THE VARIANT: ZERO HOUR

12. THE BLACK BROADCAST

"Anything that blocks our path gets completely mutilated."

Jaemin's words hung in the freezing air, sending a violent shiver straight down Jinwoo's spine. The young man's silver eyes no longer radiated a single ounce of hesitation; they burned with the pure, unadulterated resolve of a predator absolutely prepared to slaughter anything to protect his pack.

Jinwoo let out a harsh, heavy breath, rolling his neck until the joints popped with a loud crack. "Alright, mutilation it is. Am I supposed to hold their legs down or what? Because I only have exactly four bullets left. If we have to hack our way through the infected using your little kitchen knife, our stamina will completely run out before we even reach the damn stairs."

"Save your complaining, Officer," Min-Ji interrupted sharply. The former fixer was already aggressively emptying the contents of her tactical bag onto the floor. "We have ninety minutes. The military is going to drop Napalm missiles directly onto our heads. Do you even know what Napalm is? It is a highly volatile, thick liquid gel. If a single drop sticks to your skin, the fire will absolutely not go out even if you completely submerge yourself in water. We are going to be roasted like pigs."

"Thanks for the horrifying science lesson, Miss Psycho. I feel so much better now," Jinwoo shot back cynically. "So exactly how are we supposed to push our way through an entire ocean of former humans down there?"

Before Min-Ji could even open her mouth to answer, the violent sound of a desperate struggle instantly grabbed their attention.

Kim Minseok, the middle-aged doctor and the absolute creator of this viral nightmare, had apparently taken full advantage of the moment they were distracted. Somehow, he had managed to aggressively rub the tough paracord binding his wrists against the jagged, rusted edge of an iron shelf that had been warped by the monster's attack earlier.

Snap! The thick cord broke completely.

Minseok scrambled forward in pure panic. Thick blood dripped steadily from his torn shoulder. His face was deathly pale, his eyes bulging with absolute, unhinged madness. "I DO NOT WANT TO DIE! I DO NOT WANT TO BURN ALIVE!" he shrieked hysterically. He lunged recklessly toward the heavy steel door, his violently trembling hands desperately clawing at the heavy deadbolt. "I memorized the highly classified staff evacuation routes! I can easily escape on my own! Get out of my way!"

"What the fuck! Do not touch that door, you pig!" Jaemin nearly lunged forward, but someone else had already moved with blinding speed.

BAM!

A devastating, brutal kick landed perfectly square in the absolute center of Minseok's chest. The middle-aged man was violently launched backward. His spine slammed brutally against a heavy desk, causing him to instantly cough up blood.

Jinwoo stood perfectly upright directly in front of the door, his leg having just smoothly dropped from the high kick. The police officer's right hand moved like lightning, aggressively drawing his heavy revolver and aiming the cold steel barrel directly at the center of Minseok's forehead as the man lay sprawled on the floor. Jinwoo's normally goofy, relaxed face was now entirely consumed by absolute, terrifying fury.

"You listen to me very carefully, you pathetic parasite," Jinwoo hissed dangerously low, pressing the muzzle of the gun violently against the doctor's skin. "If you try to run off by yourself, or if you even think about touching that door without my explicit order, I will put a bullet straight through your skull long before you ever get bitten. Do you completely understand me?!"

Minseok sobbed uncontrollably. He offered quick, frantic nods as his remaining teeth chattered violently in fear. "P-please... I b-beg you..."

"Good." Jinwoo aggressively spat onto the floor before smoothly holstering his weapon. He turned to look at Jaemin. "Jaemin, you handle this absolute dead weight. I am sick of looking at his pathetic face."

Jaemin nodded firmly. He walked quickly over to the towering stacks of thick folders on the shelves. "We cannot go out there completely empty-handed. Their bites are one hundred percent fatal. We desperately need armor."

"Armor?" Jinwoo crossed his arms in complete disbelief. "Do you honestly think we are playing some kind of RPG? There is no damn suit of armor lying around inside an archive room."

