Even Zombies Have Fandoms

Chapter 85

“Ugh.”

As the lightning flashed, clearly revealing the cruel and grotesque scene, the sound of retching came from either Kyungho or Junwoo, but Seokjae paid no attention. This wasn’t the time to hesitate regardless of others’ disgust.

*Crash-! Crunch.*

Meanwhile, Muyoung had his ears covered against the continuous thunder. Without fully comprehending what he was doing in real-time, he had no reason to hesitate.

“Floor!”

After some time, when they were close enough to see the main entrance, Seokjae called out to the two people behind him.

“Grab the ladder on the ground and go back the way we came! There’s an open window on the second floor at the end!”

It was the only entry route besides the door Seokjae had found during those brief flashes of lightning.

“Yes!”

“Hey, the ladder’s here!”

Despite the noise of water everywhere, they seemed to understand his instructions immediately. The sound of them rushing to grab the ladder could be heard.

Having made sure to kill all the zombies to prevent any from coming up behind them, and noticing no signs of movement from the playground area, he was confident the two would be safe entering the building through the window.

“Hyung!”

Just as he was certain of this and swinging his arms to shake off liquid—whether rainwater or blood, he couldn’t tell—Junwoo’s voice came from behind. He and Kyungho had been moving the large ladder when Junwoo turned around, worried about the two who would be left among the zombies.

“What about you two?!”

“Go ahead! We’ll manage!”

“But…!”

Junwoo seemed to say something else. However, Seokjae couldn’t hear properly as he was busy smashing the skull of a zombie with oddly bent arms, striking down like with an axe.

“What?!”

Only after kicking the zombie in the solar plexus to pull out his knife and simultaneously knocking down another one behind him could he ask again.

“Nothing! Just hurry up!”

“Got it!”

After sending the two ahead, Seokjae and Muyoung gradually backed away to buy time. They were careful to slowly close the distance to their escape route so they could run at any moment.

‘Damn.’

*Rumble… CRASH!*

Thanks to the continuous lightning, maintaining visibility was easy, but the loud thunder and heavy rain made it impossible to rely on hearing. They could only detect approaching zombies by the splashing sounds of footsteps nearby.

‘Whether outside the fence or here, the disgusting number of them is about the same.’

At first, the zombies were spaced far enough apart to deal with them one by one. But it seemed they were growing in number faster than they could be eliminated, and the gaps between them were shortening. Seokjae’s breathing became increasingly ragged.

‘What am I doing right now? Get it together, Kang Muyoung. You’re supposed to be helping Hyung, not being a burden.’

Meanwhile, Muyoung, cradled in Seokjae’s arms and feeling these changes directly, was shocked by his own uselessness. No matter how physically fit Seokjae was, he too had limits. Fighting zombies while carrying a person and other items was inevitably taxing.

“Hyung.”

Remembering his purpose for staying with Seokjae, Muyoung gathered his courage and slowly lowered his hands that had stiffened from gripping his ears too tightly.

“Please put me down.”

He should have done this sooner. His body’s reflexive freezing at the thunder had delayed him too much.

In truth, the pain like someone stabbing his ears with a knife was still there, but after multiple exposures, it wasn’t enough to make him collapse like before. Nevertheless, he had unconsciously sought comfort in Seokjae’s stable embrace. Stupidly, even in such a dangerous moment.

“I’m okay now. I can fight too!”

Muyoung wanted permission first, worried that if he suddenly tried to get down, Seokjae might be startled and lose focus thinking he was falling. He also assumed Seokjae would naturally let him down.

“No.”

But as soon as Seokjae felt the legs firmly wrapped around his waist loosen, he firmly grasped Muyoung’s bottom and pulled him back close to his body.

‘Where do you think you’re going?’

Asking to be let go when they could die at any moment. It was nonsense.

“Hyung, I’m really okay! Put me down!”

Not understanding what Seokjae was thinking and assuming he was just being overprotective, Muyoung urgently insisted.

“Did you forget your promise not to interfere when I’m protecting you?”

While glaring at an approaching zombie with giant pruning shears embedded in its abdomen, Seokjae grabbed the protruding handle and pushed it in deeper as he replied.

*Squish- Crack…*

The vibration of rotten organs being pierced and spine breaking traveled through his hand. As horrific as the sensation should have been, Seokjae’s expression barely changed, just a slight raising of one eyebrow.

