The Apocalypse Solution Provider

Chapter 29: First Zombie Kill!

Listening to Sun Ya’s account, Su Jin felt a deep jolt of shock and fell into a heavy silence.

According to Fu Hu’s dossier, this old man was a veteran researcher in medical equipment manufacturing. He had serious credentials.

But now, he had blacked out every window in his apartment and was sitting there nursing a shotgun.

Combined with his tactical breakdown of the situation, everything screamed that this old man was far from ordinary.

“Old sir, my name is Li Haocheng. Do you mind if I take a seat?”

Sun Ya stared him down, slowly lowering the twin barrels of his shotgun before giving a stiff nod.

Su Jin stepped forward cautiously, dragged a wooden chair over, and sat across from him.

“The rain infecting animals. How did you figure that out? And the blackout setup, your read on the military…”

“I used to be in defense contracting,” Sun Ya sighed, his calloused thumb stroking the shotgun’s stock. “When I saw people starting to mutate, I collected some rainwater and tested it on the family dog… The dog went rabid, so I put it down. I figured avian carriers were a risk, so I sealed the windows.”

“It wasn’t until yesterday, when the government broadcasted a total cessation of functions… that I realized it was game over. The military is a lost cause.”

“You know the internal protocols. How can you be absolutely certain they’re done for? Even if the military took heavy infection casualties, they wouldn’t just declare total operational failure. The municipal sectors still have the firepower to mount a counter-offensive. Declaring bankruptcy on public trust makes reorganization impossible,” Su Jin pressed, his brow furrowing.

Sun Ya mused, “Logically, yes. If it was just a mass infection of ground troops, the state would never wave the white flag. But I suspect there are two other variables at play.”

“Variable one: the insect population is compromised. If bugs can carry the infection, human extinction is just a matter of time. The brass realized they couldn’t save the populace, so they cut their losses to save themselves.”

“Variable two… the effects of this rain are far more catastrophic than just a pathogen. There have to be secondary characteristics.”

“No naturally occurring virus crosses species barriers and mutates the host this rapidly… This isn’t a viral outbreak; it’s a supernatural cataclysm.”

Saying this, Sun Ya buried his face in his hands, letting out a hollow, defeated sigh.

Su Jin remained silent, an icy knot of paranoia tightening in his gut.

Taking a ragged breath, Sun Ya rubbed his tired eyes and looked up. “I’ve answered your questions. Now it’s your turn to answer mine.”

“Shoot.”

“You preemptively locked the tenants in. I wasn’t the only door you glued shut, was I?”

“I locked down the entire block.”

“Why?” Sun Ya’s gaze drilled into him.

“A little girl on the fifth floor said the apocalypse was coming. I took her word for it.”

“Heh… So you really are a psychopath. No wonder you’ve got a butt plug dangling from your belt.” Sun Ya scoffed, though his expression quickly sobered as he muttered to himself. “That kid Qingdai… I know her situation. I thought she was just clinically insane. Now it looks like there’s more to it. How did she have advance intel?”

“Do you believe in nature’s balance?” Su Jin asked quietly, casually shoving the emergency suppository into his pocket.

“Nature?”

“I believe in the scientific method, but I also believe nature forces an equilibrium. Even with civilization collapsing under a disaster of this magnitude, there has to be a structural workaround,” Su Jin said, holding Sun Ya’s gaze. “I believe there’s a counter-force balancing the scales. Qingdai is the proof of concept. Old sir, you’re sitting here with a loaded gun, which means you aren’t ready to clock out yet, right?”

“Join my operation. We’re in the recruitment phase, drafting a core team. I’ve got a cage full of lab rats. You’re a research specialist; you can help me run proper clinical trials.”

A dangerous spark flickered in Sun Ya’s eyes. He eyed Su Jin up and down.

“Run an operation? Do you even have the bandwidth for that? Why the hell should anyone follow you?”

“Because I have a literal prophet on my payroll, and I am a Director at the National Key Risk Intervention and Execution Bureau.”

Sun Ya narrowed his eyes. “Bullshit! The government has no such agency.”

