Walking Daddy

There were a lot more than I had anticipated.

An endless horde of zombies was descending upon us from the northwest. They were like raging waves driven by a storm; rolling in like a fierce tsunami hell-bent on taking down anything that was in its way.

No matter how well the survivors had prepared their defenses, it would be like infantry trying to stand up against a legion of cavalry.

As I saw them approaching, I yelled with all my might towards Port Jeju, straining so much that the veins on my neck could be seen.

“Prepare for battle!!”

Lee Jeong-Uk dashed back to the passenger terminal, where the survivors were. Soon, the survivors emerged in perfect order. It seemed like they were heading to their respective positions. They seemed to me to be more nervous than ever.

Kim Hyeong-Jun came over and stood next to me, examining the approaching enemies.

“How many are there?” he asked.

“How do they know to come here? Did they know that the survivors were here? Or did we make some kind of mistake?” I said, slightly confused.

Kim Hyeong-Jun bit his lower lip, then muttered in a low voice, “It’s the black creature.”

"What?"

“The zombies over there aren’t coming here to attack us.”

"What are you talking about?"

“They’re running away from the black creature.”

A chill ran down my spine and spread throughout my entire body. An event in Gwangjang-dong came flooding into my mind.

We had faced a zombie wave of about twenty thousand zombies. We had never experienced any zombie wave of that size before. And at the end of a massive zombie wave… was the black creature.

I frowned and turned to Kim Hyeong-Jun.

“We have to slow them down first,” I said. If they crash into the first line of defense at their current speed, they’ll sweep past it like a tide.”

“What about the black creature?”

“We’ll think about that later, once we stop the zombies. If you do find the black creature, lure it toward the trap.”

Kim Hyeong-Jun gave me a sharp nod, his blue eyes flashing. Do Han-Sol, who had belatedly appeared on the roof of the building, quickly grasped what was going on.

“So, should we start fighting?” he asked.

“Don\'t forget to look around when you fight. And when the black creature appears, don’t forget to inform each other no matter what and lure it to the place where we’ve set the trap.”

"Got it."

With a flash of his blue eyes, Kim Hyeong-Jun gradually accelerated his blood flow. I did the same. My pupils narrowed, and the zombie instincts I had been suppressing awoke.

“GRRR!”

Steam leaked from my mouth as I gave orders to Kim Hyeong-Jun and Do Han-Sol.

“Kill all of them.”

With that, the three of us rushed toward the enemies.

* * *

Crack!!

My fist met the face of the zombie in front of me, crushing its skull instantly, sending it collapsing like a tree going down in a storm. The first wave of zombies running toward Port Jeju began to slow down as Kim Hyeong-Jun, Do Han-Sol and I appeared.

However, due to the pressure behind them, they were swept forward anyway, and continued to rush toward us as if intent on wiping us out. I strengthened my arms and hit them continuously. My legs were slowly crushed into the asphalt, sending cracks spiraling out on the ground, and the zombies spewed out blood like fountains, drenching my entire body with their blood.

However, the three of us were not enough to prevent them from getting closer to our base. I knew that if we didn’t bring up our underlings, the zombies that made their way beyond us would wipe out Port Jeju. I sent orders to my underlings through my mind.

‘Kill all the zombies that made it into Port Jeju. Make your way here as you clean them up.’

With that, I focused on the zombies in front of me.

KIAAA!!!

There were stage-one mutants mixed in amongst the ordinary zombies. It seemed like some of the underlings of the Southwest and Southeast gang members had mutated after being freed from their chain of command.

I knew that they were a lot more dangerous, and ignored the ordinary zombies as I quickly oriented myself to where the mutants were. Kim Dae-Young and the guards could handle the ordinary zombies, but a significant amount of mutants would be dangerous to them.

There was no time to think.

I launched myself off the ground, flying toward the mutants. I relentlessly demolished the zombies standing in my way and found myself face-to-face with a mutant in an instant. The eyes of the stage-one mutant rolled about as it swung its gigantic arm at me.

I grabbed the arm, which was flying toward me like a bat, and used centrifugal force to swing it around as hard as I could. I twirled the mutant that was over two meters tall like a hula hoop, knocking out a bunch of zombies as they were hit by the mutant’s sturdy bones. This was much more effective than trying to stop the zombies with my own two fists.

