zombie glanced in my direction.
“Grrrrrrrk!”
This is why they say you shouldn’t take in a black-haired beast.
The gendarmerie zombie, with its right arm freed, clenched its fist and swung it haphazardly. It repeatedly hit the back of the head of the one that was trying to eat its stomach. It bit the neck of the one that was charging to eat its nose.
Now I thought I knew how that thing had survived until now.
That thing, it accurately aimed only for the vital spots. I didn’t know if it had learned from fighting so much, or if it had just happened by chance.
But it was the same for the other zombies. The ones that had charged were also mostly in torn clothes and covered in scars, unhealed wounds, and scabs. It must not have been easy for them to survive.
Though not as much as the gendarmerie zombie, they also knew the weaknesses of their prey. They sat on or fell on top of the gendarmerie zombie to prevent it from getting up.
If they were still alive, there was surely a reason for it.
I fired all the remaining bullets in the pistol.
I didn’t blow their heads off. Instead, this time I aimed and shot at their shoulders and backs.
In the process, I also hit the gendarmerie zombie’s body, but since nothing had fallen off, I thought it would be fine.
The zombies with bullets lodged in their joints could not move as flexibly.
The gendarmerie zombie stood up, but it was not in a whole state. Chunks of flesh had fallen off from its entire body, and it was covered in marks of being bitten, clawed, and torn.
And yet, the thing was chewing on a mouthful of flesh.
On the other hand, of the nine zombies, four were down and five were still standing. The five zombies charged, letting out a monstrous roar.
This was it. Right here. I watched the gendarmerie zombie. Did zombies really have the instinct to protect themselves? Or were they oppressed by hunger and aggression?
The moment defeat seemed certain. What would that thing do?
The thing surpassed my expectations.
“Huh?”
The gendarmerie zombie, as if it were ridiculous, clashed its teeth once and then climbed up the utility pole. It wasn’t just climbing. It was climbing while wrapping the dangling iron chain around it.
A very intentional movement. I wondered why it was climbing like that, but seeing what the zombies below were doing, I thought I knew.
There were some that tried to climb the utility pole, but there were also some that were drawn by the clanking sound and the reflection of the metal and were grabbing and pulling on the chain.
The gendarmerie zombie, hanging from the utility pole, was diligently kicking and stomping on the ones climbing up from below. The five zombies went up one level and then fell down after getting hit on the forehead, chin, or the bridge of their nose.
Goosebumps rose on my spine.
It wasn’t just humans who were struggling to survive. Zombies were the same. There was no one who survived by chance.
Life was not just given for free. Only those who proved their reason for being alive would be left in the world. Whether human or zombie.
The days when just existing was considered precious were already over.
“Krak! Kyaak!”
The zombies that had been hit also changed their strategy. They no longer tried to climb up.
Had they recognized the utility pole and the gendarmerie zombie as a single entity?
They grabbed the utility pole itself and shook it here and there.
To be honest, I thought it was a futile effort. No matter how small a utility pole was, there was no way it would shake just because six humans were clinging to it… it shouldn’t have been.
Six shaking from below. One wobbling from above. It was like sticking a pencil in the ground and turning it here and there.
Then the ground would be dug up more and more, and the pencil that had lost its support would slowly tilt and then fall over. Like that.
I picked up the submachine gun I had put down. If this continued, the thing would escape. Rationally, it was right to shoot them all dead.
But something, something was bothering me. What was it? Why?
Two of them were crushed under the fallen utility pole. The gendarmerie zombie wasn’t crushed, but it was thrashing about, perhaps due to the shock. Clank, the iron chain came loose. The thing leaped up.
Chrrrrrk! The iron chain was dragged along as the thing ran. At first, the gendarmerie zombie didn’t seem to realize what had happened to it.
Because it was running here and there.
Then, it stopped as if something was strange.
The thing looked back and forth between the end of the iron chain and the utility pole. Then it pulled on the chain. It seemed it still hadn’t understood that it had been freed, that it had finally been released.
It was too wounded, and too tired to understand.
“Grk.”
Toward the tired and wounded predator, the zombies approached. The gendarmerie zombie growled, lying on the ground. It was a posture preparing for a fight, but it looked as weak as a beaten dog.
I rode my bicycle behind the approaching zombies. I shot the submachine gun bullets into their backs and heads. Before I shot, I made a tsk sound.
The sound of kicking a can spread loudly. The flame of the gun shot out from the end of the silencer. It tore through their backs and heads. For the last one, I just shattered its knee joint.
“You finish it.”
I said, aiming my gun at the gendarmerie zombie. The thing looked at me, and then at the creature crawling toward it, and then reached out its hand to the approaching creature. It leaped up as if squatting and bit its neck. The last zombie also went limp.
I got off my bicycle.
There were six bullets left. The distance to the thing was about 25m. Enough to shatter its head. The thing placed its hand on the zombie whose neck it had bitten. As if to say, ‘this is mine.’
Our eyes met.
We didn’t take our eyes off each other. Light green eyes that must have been called pretty once. But now, bloodshot, dead fish eyes.
Suddenly, the thing took a step forward. Since I had expected it, I stood still. It was a word that dog trainers who handled fierce dogs always emphasized.
That you shouldn’t be intimidated by the dog. That you had to imprint on the dog that you were superior and stronger.
Beads of sweat flowed down my forehead and neck. Tension. Yes. It was tension. With one hand, I aimed the submachine gun, and with the other, I threw off my balaclava. It was so soaked that I could wring out sweat just by twisting it slightly.
I threw it at the thing. Kyaruk, the thing shook its head roughly, but soon it carefully, sniff sniff, smelled it.
It’s hesitating.
It felt like something was whispering in my ear. I took a step forward.
The thing growled but took a step back.
Hesitating, and curious. It wants to know.
The thing drooled saliva and blood from its mouth. It looked as if it wanted to tear apart and eat the thing in front of it right away. But since I was watching, it was neither rashly charging nor tearing and eating.
It was watching my reaction.
It felt like I could read the thing’s emotions.
Was it a delusion? Or…
“That’s right.”
This time I lunged forward and growled. When I held out my gun, the thing definitely flinched. After glaring as if I would shoot right away, it took a step back.
“I have no intention of harming you if you don’t charge. I’ll be back next week, and if you still charge even after smelling my scent, I’ll really kill you then.”
“Grrrrrrk!”
“Just eat your food.”
I slowly backed away while aiming my gun. The creature, with its spirits raised, pushed its body forward, but its butt was on the contrary pulling back. If it were a dog, it would probably be a posture of tucking its tail.
I got on my bicycle. I glanced back from time to time. The thing was tearing and eating the zombie corpse, and was repeatedly glancing at me.
“…It would have been better if the iron chain hadn’t come off.”
It was a shame, but well, it couldn’t be helped. Since I had also made a gunshot sound, I deliberately circled around here and there and returned to the residential area.
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“Why is the person who said he was going to throw out the trash so late? Were you secretly meeting another woman somewhere? No, what’s wrong with you? Did something happen? Why are you sweating so much? And where is your mask…”
Even Camilla, who was nagging me, looked pretty, so I suddenly hugged her.
“Hey, hey. Why, what’s wrong? Did something really happen? Are you okay?”
“No. Camilla. Nothing happened.”
For the time being, I’ll have to keep it to myself.
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