Antisocial Chapter 33

Chapter 33. Natural Enemy

Kung! A bloodshot hand grabbed the mutant’s hair and slammed its head into the driver’s seat.

“Hold on to the steering wheel.”

Before Bo-yeon could ask what he meant, Do-kyung released his grip from the wheel.

The road was cluttered with not only zombies but also abandoned cars, fallen trees, and debris. It wasn’t a road where she could drive straight ahead.

As an abandoned car loomed closer, Bo-yeon quickly grabbed the steering wheel. Her inexperienced hands jerked the wheel, unsure of what to do.

“Hold on tight!”

“Zombies?”

“Are you kidding me? Slow down…!”

Bo-yeon barely avoided the abandoned car and shouted in horror.

Kiiikk! Creak! Bo-yeon drove recklessly, as if performing acrobatics behind the wheel. Thanks to Do-kyung’s superhuman abilities in the face of danger, they managed to stay safe. Her heart pounded in her chest, threatening to burst from the adrenaline.

“You’re being aggressive. You’re better at this than sucking dick.”

“You’re really crazy!”

Splat! Blood sprayed out with a sickening snicker, as if he found her informal speech amusing. The characteristic gurgling sound of the zombie faded away.

Do-kyung casually tossed the zombie aside and took control of the wheel again, his expression never changing. He truly seemed mad.

“Huh?”

Thanks to this, Bo-yeon finally found a moment to glance at the rearview mirror. She saw the trio’s car, stranded near a fallen tree, surrounded by a group of zombies. What was even more surprising was that the zombies ignored the trio and solely targeted Do-kyung and Bo-yeon’s car.

“Why are they only targeting us?! Be careful! The road ahead is blocked!”

Guardrails and fallen trees obstructed both sides of the road. Two cars had crashed, taking up both lanes and preventing any further movement. This wasn’t a road they had passed through earlier, so it hadn’t been cleared.

“This is it.” 

Unlike the serious tone at the beginning, Do-kyung got out of the car, muttering calmly as if teasing Bo-yeon.

The speed of the car and the zombies differed, creating some distance between them, but it seemed like the zombies would catch up soon.

Bo-yeon assumed he was planning to push the car blocking their way, so she got out, intending to help him.

“What, what are you doing?”

However, instead of pushing the car, Do-kyung pulled a large, long box from the trunk. The trunk was packed, but unlike the trio’s car, which was filled with camping gear, 80% of it was packed with weapons.

“Prepare for battle.”

“Battle? With that many zombies? We should run!”

No matter how skilled Do-kyung was, he had his limits as an individual. That’s why, at first, he had no hesitation in running away.

But now, for some reason, Do-kyung seemed to have lost any will to retreat. He pulled out a heavy black gun and began assembling it. A few meters away from the car, he set up a special tripod and connected the barrel to it.

“What’s that…?”

“K-6.”

The K-6 medium machine gun, along with the K-511, had been scavenged by Do-kyung from a military truck. It had a load capacity of 2.5 tons.

The gun measured 165 cm in length and weighed 60 kg, including the weapon and the tripod—almost the size of an adult. The bullets were as large as a person’s palm, and it could fire 600 rounds per minute. A true monster of a weapon.

It had earned a reputation among soldiers who had been tasked with transporting it, known for showing enemies hell. Even the trigger felt different from any other weapon.

The corners of Bo-yeon’s eyes, which had been fixated on the overwhelming power before her, began to tremble with uncertainty.

“Put in your earplugs and stay in the car. Your eardrums will burst.”

“……”

Bo-yeon hesitated for a moment, then accepted the earplugs he tossed her without a word.

“…I’ll take care of the car and start the engine. If it gets dangerous, get in quickly, understood?”

Bo-yeon met his gaze for a brief second, then nodded. She slipped the earplugs in and sprinted toward the car blocking their path.

After a quick search, she found one with the keys still inside, started the engine, and drove off. Thankfully, the car seemed to be in good condition, likely abandoned just recently.

Thud! Tung! Tung! Thud!

“Ugh!”

Even with her earplugs in, Bo-yeon heard a loud noise unlike anything she had ever encountered before. The shockwave reached her, despite the considerable distance between them.

Goosebumps prickled her skin as she turned to see the source of the sound. Several zombie heads, which had been surging forward like a tidal wave, were suddenly torn off in an instant. A cloud of dust rose, and the area was quickly soaked in blood.

