episode_0035

To be honest, I wasn’t as clueless as the old man. Sometimes, when the old man did something stupid, my mind would get confused and my judgment would slow down.

A pharmacist, no, Maria?

Damn, why won’t you tell me your name?

Judging from the fact that she suddenly said she would follow the old man, or from Maria’s reaction when she came face to face with the pot-bellied old man, it was impossible not to notice that something was going on between the two or the people in the church.

Didn’t I tell you not to be late for confession?

As I stuttered over the word confession, scenes from long ago on TV came to mind. People were kneeling and confessing their sins in a building built in the outskirts of a suburb late at night or in the early morning.

Was the program suspended from airing as a disciplinary measure because it showed a scene where the character was not wearing a single thread on his body?

What on earth were the PDs and editors thinking… No, this is none of my business.

Anyway, the important thing is that if we assume that this is the average for pseudo-religious groups in normal times, it doesn’t seem like a moderate event for a confession to be held in a closed pseudo-religious group in this zombie apocalypse situation.

When we arrived at the basement, we were greeted by a dark hallway. The ceiling was lined with pure white built-in fluorescent lights, but they seemed to have not been turned on for a long time.

Well, is it too much to hope for electricity in a building in the mountains?

Instead, candle holders were placed on stands placed all over the corners and walls, and the drug dealer took a lighter from his pocket and lit the candles.

“Wish fulfillment…”

The old man stared at the lit candle and read the words engraved on it. Seeing the lotus flower drawn under the words “wish fulfillment,” it didn’t seem like something that would be found in a church.

“Isn’t that funny? There were many Buddhist temples down the mountain because of the Majangsa Temple. These are from there. When praying at dawn or late at night, they often use candles, but they have the words carved out or removed, but here, there’s no need to do that.”

I didn’t necessarily ask you to explain it, but it was a really sad story when I heard it. Of course, I’m talking about the Majangsa side, not the Hanmaum Church.

When I see that the healthy side is ruined and the pseudo-religious side like Hanmaum Church survive, it is clear that there is no such thing as rewarding good and punishing evil in the world.

Yeah, survival is justice. Except for the pseudo-people.

“They said it was an evacuation bunker, so I went to the basement of the living quarters first, thinking it might be there. I’ve never seen one while coming and going, but if there is one, it’s most likely here.”

It wasn’t a bad guess. After hearing the pharmacist’s words, the old man nodded and gave a word of praise, saying that it was a good decision.

“It’s dark, I’ll go look around. You, Danhwa…”

The old man looked at the pharmacist and hesitated for a moment. He wondered why, but it seemed to be because he had no idea what to call him.

“I don’t like it, but… Could you please call me Maria?”

“I think it would be good if you take good care of Miss Maria.”

“Come back.”

I had no intention of stirring up this dust hole, so I just waved my hand at the old man.

The old man smiled bitterly and disappeared into the darkness, saying that he would be back soon.

Maria stared blankly at the back of the man and sat down on the stairs.

Maria’s eyes, which had been directed at the old man, briefly turned to me, but it seemed as if she had no special meaning for it, and she quickly left me.

I happened to have something to ask. I sat down next to Maria to satisfy my curiosity and kill some time.

Maria was looking down at her hands with the same bewildered eyes she had when she first saw them. In fact, she might not have been looking at her hands, but at her knees or the ground.

Her sharp, unfocused eyes, along with her dark circles and pale skin, seemed to advertise, “I’m a drug addict.”

“Maria.”

“Do you have any business?”

“I was wondering what kind of relationship you had with the potbelly guy earlier.”

After asking that question, I watched Maria’s reaction. Her expression suddenly became worse, and she kept clenching and unclenching her hands, unable to stay still at all.

Hmm. Is that so?

It seemed as if the areas that had been left as mere guesses were starting to take on a reality color.

“Just not a special relationship. Someone I know… Yeah, someone I know.”

Maria’s voice was full of gloomy feelings, as if she had given up on everything.

“Really? What about confession time?”

“What are you going to do with it? You don’t have to know that kind of stuff.”

A rather blunt answer came out.

“Then what.”

I didn’t want to force an answer from someone who didn’t want to talk, so I just backed off.

“Are you going?”

“Where?”

“That fat guy told me not to be late. Are you going?”

Maria bit her lip. The way she clenched her fists told us just how much she hated confession.

