Zombie Apocalypse Whiteout

Zombie Apocalypse Whiteout - 2

EP.2 White Christmas (2)

Thud—!

The roof of the SUV caved in with a dull crash, and a zombie with a milky white film covering its eyes bounced off the windshield and tumbled to the ground. As if that were a signal, a dozen more zombies came charging out of the alley, hurling themselves at Vehicles 5 and 4.

Crash—! Crack—!

Zombies smashed through the windows of Vehicle 4 headfirst, swinging their arms wildly at the soldiers inside.

“Uwaaaah!”

The backseat soldiers, already tense and pointing their rifles toward the rear, screamed as they hastily pulled their triggers.

Bang—! Bang bang—! Ratatatat—!

A flurry of gunfire erupted inside the cramped vehicle. A zombie, its head and shoulders shredded, was finally shoved out along with the supply boxes. Even through the pain of their ruptured eardrums, the soldiers’ faces flickered with a brief sense of triumph.

But that relief lasted only a moment.

KRAAASH—!

Vehicle 5, veering diagonally with its front window stained red, crashed into the parked cars lining the street and came to a halt.

“…Gasp!”

A breathless groan escaped the lips of the soldiers in Vehicle 4. There was no time to realize that one of the bullets they had fired in panic had pierced the driver’s head in Vehicle 5.

Screeech—!

The driver of Vehicle 4 slammed the brakes, but it was already too late to avoid collision.

CRUNCH—! THUD—! CRASH—!

That set off a chain reaction of collisions as all four vehicles slammed into one another and came to a stop.

GRAAAAH—!

The moment the zombies saw their prey lose momentum, they let out a monstrous cry and charged. Though the darkness made it hard to count precisely, there were easily over fifty of them.

Vreeeeee—!

The driver of Vehicle 4 kept his foot on the gas, trying to push Vehicle 5 off to the side. But 5 had come to rest diagonally, firmly wedged among the surrounding obstacles. It didn’t budge an inch. The tires spun uselessly in place, not moving the car even a meter.

Tat-tat-tat—! Tat-tat-tat—! Tat-tat—!

Gunfire echoed from all sides, tracer rounds zipped through the air, dizzying in their flashes.

Pop-pop—! Crack—!

Stray bullets shattered windshields and headlights, but the zombies charging in with terrifying speed didn’t seem to thin out. The darkness was their greatest ally. Every time one of them sprang out from beyond the headlight’s reach, another ally's blood splattered onto the snowy ground.

“Die, you motherfuckers! Eat this, you bastards!!”

Soldiers threw open the car doors and jumped out, firing wildly while screaming curses. Nineteen rifles in total—plenty of firepower. But the lack of any tactical leadership was pushing them deeper into chaos. The lieutenant, who should have been giving orders to form ranks, had long since fallen into panic.

“Shoot! Kill them all! Kill them all!!”

The lieutenant shouted the same command over and over as he fired indiscriminately in random directions.

There weren’t supposed to be zombies in Yeongcheon… No zombies in Yeongcheon… Who the hell fed us that bullshit?! Who’s the bastard that’s gotten me killed like this?!

That single, howling blame echoed through the pitch-black void inside his mind.

Ratatatatat—! Tat-tat-tat—! Ratatatatat—!

The soldiers, too panicked to aim properly, continued to fire in full auto, wasting precious bullets. While some zombie heads and torsos exploded under fire, the vast majority of bullets struck surrounding buildings and shattered glass. And then…

This terrain—both lanes completely clogged with vehicles—was the perfect battlefield for zombies who fought with their bodies alone.

Graaaah—! Gwaaaah—!

Zombies burst from the darkness, leaping onto car roofs and bounding forward. In an instant, the distance between them and the soldiers vanished.

“AAAGH!”

The soldiers in the front-most vehicles were tackled, screaming as they went down.

Crunch—!

A zombie sank its teeth into the lieutenant’s neck and yanked. A chunk of flesh tore free, and a jet of hot blood shot into the air. Right beside him, the driver tried to crush a zombie’s head with his bleeding arm.

“GAAAAHHH!”

The lieutenant jammed the muzzle of his rifle into the zombie’s belly and pulled the trigger.

Ratatatatatat—! Tat-tat-tat—!

Its abdomen exploded, shredded flesh spraying into the air. But that was the extent of the lieutenant’s resistance.

GRAAAAH—!

A second and third zombie lunged at his back, sinking their teeth in. Overwhelmed by their weight, he fell backward, his finger still on the trigger.

Squelch—! Rip—!

Even amid the deafening gunfire, the sound of his own flesh being torn from his body carved itself into his fading consciousness.

As the lieutenant lay dying, consumed by pain and terror, his wide-open eyes took in the sight of soldiers scattering in all directions. But he already knew. Retreat was no longer an option. In the end… they were all going to die.

“Fall back! Get back, now!”

Someone screamed.

Ratatatat—! Ratatat—!

Gunfire erupted, followed closely by agonized screams.

“Uwaaaagh! Aaaargh!”

“Help me! Please—Aaaaagh!”

