25. What Happened to Them. (2)

The shutter lifted, and people appeared.

Women. And men among them.

They looked haggard.

Their clothes, seemingly unwashed for days, were drenched in sweat, and their hair, uncombed, was matted and tangled.

The men looked disheveled, but the women were in a truly pitiful state.

Some of their clothes were almost torn to shreds, barely covering their bodies, and their collarbones and faces were bruised.

Some wore bras, while others didn’t.

They awkwardly tried to cover their chests, but under the streetlight, everything was exposed.

They looked pathetic.

Haggard.

I instinctively realized what had happened.

These women had been raped by the cockroaches.

For days, or even longer.

I had suspected this from the moment they demanded we hand over our women.

The people looked at us briefly, then focused their gaze on me.

They probably assumed I was the leader because I was standing at the front.

The women swayed slightly and trembled.

They looked disoriented.

From their haggard appearance, it was clear they hadn’t eaten properly.

I looked at the men.

There were three men.

All young.

Late teens or early twenties.

Their positions suggested they didn’t know each other well or weren’t particularly close.

One of the men slowly extended his hand towards me.

His fingernails were black.

He hadn’t washed.

His face was gaunt, and his nose was black, not from snot but from dried blood.

The man said,

“Please… help us.”

I looked at the man, then at the women.

How did they end up like this?

Water is still available.

I took a step down the stairs.

The women and men took a step back.

They didn’t dare block my path.

An attitude of completely shattered self-respect and self-esteem.

I stepped down and looked around.

Towards the road and the alley next to the mart’s side door.

No sign of human activity.

The women looked at me.

But when our eyes met, they flinched and looked away.

The men also avoided making eye contact with me.

I said,

“…I heard you escaped. How did you escape?”

One of the men answered,

“The… the guy guarding the warehouse suddenly disappeared. So… we thought if not now, we’d all die there, so we escaped.”

Another man said,

“We overheard them talking about people in the mart. So…”

Hmm…

They came here without knowing who we are?

The man who spoke first, the one with the black nose, was holding a woman’s hand.

They seemed to be about the same age.

Girlfriend?

I asked,

“You were locked in the warehouse? Why? Why were you locked up?”

The man with the black nose bit his lip and said,

“…Some of those guys… some of those guys, they… they took the college girls, the young women, separately. They tried to take my girlfriend, so I asked why…”

The man closed his eyes tightly.

…He must have resisted to protect his girlfriend and got beaten up.

The man continued,

“They locked the women in the warehouse… and the guys kept coming in and out… I tried to save them but got caught. They locked me in the convenience store warehouse.”

The man pointed at the other men.

“These guys were there too. They tried to protect their sisters and girlfriends and got beaten up badly. They were locked up there too.”

…It’s a jungle out there.

I can imagine what happened.

Among the cockroaches, there were definitely couples or partners.

But there were also men without women.

Men without women.

They banded together and took young women, doing as they pleased.

From the presence of tattooed pigs, it seems some former thugs or gangsters were in charge.

The cockroach leader must have allowed it.

To control the men, he had to provide what they wanted.

Perhaps the cockroach leader himself joined in, visiting the warehouse where the women were kept. Who knows?

The cockroaches who raided us numbered about a hundred.

I doubt they left any reserves behind when they attacked.

They probably brought everyone.

Out of a hundred men, how many didn’t have women?

And how many women did they keep as playthings?

The women in front of me.

There must be more.

I’m certain.

But that’s a different matter.

The problem now is the women and men in front of me…

I turned to look at our people behind me.

Jeong-seo, Jun-hyuk, Tae-young, and Mr. Hoon.

They all looked unhappy.

The men, I can understand, but the problem is Jeong-seo.

She lost her only family to the cockroaches. Flames of anger must be burning inside her.

…These people who escaped from the cockroaches.

How does Jeong-seo feel about them?

Jeong-seo’s gaze met mine.

She bit her lip.

Then, she nodded slightly.

Yes.

Jeong-seo.

