"Jihyun, look out!"
At the command, the junior police officer ducked and avoided the strike of a chimpanzee-looking creature. He spun around the long metal pole in his hands and it the chimpanzee went into a shock. with a several repeating attacks on the head of it, the freakish creature was on the ground – unconscious. He thoroughly inspected his surrounding and spot Hazel struggling between two canine creatures and a supposed ape. He sprinted towards the panic-stricken girl and helped her to flung off the creatures.
Then he grabbed her hand before bolting to a secluded alley. Jihyun examined the area and heaved out a sigh when he saw nothing. The girl took in deep breaths to calm down her heart.
His eyes glinted with an unknown fear, he mumbled, "I hope this heck of a virus isn't spread from mutated creatures to humans" Resting his back on the rough wall, he observed the bloody patch on his forearm.
Hazel gasped, "I doubt it would. If it was spread like that, we'd be fighting zombies, too"
Jihyun let out a sigh of relief.
"Where's Hyunwoo?" the girl looked around for any signs of her friend. who went to call for help.
"Here" a third voice spoke, scaring the shit out of the girl. "According to Soohan, there are no rescue aircrafts available but Temporary military base camps have been arranged at the outskirt of the city. We'll be able to spot one camp alongside the river banks of Sun-dal river. It's a 2-hour journey by a vehicle. It'll take ages on foot under the circumstances"
The trio gazed around the area but they could only find vehicles with shattered windshields, patched tires and some also on fire.
"Let's move 'til we find something" at Hazel's suggestion, the two boys nodded.
Just when they were about to step out of the ally, they heard a deep growl. A large Gorilla stood blocking their exit. It's fur turned to a dark shade of grey and long nails; he looked like an old, forgotten teddy with pocket knives in its hands. The three gulped thickly. The growling creature took predatory steps forward while the three puny humans took two steps back. Eventually, they had hit the textured, grey wall. Their breaths hitched.
The creature attacked the trio with it's large arms. They barely avoided it's strikes. As the ruckus was going on, another few red-eyed monkeys and fierce canines appeared at the other end of the alley. They stared down the terrified humans- all ready to pounce on them. the said humans shared glances amongst themselves.
Would they be able to escape?
But the impatient mutants charged towards them with their full force. Hyunwoo spotted stack of metal poles. He threw one to Hazel while either one of him and Jihyun kept two for themselves. The skilled fighters whacked off the fierce mutants, almost enjoying the situation. Hazel kicked off a canine with her high heeled boot. The heel made a critical impact on it. she again swung the pole in her hands to avoid a crazy monkey. it joined the canine on the ground.
On Jihyun's side, the smart ape swatted one of the metal weapons in his hands. But fought on with the other. the insane gorilla perfectly dodged every attack. It was almost as it was trained. In the blink of an eye, the creature took the metal pole on the ground. Jihyun didn't even have time to register it when it struck the pole at Jihyun. Jihyun was almost on the ground with a half-split head if Hyunwoo didn't step into the scene on time. Hyunwoo held both his metal bars against the gorilla's one. taking the chance Jihyun attacked its head a several times with the motion similar to swatting a fly angrily. The metal clanked on the ground. Eventually, the hulking creature swayed side to side before thudding on the floor.
Their lungs cried desperate for air as they took short breaths. After hammering down the last monkey in the alley, Hazel joined her two friends.
"We should get outta here" following the girl's suggestion, they all got out of the now-dimmed alley.
Their ears perked up as they went into full stealth mood. the Junior Officer, led his friends through the shortcuts of the main city. Except for the few canines that craved for some humans, they were out of any trouble for the afternoon.
Hyunwoo's eyes lit up as he spotted a land rover resting at the side of the road. The officer and the forensic scientist followed his gaze. They sprinted towards the four-wheeled fantasy. As Hyunwoo took the driver seat, Jihyun jumped on the shotgun and Hazel wearily slumped on the back seat. Silence filled the space as they drove towards the outskirts of the city.
"What the heck just happened?" Hyunwoo spoke up.
"Were they some kind of.... infected?" Jihyun directed his gaze at Hazel.
"Maybe that was some kind of a virus? The animals' brain functions were directly affected by it. And gladly, It was only spreading among animals" her words made Jihyun subconsciously glance at his wound. "Nothing to worry, Ji" she pat Jihyun's shoulder.
"Where did they all suddenly appear?" Jihyun questioned.
"Did you see the lab equipment scattered here and there?" Hyunwoo asked. "They had the logo of ZG laboratories." He shifted to his detective character.
"Yeah, I had the same idea" The forensic scientist agreed. "So, it could be them"
"They are them, Haze. Everything just fits" the fellow colleagues threw confused looks at Hyunwoo. "Remember the attacks by the rivals? They almost flattened the main harbor to the ground. The government was seeking revenge. And later, the they announced that they are working on a new project in response"
"You're saying that this was that project?" Jihyun was still in the dark.
"Partially, I think" Hazel spoke up this time. "They might've been after a bio weapon. They were testing it on animals, similar to humans- gorillas, monkeys, chimpanzees and I even saw some rodents. They were still on the testing phase when the mutated zoo animals broke out, causing....a havoc" Hazel explained and gazed at the chaotic cityscape passing by.
"So, this was fully funded by the government." Jihyun nodded to himself.
"Apparently"
"The animals were going pretty wild, if this spreads further, what'll happen?"
Jihyun's question made everyone fall into a deep sea of thoughts – including himself.
They drove for almost an hour with the guide of the moonlight. Throughout the journey, few canines and monkeys welcomed the police associates from time to time, freaking the hell out of them. the enraged Hyunwoo sometime ran over them or simply sped up.
After a few turns, a smile crept out to their lips at the sight of the infamous Sun-dal river. But as they moved further, their eyes almost popped out of their sockets. Their smile now long gone; they stood stiff on their seats.
"Crap!"
The torn down tents and the scattered weapons meant the obvious. A few canines attended the dead army agents on the ground while some monkeys lurked around. A fire devoured the ruins and spread onto nearby trees.
Crap; indeed.