By that time, Bo-yeon realized something was off. The zombies were completely ignoring Do-kyung’s deterrent area, and most of them appeared to be regular zombies.

Only a few mutants, like the one that had jumped into the car earlier, were present.

Bo-yeon quickly maneuvered the car to secure an escape route and glanced behind her.

“They’re intelligent…”

The zombies had already started using the bodies of their fallen comrades as shields.

“No… Could there be a commander?”

The closer they got to the defensive line where people had taken refuge, the more powerful mutants with unique abilities they encountered.

Bo-yeon quickly realized that some mutants had the ability to control other zombies. Their influence was so strong that the regular zombies completely ignored Do-kyung’s deterrent area and followed the mutants’ commands instead.

The zombies, who had been injured in the chaos, began gathering the corpses of their fallen comrades.

They quickly stacked the bodies, focusing on the large, sturdy mutants that Do-kyung had shot first. It seemed as though they understood that if they held out long enough, his ammunition and firepower would dwindle.

In fact, he was on the verge of running out of ammunition.

Do-kyung clicked his tongue and switched to single-shot firing by adjusting the control stick.

Although he was never one to let his guard down during battle, Do-kyung took a brief moment to check on Bo-yeon’s condition just before pulling the trigger.

The corners of Do-kyung’s mouth slightly rose as he took in the face that was quietly staring at him as she entered the car.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

The heavy rounds carefully pierced through the zombie horde, one by one. To conserve his remaining bullets, Do-kyung focused his aim on a specific area among the widely scattered zombies. Then, he saw a reaction.

“Got it.”

The zombies that had been spread out began to gather around a single one, forming a protective circle like a queen ant surrounded by its colony.

Sensing a disadvantage, the zombies attempted to flee.

Having used up all of his remaining bullets, Do-kyung shot as many of the densely packed zombies as possible before rushing toward the horde with the dagger he had recently become accustomed to.

The size of the group had clearly dwindled to just a few dozen, and even they couldn’t charge at Do-kyung all at once. Protection took precedence over attack.

“Kurururuk!”

The first time Do-kyung felt suspicious was when he caught the mutant that had entered the car. As he grabbed the mutant by the hair and yanked it back, its face naturally turned toward Bo-yeon.

However, the mutant didn’t show its teeth to her. Instead, it continued twisting its body to attack Do-kyung, showing no interest in Bo-yeon whatsoever.

Soon after, the trio’s car stopped and caught up with them. But instead of targeting the trio, it charged toward Do-kyung’s car.

The zombies showed no regard for the non-immune or immune humans. While most of them were regular zombies, they didn’t exhibit the kind of indiscriminate aggression toward humans that was typical of zombie instincts.

If any zombies were ignoring their instincts, it could only be the influence of a mutant.

In that moment, Do-kyung felt something shift inside him—a nagging suspicion.

The zombie horde was under the control of a picky, gourmet mutant—one who coveted only the most nutritious prey.

Bo-yeon was most likely non-immune. If she got bitten even once, he could lose her forever. One small mistake, and she could be gone for good.

The mutants were many, but Bo-yeon was the only one of her kind. The priorities were different, and her value didn’t match the risk. It was an unwanted gamble.

However, if the mutant was truly picky, then the zombies who refrained from attacking, even though Do-kyung had something so valuable right in front of them, held some worth.

With that in mind, Do-kyung ran toward the area where the enemies were densely packed.

“Kwaaahhh!”

A large number of zombies swarmed Do-kyung, and his figure quickly vanished, buried in a sea of undead. The mutants, the true threats, were eliminated first, leaving only the regular zombies.

Though these zombies were relentless in their hunger, they couldn’t tear off Do-kyung’s limbs.

“This one’s also a picky eater.”

Do-kyung swung his knife, aiming for just one body, regardless of whether it was torn apart in the process.

A human’s heart races when it pushes itself to the limit. Blood flows faster, and adrenaline surges like a wave of exhilaration.

Each time Do-kyung fought to protect something, a surge of elation filled him as he cut through and destroyed the evil before him. His tendons tightened, his muscles flexed, and every part of him was ready for the fight.

At last, Do-kyung had the ‘gourmet’ in his grasp.

“Is it camouflage?”

It was unmistakably a mutant, yet at first glance, it appeared to be a normal zombie. It had chosen a host that was neither old nor young, neither notably large nor small.

The zombie had an ordinary appearance, so unremarkable that it could be easily overlooked. Even up close, it didn’t stand out in any way, and its strength was pitiful.

“Munch! Munch!”