Chapter 50- Thrown Under The Bus
Chapter 50- Thrown Under The Bus
"Wh-What in god's name? What's going on, what happened to that child."
"Did you watch the video? It's a zombie I tied up, but there are more in the school. Right now I'm currently in one of the school's bathrooms. I don't know how far the virus has spread, but it has already been about an hour now so maybe most of the students in the school have already been turned."
Madelyn's face went through multiple changes before she said.
"This… How is this possible? A virus? Zombies? Jin-woo, are you really not trying to trick me? Tell the truth."
"No, I'm not, this is real, please believe me, Aunty Madelyn."
Hearing the pleading in Jin-woo's voice, Madelyn had her mind spun and she couldn't help but replay the video once again. She observed everything in more detail, trying to find some flaws in the video, but the more she watched the paler her face became.
She wasn't a fan of zombie movies, but this was too realistic.
"Mai-sun! Where did you say Mai-sun was?"
"Don't worry she's safe. She's in the gymnasium with the rest of my classmates. But we aren't going to remain safe for long if we remain inside the school, can you send help?"
Madelyn nodded solemnly and said.
"Yes, I'll have the Marshal send the White Tiger squad to the school. Are you still in the bathroom? Try to stay there until help arrives. No, wait, find another room away from that zombie. Keep your phone on you at all times and I'll call again to check up on you."
"Okay, thank you, Aunty Madelyn. Ah, wait! I need to tell you something else about the virus. It comes from the water pipes in the school and it's affecting the students differently. Some turn into zombies while some died like in the first picture I sent you. The virus is also transmitted differently depending on the infected person.
When you're bitten by a zombie you get infected and turn in less than four minutes, but for the second type, you'll get infected if you come into contact with that person."
Madelyn's eyes flashed in surprise but quickly said.
"That's valuable information, good job Jin-woo. But find a safe place to hide until help arrives, okay?"
"Okay."
"Alright, I'll go send help now. And Jin-woo, keep my daughter safe until then."
"…I'll try."
"That's enough."
Click.
The call ended, and Madelyn stared at her phone in a daze. She still found this phone call somewhat unbelievable. However, she immediately snapped out of her trance and went to find the Marshal.
Regardless of if this is true or not, she didn't want to take the chance when her daughter was in danger.
However, as Madelyn turned around to rush out of her office, the door was pushed open before the Marshal walked in.
"Good, you're here! Quick send the White Tiger forces to Itaewon Stars High, there has been a deadly virus outbreak!"
"What?!"
The Marshal, whose face always wore a stern expression, turned into one of shock.
"Not only that, but this virus is causing something straight out of a zombie horror flick."
After saying this, Madelyn passed Myung-hee's phone to the Marshal. The Marshal took it and then immediately clicked play on the video.
As the video played, the Marshal's face slowly got uglier and uglier as the seconds went by.
When the fifteen-second video was finished, the Marshal let out a loud curse.
"Fuck!"
He then threw the phone back to Madelyn and rushed toward the office door.
Madelyn, upon seeing his reaction, was taken aback.
"Wait! Where are you going? Don't you believe me? We need to send help to the school!"
The Marshal suddenly stopped dead in his tracks before he turned and spat out.
"It's not that I don't believe you, how can I not when I just received reports that the President and the Prime Minister are both trapped within Gueumgang Asan hospital because of a virus outbreak?"
"Wh-What?!"
It was Madelyn's time to stare at the Marshal in shock.
With a serious expression, the Marshal added.
"The infected person was first brought in during the morning before the President and Prime Minister went to Asan hospital, but sometime after the President and Prime Minister arrived people in the hospital started getting sick before becoming feral and biting visitors.
What's worse, while the completely healthy workers in the hospital were attacking people in mass, the sick patients and even the terminally ill ones began dying one by one."
The Marshal then stared directly into Madelyn's eyes before saying once again.
