The first infected creature to squeeze through the shattered door had once been a businessman, perhaps not unlike Min-jun's current identity. The expensive suit was now torn and stained with fluids that had leaked from various orifices, and the briefcase still clutched in its left hand suggested a man who had been traveling for work when the infection claimed him.
But the thing that stumbled into their car was no longer human in any meaningful sense.
Its skin had taken on a grayish pallor, and dark veins were visible beneath the surface like a roadmap of corruption. The eyes that had once looked over quarterly reports now stared with milky blindness, yet somehow still tracked movement with predatory focus. Its mouth hung open in a permanent rictus, revealing teeth stained black with congealed blood.
The creature's head turned toward the nearest passenger—one of the university students who had frozen in terror—and it let out a low moan that seemed to come from somewhere deep in its chest. The sound was answered by similar moans from the other infected pressing against the broken door, creating a chorus of hunger that made several passengers whimper in fear.
*Move. Now.*
Min-jun didn't hesitate. His body responded to the crisis with fluid precision, muscle memory from two different fighters combining into something new and deadly. He grabbed the briefcase from the infected businessman's grasp—the creature's grip was surprisingly strong, but not strong enough—and used it as a shield to deflect the thing's grasping hands.
The briefcase's hard leather surface caught the creature's fingers, and Min-jun heard the distinct crack of bones breaking. But the infected businessman didn't react to the pain, didn't even seem to notice the damage. It simply continued reaching for him with single-minded determination.
*No pain response,* Rama's analytical mind noted. *Nervous system damage means traditional pressure points and joint locks won't work.*
*Good,* Mad Dog's voice responded with savage satisfaction. *That means we can be as brutal as we want.*
Min-jun stepped inside the creature's reach, using Rama's precise footwork to maintain perfect balance, then drove the briefcase's metal corner into the infected businessman's temple with Mad Dog's vicious efficiency. The impact produced a wet cracking sound, and the creature staggered sideways, dark fluid leaking from the wound.
But it didn't fall. Instead, it turned back toward him with the same hungry expression, apparently oblivious to what should have been a killing blow.
*Head trauma insufficient,* Rama observed clinically. *Need to target the brain stem or completely destroy brain function.*
Behind the first creature, more infected were squeezing through the broken door. A woman in a blood-stained nurse's uniform, her medical credentials still pinned to her torn scrubs. An elderly man whose walker had been abandoned in favor of crawling on hands and knees, his movements disturbingly quick for someone who had clearly been infirm in life. A teenage girl whose school uniform was barely recognizable beneath the gore.
The passengers in the car were starting to panic in earnest now. The mother with twin boys was screaming at her children to get behind the seats. The elderly man with the heart condition was hyperventilating, his wife trying desperately to calm him while fumbling for medication. The university students were pressing themselves against the windows, as far from the infected as possible.
*Too much chaos,* Rama's tactical mind assessed. *Need to control the battlefield.*
"Everyone get to the back of the car!" Min-jun shouted, his voice cutting through the panic with military authority. "Stay low, stay quiet, and don't look back!"
The athletic woman with the military book was the first to react, grabbing the elderly couple and helping them toward the rear exit. "You heard him! Move!"
Min-jun didn't have time to see if the others followed orders. The infected businessman was reaching for him again, and the nurse was nearly through the door. He adjusted his grip on the briefcase, feeling its weight and balance with enhanced senses, then swung it in a precise arc that caught the businessman in the side of the head.
This time he put everything behind it—not just the strength of his arms, but the rotational power of his entire body, the way Mad Dog had taught him to turn every strike into a killing blow. The briefcase's metal corner punched through the creature's skull with a sound like an eggshell cracking, and the infected businessman finally dropped.
*One down,* Mad Dog's voice purred with satisfaction. *How many more can we kill?*
The infected nurse was fully through the door now, her movements faster and more coordinated than the businessman had been. She still wore her hospital ID badge, and Min-jun could read the name even as she lunged for him: Park Soo-jin, Cardiac Care Unit. Someone who had dedicated her life to healing others, now transformed into a creature that sought only to destroy.
*No time for sentiment,* Rama's voice reminded him. *She's already dead. What you're facing is just animated tissue.*
Min-jun sidestepped the nurse's clumsy grab and brought the briefcase down on the back of her skull. The impact sent her sprawling, but she immediately began pushing herself back to her feet, apparently unaffected by what should have been a debilitating blow.
