Road Rage
Boom!
Crash!
The sound that echoed endlessly was like a version of the one I often heard while playing GTA, but amplified a hundredfold. As much as I wanted to completely obliterate everything, my goal wasn’t to engage in an all-out war but to break through to the governnt building. Even the durability of the vehicles had its limits. I had to pass through quickly by clearing and pushing away just enough obstacles.
Underneath the large vehicle, which was sturdily protecting in front, the crushed bodies of monsters and rivers of blood flowed endlessly. So were still alive, but they were quickly squashed by the vehicles following behind. I was driving a van in the middle of this chanized army while advancing. The creatures still didn’t know of my presence.
“I can do this!” I focused my gaze on the governnt building.
Thud! Crack! The sound of flesh tearing and bones shattering was so constant that my hearing felt numb. The infected tried to fight back in their own way, but how could they stop a car moving without a driver?
Screeech! As many of them were crushed, so managed to cling onto the vehicles and crawl inside. I wasn’t sure if they did this out of coincidence during the attack or if they had learned this behavior after killing people who scread in their cars during the early stages of the outbreak. But even if they got inside, there was no target for them to attack.
Screeech! They clawed at anything they could see, like the steering wheel or the dashboard, but it was useless. With the infected inside, the vehicle just continued to plow through everything in its path. The creature suddenly found itself with a front-row seat to watch its kin get turned into bloody pulp.
The forklift, which had its speed limiter disabled and was now charging at full throttle, was also impressive. Ignoring all safety regulations, it lifted its forks to chest height and charged forward like a modern cavalry charge. It was quite thrilling to see the infected’s head, struck by the fork, burst like a waterlon.
Hisssss! So cars were hit by acid. As the windshield lted, a bit of acidic liquid and acrid smoke seeped into the driver’s seat and passenger seat. But that, too, was aningless. Vehicles moving without drivers were far tougher and more vicious than one would imagine. Artemis even swapped positions between vehicles and maintained a precise distance. If the leading vehicle was under too much strain, it was replaced with the one behind.
Roooaar! Suddenly, a mutant fell from the sky with a roar full of rage.
Crash! The van that had just sent three infected flying like bowling pins and coolly wiped the blood off its windshield with its wipers was flattened. The creature that let out a victorious roar imdiately set out to find its next prey.
Bam! This ti, a smaller sedan was crushed. It was almost split in half, and the tires rattled as they burst under the excess weight. The mutant targeted a third vehicle. But this ti, it failed.
Whaaam! A massive tal crane, even larger than the mutant's head, slamd into the back of its skull and sent it flying. Of course, that wasn’t enough to kill it. It imdiately leaped high into the air and pounced on the crane that had attacked it.
Crunch! With incredible strength, it bent the crane’s structure and damaged it severely before wildly smashing its fists into it.
Bam! Bam! Bam! The crane lost balance in an instant, and as the mutant kicked off, the vehicle toppled over.
This was the turning point. No matter how powerful the vehicles were, they began to gradually break down here and there as they endlessly plowed through the infected, and their ability to break through diminished. Even though I had tried to hide and avoid detection as much as possible, the attacks were finally starting to reach as well.
Screeech! Thud! I struck down one of the creatures and wiped the blood off with the wiper.
[Just a little further to go.]
I was almost at the governnt building now.
Roar! Bam!
Damn it, another car just ahead of was destroyed.
No matter how dumb they were, the mutants had at least so intelligence. They targeted dium-sized cars that could be destroyed with just a hit or two. In the end, there weren’t many vehicles left that suited the mutant’s taste, and it was inevitable that it would take notice of .
Roooarr! The mutant lunged at , but I barely managed to dodge it. Falling behind, it chased like a gorilla while ramming into the left side of my vehicle.
“Damn it!”
If this keeps up, it’ll be dangerous after a few more hits. The car could break down and stop, and if that happens, I’m finished.
Just as the mutant was about to ram for a second ti, the truck ahead of suddenly veered slightly to the left and slamd on its brakes.
Screeeeech! Bam!
The charging mutant and the truck vanished from sight in an instant. The empty space in front of was quickly filled by a fire truck that appeared from sowhere.
