Infected - Chapter 31
Only Noblemtl
Episode 30
A total of nine people gathered in the kitchen.
Yeong-man, who was examining each person one by one, asked while stroking his beard.
“Now that you’re here, tell me what you plan to do.”
“Okay. Okay, everyone, listen carefully.”
Finance looked around.
The kitchen was very spacious.
It can’t be helped given the nature of the hospital, where dozens or even hundreds of people come to eat at a time.
What caught Jae-jae’s attention were the stainless steel shelves that lined the kitchen in various places.
Usually it comes with a sink, but this one was just a flat worktop.
Height is about waist height.
What is Finance planning to do with this shelf that can be used to line up washed food items or to prepare vegetables while standing up?
“I’m going to get out of here with these three shelves.”
The group was silent for a moment.
Everyone was just looking at each other at the absurdly simple and clear explanation.
Everyone tried to use this shelf in their own heads, but no proper answer came out.
Then Youngman asked.
“Can you explain it a little more kindly?”
“Everyone, come out.”
Finance led everyone out and stood in front of the door leading out of the restaurant.
The faint shadows of the infected wandering outside beneath the blinds loomed.
“I’m going to put shelves on both sides of the door. I’m going to put them vertically as if I’m making a passageway, and block off the ends horizontally, so it’ll look like the letter D.”
“and?”
Young-man asked patiently.
“Three people stand behind each shelf, holding weapons and waiting.”
“I can’t believe you came up with this idea… … .”
“I’m going to kill them all and get out of here.”
The restaurant became quiet again.
While everyone else was making complicated faces, the man who had been attacked by Beomsik shook his head.
“It’s impossible.”
“Why is it impossible?”
Finance tilted its head.
“I don’t know how much you all know about those zombies, but the speed and strength they run at is beyond what we can handle. I know what you mean, but it’s too dangerous. As soon as the door opens, they’ll jump over each other and run.”
“That’s right. And we’ve never fought them before. Of course, we’ve seen on TV that if you hit someone in the head, they die. But knowing that and being able to do it are two different things.”
The man’s colleagues also agreed.
Finance nodded.
That wasn’t a wrong statement.
Of course, once the door opens, they’ll come rushing in like hungry beasts.
If I had only thought about that, I wouldn’t have even brought it up in the first place.
“This will solve it.”
Finance took out a white rope of suitable thickness.
It was a long rope hung up by restaurant staff to dry aprons, gloves, and dishtowels after they were washed.
The man asked, touching his red, swollen neck.
“What are you going to do with that?”
“If you connect the handles on both sides to this length and the door opens a little, the rope will become taut and you won’t be able to open it any further. Naturally, they won’t be able to come in all at once, and at most, one or two will be able to come in.”
Finance said, tying the handle with a special knot used by the military.
The restaurant’s door was a swing door that could be opened from both sides simultaneously.
If you tie the two handles together with enough rope to allow for some slack, the door will open just wide enough for one person to pass through, as described.
So the financial plan was to deal with the infected people who came in one or two at a time through that gap.
If we did well, we could take out everyone in the hallway without any casualties.
But the man thought differently.
He stroked his red, swollen neck and pointed to the rope tied to the handle.
“How long can that thin rope last?”
“Well, that knot will never come undone. Unless the rope breaks. Well, maybe if you pull on it, it might come undone.”
The man seemed more interested in the word ‘you’ than in informal speech.
But I wasn’t stupid enough to pick a fight over such a trivial and stale thing.
At least finances are something we can talk about.
“Don’t you know that even a glass window will shatter if zombies rush in? But you’re calling them all at once and then bringing them in one by one through a narrow gap? How long do you think that door will hold up?”
“I never said I would call them all at once, so do it moderately. And can’t you see the people’s expressions?”
At the end of the finances, the man looked around.
It was dark inside so he couldn’t see clearly, but it was clear that Beomsik and Anna were glaring at him as if they were going to kill him.
“If I make one mistake, I could die at any moment. Isn’t it natural for me to be sensitive? Do I have to be careful when asking questions?”
“Oh, if you can’t do it, just get out. I won’t force you. If you’re going to whine like a child from start to finish, just shut your mouth and sit down. We’ll take care of it. And I don’t care. Even if the rope snaps or the door breaks. There are nine people, and if you can’t even block this narrow entrance, you’d rather die now.”
The finances turned around mercilessly.
Actually, the man had a point.
Even though it was okay because there were glass blinds around the room, if the door opened, everyone would rush in.
Then, the door, unable to withstand the weight, would have collapsed, and the infected would have poured in all at once, contrary to plan.
“What are you going to do? In a situation where we need at least one more helping hand.”
Young-man said with a troubled face.
“Let’s just do it among ourselves. If we want to live, we’ll do it together. There’s no will, no will. We’re all going to die anyway, and there’s no way out, so why are we arguing so much?”
“I get what you’re thinking. It’s definitely possible. However, the beginning is the most important part.”
“why?”
Anna asked.
