Ch.177Chapter 20. Patriot (29)

“Fuck.”

At nine years old, Catherine was taught, “When you die, you must defend all your thoughts, words, and actions before the Goddess of Hunger. So always be careful.”

Even now at twenty-three, she tried hard to follow that teaching. But Catherine thought, “Even the Goddess would curse at the sight of this mess.”

What she had considered her “final line of defense” had been mercilessly breached. Zombies had swarmed in, occupying everything from the first floor to the rooftop in an instant. The problem was that even though the building was already packed with zombies, they only thought about going up, and up.

Zombies pushed to the rooftop railing fell. Those hitting the ground shattered into pieces. As the wind quickly spread the smell of blood and flesh, zombies gathered with moans. Regardless of how burned their bodies were.

“Who exactly are you?”

Catherine, having regained her senses, asked the “man.” He sat on a folding chair with both hands on his knees. His weapon was placed quite far away, and his bag was being inspected by Elian’s subordinates.

“Me? A drifter whose life is being threatened after saving you people.”

‘He has a kind-looking face, but his mouth is quite twisted.’ Catherine shrugged as if there was nothing she could do. Elian, having completed all investigations, approached. The two women turned their backs to the man and whispered.

“Nothing dangerous. Just water, food, bullets, rope, bandages, disinfectant, and a flashlight. A rifle, a handgun, and a hunting knife, one each. It’s baffling.”

Catherine agreed with Elian’s assessment. The man was ordinary. Ordinarily ordinary. And this abandoned central district was a place where such “ordinary” people absolutely could not survive. Elian turned around as if she would take charge this time. She walked over sluggishly and simply plopped down on the bare floor in front of the man.

“Sorry. We’re a bit on edge. We’re really grateful you saved us. But the world doesn’t let us repay kindness with kindness, does it? It’s not your fault or ours. It’s the world that’s wrong. So, blame the world.”

Elian stretched out her arm and gripped the man’s handgun. The safety clicked off.

“You’re going to kill me and take all my things?”

The man glared at Elian. She met his gaze impassively.

“That depends on you. Whether you get shot in the balls and run crying through the streets, or get thrown off this rooftop alive, or if neither appeals to you, just hand over the gun and we all go our separate ways.”

“What do I need to do?”

At the man’s question, Elian smiled lightly.

“Take off your clothes.”

Of course, she didn’t say this out of interest.

Elian was convinced the man must be a gang member. In gangs, those who harm the organization are punished by being told to “go to the central district and bring back something that will please the boss.”

Of course, even if you brought back 30kg of gold, if it “doesn’t please them,” you’d be thrown to the zombies, so it’s essentially a death sentence.

And all gang members tattoo their bodies as a sign that they have “completely left their previous lives behind.” In other words, it’s also a brand saying “don’t think you can survive outside of us.” So if she stripped the man, she would surely be able to tell if he was a gang member.

“I’d rather not.”

“Should I strip you myself?”

Elian aimed the gun at the man’s head. He didn’t budge. Two of Elian’s male subordinates approached. Just as they were about to reach for the man’s body, he suddenly kicked out.

He kicked one below the knee, and while the other was startled, he punched him in the jaw. The man then twisted the subordinate’s arm and held him in front as a shield.

“W-what the hell!”

The subordinates all aimed their guns. The subordinate being used as a meat shield groaned in pain with his arm twisted. But Elian tilted her head.

“Say what you need to say. Just don’t rip my subordinate’s arm off.”

“I don’t like men undressing me.”

“You’re not willing to undress yourself?”

“You asked if you should strip me. My answer is ‘yes.'”

Elian blinked as if to say, me? The man flashed a grin. Elian put down her gun and walked toward the man. The subordinate with the nearly dislocated arm stepped back, sobbing. The one who had been kicked in the knee rolled out of the way.

“Ahem.”

Elian hesitated. Something felt off. Her heart raced anxiously. Not just her face, but even her earlobes seemed to be turning red. It looked like symptoms after having a drink.

“You’re taking too long.”

The man’s words snapped her back. “Ah, sorry.” Elian walked forward as if about to fall. The closer she got to the man, the more breathless she became. “Cough.” Now she was coughing, and her temples were throbbing slightly. The man chuckled.

“Are you planning to wait until I’m an old man?”

“N-no.”

Even Elian herself was bewildered. She knew that as she aged, her body wouldn’t move as she wanted, but she hadn’t expected this to happen before she was even in her late twenties. Her arms and hands trembled, and now her legs were shaking too. It was similar to when she had a severe cold.

“Achoo!”

“Why is it taking so long just to undress someone…?”