“Shitttttt!”

Curses, desperate pleas, and the roars of the zombies all mixed together into a deafening cacophony. The once-pure white snowfield quickly turned crimson with the blood of young soldiers. And for every zombie taken down, it seemed an equal number of comrades fell in turn.

Crash—!

In a blind panic, the driver of Vehicle 4 was running like mad when his foot caught on a zombie corpse, sending him sprawling.

Thud—!

His cheek slammed into a thick mound of snow. He couldn’t even feel the cold—his senses were completely numb. All that filled his mind now was a burning urge to live. That instinct screamed at him to keep running.

Haa… Haa…!

The driver clawed at the snow with his left hand, struggling to rise. But he kept slipping—damn this snow. His panic surged, and suddenly, his vision darkened. If they bit him now… it was over.

Graaaaaah!

Zombies wailed just behind him, but he couldn’t even tell up from down anymore. His limbs were heavy as if trapped in a nightmare.

“Get a grip, dumbass!”

A hand grabbed him from behind, yanking him up as someone shouted in his ear. The shock snapped him back to reality, and the driver managed to kick off the ground and scramble to his feet.

“Follow me! We’re heading for higher ground!”

The sergeant who had pulled him up shouted while firing into the horde. The driver nodded instinctively.

“Y-Yes, sir!”

Ratatat—! Ratatat—!

The sergeant emptied a dozen rounds, barely managing to drop two pursuing zombies. Then he leapt over wrecked vehicles and veered toward the sidewalk. The driver didn’t know what the plan was—but he ran after him without question.

GRAAAH—!

A zombie dressed in summer clothes spotted them and came sprinting across the snow-covered sidewalk. One arm missing, guts trailing behind—none of it mattered. The damn things still moved faster than humans.

Ssshhh—

More zombies poked their heads out from a nearby alley. That sickening rotted flesh!

“DIEEE!”

With a ragged scream, the driver squeezed the trigger.

Ratatat—! Ratatat—! Ratatat—!

His K2 shredded the zombies’ torsos like wet rags, but they didn’t care. They just squirmed and staggered back to their feet. Why was it so damn hard to hit the head? He fumbled to reload with trembling fingers—this was already his second magazine.

While he bought them precious seconds, the sergeant had climbed onto the flat roof of a one-story shop and reached out a hand.

“Grab on! Get up here, fast! More are coming!”

“Ah—y-yes!”

The driver reached out with his left hand, but the sergeant snapped at him.

“Sling your rifle and grab with both hands, dumbass!”

“Y-Yes, sir!”

He slung his rifle over his shoulder and stretched both arms up in a hurry.

“Ughhh!”

With a grunt, the sergeant heaved him upward while the driver kicked off the wall in a frantic scramble. They just barely made it onto the roof—mere moments before the zombies below lunged for the driver’s ankles.

Haa… haa…

Gasping for breath, sweat stinging his eyes, the driver finally looked up.

Ratatatatat—! Ratatat—!

Gunfire still rang out from the street where they had just been. But… the frequency and intensity had clearly diminished. Only a handful of soldiers were still holding their ground, and they were completely surrounded.

“This way! Up here—!”

The driver called out to the others, desperately waving them over. But his voice gradually faded. Whether bravely fighting or trying to flee, each and every one of them… was devoured in moments. Just thirty meters away, the last surviving soldier was being torn apart before their eyes. But there was nothing they could do.

Uwaaaagh!

The dying soldier, now a bloodied mess under a pile of zombies, let out one last terrible scream. The sound drilled into the bones of the two soldiers watching from above. But grief for their comrade felt like a luxury they could no longer afford.

Graaaaah—! GRAAAARGH—!

Just beneath their feet, zombies jumped and clawed at the roof’s edge, their fingertips brushing past with chilling proximity. At this rate, some of them really might manage to clamber up.

“You sons of bitches!”

With tears and snot streaking their faces, the driver and the sergeant fired their K2 rifles down at the horde. Even as bullets rained and heads exploded right next to them, the zombies didn’t pause for a second. They just kept leaping, desperate to reach their prey.

Ratatatatat—!

The air reeked of gunpowder. Dozens of zombie corpses were now heaped at the base of the building. How long had they been at it…?

Click—!

The sound of a dry firing pin jolted the driver back to awareness.

“…Gah!”

His eyes widened as he reached for his tactical vest. Nothing. Not a single magazine left. And zombies were still on the move. Worse, the corpses of fellow soldiers—men who had fallen just moments ago—were now twitching, beginning to rise.

“You out?”

The sergeant asked, voice tight with dread.

The driver nodded limply.

“Yes… I’m out.”

“Shit… we’re screwed.”

The sergeant muttered, eyes sunken as he stared down at the road below. A rough count showed at least a dozen zombies still lurking. Their options? Take them all out barehanded… or freeze to death on this rooftop.

“There’s… ammo down there…”

The driver mumbled, his gaze fixed on the vehicle they’d come in. Inside were the supplies and ammunition meant for the unit—fully loaded magazines, ready to go.