"There is," Jaemin countered. He aggressively threw several thick, hardcover medical encyclopedias and heavy stacks of health magazines directly at Jinwoo and Min-Ji. He then tossed two massive rolls of thick brown packing tape that he had scavenged from a desk drawer. "Wrap your forearms, your calves, and your necks tightly with these magazines. Secure them as tightly as you can using the tape. Human teeth—or even zombie teeth—will absolutely never be able to pierce through paper stacked this incredibly thick."

Min-Ji caught the heavy magazines with a highly impressed, cynical smirk. "The Brad Pitt trick from World War Z. Not a terrible idea for a coffee shop boy."

"Stop talking and start wrapping," Jaemin replied coldly.

He immediately pulled Jihoon closely toward him. With incredibly quick yet gentle movements, Jaemin carefully wrapped his little brother's thin arms with the thick magazines, securing them tightly using the heavy packing tape.

"Is it too tight, Jihoon?" Jaemin asked, looking at his brother with deep concern.

Jihoon shook his head slowly. His eyes were still violently red from crying, but the young boy was desperately trying to look brave. "No. It is perfect."

"Listen to me very carefully. No matter what the hell happens out there, you only have one single job. Grab the back of my jacket and hold on for your life. Do not ever let go. If any hand tries to grab you, you kick it as hard as you can. You have to be incredibly brave. Do you understand me?"

"I understand," Jihoon answered firmly.

"Here," Jinwoo said, handing over a razor-sharp surgical scalpel he had found inside the first-aid kit directly to Jihoon. "Just in case. If anything gets entirely too close to you, stab it directly in the eye. Absolutely no hesitation. There are no humans left out there, kid."

Meanwhile, Min-Ji was aggressively securing the handle of Jaemin's massive kitchen knife to the broken end of an aluminum mop handle using thick layers of duct tape, effectively creating a highly lethal, makeshift spear. She tossed the heavy spear directly to Jaemin.

"Your reach is significantly longer with this. Their claws will absolutely not be able to touch you," Min-Ji stated. The woman quickly layered her own arms with thick magazines and pulled on her heavy, tactical leather gloves.

Jinwoo wrapped his arms while grumbling loudly in deep annoyance. "Damn it, my incredibly cool police uniform is completely ruined by getting taped up with mom-and-baby magazines. If I actually die, the picture of my corpse in the newspaper is going to look absolutely ridiculous."

"Then make absolutely sure you don't die, Officer," Min-Ji shot back coldly, aggressively tightening the laces on her combat boots. "Or else I am going to be the absolute first person laughing at your pathetic corpse."

Jaemin secured a backpack containing their remaining bottled water and bread tightly onto Jihoon's back, making absolutely sure the straps were pulled tight so it would not hinder the boy's movements in the slightest. He glanced coldly over at Minseok, who was still whimpering pathetically in the corner.

"Get on your feet, old man," Jaemin ordered, aggressively grabbing Minseok entirely by the collar and violently pulling him up. "You are walking directly in the center. You are going to act as our personal compass to navigate through those classified staff evacuation routes you were bragging about. If you lead us into a trap, I will personally hack your knees off."

[Thirty Minutes Later]

The atmosphere inside the Archive Room was now completely suffocating, entirely saturated with an unbearable tension. The sharp, acrid smell of cold sweat mixed heavily with the metallic stench of Minseok's fresh blood.

The four adults and one young child stood perfectly ready in their highly coordinated combat formation.

Jaemin took the absolute front-center position, tightly gripping his heavy, makeshift knife-spear. The thick veins on the backs of his hands bulged violently. Right behind him, Jihoon gripped the thick fabric of Jaemin's leather jacket with white-knuckled desperation. Jinwoo took the left flank, his heavy revolver drawn and fully prepared to fire if the situation became absolutely critical, while his sharp tactical folding knife was gripped tightly in his left hand. Min-Ji took the absolute rear-guard position, aggressively shoving Minseok, who was officially serving as their hostage guide, directly in front of her.

Jinwoo quickly glanced at the heavy G-Shock watch on his blood-stained left wrist. The second hand ticked away relentlessly, acting exactly as if it were actively counting down the absolute final minutes of their lives.

