Hunter's Game 2: Zombie Paradise - Chapter 7

It was a woman’s voice, distant and ethereal.

Even so, the words slipped clearly into my ears.

Within moments, the voice drew closer.

Through the fog, I could dimly see a female zombie with disheveled hair walking toward us along the winding track.

I immediately thought of the female employee who had escaped the factory.

“Red means stop, green means go, yellow means wait a little… uhhh…”

She was getting closer.

Then came an ugly metallic grinding from the distance.

I turned and froze in astonishment.

Four massive chains hung from the lofty roof of the Pen. Suspended beneath them was a huge, heavy iron shipping container.

Driven by machinery, the container descended slowly. A dull crash soon announced that it had reached the floor.

The sound of fingernails scratching came clearly from inside.

I did not need to guess what it contained.

“Ksssh… ksssh…”

Our earpieces crackled again.

“Attention, players. Communications have returned to normal. You have entered the game’s second scenario.”

“A new mission is now being issued. The shipping container holds fifty zombies.”

“You must choose. Pressing red has a one-hundred-percent chance of releasing the zombies. Pressing green has an eighty-percent chance of releasing the zombies and a twenty-percent chance of causing the container to self-destruct.”

“You have three minutes to decide.”

The players looked at one another.

“Let’s press green. At least green gives us a twenty-percent chance that the container destroys itself.”

Almost everyone agreed.

“No. Wait. Something’s wrong!”

An idea struck me, and I shouted to stop them.

They stared at me in confusion.

I fixed my eyes on the signal lamp, desperately trying to seize the strange thought that had flashed through my mind.

The chemical leak had caused heavy fog. The signal lamp used the same colors as the fog warnings.

Red meant five meters of visibility. Green meant fifty.

The glass building had been filled with fog, and the zombies inside had been asleep.

I struggled to connect these facts. It felt as though I had caught the loose end of a thread, yet somehow held nothing at all.

“Red means stop, green means go…”

The female zombie continued wandering near the track.

Our earpieces sounded again.

“Players, you have one minute remaining. The countdown begins now. Fifty-nine, fifty-eight, fifty-seven…”

I barely heard it. I stared blankly at the female zombie while her words circled inside my head.

Red means stop. Green means go.

Red means stop. Green means go.

Suddenly, I understood.

Every clue snapped together.

Her words were the password for clearing this stage!

“Ten, nine, eight, seven…”

“Time’s up. Press green.”

The player nearest the signal reached for the green button.

“No! The green button is a trap!” I shouted.

But it was too late. His fingers had already touched it.

At that critical instant, a hand shot out and slammed the red button.

The red lamp came on.

“Players, you have selected red. The zombies will now be released. Red will remain active for two hours.”

Clang!

The container door opened. Fifty zombies spilled out, shoving over one another in their haste.

The fog grew thicker and thicker.

Through the dense white, I suddenly noticed an extra person among the players—the person who had just pressed the red button.