Zombie Virus
30 Ways: SpartAce
The government had been developing a top secret research program that would revolutionize the capability of human life, or so they claimed. He thought fondly to his adopted little brother, Gwang Soo who had held stars in his eyes as he went on, “With this, people will be living longer, and be stronger, healthier! Think of everything people can do with this, hyung… Maybe you could really live up to two hundred years old!” Gwang Soo had chuckled as he nudged Jong Kook in the ribs playfully. He didn’t see so much of the younger anymore, ever since he had been promoted to research assistant. He hoped the lanky man was well.
Jong Kook didn’t particularly care about the politics of the matter. He remembered his senior Jae Suk try explaining it to him many times about its importance, but he had stopped trying to make sense of it after the fifth time. He didn’t know how the man could stand talking with the higher ups sometimes, always spouting some nonsense about how this was all for the best while they leisurely smoked a cigar in the comfort of their cushy chairs. He hated the cigar smell, but he hated their smug talks more. And perhaps, he hated himself for being a dog for such a government.
It made him feel no more than a simple tool, when the orders were to guard whatever project they had, having to do dirty work the higher ups wouldn’t want soil their hands with. If he had so much raised a question to exactly why, and what he was met with a stern glare. He had stopped trying to understand.
It was alright. The job paid well.
The moon was bright in the night sky, making the darkness a little bit more bearable than usual. A muscular man stationed a little ways from the building behind him wore a neutral expression as he gazed out into the surrounding area. Even without the vest and the baton at his hip that marked him as a security guard, Jong Kook looked like a man not to be crossed with.
“Jong Kook.” A low woman’s voice called him. Like him, she was dressed in black pants, and wore of a black security vest over a white shirt. Her walkie talkie was strapped on her belt.
“Ji Hyo,” he breathed out. Despite her shorter stature and innocent looking eyes, the woman could have easily killed him, he knew. But he was happy to see her. His shoulders were usually squared up and tense, ready to fight at a moment’s notice but around her he seemed to melt, a small smile at the corner of his mouth. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m on break, silly. I actually do take my job seriously you know.”
“Well I’m still on duty, so I’d appreciate it if someone would stop trying to distract me.”
“Suit yourself.” She added as an afterthought, “When are you getting off?”
He checked his surroundings one last time— the other guard was still within his field of vision and there was nothing strange going on in the forest. Jong Kook checked his watch. “In about half an hour.”
Ji Hyo huffed, “Such a long time.” She was fidgeting with her fingers, like she wanted to say something.
“I’ll meet you back at the break room,” he said to soothe her. “Get yourself something to eat, love.”
The security headquarters was a closed off part of the main building, consisting of just one hall and a couple rooms meant to be for the people on guard. Ji Hyo was standing outside in the hallway, looking troubled.
“I overheard about how they’re finally testing the new drug they have been developing on human subjects now… It’s not what we thought it was, the government plans to build an entire army of superhumans or something.”
“That must not have gone over too well with the scientists.”
“Yeah.” Ji Hyo rolled her eyes and continued quietly, “I know you’re not very interested in these matters, Kim Jong Kook-ssi, but there have been rumors that a couple rebel groups who broke away from the research lab are trying to destroy the drug before it gets released.”
“That’s probably explain the explosion in B Lab the other day, if those groups are trying to sabotage.”
“I’m telling you, something big is going to happen soon. We best be careful.” The words were laced with genuine concern.
Jong Kook pulled her into a hug. She tensed at first, instinctively on guard before easing into the embrace. “Hey, it’s okay. We’ll get through this.” Ji Hyo shifted a little in his arms so that she could hug him properly and allowed herself a small smile.
“It’s probably nothing our Ace can’t handle,” he murmured into her hair.
She squeezed him tight, until he felt his lungs constrict in love and lack of air and she let go to gaze at him once more. “Then after this is over….”
“Yes?”
“Let’s get married.”
“What?”
She blushed like the schoolgirl she once had been.
“Marry me, Kim Jong Kook.”
With his heart b with joy, he thought what could possible happen?
Surprisingly a lot.