“It does now.”

Sun Ya scrutinized him for a long, calculating moment before a grim realization dawned on his face.

“Right… right. It can exist now. I’ll bite.”

Then his tone hardened. “But let’s get one thing straight. I’m knocking on seventy’s door. With the world in the toilet, whether I live or die is a rounding error to me.”

“If you want to play commander and have me bleed for your KPIs, you better prove you’re qualified. If you’re just another brain-dead middle manager, I’d rather eat buckshot right now and save myself the headache!”

“What’s the interview process, then?”

Sun Ya didn’t hesitate. He tossed the heavy shotgun straight at Su Jin.

“It’s a twelve-gauge. I’ve got thirty shells left. Go downstairs and clear out the local Zombie demographic.”

“Their primary weak point seems to be the heart. They track via auditory, visual, and olfactory stimuli. There are plenty of feral cats and dogs in the complex, so watch your six. Complete the task, and even if you are a certified lunatic, my life belongs to your agency!”

“Consider it a live-fire assessment. Wait up here and enjoy the show!” Catching the weapon, a cold, ruthless glint flashed in Su Jin’s eyes.

He pocketed the loose shells and headed for the door. “Old sir, the tenant across the hall from you is also a specialist, right? I glued his door shut. I’m leaving the industrial solvent with you. If you can guarantee a secure perimeter, extract him. If it’s too hot to handle, hold position until I get back. It’s freezing in here; go wait at Fu Hu’s apartment.”

“Understood.”

Su Jin nodded, pulling the door open before abruptly freezing in the frame.

He glanced back over his shoulder, flashing Sun Ya an incredibly awkward smile. “Uh… how do I toggle the safety on this thing?”

Sun Ya barked out a laugh of pure exasperation. “Jesus Christ… and here I thought you were a professional! Get back here, I’ll walk you through the manual!”

…

Forty minutes later.

Su Jin stood in the shadows of the first-floor stairwell. Beneath his heavy down jacket, he was wearing a crudely stitched, reinforced anti-Zombie tactical suit stuffed with makeshift armor plates.

Heavy utility gloves protected his hands, and a thick motorcycle helmet secured his head.

The Silver Gun and the twelve-gauge were both tethered to his belt with paracord lanyards. A heavy machete was sheathed at his hip.

He was an IT drone, not John Wick. If the adrenaline spiked and he fumbled his weapons, bending down to retrieve them would be a fatal error. Risk mitigation was paramount.

In the gloom of the corridor, Su Jin bowed his head, forcing his ragged breathing into a steady rhythm.

Once his heart rate stabilized out of the red zone, he raised a boot and violently kicked the steel security door!

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! The deafening impacts echoed out into the courtyard.

Outside, the Zombies—their rotting flesh coated in a thin layer of frost from the plunging temperatures—jerked to attention!

The fragile ice crusts over their joints shattered as they lurched toward the source of the noise.

Within seconds, over a dozen Zombies were swarming the entrance.

Right on cue, the sharp CRACK of a firecracker detonated on the far side of the complex.

The mob congregating at the door immediately pivoted, shuffling aggressively toward the sudden burst of noise.

Simultaneously, a frantic clang-clang-clang rang out against the metal handrail inside the stairwell.

Su Jin didn’t waste a microsecond. He yanked the heavy security door open!

Exposed before him were the backs of over a dozen infected targets.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!… Nine thunderous shotgun blasts tore through the frigid air, emptying the magazine in a frantic barrage.

Su Jin violently slammed the door shut and scrambled back into the safety of the corridor.

“Hoo…” Exhaling a trembling cloud of white vapor, he turned and sprinted back up to the fifth floor.

Waiting for him on the landing was Fu Qingdai. She held a string of firecrackers in one hand and a heavy wrench in the other, her pale face flushed with frantic excitement.

“Brother, did it work?”

“Yeah… the script executed perfectly. I think I bagged three of them? Didn’t have time to verify the kill count. We’ll run a few more loops in a bit.” Su Jin reached out, gratefully ruffling Fu Qingdai’s hair. “Solid support work!”