“If you don’t want to go, don’t go. In the first place, the reason you’re helping us is because you don’t want to go there. It would be better if the old man got you out of here. Right?”

I spoke as if I knew everything, and my bet paid off handsomely.

“You’re annoying, you little brat.”

“Don’t talk nonsense, you little brat. You idiot.”

I must have countered the jabs that flew at me. I must have satisfied my curiosity to some extent. I took out the bow that was tied to my waist and started wiping away the moisture that had settled as the snow melted.

If you didn’t do this, water droplets might splash on your body when you shoot the bow, and if you walked outside without wiping it off, this moisture could freeze and have a negative effect on the bow.

Whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing, if you take good care of it, you can use it anywhere.

“Haa… I want to die…”

Seeing him say things he didn’t mean, it seemed like he was really in a sage mood. Well, he couldn’t help but feel a little sane since his shame was discovered by someone he met for the first time today.

“You’ve lived a long life so far. If I were you, I wouldn’t die even if it’s just a pity.”

“I didn’t die because I was afraid of dying. Besides, this isn’t a world where death is the end. If I become a zombie, I won’t know if I’m conscious or not, but I’ll be dragging my intestines around and smelling like rotting flesh, and I don’t want to do that at all.”

“Suicide counseling is easy.”

He said with a snicker. Maria laughed along with me. Did she laugh because it was funny? Anyway, I made her laugh, so I gave her laughter therapy.

If I had been a counselor, I would have been earning a salary in the hundreds of millions. I thought maybe I was born in the wrong time and place.

“How did you two meet?”

“I was about to die, but that stupid old man kept me alive.”

I said without much emotion. I looked down at my feet with my legs stretched out and saw the winter socks the old man had put on me over my boots.

It was clearly not visible when the old man wore them because they were long enough to cover his ankles, but because of my feet, they were long enough to reach my calves.

I think I’ll wear it a lot on a regular basis. It’s also warm.

“So romantic. I can’t help but fall in love with it.”

“Ma’am, when did you take your medicine again?”

While I was pondering over what to use my socks for, I heard some ridiculous nonsense.

“Oh my, I don’t know what you’re talking about?”

When did you get your energy back? Are you bipolar?

“When you take drugs, you lose your sense of reason and all that? I don’t know what the hell you’re looking at to make you say such nonsense.”

“Hohoho, you expect me not to know when I showed it so blatantly? Should I call you naive or stupid? Well, you’re still a kid, so it’s understandable that you wouldn’t know your own feelings.”

Who doesn’t know what? Feelings? How can I say that I have some kind of great feeling toward you?

I know that he could have made such a mistake since he had no idea what kind of person I was or how sound I was inside, but I couldn’t help but feel bad.

“Please shut up. Before I get mad.”

“Cook cook cook…”

Maria the pharmacist smiled truly mischievously.

I want to just kill him.

“Still, I’m jealous. You have a good person next to you. I wish I had one too…”

Maria suddenly became depressed. It was clear that she had bipolar disorder. There was a limit to how much you could cry and laugh, but at this point, I couldn’t help but think that she was seriously ill.

“Even if I can’t take you to a shelter, there are a lot of good people in the neighborhood, so it’ll be okay to live there. It’s not too poor or too rich, so it’s a decent neighborhood.”

I said it to roughly mean to cheer up.

“Yeah… anywhere would be better than here.”

I heard footsteps in the darkness. I saw a shadow and saw that it was an old man. When the thumping footsteps stopped, the old man was already in front of us.

“Did you find it?”

The old man just sat there listening to what I said and didn’t make any particular gestures.

“Can’t find it?”

“What should I say… Hmm…”

The old man didn’t get straight to the point but took his time.

“Did you find it or not?”

“I found it. I found it… but should I say I’m a little hesitant?”

I knew there was a screamer inside and I came here to deal with it, so why am I reluctant…

“Finish it quickly and go. Stop being so noisy like usual.”

“If you actually look at the short story, you’ll understand what I mean, right?”

“I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve understood you.”

“Whew, then today you’ll get one more finger share.”

Look at this. If you’re reluctant, how can you afford to joke around? It seems like you’re joking because it’s going to be annoying. It’s a pattern that the old man has used too many times for me to fall for.

“Be loud and guide quickly.”