‘So that’s why there was a ladder. Someone must have been cutting trees.’

With that casual thought, he firmly twisted the handle and threw the zombie with the shears toward the high steps in front of the main entrance.

*Splash, thud-!*

The zombie’s growls disappeared into the darkness as it tumbled down with a dull sound.

“T-that goes for you too—”

“You’ve already lost your place in line, so stay still.”

“W-what line? There’s no such thing!”

Having waited patiently for him to deal with the zombie, Muyoung seized the opportunity to counter his earlier statement.

However.

“I just decided there is.”

“…!”

Speechless at Seokjae’s arbitrary response, Muyoung opened and closed his mouth before finally answering.

“T-that’s completely unreasonable.”

“Yeah, I know. But, can you just let me win this time? I’m working hard here.”

“Ugh.”

Though displeased with his decision, the urgency of the situation made it awkward to continue resisting. Plus, Seokjae was nuzzling his face against Muyoung’s neck like he was being cute!

‘Is he being cute right now? That’s so unfair!’

With those soft lips and cheeks brushing against him, Muyoung finally surrendered.

*Deep breath…*

‘Ah, my blood’s flowing.’

Of course, Seokjae’s actions weren’t meant to be cute as Muyoung thought. Though the mixture of water and blood made it hard to properly smell Muyoung’s scent, it was perfect for boosting his depleted energy like a stimulant.

Taking a deep breath, Seokjae smiled slightly and firmly gripped his knife again, cracking each finger joint one by one.

‘We should have gone inside by now…’

Though he could still hold out longer, not knowing when they’d get to rest made it wise to conserve energy and use only what was necessary.

Looking to time his escape, Seokjae moved further back toward where the window was open when, at that moment, a response came from above.

“Hyung! Hurry up!”

Hearing the call, he immediately kicked the nearest zombie hard. *Crash*, like dominoes, the ones behind also fell, creating maximum distance. Seokjae twisted his body and ran toward the building.

“Grrgh-“

“Krrrk…!”

It seemed that killing zombies had attracted even more from the surrounding area, as eerie sounds echoed from the path they had traveled. With zombies gathering both in front and behind, Seokjae quickly climbed the ladder that had been set up.

*Clang-*

*Thud-*

The ladder was slippery from rain, but he climbed without a single hesitation. Just as he was about to reach the second floor—

*Bang! Shake-*

The previously stable ladder shook violently with a dull impact.

“Kyaak-!”

“Kaak!”

Zombies had followed them and were now grabbing the ladder.

“Hyung!”

“Ugh.”

Though he heard panicked voices from above, there was no time to respond. Moving now would make them lose balance, but staying put was equally dangerous.

‘If I don’t slip, I might make it.’

After briefly considering, Seokjae glanced at the window to calculate the remaining distance.

There was no time for lengthy deliberation. Having made his decision in seconds, he tensed his legs to jump up in one go.

“Hyung! Duck!”

At that moment, with Junwoo’s shout, something yellow inside the window came into view. Immediately recognizing what it was, Seokjae ducked his head.

*Pssssshhh!*

With a fierce sound, white powder sprayed forcefully from the nozzle, striking the zombies who were greedily reaching for Muyoung and Seokjae. Hit in the face by the powder stream, the zombies flailed, unable to see.

‘Damn, I can’t see…’

Though the rain reduced the spread, Seokjae’s vision was also blurred. As he squinted to focus, a hand suddenly emerged through the white powder.

“Hyung, this way!”

It was Kyungho’s hand.

Seokjae grabbed the extended hand with one of his own, using it as a guide, and after some fumbling, firmly grasped the window frame with his other hand. Then, pretending to hang onto Kyungho’s hand while actually supporting his weight entirely with the arm holding the window frame, he pulled himself up. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Kyungho, but rather the conscience of someone who knew his own weight.

*Clang!*

As soon as he confirmed the two were safe, Junwoo threw the fire extinguisher down and closed the window. A zombie was hit and fell along with the ladder.

With a loud crash, the fallen ladder and zombie crushed other nearby zombies.

*Kyaa- ak!*

The predators howled fiercely as if enraged at losing their prey, but soon forgot about them completely as they were drawn to other sounds.