“At first, they’ll probably lure them in one by one and deal with them. If they do that, it’ll be easier to deal with the ones coming in later if they’re dealt with at the right location early on. Think about it. If there are corpses piled up at the entrance, they won’t be able to get in and will start pushing with all their might. Then, when they hear the sound, they’ll come rushing in more and more, and the door will soon be broken down.”
“That may be true.”
“So… what do you want to do?”
This time, Beomsik, who had been listening silently, asked.
“Let’s lure them in one by one through the crack in the door and deal with them. If the door is torn open or the rope breaks and they all come in at once, we have no choice but to each do our best. What’s the point of a strategy if we’re going to break through head-on?”
“You’re so darn honest.”
Beomsik smiled bitterly.
Then Jaejae looked at Chaemin and Hyeonsu with concern.
“The problem is you… You take care of the guys that Lee Beom-sik and Young-man miss. I’ll destroy the guys that try to get in through there. Can you do it?”
The two hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
“I have to.”
“There is… no way.”
However, after overcoming the crisis, he appeared to be considerably stronger than before.
After a while, the group gathered together, each holding their own weapon, having built a defensive wall in the shape of a letter D using shelves as if they were building a castle wall.
Three restaurant workers who didn’t seem like they would join in also joined in, each carrying a weapon.
The man who was almost killed by Beomsik wrapped a kitchen knife with duct tape around the end of a straw handle.
Another man was holding a meat grinder, his body covered with a cardboard box, just as Finance had done before.
Finally, a middle-aged woman who had been guiding the group with a flashlight while they moved the shelves wandered around empty-handed.
Youngman asked.
“How do you plan to lure them?”
“Actually, that is the problem… … .”
Anna said with a face that seemed to remember something.
“Since their hearing is so sensitive, how about providing visual cues? We don’t know exactly how loud a sound is and how far along it will be.”
“Oh, that’s a good idea. Can I just open the door and show my face?”
“No. If they saw us in person, they would get excited as if they had heard a loud noise. For example… … .”
Everyone waited for Anna’s next words.
“Flashlight. Yeah, how about luring them with a flashlight? Since that aunt is the only one without a weapon, we can shine a flashlight in the middle of the restaurant when we open the door. The zombies won’t be able to see anything around them because of the light.”
“Me, me?”
The woman swallowing dry saliva had a tense expression on her face.
Then Anna quickly approached and snatched the flashlight.
“Look. Just stand here and turn on your flashlight at the signal. Then turn it off at the signal and we’ll take care of the zombies. It’s not dangerous. Can you do it?”
“Is it okay if I just turn it on and off?”
“Yes, that will be fine.”
Only then did the woman breathe a sigh of relief.
Soon everyone’s seats were decided.
Beomsik and Yeongman stood facing each other on vertical shelves on either side of the door.
Next to them stood three restaurant staff members and Anna, while Jaejung, Chaemin, and Hyeonsu sat in the deepest part facing the door.
Beomsik and Yeongman held the handles on both sides and slowly opened the door.
The key was to open it without making a sound.
Because I had to lure them with the light of a flashlight shining out of the hallway.
At the signal, the woman turned on her flashlight.
Click!
Light leaked out through a gap just big enough for a person to pass through.
In the hallway, the infected were walking slowly, looking for stimulation.
No one has responded yet.
Everyone swallowed dry saliva.
It was a calm that reminded me of the calm before the storm.
A bit of sunlight seeped into the hallway along with the sound of rain, filtering through the blinds.
Just then, the light reflected on the hallway wall sparkled in the pupils of the group.
One infected person discovered the light.
The woman waved the flashlight slightly as instructed.
Then a problem arose.
They only scratched at the light from the flashlights on the wall with their hands, and showed no sign of looking inside the restaurant.
There is no way to attract people like this.
Beom-sik and Yeong-man, who were holding on while pulling the large door from both sides, were also starting to feel tired.
Finance quickly motioned for the woman to turn off her flashlight.
Click!
Kwaaak!
As soon as the lights went out, the three infected turned back toward the restaurant after hearing the sound of the switch.
The dim sunlight streaming in through the crack in the door illuminated Jae-gye’s shoulders.
Click!
The flashlight came back on.
Now they were faced with the light pouring out from inside the restaurant.
What was certain was that it was considerably quieter than when I saw the person in person or when I stimulated my hearing.
The three infected walked into the restaurant, making strange nasal sounds that were either breathing or something else.
Rattling.
With a sound, Beomsik and Yeongman took their hands off the handle.
There was no need to hold on anymore as the three infected were staggering and pushing the door open.
The face of the woman who had been shining a flashlight at the men became distorted.
It seemed like this was the first time he had seen them this close.
Swish!
Soon, one of the three came in through a crack in the door.
But we shouldn’t attack yet.
I had to lure him further in and then kill him.
Because it would be a problem if corpses piled up at the entrance.
Thud, thud.
Like a convict heading to execution, the infected walked with his joints twisted and turned.
There were people lined up on both sides, but the guy didn’t notice at all.
That meant that they, too, couldn’t see in the dark like people without light.
He was just about to reach the horizontal shelf where Jae-jae, Chae-min, and Hyeon-su were standing.
Click!
The flashlight went out.
Infected people