"The first patient discovered with this mysterious virus is named Lee Sung-ho. Sounds familiar?"
"Wh-What? Sung-ho? Myung-hee's husband?"
Madelyn's face changed, but as the Marshal stared at her and realized she hadn't pieced the puzzle together, he coldly stated.
"Who was the one who sent you this video? Wasn't it that woman's son? Is it really a coincidence that this virus is occurring where they both are?"
Upon hearing this, Madelyn's expression paled slightly as she somewhat put the puzzles together.
"Don't tell… Don't tell me this has something to do with the experimental pills Myung-hee stole?"
"We've already moved that woman into a quarantine room and relayed the message to her that her husband died from the virus the pill caused. Afterward, she suddenly started crying saying that she had placed the pill bottle in her room and didn't know how he got to it."
Madelyn's face changed rapidly, then she said.
"No, if Sung-ho took the experimental pill how did the virus reach Jin-woo's sch-"
Madelyn suddenly stopped talking as she remembered she just had a conversation with Jin-woo and he confirmed he had the pill.
"Wait, that child said he accidentally took the AV13 pill, but he was fine."
"What?"
The Marshal looked at Madelyn with a confused expression. Only the experimental pill could explain the cause of this sudden virus, but someone swallowed it and was fine?
However, Madelyn's pupils suddenly constricted before she whispered.
"No, he also said the virus infected the students in the school from the water supply."
"What?!"
The Marshal yelled, but Madelyn ignored him. Soon her face slowly became complicated as she said.
"I said I would help Myung-hee lessen her sentence if he had that pill, but it looks like he lied and said he had it. The pill must have somehow gotten into the school's main water supply and infected the students."
The Marshal's face turned gloomy as he looked at Madelyn with a cold gaze.
"That woman is as good as dead."
"What do you mean?"
Madelyn immediately asked while frowning at the Marshal's words.
The Marshal snorted and said.
"We've already started the testing to find a cure for the virus from the research recovered from that woman's computer, and she will be our first test subject after it's complete."
"What?! You can't do that?!"
Madelyn yelled in shock before turning to rush out the door. However, a man and woman in military uniform suddenly blocked the doorway.
Madelyn's expression changed when she saw this scene. She then turned around and glared at the Marshal.
"Don't tell me you plan on pinning this virus outbreak on me?"
The Marshal's eyes flickered, and he didn't bother hiding it.
"When this mess is all over and questions need answering, someone has to take the fall."
Madelyn clenched her fists, but it kind of frightened her how quickly she was being thrown under the bus. She even suspected that they were using Myung-hee as a test subject to silence her.
However, Madelyn's eyes flickered for a second then she laughed and said.
"You haven't silenced me yet probably because you need my help."
"Indeed, you're the one who created this virus, so you'll be the one to help make the cure."
Madelyn frowned.
"I did not create a virus; something must have gone wrong after..."
Suddenly, Madelyn recalled that Myung-hee had placed the Av13 pill inside a bottle filled with their first successful drug, the Av1 pills.
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'Don't tell me that's the cause? Cross-contamination? But how? We had already killed those foreign bacteria from the meteor after we created the Av1 pills. How did they survive? If that is truly the case, then after those bacteria encounter the Av13 pill it would surely contaminate it.
Even those Av1 pills might be compromised.'
It was here that Madelyn realized why Sung-ho was infected even though Jin-woo had the Av13 pill.
"It seems you've already found a solution to this problem. I'll leave you to it then. You're now the single-most important person in the world, these guards will remain close to you to ensure your safety."
After saying that, the Marshal walked past Madelyn and left the office.
Madelyn furiously glared at his back, but internally, she couldn't help but sigh. After composing herself, she walked to the office door and said in a growling tone while shoving the male and female soldiers.
"Get out of my way."
The male and female soldier stepped aside, and Madelyn snorted coldly before she hurried towards the main lab that was relocated after it was burnt down. Despite her circumstances, she couldn't just sit back and not help.