Not too long after that, a second attack targeted the remaining labs. Despite attempts to keep the incident under wraps, the news media had called for an investigation of the phenomena. Jong Kook caught glimpses of the remains of the building, of hushed conversations as various things, people were wheeled out.
The next morning, the news broke out.
“The high temperatures and resulting pressure of the explosions seem to have caused the experimental drug to vaporize and undergo a chemical change…. Those in the immediate vicinity are now taken in for testing…. The government claims they have it under control…..”
“Those wounded in the explosion are starting to exhibit strange symptoms…. permanent greying of the skin…. Area has been quarantined...”
“Several people once thought to be dead during treatment are miraculously revived…. Motor functions seem to be limited… Currently dubbed the ‘zombie virus’...Working with leading scientists to solve the issue….”
In the span of two days things have moved from bad to worse.
“The government has declared a state of emergency. Those living within 20 km of the initial blast will be evacuated…”
With cooperation on parts of the government and a few of their top private investors, a special task force was created with the goal to clear the building of any remaining inhabitants (and collect what data they could) before demolishing the area entirely. The remaining security team would fan around the area to secure the perimeters.
Ji Hyo glanced around the makeshift headquarters, really more of a large tent than anything. Glancing around, she recognized Haha and Gary from her unit. She knew Jae Suk had been closely communicating between the security team and the researchers, and Suk Jin she had only seen briefly in her time here. And Jong Kook…. Their eyes had met for a brief second when he had walked in earlier, no doubt the same question written in both of their gazes: why are you here?
They didn’t talk much. They couldn’t really— the thick tension in the air choked them into silence. Nonetheless, Jae Suk said with a small chuckle that with their skills the mission should be over relatively quickly although there was a certain graveness in his eyes. At last the commander, Yeom Dong Heon of the special forces walked in, tailed by a man in a laughably typical white lab coat.
The group stood to attention, sitting down with equally serious expressions once Commander Yeom nodded. What relative peace the group had lulled themselves into before was quickly broken by his stern expression, as he spread out the building layout in front of them.
The mission was simple. Go into the building, look for the hundred odd survivors that still remained in the building. Gather any information they could about the ‘zombies’. Kill if necessary. It sounded easy enough, especially for a team of people who had been trained to handle potentially dangerous situations.
With that they were sent to the gates of the building. The ground floor was barren, but Gary quickly pointed out the stairs, one leading up and one leading down. The group out broke into pairs to survey the floors and note any areas of interest before making more concrete plans. As they headed down to the increasingly musty air of the lower floor, Haha had joked if the symptoms of the virus were anything like the name had suggested it should be a breeze. Indeed for the first moments it was, the creatures were slow and responded largely to sound. He had probably more to fear from a fellow member jokingly setting one on him than running into one himself.
And yet, Jong Kook couldn’t shake off the annoying feeling like he was missing something. Why all that secrecy, and preparation if they were against these walking corpses?
Back on the ground floor, Jae Suk began, “It might be far more convenient to convince the survivors to leave the building on their own. It wouldn’t too difficult even without knowledge of basic combat skills to avoid them if they knew they were attracted to sound…”
Ji Hyo agreed. “They’re being far more careful than they usually are— I doubt that they didn’t know about this beforehand.”
“I…. suppose they have their reasons. We can only follow orders after all.” He gave a reassuring smile to her. “Well then, maybe we could wrap this up before dinnertime.”
She certainly would like that.
Jong Kook was grateful for the years of training that allowed him to suppress the scream at the back of his throat at the body he found on the floor. The zombies must have been growing particularly hungry and desperate for instead of the usual bite mark that would have reanimated the corpse into the living dead (literally) the corpse was but a bloody stump, limbs strews haphazardly with occasional bite marks in between. In that moment he couldn’t fathom whether being eaten and torn alive was better than being barely alive with only your primal basest emotions within you.
He had severely underestimated them, it had seemed. The zombies had grown increasingly restless since their arrival and Jong Kook hated to imagine what more they were capable of. He was reminded the broken spectacles in his vest pocket, and the image of Suk Jin surrounded in an instant by the things. Turning back to the body, he brushed the glassy eyes closed, and picked up the remains of the arms and folded it across its chest. Rest in peace, he thought as Jon
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