Infected - Chapter 8



Only Noblemtl

Episode 7

The soles of Jae-yi’s feet as he went down the stairs were as careful as if they had been coated with adhesive.

I had only just crossed a door, but the landing was so quiet it was almost desolate.

As the two of them carefully went down the stairs, one step at a time, the only sound they could hear was the occasional swallowing of saliva.

The confidence that I could easily overcome and solve the problem was swallowed up by a heavy silence.

The heavy air of death did not allow even the slightest pride.

Just once.

If even one fingertip touched his body, he could die.

There was no way to know what would happen if even a single drop of blood entered the body.

Finance came down to the second landing, his left arm wrapped in a cardboard box in front of him.

In the center of the staircase, a large poster that read ’10th Floor Guide’ greeted the two people.

Perhaps because it was the last floor, it was filled with facility management offices, unlike other floors where regular stores were located.

Jae-jae, who was looking down the quiet hallway, wiped away the beads of sweat on his forehead.

Beomsik, who was following behind, whispered in my ear.

“It was quiet here… earlier too.”

“But you never know. Since it’s the highest floor, it might be the slowest to react to a situation like this.”

Finance shook its head.

“If you find anything, don’t shout or get excited. If you shout in this quiet place… … .”

“You’re good at me. Just follow me around.”

The war of nerves between the two continued even as they stood back to back, watching each other’s backs.

With every step I took down the middle of the hallway, an eerie dread enveloped me.

The problem was their speed and strength.

If it had appeared suddenly, it wouldn’t have been easy to react.

A vague fear of where it might come from also enveloped my whole body.

It was when I was halfway down the hallway.

At that time, the tension was so intense that my clothes were soaking wet.

A silhouette that was difficult to judge was looming beyond the door at the end of the hallway.

Something moving, reflected in the indoor lights, was moving very slowly.

Knock knock.

When Beomsik tapped his shoulder, Jaejae looked back with a nervous expression.

Jae-yi’s gaze, which had been looking at the opposite side, turned to the silhouette flickering inside the electrical room.

The hand of Jae-jae who held the hammer was very strong.

Beomsik was also nervous.

I came down here to beat up the infected, but I secretly hoped I wouldn’t run into them.

But the inevitable confrontation between compatriots, the inevitable killing between compatriots.

As complicated thoughts raced through their heads, the two arrived in front of a firmly closed door.

The transparent glass windows that overlooked the electrical room had waist-high blinds blocking the view.

Just as Jaejung took a deep breath and grabbed the handle, Beomsik pushed Jaejung away, trying to get in without thinking.

Two people talking with their eyes and moving their eyebrows.

Beomsik pointed with his eyes under the blinds.

It meant to bend down and check inside before opening the door.

Blame! Blame!

Beomsik grabbed Jaeyi’s wrist, which was trying to grab the handle, ignoring him.

Then Jae-jae, who had used his strength to bend his wrist back, grabbed Beom-sik’s neck with his other hand.

A large hand crushed the weeping willow tree as if it were about to break.

Beomsik did not back down and stepped back, poking his forehead with his fingertips.

Two people who attacked each other’s vital points once in just a few seconds.

It was a time when only the occasional sound of breathing could be heard mixed in with the small sound of flesh hitting flesh.

Kwaaak!

The blinds fell with a loud roar, and the shadowy figure began to gnaw at the glass of the electrical room as if he was going to eat it.

Jae-jae, who had fallen over in shock and couldn’t even scream, jumped up as if he had been struck by electricity.

Then, he got embarrassed and got irritated for no reason.

“See, you could have just gone in. Why are you checking everything one by one?”

“Didn’t you see it up close? If you went in like that, you wouldn’t even be able to swing your hammer at an angle. It was dangerous.”

Jae-jae, whose impression was crumpled, carefully inspected the inside of the electrical room.

As Beomsik had said, the interior was narrow and complex, making it difficult to swing a hammer.

Still, I wasn’t feeling very good.

Because it was a matter of pride.

But the two decided to put it aside for now.

Because, beyond the glass, an infected person with a blackened face was screaming as if he was going to kill someone.

A broken employee card hung tattered around his neck.

Wow!

I wonder if he was angry at the behavior that ignored him.

The infected person started pounding on the glass without any mercy.

“Don’t stop me this time.”

“for a moment!”

The moment Jae-jae was about to open the door with a hammer, Beom-sik grabbed Jae-jae’s arm once again.

“Why again?”

Finance looked back with an annoyed voice.

There was a reason why Jae-jae, who had been saying that he would hit him if he caught him, was getting irritated.

That’s how it felt.

The atmosphere emanating from Beomsik’s voice and tone was not aggressive.

Should we call it a signal warning of urgent danger?

It had that kind of nuance.

Crack! Crack!

The facial muscles of Jae-Ji were distorted in an odd way with an unpleasant sound.

I couldn’t believe it.

The glass that seemed to be keeping the infected locked in the electrical room forever began to crack apart.

As observed from the rooftop.

I knew that they had strength and speed greater than humans.

But I didn’t know that each individual’s strength would be this much.

The two slowly backed away.

‘What would happen if that thing broke through the glass?’

‘What posture should I take to rush in?’

‘How do you react?’

‘Should I hit it as soon as it comes out?’

All kinds of thoughts were running through my head.

At that moment, the glass that had been splitting like tree roots shattered with a loud crash.

It was a loud noise that felt like my eardrums would burst.

Kyaak!

The bastard screamed.

A shrill voice pierced through my skin and rang in my head.

