Ch. 06 - A Way In!

Jin grabbed Lily and together they took a few fast steps forward and created a distance between them and the undead that approached them. When they turned around, the sight jolted them back to reality. For a minute there, they forgot that the world they once knew ended abruptly.

Bloodshot eyes covered with a gray to black membrane and web-like dark veins on the neck. Though it dawdled towards them, it growled the whole time. It extended its hand as it tried to grab them.

Lily noticed something else that horrified her. It was missing a hand, which didn’t seem to bother it that much as it paid no attention to it at all. It just kept on advancing in Jin’s direction.

Jin stood in front of Lily and pushed it back several times with his bat, but to no avail. It wouldn’t stop, no matter how many times he tried. At some point, he pushed it so hard it went backward several steps and fell over a ledge, then crashed on something metal, which produced a loud thud and an echo that carried over for several seconds.

Jin, as soon as he heard it, turned in the other direction with his bat at hand and was in a position ready to strike. Lily flinched. Her heartbeat became faster as time passed. Sweat drenched her face, yet she didn’t blink.

In the corner of his eyes, he glanced several times, searching for the one he threw over while he kept his focus in front of him. From experience, the last time he got flanked, it didn’t turn out well for him. This time around, he wanted to avoid such an outcome. He didn’t want the same fate or worse, befalling Lily.

He waited for a little longer until he made sure no more of them were coming, then turned around and went close to the ledge. To his surprise, he found a large dumpster. The loud clanging sound came from its sturdy lid. He called Lily over. “This should be able to give us a good boost up that window!”

Regardless, Jin quickly became worried when he could no longer see the thing that fell on it. He glanced over the ledge, yet it didn’t appear. “I guess it left…

He didn’t want to alarm Lily further, so he didn’t mention it. Jin sighed in relief and got down to the chapel’s elevation. Then helped Lily down. It wasn’t visible from back there, but surrounding it was green grass that enriched everything.

He placed his hands on the dumpster and tried to move it unsuccessfully. He noticed that the brakes on the wheels were on and unhinged them, then pulled it forward.

Rejoiced over his victory against the dumpster, Jin wore a triumphant face and moved it some more. Lily giggled when she saw his goofy face. After getting his fill, he grabbed it excitedly and pushed. He decided early on the course he would take and directed it the way he wanted.

The clickity-clack of the wheels on the hard paved sidewalk didn’t bother him as much, since he was sure they wouldn’t hear it. If they didn’t hear the loud thud earlier, they wouldn’t hear this.

Based on their actions, he determined that something moved them towards people, and it wasn’t the sense of hearing. He had a few more eliminations to make, but he wouldn’t dwell on it at that point.

After getting a little further from where he started, he remembered he left his bat behind when he tried to get the dumpster moving. His accomplishment flashed before him once more, which made him giggle, and Lily had to tap him on the shoulder to get him moving.

Unrushed, Jin went back to the starting point and retrieved his property. He returned in the same manner and got back to moving it towards the hospital. While he pushed, he heard a growl coming from the other side of the dumpster.

Jin quickly stopped and, together with Lily, they hid behind it. With his bat in hand, he crouched and popped his head out from the side. One of them aimlessly walked about and went past them without a fuss.

Relieved, Jin waited for it to move further away before grabbing the dumpster and moving it to the desired location. He pushed the thing under the window he spotted. “Finally…”

Jin and Lily rejoiced and looked at one another with smiles on their faces. He leaned back and wiped the sweat off his face when the dumpster’s lid got pushed open from the inside, and a hand grabbed him. Startled, he dropped his bat, which rolled several meters away from them. Lily shrieked and froze in place as Jin tried to fight it off.

Even though he took down quite a few so far, Jin’s never been in a situation like this. He didn’t even know if he would get another chance. Jin struggled to get free, but the rotting hand got a solid grab at him. He glanced back from the corners of his eyes and saw the same one that had attacked him earlier. Apparently, when it fell off the ledge, it fell inside the dumpster, and it closed behind him, which is why Jin didn’t see it when he looked.

He pushed forward, hoping he could overpower it since it didn’t have a good standing from inside the bin, but the wheels rolled with him. Things got more intense when it tried to find its way out and have a bite at Jin.

Unable to break free, he twisted and turned his body in any way he could think of, but to no avail. Jin pushed forward and his shirt tightened on his neck, breaking his voice up. It came out hoarse. “L-Lily…!”

Jin extended one hand forward, while the other kept the undead at bay, pushing its head back. The girl, frozen stiff, didn’t move a muscle, or even noticed that Jin asked for her help. He tried once more, a little louder this time. “Lily!”

She snapped out of the trance and saw Jin being pulled. She gasped for a second, then saw his hand reaching out to her. Lily looked around and saw the bat on the ground. Hurriedly, she picked it up and gave it to Jin.

With a quick glance behind him, he determined where its head was at, and grabbed the bat from Lily. With a swift swing packing a downward force, Jin rammed down his bat. He put all the strength he could muster on that strike from the position he was in. He slammed it on its skull, splitting it open. Crimson blood gushed out, which painted the green dumpster.

It still held onto him, so Jin struck again with much more force than before. That last attack caved its head in. Brain matter spluttered everywhere when Jin raised his bat off the corpse.

A thud into the dumpster signaled the end of the ambush and his victory against it. When it released Jin, he dropped to his knees. Lily hugged him as she cried her eyes out.

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