But how the hell could they reach it? The street was swarming with zombies. The moment they left this roof, they’d be dead.

Whoooooosh—!

A cruel wind kicked up flurries of snow, lashing their faces with cold. Their sweat now frozen, the two soldiers’ body temperatures plummeted. At this rate… they wouldn’t last two hours.

“W-what do we do? We… we need to get that ammo…”

The driver’s voice quivered. The sergeant didn’t have a plan either. The two stared in silence at the snarling monsters below, praying in vain that the zombies would just lose interest and leave.

“…You fast?”

The sergeant finally asked, voice trembling as he reached his limit.

The driver shook his head.

“What? Uh, not really.”

“What’s your 100-meter time?”

“About… 15 seconds. Back in high school.”

“Then I’m faster. Shit… not that it makes me feel any better.”

The sergeant removed his helmet and set it down beside him, then continued.

“I’ll run down and grab the ammo. While I do that, you play bait. Got it?”

“Huh? What do you mean, ‘bait’…?”

“Get their attention. Set your clothes on fire, dangle yourself under the sign, I don’t care—just make sure those bastards focus on you.”

He pulled out a cigarette and a lighter and handed them over. The survival manual distributed by Taeyang Group had said it clearly: zombies were drawn to heat, flame, and cigarette smoke.

“Do you really think… that’ll work? That’s a long distance…”

The driver asked, his face pale with fear. The sergeant snapped back, irritated.

“You wanna just sit here and freeze to death?! We’ve gotta try something!”

“Y-yes! You’re right! Understood!”

The driver shrugged off his parka and held the lighter to its inner lining, tears once again streaming down his face. The feeling in his gut told him—this plan was doomed. The odds of outrunning those monsters, grabbing the ammo, and making it back alive were… laughable.

Still, he had no better option.

Fwoooosh—!

Moments later, smoke and flame began curling from inside the parka.

Groooaaaar—! GRAAAAAAH—!

Maybe it was the acrid stench of the cigarette used as kindling, but the zombies on the road completely lost it. Clutching the burning sleeve of his parka, the driver stepped toward the building’s left edge.

“Keep your head in the game and keep distracting them! If you chicken out now, I’m dead! And if I die, you’re fucked too, got it?!”

“Y-yes! Understood!”

He wiped his tears away with his sleeve and clenched his jaw. On the opposite end of the roof, the sergeant, now poised to jump, gave him the signal.

“Now! Go!”

“Hyaaaaah!”

The driver dangled the burning parka and whipped it back and forth with all his might. The zombies below reacted with near-maniacal frenzy, leaping and stretching their arms toward him with wild shrieks.

Thud!

Judging that he’d drawn enough attention, the sergeant took a few sharp breaths and launched himself as far out as he could toward the sidewalk below.

Crash!

The plan was to land gracefully and break into a sprint, but the thick snow caused him to slip, and he fell flat on his butt.

“Ugh!”

His face pale, the sergeant instinctively turned to look behind him. Fortunately, the zombies around the storefront were still fixated on the burning parka, and the driver was holding out better than expected, holding their attention with a surprising show of nerve.

He quickly scrambled to his feet and dashed toward the still-idling vehicles, their headlights casting stark beams into the snowstorm.

Thump-thump-thump-thump!

His footsteps on the snow seemed deafening. Gritting his teeth, the sergeant clutched his empty rifle and ran. He slipped a few more times, but miraculously reached Vehicle No. 4—the one they had arrived in—unscathed.

“Haa… haa…!”

He gasped for breath and threw open the hatch. Inside were crates of ammo—rows upon rows of magazines, all loaded and ready.

Rip—! Tear—!

Tearing through the packaging like a man possessed, he grabbed a smaller box containing twenty full magazines. That was when he heard it—cutting through the wind, a desperate cry from the rooftop.

“Sergeant Kang! Behind you! Behind you! Zombies!”

The sergeant felt like his heart had frozen solid. Whipping around, he saw it.

Graaaargh—!

The zombified lieutenant, mouth wide open, came charging at him. And behind him—more. Several more. All charging, eyes locked on their prey.

GRAAAAAH—!

Even the zombies that had been gathered near the storefront began to turn. The driver’s burning parka had finally crumbled into ashes. Now, the juiciest target was the lone soldier standing exposed on the road.

“AAAGH!”

The sergeant flung the ammo box aside to buy himself a moment and took off running.

Clatter—!

He vaulted onto the hood of a parked car, aiming to reach the rooftop of another building. If he could just get up there…

But the zombies were faster than he’d anticipated.

CRACK—!

A monstrous force slammed into the back of his neck and shoulder. The sergeant stumbled, yanked back by the zombified lieutenant’s claw-like grip, and tumbled off the car onto the ground.

GRRAAAAAH—!

The zombie lunged at him, fangs bared. And then—!

BANG!

A single gunshot echoed from across the road. The lieutenant zombie’s head snapped back, a neat hole bored cleanly between its eyes.

Thud—!

It collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.

The shot had been perfect. Almost… inhumanly precise. Like something out of a computer simulation, or a machine-fired round.