However, the zombie’s arm could no longer withstand the centripetal force and the constant impact of hitting the zombies, and it slowly began to separate from the rest of the mutant’s body. When I saw that its shoulder blades were getting dislocated, I threw it to the ground with all my might before its muscles tore off completely.

KIA!!!

The mutant wailed in pain. I stomped on its face and continued to search for more mutants. I knew I had to do my best to reduce their numbers, even if I couldn’t take care of all of them.

GRRR!!!

A couple of zombies attacked me from behind. However, they were only ordinary street zombies. I spun around from my waist and shook them off like bugs. However, whenever I brushed off a zombie, another would take its place, jumping onto my body and sticking to it like a leech. I was slowly being overwhelmed, and my legs started to feel heavy and stiff, as if I was stuck in a swamp.

I knew I had to keep my balance. Even if I couldn\'t move forward, I couldn’t let them make me lose my balance, because it would be almost impossible to get back up again if I did.

Chop–

A sharp blade appeared in front of me. Ji-Eun appeared next to me, her long hair fluttering about as she performed her sword dance. She spread her ten elongated fingers and began slicing up the zombies. Her way of dealing with zombies was quicker and much more effective compared to beating them to death with my fists.

KIAAA!!!

The forty-five stage-one mutants soon made their appearance, spreading out in a fan-shaped formation and sweeping the zombies aside like dust. The mutants that belonged to Kim Hyeong-Jun and Do Han-Sol were next to them. In an instant, the tide turned in our favor.

The underlings spread out left and right in a long line and began to push back the endless wave of zombies. The mutant crashed through the zombies with their overwhelming power like bulldozers, and the zombies that had made their way into Port Jeju were swept away like leaves on the streets.

‘We’ll be okay now.’

The underlings were now in perfect formation. Despite the numbers advantage that the oncoming zombies possessed, there was no way that zombies mindlessly pushing their way forward could beat the stage-one mutants that were pushing them back with a plan.

If only we could keep this up we could bring this to an end…

KWAAA!!!

The sharp cry pierced my eardrums, and all my hairs stood on end. I heard a constant ringing in my head, and my eyes were instinctively drawn toward the source of the sound. In moments, I saw the being that was making its way through the zombies, heading directly for us.

‘It’s here.’

It was a wild beast, running full tilt toward its newly-found prey. The black creature was already insane; it seemed like it had lost its mind a while ago.

I assumed that Kim Hyeong-Jun and Do Han-Sol had also heard the black creature cry, but I also figured that it would be hard for them to locate it, since they were surrounded by zombies. If the black creature suddenly appeared out of nowhere while the two of them were fighting off zombies, they could suffer fatal injury.

I had to let them know where the black creature was, then move toward the place where we’d set our trap. Since the black creature’s eyes were on me, I assumed that leaping into the air would be enough to lure it toward me. I got ready to jump, hoping that Kim Hyeong-Jun and Do Han-Sol would be able to see where the black creature was with their own eyes.

Bang!

I launched myself off the ground and into the air.

Kim Hyeong-Jun’s flashing blue eyes and Do Han-Sol’s flashing red eyes turned skyward as a long shadow fell over them.

‘Thank goodness. The two of them saw me.’

“Ahjussi! Behind you!!”

Kim Hyeong-Jun’s cry pierced through the cacophony. I sensed a pair of eyes focused on me, full of murderous intent, sending chills down my spine and eventually settling on my neck.

I twisted my body sharply and covered my face with my arms. A thick fist hurtled through the air in front of me, and a heavy blow slammed against my arms. I coughed, my eyes going wide.

If I had been even a second late, the black creature’s blow would have landed on my neck, not my arms. In that brief moment, I was able to glimpse its face. It… It had a completely different aura from the ones that I had come across before.

Unlike the previous black creatures that smirked as they cornered their prey, the one in front of me seemed terribly anxious for some reason. Its eyes were full of obsession and madness, as if it had been starving for a long time. It desperately wanted more prey to eat, and that it was going to consume me no matter what.