*Faster reflexes,* he noted. *Learning from the first encounter.*
But Min-jun was learning too. Instead of trying to knock the nurse down again, he grabbed her by the hair and drove her face-first into the metal frame of a nearby seat. The impact produced a satisfying crunch, and this time she stayed down.
*Two down.*
The elderly infected man had made it through the door, moving with disturbing speed despite his apparent frailty. Behind him, the teenage girl was squeezing through, her school uniform torn to reveal wounds that should have been fatal but somehow weren't.
Min-jun's enhanced hearing picked up the sounds of more infected gathering in the adjacent car, drawn by the commotion. He could hear them pressing against the walls, clawing at surfaces, their moans growing more agitated as they sensed living prey just beyond their reach.
*This is just the beginning,* Rama's voice warned. *They'll keep coming until we find a way to block the breach.*
Min-jun glanced back to see that most of the passengers had followed his orders and moved to the rear of the car. The athletic woman had organized them into a tight group, using overturned seats as a makeshift barrier. Smart thinking—she had natural leadership instincts that could be useful.
But several passengers were still frozen in terror, including one of the university students who was pressed against a window, staring at the approaching infected with the blank expression of someone whose mind had simply shut down.
*Liability,* Mad Dog's voice noted coldly. *Either save him or write him off, but don't get yourself killed trying to do both.*
The elderly infected man was almost within reach now, his movements more erratic than the others but somehow more dangerous because of their unpredictability. Min-jun feinted left, drawing the creature's attention, then pivoted right and brought the briefcase up in an uppercut that caught the old man under the chin.
The impact snapped the creature's head back with enough force to break a normal person's neck, but the infected man just stumbled backward a few steps before regaining his balance. Min-jun followed up immediately, using the briefcase to hook the creature's leg and send him sprawling into one of the seats.
*Disable, don't just damage,* Rama advised. *Take out the legs and they can't chase you.*
Min-jun stomped down on the elderly man's knee with precise force, feeling the joint collapse under the impact. The creature's leg bent at an impossible angle, effectively crippling it, but it continued trying to reach for him with its arms.
*Three down, effectively.*
The teenage girl was through the door now, and Min-jun could see at least two more infected figures pushing behind her. The breach was widening as more creatures pressed against the opening, their combined weight starting to bend the door frame itself.
*Need to plug the hole,* both voices agreed. *But first, clear the immediate threats.*
The infected girl moved differently than the others—faster, more coordinated, as if the virus affected younger hosts differently. She lunged for Min-jun with surprising speed, her fingernails extended like claws.
Min-jun caught her wrist in mid-grab, using Rama's precise joint control to redirect her momentum. He spun her around and drove her face-first into the wall beside the door, then followed up with the briefcase to the back of her skull.
She went down hard, but he could see her already starting to move again.
*They're getting back up too quickly,* Rama observed. *Need to ensure kills, not just knockdowns.*
Min-jun looked around the car, his enhanced vision cataloging potential weapons. The briefcase was effective but limited. He needed something with more stopping power, something that could punch through skull and destroy brain tissue completely.
His eyes settled on the emergency fire extinguisher mounted near the front of the car. Heavy, metal, with a narrow nozzle that could concentrate impact force into a small area. Perfect.
He grabbed the extinguisher from its mount just as two more infected squeezed through the door simultaneously—a construction worker still wearing his hard hat and safety vest, and a young woman in a business suit similar to his own.
*Six targets now,* Mad Dog's voice noted with anticipation. *Time to see what we can really do.*
Min-jun hefted the fire extinguisher, feeling its weight and balance. It was heavier than the briefcase but more versatile—he could use it as a club, a shield, or even deploy its contents as a distraction.
The construction worker was the closer threat, moving with the steady pace of someone accustomed to physical labor. Min-jun swung the extinguisher in a horizontal arc, catching the infected man in the side of the head with enough force to cave in his skull. The hard hat cracked and split, but the metal cylinder punched through anyway.
The construction worker dropped like a stone, finally and completely dead.
*Now that's more like it,* Mad Dog's voice purred with satisfaction.
Behind him, Min-jun could hear passengers crying, praying, whimpering in fear. The sounds of innocent people facing something beyond their comprehension, looking to him for salvation.
He turned to face the remaining infected, fire extinguisher ready, and allowed himself a cold smile.
Their guardian was just getting started.
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