"Sixty minutes," Jinwoo whispered, his voice incredibly hoarse. "The very first bomb is going to drop in exactly one hour. We have to be completely outside the two-kilometer blast radius by then. Just covering the distance from here to the bottom lobby feels exactly like trying to walk from earth straight to hell."

"We are taking the east wing emergency stairs all the way down," Min-Ji stated, pressing the sharp, cold tip of her knife directly against Minseok's spine. "This old man claims those stairs lead straight into the highly classified underground staff parking lot without ever passing through the main lobby. It should be significantly less crowded."

"Should be," Jaemin muttered darkly. "But in the middle of a literal apocalypse, the word 'should' is absolutely nothing but a pathetic myth."

Jaemin took a long, incredibly deep breath. His lungs filled entirely with the stale, dusty air of the room. He stared intently at the massive steel door directly in front of them. From behind that heavy metal barrier, there was absolutely no more brutal, violent banging. The dead, total silence that replaced it was actually infinitely more terrifying.

"Are you all ready?" Jaemin asked, his silver eyes narrowing into lethal slits.

"Ready as I'll ever be. Open the damn door," Jinwoo replied, cocking the hammer of his heavy revolver with a sharp, crisp click.

"Jihoon, hold on incredibly tight," Jaemin instructed firmly. He felt a small, desperate tug on his jacket as a silent confirmation.

Slowly, exerting immense physical effort, Jaemin and Jinwoo pushed the massive filing cabinet that had actively served as their heavy barricade since last night completely out of the way. The agonizing, high-pitched screech of heavy metal violently grating against the floor tiles echoed deafeningly loud in the silent room. A thick cloud of dust billowed into the air.

Once the heavy cabinet was pushed far enough aside, Jaemin placed his trembling hand directly onto the heavy deadbolt of the double doors. He swallowed hard. The horrifying, traumatizing memory of his mother aggressively tearing into a corpse down below flashed violently through his mind for a split second, but he instantly crushed the image entirely with pure, unadulterated rage.

Click. Click.

The two heavy locks disengaged completely.

Jaemin pressed down hard on the door handle, then violently kicked the door wide open with a single, massive burst of strength!

BAM!

The heavy steel door swung violently outward, slamming brutally against the corridor wall outside with a deafening, explosive crash.

For a fraction of a millisecond, the third-floor hallway appeared entirely empty and pitch-black due to the total power outage. The only source of illumination was the eerie, blood-red glow emanating from the Emergency Exit sign at the very end of the long corridor. The red light created a highly terrifying visual effect, making the hallway look exactly like a dark tunnel leading straight into a slaughterhouse.

But that dead silence was an absolute, complete lie.

The exact millisecond Jaemin took a single inch of a step past the doorway, an incredibly loud, horrifyingly wet, guttural growl exploded violently from the absolute blind spots on both the immediate right and left sides of the door.

Three terrifying figures wearing white nurse uniforms, completely stained entirely in dark, dried blood, violently lunged out from the deep shadows!

They had never left. They had been patiently waiting in absolute, passive silence directly outside the door, acting as if they knew with terrifying certainty that their prey would eventually have to step out.

"GRAAARRRGGH!"

The first nurse zombie lunged aggressively straight for Jaemin's face. Its jaw was snapped unnaturally wide open, completely exposing rows of teeth entirely caked in rotting, black flesh. Its broken, filthy fingernails aimed violently directly for the young man's eyes.

"What the fuck! Right in front of you!" Jinwoo screamed at the top of his lungs.

The second zombie crawled erratically and violently along the wall exactly like a massive, terrifying spider, aiming its lethal attack directly at Jihoon, who was hiding behind Jaemin. Meanwhile, the third zombie, a heavily built, infected doctor, violently threw its entire massive body weight directly toward Jinwoo.

Time seemed to slow down entirely to an agonizing, terrifying crawl.

The incredibly thin line separating life and death was now actively being measured in mere milliseconds. Jaemin's only option right now was to violently slaughter them, or be brutally slaughtered on their very first step out of hell's door.