It was determined to eat me. It craved desperately for more prey, like a beast that had suffered from hunger for a long time. Madness and obsession swirled in its eyes.

Swoosh–

After our brief exchange, a sharp whistling filled my ears as gravity pulled me the last couple of meters down toward the ground.

Bang!!!

“GAAA!”

The impact pinned me to the ground, sending large cracks radiating through the asphalt. The black creature’s attack had prevented me from landing safely, and I found that I couldn’t feel any strength in my legs. I couldn\'t help but suspect that my spine had been damaged.

‘Is my lower body paralyzed?’

I frowned and stared into the sky. The black creature was descending toward me.

I had to avoid it somehow, even if that meant crawling along the ground. I knew that my chances of survival were terribly slim if I took its attack head-on. My eyes widened and I clenched my teeth, straining to lift my upper body.

GAAA!!!

Unfortunately, I had landed right in the middle of all the other zombies, who began to surround me once they saw me falling from the sky.

My mind went blank for a moment as the zombies came flying at me from all directions. I could not find a way to get out of this situation. Cold sweat dripped down my forehead, and the constant ringing in my eardrums began to intensify.

I… I couldn’t help but wonder why, of all the days, had my spine decided to shatter right then, leaving me unable to even dodge the zombies’ attacks.

That fleeting moment felt like an eternity.

Whoosh—

At that moment, a streak of blue light passed above my head, helping me get back to my senses. Just before the black creature got to me, Kim Hyeong-Jun used all the momentum he’d built up on his run to kick the black creature with all his might.

Pow!! Clank!!

The blow landed accompanied by the sound of steel bending. The black creature was launched into the horde of zombies like a bowling ball knocking over an endless number of pins. I heard Kim Hyeong-Jun’s voice.

“Can you walk, ahjussi?” he asked me.

“My spine is broken.”

“Han-Sol! Carry ahjussi on your back and go ahead!”

At Kim Hyeong-Jun\'s shout, the surrounding zombies separated like the parting of the Red Sea, and Do Han-Sol came running through them. He didn’t even take the time to answer; he just grabbed me by the collar and instantly ran in the direction of our trap.

“Move your underlings to the trap,” I said as I looked at him. “Since we’ve slowed down the zombies, we’ll leave the remaining ordinary zombies to the survivors.”

“What about my ordinary underlings?”

“Did you get all the instruments?”

"Yes. Should I order all of my mutants and zombies to come?”

I nodded as steam rose from my body. My broken spine regenerated, and my blue eyes flashed again. Do Han-Sol let go of my collar and looked behind us. Kim Hyeong-Jun was running for his life, with the black creature chasing him down.

I got to my feet and looked at Do Han-Sol.

“Listen carefully to what I say from now on. If the black creature attacks you, don\'t think about fighting it; just run away no matter what. Just distract it and lure it toward our trap. Got it?”

The moment Do Han-Sol nodded, Kim Hyeong-Jun flew past me, gritting his teeth as hard as he could.

"Run!!" he yelled.

Do Han-Sol and I dashed toward our trap, running for our dear lives.

KWAAAAAA!!!

I heard the black creature screaming behind me. I turned my head slightly to look behind us. The black creature was already so close to us. It almost seemed like it was teleporting its way to us, instead of running along the same ground as we were.

As soon as the black creature’s right food touched the ground to propel it forward, I stopped in my tracks and threw my right elbow at it.

Pow!!

My elbow landed a solid blow on its face. I wondered if the thought that we would retaliate hadn’t crossed its mind. My unexpected attack had landed what seemed like a fatal blow.

The speed that it was running at, combined with the power from my elbow, crushed its face in. For a second, it seemed like the black creature was going to fall onto its back, but it righted itself instantly as it slammed the ground with its arms.

I kept running, but my eyes widened instinctively at what they had just seen. I couldn’t believe that such movements were possible. They were utterly absurd. It seemed to defy gravity completely.

I sent out orders to my underlings.

‘All of you, come to me. From now on, focus on wiping out the black creature.\'

I turned my head to track the creature’s movements. The black creature was chasing me, its face a mask of anger.

Its crushed nose had already regenerated, and this time, it began to scrutinize my movements. It wasn’t going to suffer another blow from me.