Chapter 9: An Unexpected Chance
Ken kept eliminating the zombies one by one, but their number seemed inexhaustible. No sooner did he take one down than others immediately emerged. Fatigue was already showing on his sweat-covered face.
"Damn it… this never ends!" he muttered, his breath short.
His gaze lingered for a moment on the King of Corpses, lurking in the shadows at the back of the wagon. Behind the swarming horde, only his veins and his fluorescent green eyes glowed in the black veil, drawing unhealthy patterns through the mist. He stared at him with a freezing gaze, loaded with suffocating menace. His mere presence made the air even colder than it already was.
Ken knew that, despite his stillness, the gigantic abomination was only waiting for its moment. If the situation dragged on, they would all end up dying much faster than he imagined. His strength was no longer enough: human and alone, he could not hold back this horde much longer.
Taking advantage of a brief instant of inattention on his part, three zombies violently leapt out of nowhere at him with a ferocious roar.
But faced with imminent danger, Ken immediately pulled himself together. Guided by a sixth sense, he barely dodged the first one's fangs, then counterattacked with a sharp kick that hurled the undead backward. Without losing a second, he regained balance on his leg and brandished the fire extinguisher he was gripping tightly, smashing it with all his strength against the second one's jaw. The impact was brutal, cracking through the air with a bone-splitting snap that made the creature stagger.
As Ken prepared his next move, a loud and familiar voice rang out behind him:
" Get down! "
Ken turned around abruptly. What he saw froze him for a fraction of a second, but without wasting time to think, he dropped down. Barely had his knees brushed the ground when an iron bar sliced through the air at blazing speed, grazing his hair before violently crashing down on the cursed one's skull. The shock burst its head apart in a sinister crack, spraying jets of blood that splattered the floor and stained the seats around.
Crouched, short of breath, eyes wide, sweat dripping down his forehead, Ken instinctively raised his hands to his head to make sure it was still there… still in place.
"What the hell is wrong with you?! On top of being stupid, you've gone completely insane!" he shouted, his voice trembling with anger.
Behind him, Kim was standing. With a sharp motion, he shook the blood off his iron bar before casually resting it on his shoulder. His gaze locked on Ken, still crouched, and a mocking smile stretched his lips.
"Looks like it's your turn to sit your ass on the floor…"
Ken slowly raised his eyes toward the blond. His gaze shone with icy intensity, loaded with murderous intent.
Wait… don't tell me that bastard did it on purpose.
"Are you completely insane or what?! I didn't need your help! I almost lost my head because of your bullshit… If I had been just a bit slower…"
Kim stared at him for a moment, then rolled his eyes. With a careless gesture of his finger, he scratched his ear, showing a tired grimace.
"Meh… I did it because it was you. And besides, I knew you were going to dodge… You're not my rival for nothing."
"I'm going to—"
Ken didn't have time to finish his sentence. The guttural, muffled growls of the cursed interrupted their quarrel. A sudden silence cut them off cold. Their gazes turned at the same moment toward the front.
They're coming…
The cursed advanced, relentless. Their guttural groans blended with the heavy, irregular pounding of their steps. Their inhuman faces, deformed by the translucent black mist that wrapped around them like a vile aura, looked like cursed torches, twisted and wavering. Their phosphorescent green eyes glowed in the darkness, and every second brought them closer.
Ken and Kim instantly regained their seriousness. Their fists tightened around their weapons: the fight was far from over.
Ken let out a heavy sigh.
It seems my torment is only beginning…
"Glad you came back to your senses," Ken said in an icy voice, slowly straightening up while leaning on his extinguisher.
"This time, try not to get in my way. You'll be useful."
Kim gave a faint smile. His iron bar spun between his fingers before he gripped it firmly, ready to strike. His eyes remained fixed on the horde advancing inexorably.
"Speak for yourself, filthy demon."
***
A few seconds earlier, Jae-Sung and Hanna had finally reached the door to the front wagon, the one leading to the upper coaches.
The door was saturated, overrun by students who, for several minutes already, had been in a frenzy. Cries of distress, insults, blows… everyone desperately tried to force their way through.
Yet the translucent number floating above the entrance remained unchanged.
The mysterious blue force field still blocked their way. Despite that, they persisted, pounding against the bars like trapped beasts, unable to accept the obvious.
"Stop fighting, it's useless!" shouted Hanna.
"The door won't let anyone through if you all try at once!"
But her words were lost in the chaos. No one listened. She knew, however, from the beginning how the barrier worked.
In fact, it was so obvious even a child would have understood.
The only people who had managed to cross the threshold had done so one by one, each in turn. But as soon as the students noticed the glowing number and understood the cruel reality it signified, panic broke out.
They all rushed at the same time… and immediately crashed into the translucent barrier.
The fear of death had reduced their intelligence to nothing, dragging them back to the state of frantic animals.
"Elites, huh…" Hanna thought, teeth clenched.