Catherine, unable to wait any longer, approached but then stopped abruptly. “Sniff. Sniff.” She seemed to smell something strange. Her face reddened too. Unlike Elian, Catherine’s stomach growled loudly.

Gulp. Suddenly, her appetite was stimulated. Hunger and appetite were always present in the unprotected zone, but this hunger was beyond what she was normally accustomed to. It was a kind of desperation, as if food had been snatched away right before her eyes.

But someone with military background had to be different. Catherine overcame her urge and waved her hand.

“Hey, Elian seems unwell. I’d like Joanna and Vera to help her.”

“N-no! I can do it myself!”

Elian frantically waved her hands, but Joanna and Vera were already approaching.

It wasn’t out of “concern” for Elian. Catherine’s hint meant “be prepared in case Elian might be turning into a zombie.” While the two women approached, other agents carefully kept their guns close. If necessary, they would have to shoot.

And they too all stopped walking simultaneously. The watching agents gripped their gun handles. Could it really be zombification?

“Fine. I get it.”

The man sighed deeply. He roughly unbuttoned his shirt, took it off, and held his undershirt in one hand. Joanna and Vera also gave slight coughs. Joanna’s hand grabbed the man’s clothes. Her eyes glittered as if drunk, and her lips were parched.

“Ahem. We need to check if there’s anything in the clothes too!”

Elian, Catherine, and Vera looked at Joanna as if she was absurd. Joanna herself blushed with embarrassment but didn’t let go. If there were no eyes watching, she would have buried her face in the clothes and sniffed them.

The smell was too good.

Even while knowing something was strange and wrong, she wanted to do it so badly that she felt disgust and doubt about herself, but at the same time wondered what was the point of such feelings.

“That’s right.”

Vera sided with Joanna. As Joanna instinctively pulled on the clothes, Vera grabbed the opposite end. In the process, the clothes spread wide open. There was no “pop” sound, but the fragrance spread sufficiently.

“Ugh, what is this?!”

The men covered their noses and backed away, but not the women. Each gave a small “achoo” cough, flipped their hair dramatically, and looked at the man with different eyes than before. Joanna and Vera were practically hugging with the clothes between them.

‘Something’s wrong.’

Catherine didn’t cough like the others. But her stomach was so hungry, and her lower abdomen was rumbling so much that she couldn’t concentrate at all. It was strange. Her thoughts seemed to be numbing. ‘What should I do? How should I handle this?’ She couldn’t make any judgments.

So Catherine could only watch as Elian put her nose close to the man’s body.

“Wow. Your body is warm. But I can’t see if there are tattoos here. It’s too dark.”

“Why tattoos?”

The man asked. Catherine felt her mind becoming hazy. It was completely different from before, with a certain resonance. Was it because of the scent tickling her nose, or because of hunger? Her legs were trembling so much she wanted to sit down, or else she wanted to eat something, anything. Unable to do either, she could only watch Elian grinning.

“Ah, gang members have tattoos on their bodies. And if a gang member enters the central district, there’s only one reason. As punishment. I thought you were definitely a gang member. But it’s a bit dark. And tattoos can’t be felt by touch either.”

“I told you. I’m just a passing—”

“You expect me to believe that?”

Catherine felt anger rising. Elian was toying with the man. The man was strange. None of these reactions were normal.

“Stop!”

As a possessor of excellent judgment and a cold-headed devotee of the goddess, Catherine shouted. Everyone was startled as if doused with cold water. Catherine struggled to point at the man.

“You, you’re making strange sounds.”

“Me? What?”

The man’s reaction was outrageous, but Elian’s attitude was even stranger. She was standing in front of the man, blocking him.

“There was nothing strange, what are you talking about?”

Catherine was flabbergasted. She thought Elian was a bit stupid, but she didn’t know she would be incapable of such basic suspicion.

“Elian, think about it! If there are no tattoos on his upper body, they must be on his lower body! So we need to take off his pants too! And if necessary, even his underwear!”

“Ah.”

Elian staggered back as if she’d been hit. That’s right. She was too excited right now. She thought it was good that she had brought Catherine along.

“We’ll handle such rough work…”

The female members stepped forward. The male members grabbed the women’s arms and tried to explain “what nonsense are you talking about?” but they wouldn’t listen at all. It wasn’t like they were asking for dates, but they were met with extreme irritation and disgust.

“No, this is enough for just the executives! You shouldn’t just strip someone like that!”

Elian waved both arms. But not Catherine.

“Since I’m the supervisor, it’s enough if just I look! Right, nameless person? You’d rather show your body to just one person than be humiliated in front of everyone, right? I’m sorry. It’s our procedure…”

“Hoot.”

“Pardon?”

“Hoot, that’s my name.”

The man answered nonchalantly.