Chapter 163

You’ve left the school grounds and entered the mountains.
There were no losers in the escape. He led, fought, and commanded. Kim did it all, and the students just had to follow along.
As she climbed the mountain path, Leone peered through the trees at the school building. It had felt like hell. It hadn’t been an hour since she’d stood there, ready to die, and now she was walking outside.
“I’m really alive.
As I stood in the night air, the reality of the situation hit me hard. My classmates were no different, and I heard sobs and cries. It must have been because all the tears that had been accumulated had burst out.
But it wasn’t the smartest thing to do.
“Keep it down.”
Kim immediately pointed out that it wasn’t.
“We can’t be sure that there aren’t Parasites that have washed into the mountains. The terrain makes it difficult to recognize an approach, and even a small number of enemies can be deadly. Don’t relax until we’re safe.”
Leone didn’t bat an eyelash in protest. It made sense, and he wasn’t being overbearing.
But some people seemed to take it differently.
“Aren’t you being too strict?”
Peterson. The egotist became a honeyed mute, and now it was the spectacles.
“I know you’re the rational one, you’re used to this kind of thing, but we’re students. Our teachers are dead, our friends are dead… we’re scared out of our minds!”
“He must have gotten a little fatter.”
Several students gulped in anticipation of a situation like Claire’s. Peterson himself, disgruntled, shuffled his feet, but not in the same way.
“Just remember this. After this operation, you and I will never cross paths again. It’s not a matter of rank, it’s a matter of living in different worlds.”
“…….”
“I don’t have to earn your favor, do I?”
The gravity of the message was impossible to ignore. Taken to the extreme, it meant that Kim could have abandoned the rebellious student on a mountain and walked away.
Naturally, the class fell silent.
Rustle, rustle.
The only sound was the crunch of fallen leaves and branches. There was no sign of Parasite, but Leone knew that Kim was on high alert.
The words I’d just heard echoed in my head.
‘A relationship you’ll never see again….’
Leone imagined her future.
School won’t be back. You’ll have to transfer or maybe even graduate. With no brains and no money, college is out of the question.
I’m not even interested. How could I ever return to normal life now? The weeks of being stuck at school had warped my values.
What you can do well, and what you want to do well.
Leone Laien on the future of humans.
I had to come up with an answer before it was too late.
“Let’s take a break here.”
At the top of the mountain, there was a rest stop. One by one, the students spread out. One boy even laid down on the ground to catch his breath.
Kim didn’t say anything. An empty lot with an open view. So far, they hadn’t encountered any Parasites. If one or two attacked, he could easily deal with them.
And.
Leone looked down at the city spread out below the mountains and shuddered.
“This crazy….”
Smoke billowing everywhere. Broken fences and roads littered with crashes. Flames dotted the city.
“This is why the rescue didn’t come.
It’s only now that I realize the reality.
I felt like an idiot for standing still and hoping for rescue.
“What happened to the shelter?”
“The citizens who initially gathered at the shelters made it out safely. A few were stopped in quarantine, but most were taken to hospitals in neighboring cities in one piece.”
“What about the late guy?”
“You’d better not listen.”
Leone’s eyelids fluttered. Taking the advice, she asked no more questions. Dwelling on pessimism would only make her steps heavier.
After all, it’s a stranger’s business.
You can’t help but categorize them.
“We’re going that way.”
Soon, Kim pointed to a secluded slope.
There was a bus sitting in the middle of nowhere.
“Why is there a bus there?”
“Because I moved it ahead of time.”
“Why don’t you just ride to school?”
“Then the engine would have died at the gate. You’d be stuck in traffic, surrounded by parasites. Didn’t I tell you to use your head before you talk?”
Leone’s jaw clenched.
After a short break, we resumed our journey. There were no attacks until the descent. As I descended to the sidewalk, I began to see parasites again, but there were fewer of them.
The road was already off the beaten path. With so many people moving around, there was inevitably some noise, but it didn’t create a dangerous situation.
In fact, Kim even made the sound on purpose. He lured in nearby enemies and cleanly disposed of them. It’s a far cry from his days of firing a Napalm minigun and grinding away, he’s calm and methodical.
Soon enough, we reached our destination.
“I didn’t even draw my sword.
Leone fiddled with the sheath of the blade she’d been handed. She hadn’t wanted to fight, but she hadn’t expected to get there so easily. She was almost overwhelmed with determination.
Luck is not the best way to describe it. From finding a safe route to arranging transportation in advance. It was all according to Kim’s design, and Leone didn’t even realize it.
“Climb aboard.”
As instructed, the students boarded the bus, and one by one, they looked at the driver’s seat and gasped. They thought there was no one there, but there was a man sitting there.
After making sure every last one of them was accounted for, Kim slammed the door behind him and stepped inside, a man in a tactical vest bellowing from the driver’s seat.
“I thought I was going to drown waiting for you, boss.”
“He said he’d be right back, did it take him that long?”