Looking around, I realized that less than half of the vehicles that had started the journey were still intact. But honestly, it didn’t feel like the number of monsters had decreased at all. Perhaps it was because there were so many of them, or maybe more were coming in from the surrounding area, attracted by all the noise.
[Get ready! I’m opening the way!]
As soon as I heard Artemis' signal, I unfastened my seatbelt. When the escort vehicles in front moved aside, I finally caught sight of our destination—the governnt building.
Screeeeech! After leaving long skid marks on the ground, I brought the vehicle to a harsh stop. I jumped out and was about to rush into the building when…
Bam! Roooaarr!
…That damned mutant had to ruin everything, even at the last mont.
Bang! Bang! Bang! I tried to slip past the mutant by firing at its head, but it covered its face with one hand and swung the other at .
Thud!
“Ugh!” I was knocked away as I tried to force my way into the building. Though it wasn’t a direct hit, the pain felt like my entire body was being shattered.
“Screeech!”
Even without looking, I could sense the infected rushing towards from all sides. I gritted my teeth.
“Get lost already!”
Bang! Bang! Bang! I emptied the remaining rounds at the mutant, but they were blocked by its tough exterior, doing no harm. From the start, there was no way a shotgun could deal with a creature like this. At the very least, I’d need a machine gun with armor-piercing rounds for it to even have a chance of working.
Click! With the last shot fired, the hollow sound of an empty chamber echoed.
“Grrrrrr!” The mutant seed to realize it was its turn, and it approached with a satisfied growl. Just then…
Honk! Hooonk!
Both the mutant and I were suddenly enveloped in a bright flash of light.
“Huh?”
The mutant, distracted by the sudden blaring horn, was ramd by a dump truck. No matter how tough it was, against a nearly 30-ton dump truck, it stood no chance. It flew several ters through the air, spraying blood as it snapped a streetlight in half and crumpled to the ground.
I seized the opportunity and slipped into the governnt building without a scratch. The infected tried to follow inside, but their attempts were futile.
Bam!
Bam!
Bam!
Bam!
Vehicles crashed into the entrance of the governnt building one after another and ford an impromptu barricade. With nearly 200 tons of steel forming a barrier, neither the infected nor the mutant could do anything.
“Huff… Huff…” As soon as I sprinted into the building, my strength left all at once. I leaned on my knees and took deep breaths for a while until I finally cald down.
[Fortunately, nothing is broken.]
“It hurts like hell, though.” With trembling hands, I reloaded my shotgun. Only six rounds left. But I probably wouldn’t need more than that here.
Clatter— My hands shook so much that I dropped a round.
[Are you okay?]
“I have to be, whether I’m okay or not. This suffering will be over soon.”
There were less than 100 ters left to the control room, our final destination. I picked up the last round and loaded it.
Click— As I slowly began to walk, a new voice ca through.
[Have you entered the governnt building?]
It was Rose.
"Yeah, I finally made it. You'd be shocked if you heard what I've been through to get here."
[Rose, do you have any information on the infected inside this building?] Artemis asked.
[I’m sorry, I don’t have access to the facility’s systems, so I can’t check. The best I can do is communicate with you.]
“You’re in the sa position as Artemis was when we first arrived here.”
Even a supercomputer is as good as blind without being linked to anything after waking up.
[What’s the concern?] Rose asked.
[There’s a creature here that’s breathing differently from typical infected. The gas it's emitting is extrely unstable.]
At that mont, sothing appeared at the end of the hallway we were walking through.
“Grrrr…”
It was obvious at a glance that this wasn’t a normal infected.
“I thought this was the end? What the hell is that?!” I shouted in frustration.
The creature stood about 2 ters tall. Its upper and lower body were both well-developed, with arms so long they nearly touched the floor. Each of its thick fingers and nails looked like spears. What stood out the most were its eyes—eight of them, arranged in two horizontal rows like a spider’s. They glowed a deep red, and just the thought of being stared at by those eyes filled with a sense of dread.
The creature slowly knelt down with its eight red eyes still fixed on . With trembling hands, I aid my shotgun at it.
Bang! The mont it lunged at like an arrow, I fired the gun.
Reviews
All reviews (0)