CTLI — Chapter 13

I quickly shot the heads of the ones rushing in blindly. The others seemed to hang back, wary, as if they were studying me.

At least ten to fifteen mutants. The government would send a full special forces team if there were even five. That meant it wasn’t something one person could normally handle.

But that’s for normal people. I should be able to manage this much on my own.

I exhaled and holstered my pistol. It wasn’t because of the whole “coming back from the dead” thing. No—if I’d survived this long, there had to be a reason. It was embarrassing to admit, but I was stronger than most, with sharp reflexes and quick thinking. My old squad members used to tease me, saying I was born for this.

I slung the shotgun off my back and gripped it. Ten shells left. If I blew their heads clean off, I wouldn’t have to struggle so much.

Clicking my tongue, I scanned the area. I needed somewhere I could defend my back—somewhere narrow enough to keep them from swarming all at once. Running through them to get into the station wasn’t an option.

[Screeeeech!]

One zombie lunged, snarling like a beast. I slammed the stock into its gut and drove my elbow into its back. It stumbled, opened its jaws wide to bite my leg.

I smashed its chin with my knee, aimed at its exposed forehead, and pulled the trigger. With a thud, its entire shoulder burst apart and it collapsed in a twitching heap.

“So biting’s all you got, huh?”

Maybe they’d realized rushing in solo wouldn’t work—two zombies attacked together. Two at once was pushing it. I aimed for the head and fired, but one of them scrambled up a wall faster than I expected.

Wall climbing? That a trend now?

I shook the thought away and sprinted toward the fountain.

“So many of them. Disgusting.”

I drew my pistol again and shot the heads of the zombies reaching for me at close range, ducking low and sliding around a corner. One of the zombies crawling quickly along the wall lost control and plunged headfirst into the fountain. The stagnant water, thick with green moss, splashed out violently.

I felt the rain growing heavier as I turned toward the convenience store. I didn’t know about anyone else, but I preferred fighting zombies in tight, obstacle-filled spaces—especially if they were mutants.

Catching my breath, I yanked hard on the door. Clack. It was locked.

I hadn’t expected that. Caught off guard, I ducked just in time as a shadow lunged at me from behind and rolled once across the wet ground.

Screeeeech. The zombie’s claws scraped against the glass, making a blood-curdling noise.

[Gurk… grrrk… gurk.]

Annoyed by the fleeing prey, the zombie twisted its neck at a grotesque angle and clacked its teeth. It was disgusting how it acted like it had feelings. Monsters pretending to be something more.

Grimacing, I dodged the next attack and slammed my gun into the zombie’s side. Crack. I heard the bone snap, then kicked the zombie away. Its twisted body left its face exposed. I grinned, shoved the shotgun into its open mouth, and pulled the trigger.

Bang! Its head exploded into pieces.

“Huff…”

No time to rest. I got up immediately and ran toward the taxi stop. I was worried about Choi Dohyun being alone, but I was relieved that time hadn’t rewound again. I kicked at the jaw of a zombie grabbing my ankle.

Thank god the rain slowed the mutants down. For a second, I wondered if I could just ram them all with a car—but that thought vanished as quickly as it came. If that were possible, we would’ve been back to normal life long ago.

[Screech!]

I clicked my tongue as a zombie leapt over a car like it was nothing. It reached out to grab my hair, but I batted its hand away and twisted its wrist. Snap. Like slicing through tender meat, the zombie’s arm came off.

No blood. No expression of pain. Either the zombies had weakened, or I’d gotten more experienced.

I tossed the severed arm aside and struck the zombie’s face. Thud. It staggered, and I pulled out my knife to slice through its neck. Crunch. The sound wasn’t exactly pleasant.

I crouched, preparing for the next wave, and only then realized the zombies weren’t all coming at me.

Too distracted. I let out a breath and cautiously stepped out of the stop. The plaza, which had been swarming with zombies, was now eerily quiet. Only a few were still crawling, their flesh rotting and muscles dissolved.

Where the hell did they all go?

A chill ran down my spine.

The train station?

I whipped my head toward the entrance. It was quiet too. Had they already made it inside?

I felt my lips dry as I ran. Boom! Thunder cracked overhead just as I reached the entrance. I halted when I spotted a zombie sitting slumped by the door, as if asleep.

Its skin was clean, limbs intact—so much so that I almost mistook it for a person. If I’d gotten here earlier, could I have saved them? The bitterness in my mouth deepened. But as it slowly lifted its eyelids, I hastily pointed my gun at its head.

[Ah… ahh…]

A zombie that could speak?

Then again, I’d never assumed they’d only appear in designated zones.

The zombie rolled its eyes as if assessing the situation, then stared at me with an eerie clarity. Its eyes had gone white, but it still felt like it was looking right at me. My finger froze on the trigger, and my whole body stiffened.