“In my experience?”
“I should have stayed for an hour.”
After watching the two of them go back and forth, Leone said.
“There’s more, I thought you were alone.”
“I said I don’t need extra help, it was two of us to begin with, and I need a driver.”
“Can’t you get someone else to do it? I’m the last person to write a ticket for a regular agent.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll let you do it, even if it’s elite.”
“Mr. Erai. How did I get caught by this asshole?”
Turkam scratched his head furiously.
“It’s getting dark on the road, do you want to wait until morning?”
“I’d love to, but the kids aren’t feeling well.”
“I don’t know of anybody who does it every day.”
“Mental, mental.”
Aha, he thought, and scanned the students.
Some of the guys were focused on the conversation and averted their eyes, while others glared at me as if they were going to start a ruckus if I decided to camp here.
For Turkam, it was a thrill.
“Wow. I guess they don’t feel the effort to save them.”
“That must mean the neighborhood was well policed.”
“I guess Harenthal is the big dog after all.”
Shrug your shoulders lightly.
“But you’re taking the day off, right? If you’re being loud, I’ll just kick you out.”
The corners of his mouth twitched as he spoke, as if he wanted to be heard, but his intentions were clear to Kim. Even though Turkam had been mistreated in many ways, he was not ready to abandon the young student.
The night passed quietly, as if the blackmail had worked.
We had a lot of food and medicine in the car, so there were no physiological problems. Some students had seizures in their sleep, but it was a common occurrence.
The morning dawned and the hot-wired bus kicked off.
“Let’s go.”
The real escape was to come.
To reach the defenses on the outskirts of the city, they would have to pass through a dense area of parasites. It would be a perilous ascetic journey. If the car stalled or rolled over at a critical moment, it would be wiped out.
Thirty lives were in the driver’s hands. As a reserve officer, Turkam would have been overwhelmed by the pressure.
Not now.
Boom!
As I descended the hill, the road leveled out.
The road was littered with obstacles. Overturned taxis and sedans smashed into streetlights. Civilian bodies and parasites scattered about.
“That’s a lot of people. Can you go?”
“It looks like it’s going to bump, do you just push it away?”
“I’ll clean up the ones that are close.”
“Oh, that’s easy for you.”
Kim opened the window and threw his upper body out. The homemade assault rifle spewed fire. Short bursts of shortly spaced rounds raced through the air.
In a moving car, in an unstable position. Despite the adverse conditions, he had a hit rate of nearly 8%, half of which landed on Parasite’s head.
Turkam let out a loud gasp. “What I saw through the windshield was unbelievable. I couldn’t have been more relaxed as the guys who seemed to be in my way fell to the ground.
“Are you sure you’re not shooting as well as Chelsea?”
“That’s ridiculous. You can’t rub a gun on him.”
“Really? I don’t know, they’re both pretty monstrous.”
“Go drive.”
“Yeah. I think this is a good fit.”
By the time I emptied one magazine, all of the snagging parasites had already been scattered. I ignored the sides and rear. No amount of running could keep up with the car.
Once in a while, the car would jolt. Each time, the students could only imagine. of a tomato being crushed by a tire and exploding.
“Turn right here…….”
– Kaaaaaah!
As soon as you turn the corner, a swarm of dozens of Parasites attack. With a thud, a Parasite slammed its head into the car. The students on the street screamed and moved away from the windows.
They remained calm during the crisis.
“Ugh, surprise. I’ll push this one.”
The bus sped up and forced its way through the barrier of phosphorus. A shirtless Parasite clung to the wipers and was thrown out. Cracks spread across the windshield and blood sprayed.
Thump, thump!
As Parasites on both sides reached out and pounded on the windows, the front was breached. The bus, which had hesitated, began to move forward again. The men chasing its tail tumbled like dominoes.
“We’re still in it, right?”
“I don’t think it’s going to roll until we get there.”
“That’s it.”
When the conversation was casual, as if they were used to this.
“…….”
Leone’s gaze landed across the street. A convenience store with junk piled against the door, obscuring the interior. Through a gap in the tall boxes, she spotted something.
It was a survivor. Someone hiding in the convenience store was peeking out.
“Les, Leone, what’s wrong?”
Leone jumped at the sound of a voice and turned to see the anxious expression on the girl sitting next to her. They had become close friends through survival together.
“No, nothing.”
Leone smiled blurrily and took her friend’s hand. Her gaze never left the street again. She could only stare at the backrest of the front seat and the dark hair on top.
So she was silenced, and she learned to survive.
* * *
March 29, 2047. 11:05 AM.
The rescue operation at Mayfield School was completed by Dustborne Corporation’s CEO, Yi Hyun Kim, and one full-time agent from Cellbrossix Labs.
There are 36 total protected survivors.
But not everyone was able to get through quarantine.
“You’re going to have to go into quarantine.”
Fifteen out of 36 students were diagnosed with infection.