"Ken and Kim are risking their lives to protect us, and you… you're fighting like idiots! Aren't you ashamed?"
She bit her lip, hiding her eyes behind her bangs, clenching her fists so hard that pain shot up her fingers.
Hanna knew time was their enemy. Even if Ken and Kim were martial arts geniuses, unparalleled experts, they could not hold on forever. They were their only line of defense. If they fell… everything would be over.
She shook her head, chasing away the grim image threatening to engulf her. Then, casting a quick glance over her shoulder, she fixed her eyes on their silhouettes.
'I have no right to falter.'
Her throat tightened, her inner voice trembled, a mix of fear and determination.
'They're giving everything so we can survive… I refuse to be useless. Never!' she murmured, her voice heavy, almost broken.
Her lips trembled. In a breath barely audible, she prayed:
"Hold on a little longer… I beg you."
Then, with determined steps, Hanna rushed toward the mass of students packed together. Her dark gaze betrayed fierce determination, an unshakable resolve. She had no idea what she could do, but one thing was certain: she could not stand idle. Everyone's life depended on her ability to reason with these students, by any means necessary.
She had barely taken a few steps when a hand suddenly emerged behind her, gripping her shoulder roughly and halting her at once.
Startled, she spun around, ready to demand she be released. But her words choked in her throat when she met Jae-Sung's face.
He was staring at the crowd with icy intensity. A visceral fear twisted his features, accentuated by beads of cold sweat sliding down his temple. Guided by a primitive instinct, his narrowed black eyes seemed to probe an invisible threat.
A kind of bad premonition tightened his chest.
Hanna followed his gaze toward the crowd, seeing nothing particular, then looked back at him, confused.
It was the first time she had ever seen Jae-Sung this serious. The frail, timid boy she knew was holding her back for no apparent reason, with unsuspected, almost desperate strength.
He said nothing, but his tense body spoke for him.
This sudden change chilled her blood. A shiver ran down Hanna's spine, making her hesitate.
"What did he see…?" she wondered, her gaze lost.
'Is this what they call… survival instinct?'
No sooner had Jae-Sung held Hanna back than a shrill scream burst out, slicing through the wagon like a blade of sound. The vibration resonated down to the bones, drilling into the eardrums. The students instinctively clamped their hands over their ears, their faces contorted in pain, as if their skulls were about to shatter under this infernal symphony.
Then, as abruptly as it had erupted, the cry died away. A thick, supernatural silence fell upon the crowd.
It was then that, against the locked door, a boy collapsed in the middle of the clustered students. His body was shaken by violent convulsions. In the blink of an eye, his eyes turned a sickly green. A guttural growl rose from his throat before he straightened in a sudden jerk.
Without warning, he lunged at his closest classmate. His teeth sank into his throat with a dry crack. A tearing. Blood spurted in crimson geysers, splattering the faces around.
The crowd of students recoiled in unison, petrified, unable to comprehend… paralyzed by horror.
"He's been contaminated!" shouted a voice.
"But… he was fine! What happened? He wasn't even bitten… was he?" stammered another, incredulous.
But this was only the beginning of their ordeal.
A shiver ran through the crowd when one student collapsed, then a second, then a third. Their bodies were wracked with uncontrollable spasms. A dark mist seeped from their mouths and nostrils, as if death itself was exhaling them. Their pupils shifted to a livid green and their skin took on a cadaverous gray hue.
Then, all at once, they rose. And without the slightest warning… they unleashed themselves.
No hesitation. No humanity. Only raw violence — that of the cursed tearing through flesh and bone.
Panic exploded at once.
Shrill screams. Bodies crashing into each other. A compact mass breaking into total chaos. Some stumbled, others were trampled. All tried to flee. The floor was already smeared with streaks of blood, the walls echoed with screams, and the crash of impacts formed a suffocating storm.
It was then that a miracle occurred: the door, freed for an instant by the confusion, opened before them.
Without thinking, Jae-Sung clenched his teeth, seized Hanna's wrist and pulled her with all his strength, determined not to let this desperate chance slip away.
"Now!" he shouted, his voice vibrating with adrenaline.
They rushed against the tide, shoved from all sides by those fleeing the opposite way. Jae-Sung nearly fell several times, but he held on, dragging Hanna through the human tide, barely avoiding the contaminated.
At last, as their bodies were about to pass through the mysterious bluish force field, a knot tightened in Jae-Sung's chest.
What if Hanna was wrong?
What if going one at a time wasn't the solution?
What if she had forgotten something?
What if, like the others, they stayed trapped there, at the mercy of the first contaminated?
His fist clenched even tighter around the girl's hand.
"No… this isn't the time to doubt!"
"It's going to work!"
"It has to work!!!"
The moment his body struck the barrier, the energy vibrated, resisted… then gave way in a flash, letting them cross the threshold.
Breathless, their hearts pounding to the breaking point, they finally tumbled to the other side.
Behind them, horror was already surging, engulfing the space they had just left.