Even if flames of anger burn inside you, you’re still a good person at heart.

I looked at the escaped women and men and slowly nodded.

I didn’t say anything.

I just turned and walked up the stairs, heading towards the elevator.

As I walked, I patted Mr. Hoon’s shoulder.

Take care of it, Mr. Hoon.

Mr. Hoon nodded, understanding my intent, and stepped forward to speak.

“Come in. We have many empty rooms upstairs, so you can take a shower and eat something. We have plenty of food.”

I got into the elevator, listening to Mr. Hoon welcoming the people.

Jeong-seo followed me in.

The elevator doors closed.

I said,

“You made the right decision.”

Jeong-seo didn’t respond.

If we take their words at face value, these young men and women are only victims.

Even if they were part of the cockroaches, it would be hard for Jeong-seo, who harbors infinite hatred towards the cockroaches, to refuse them.

I asked,

“Are you okay?”

This time, Jeong-seo answered.

“…I want to kill all of them.”

She didn’t shout or express anger.

She just stated it.

But her voice was chilling.

…Hmm.

I nodded and said,

“Next time, we’ll kill them all.”

Jeong-seo didn’t respond.

Her mind seemed conflicted.

As we walked to Ye-eun’s room, Jeong-seo said,

“Seong-hun.”

I turned around.

“Can you give me a cigarette?”

I nodded and turned towards the stairs.

“Sure. Let’s go.”

On the rooftop, we lit our cigarettes and looked at the night view.

Jeong-seo was silent.

I, too, was conflicted.

From the stories of the escaped men and women, it seemed the cockroaches had a sort of hierarchy.

Slaves who weren’t even treated like humans.

And the thug-like men in power.

With the death of the authority figure, the tattooed pigs had a field day.

Unlike our group, who worked together, they didn’t.

Survivor groups formed after the apocalypse, even from the same neighborhood, could be so different.

It was probably due to the influence of the cockroach leader and his wife.

When people who think they can treat others however they want and expect to be treated well themselves gain power, this is the result.

It’s obvious.

But the question is, what happened to those guys?

“Phew…”

The cigarette smoke drifted away.

It was late at night.

I’ll hear the details tomorrow.

The escaped men and women need to be assigned rooms, take a shower, and have a proper meal.

 * * *

The next day.

So-hyeon and Ye-eun, along with the other women, went around the houses, welcoming the new women of their age.

A light greeting and some bread baked by Han-tae might make them feel like they’ve escaped hell.

Meanwhile, I took the three escaped men to the calligraphy school to hear their story.

I gestured for them to sit at the desks and took a chair to face them.

“How was the room? Was it okay?”

The men nodded.

They looked much better than the sweat-soaked, haggard state they were in last night.

Though they still looked malnourished from days of hunger, they at least looked human.

They seemed quite grateful to me.

The man with the black nose, now looking normal, answered,

“The room is nice. Thank you for accepting us. My girlfriend seems more at ease too.”

…Hmm.

She might seem more at ease, but she’s not really.

After what they went through with the cockroaches, it won’t disappear in just one day.

I nodded and asked,

“I called you here to find out what happened to the… those guys. But first, let’s exchange names and ages. I’m twenty-five, Han Seong-hun. I’m not the leader, but I sort of take charge here. What about you?”

The men introduced themselves.

And I immediately forgot their names.

Damn, why do men’s names slip out of my mind so easily?

Jun-hyuk and Tae-young barely managed to remember theirs.

Anyway, I learned that these men were twenty, twenty-two, and twenty-three years old.

A few years younger than me.

I nodded and said,

“Since I’m older and we’ll be sharing a lot of stories, let’s be more casual. You can call me hyung or Seong-hun.”

“Yes.”

The men responded.

Just then, Jeong-seo, Mr. Hoon, and Jun-hyuk entered the calligraphy school. They must have finished their tasks and came to hear the story.

I nodded to them and asked,

“So, about the… the guys over there. What exactly happened? Tell me what you know.”