But in reality, it was he who was in danger.

It was he who had to take a step back.

In the end, it was he who failed to grasp the situation and crossed the line that should not have been crossed.

The two of them moved simultaneously toward the rushing monster, unaware that the shards of glass embedded in the soles of their feet were poking out through the insteps of their feet.

As the distance narrowed and the two people kicked the ground and jumped up, the infected also kicked the ground with incredible reflexes and jumped up.

puck!

puck!

A dull thud erupted almost simultaneously.

The hammer of finance struck down from above on Jeongsu-ri, and the wrench of Beomsik struck down from the side on the right temple, shattering the skull and digging into it.

Contrary to my worries, there was no black blood spurting out or anything.

In the first place, they were beings who did not have blood circulation.

The blood that had been pooling just flowed out like water from a frozen water pipe.

At that moment, Beomsik looked up at the hammer of finance.

It was a great power.

There was a marked difference from his own wrench, which dug right into his temple.

The infected person had the entire upper part of his skull missing.

Who is more of a monster?

Beomsik, who was looking back and forth between the sagging infected man and Jaejae pulling out the hammer, shook his head.

It was a threatening and fast movement that was too strong to be considered simply ignorant.

I didn’t know whether to praise this or keep quiet.

Even though he’s a police officer, he doesn’t seem to be shaken at all after smashing the head of something in the shape of a human.

While clicking his tongue inwardly, he was outwardly looking down at the infected person whose head had burst.

“Hey, you cursed at me, right?”

Beomsik stopped and looked up.

“What are you talking about?”

“You cursed at me inside, didn’t you?”

“That crazy guy.”

“It’s even stranger because you react so violently.”

“Now that you’re done talking, let’s go find something to drink.”

Beomsik entered a room next to the electrical room with a small sign that said ‘Employee Break Room’.

Inside, there was only a water purifier and a few chairs in a small space of less than three pyeong.

I can’t believe this is what the break room for the employees who manage the facilities of such a large building looks like…

When I first entered the building, I remembered the marble and gold elevators that adorned the entrance.

Beomsik tried hard to hold back his swearing and filled a cup with water.

The sound of cold water filling the cup seemed to awaken my dormant survival instinct.

But Beomsik, who was about to bring the cup to his lips, stopped.

“What are you doing? Aren’t you going to drink? Hurry up and drink it and give it to me. That’s all there is to the cup.”

Even though Finance complained in an irritated voice, he remained unmoved.

Beomsik looked down at the name tag attached to the cup.

At first glance, when I pieced together my memories, it seemed to be the same name as the employee card hanging around the neck of the infected person I had just dealt with.

“What, you’re not feeling guilty right now, are you? Don’t do it, don’t do it. If you’re not going to drink, get out of the way.”

When Jae-jae tried to snatch the cup away, Beom-sik quickly dodged his hand.

“That’s not it.”

“But why are you staring at the name tag?”

“It wasn’t a man’s handwriting.”

“so?”

Finance is a face that cannot be understood.

Beomsik stares blankly at the corpse in the hallway.

“It must be his mother or his wife. It must be someone who loves that person terribly.”

“under…….”

Jaejae, who had been listening, sighed and lowered his head.

Beomsik held the cup tightly and poured water into it.

“Take it easy. What kind of guy is that who treats people like fish? Let’s live with a little more sincerity, okay? What kind of thug is that? Anyway, it’s strange.”

“I have never done anything like that.”

The conversation continued even as Jae-jae, who had been handed a cup, filled it with water.

“There’s no one to arrest you now. There’s no prosecutor, no judge. Just talk freely. Do you want to do that to me?”

“I… have never killed anyone.”

“Okay, I’m tired.”

“No, really.”

“Then why did you go and come back with bread? I was the one who caught you and threw you in. Don’t you remember?”

Beomsik glared at Jaegyeong as he left the break room with narrowed eyes.

Past trials flashed through my mind.

There was no such thing as the ‘presumption of innocence’ for a subordinate who had taken on the title of deputy chief.

He was sentenced to 15 years in prison for murder and assault resulting in death based on only indirect evidence.

Well, in this day and age, if you wanted to unify the back alleys with your fists, you would be stamped on no matter where you were.

With that many people swinging their fists and bats, there couldn’t have been no witnesses.

Suddenly, that thought occurred to me.

We fight among ourselves, is that so wrong?

Is it such a great mistake to unite evil within a fence that does not harm good citizens and does not disrupt society?

‘Existence itself is a problem?’

Beomsik let out a snicker.

Evil has always existed.

Even if it weren’t for Beomsik, someone else would have taken his place.

This was an immutable truth, a food chain that would not change for thousands of years.

If someone else had heard it, they would have cursed him for rationalizing it, but at least it wasn’t common sense.

I have lived my life with pride in my own beliefs about the world I live in and the fact that they have brought me to this point.

“Are you going to drain all the groundwater? Come out, let’s go down.”

The voice of finance poured cold water on Beomsik’s mind, which was lost in thought.

“…okay.”

“This time, there’s no such thing as walking around slowly like before. Whether you hear a sound or see something, you’re going to break their heads first. Straighten up, you idiot.”

As Jae-jae turned his shoulder, straightening his disheveled armor, a thud sound echoed down the stairs.

“Don’t fall down. If you’re small, you won’t talk. But if you’re bigger than a bear, you’ll fall over in surprise at the sound… The whole floor will shake.”

“Anyway, what I mean is… … .”

The two headed downstairs with faint smiles on their faces.

Infected people