I needed to get inside, check on Choi Dohyun—but I couldn’t move. Was this what it felt like to meet Medusa’s gaze? Or was it like Lot’s wife turning to salt after looking back?

I couldn’t breathe.

[The Ark… God’s Ark…]

God’s Ark?

[We must find the lost Ark…]

I couldn’t move a finger. It felt like my body didn’t belong to me—like even my breath was under someone else’s control. Not unfamiliar… but no, I wasn’t used to this either.

Just as I was struggling to move, the zombie slowly crawled toward me and wrapped its hand around my ankle. The wide open mouth made my skin crawl, but oddly, I didn’t think it meant to hurt me.

[Only then… can we be saved…]

Was the “lost Ark” the same as Noah’s Ark from the Bible? What did they mean by salvation?

I stared down at the zombie, blood dripping like tears. Long hair, what looked like a once-proper uniform—maybe it had been a station employee.

“What if it’s never found?”

Somehow, my mouth could still move freely.

The zombie tilted its head slightly in response, then slowly curled its lips into a smile.

[Then we’ll be trapped forever…]

“…”

[We’ll be trapped… forever…]

Its face began to melt. Just like that zombie from before. Red liquid oozed like paint, soaking into the ground.

Even as it melted, the zombie reached upward.

It looked… just like a terminally ill patient clinging to life. Without thinking, I reached out and took its hand.

It was soft. Warm.

…Warm?

[They don’t care about our suffering…]

“They?”

[The ones who cross time…]

I immediately thought of Choi Dohyun.

But no, he only went back when he died—he didn’t move freely through time. Then again, what about me? I came back to life, not exactly time travel…

[Don’t trust them.]

We’re just their playthings…

And with those final words, darkness consumed my vision.

For a brief moment, the melting zombie’s face looked like it was soaked in despair.

‘Run!’

A scream echoed.

I was sprinting, shooting. What the hell? My vision shook wildly, breath caught in my throat—but I couldn’t stop. It was like I was watching from outside myself, oddly calm.

‘Duck!’

In my spinning view, I saw Yoon Seohwa running desperately.

Yoon Seohwa? That can’t be right. I barely knew her, and this never happened.

‘Hyung!’

As my viewpoint suddenly dropped, boom! the ground trembled.

I staggered but pushed off again, running. A massive, black beast—like a blend of fish and frog—thundered behind me.

‘We need to go right here!’

Only then did I realize that this was the underground sewer and that I was running along the path I had originally intended to take. It was strange. I had clearly acted like someone unfamiliar with this route… While I stood there blankly, trying to make sense of the situation, another monster jumped out from the left passage.

Choi Dohyun urgently grabbed my hand, pulling me close as if to shield me, and then cursed under his breath.

‘Ah, fuck…’

The murmured voice felt unfamiliar. It was cold, and there was a hint of resentment in the way he mumbled. I rubbed my throbbing head and got up, then pulled Choi Dohyun up and gave him a push on the back.

‘We need to go straight and then drop down once.’

My breath was so ragged that my voice kept breaking. Yoon Seohwa grabbed our hands and started running again, even though we were both stumbling. Where did she put her gun? Why was she just running like this? I wondered, and then instinctively reached into my bag—only to realize my hands came up empty. I must have used everything.

‘Just a little further.’

The exit was just ahead. Running as fast as I could, I headed toward the steep downward slope—only to halt abruptly at the sight of the glistening things swarming below. They looked just like the monsters that were chasing us. As if they were the offspring.

‘Ah..’

A sigh, laced with despair, escaped my lips. We had basically crawled into the monsters’ nest ourselves. Yoon Seohwa and Choi Dohyun, seeing what I saw, also let out faint groans. I just stared blankly at what was in front of me.

I’ve never seen anything like this before.

‘Fall back’

I felt responsible for leading them here. Tension etched across my face as I stepped in front of Choi Dohyun and Yoon Seohwa, muscles drawn taut.

‘Hyung, let me—’

I heard Choi Dohyun’s voice speak quickly behind me, but it was soon drowned out. A monster had lunged from behind with a horrific shriek. The sound was so high and piercing that it drowned out everything else for a moment.

I flinched and barely dodged the monster charging at me, but then saw Choi Dohyun running toward the creature. It was obvious what he was trying to do. He was trying to die. That way, he could rewind time.

But before that could happen, one of the young monsters that had climbed up from below sank its teeth into my side. A scream burst out of my mouth as I felt my flesh being torn.

‘Hyung!’

‘Kanghyuk!’

My legs gave out. My breath came in gasps, and my vision swam. Was it from running so long, or from the guilt of having led them to their deaths? I couldn’t pull myself together. I crouched and let out a groan.

The bite was deep, and the bleeding was heavy. As my blurred eyes looked down, I saw what should’ve stayed inside my body spilling out through the wound in my side. I was dying again.