episode_0009

The distance from the starting point to Guro wasn’t far.

Roughly five subway stops away.

Even walking leisurely, it would take about an hour and a half to arrive.

That is, assuming the city was functioning ‘normally’.

Having departed in the morning and still walking now, I had to admit I’d underestimated the situation.

After all, the situation was quite different from the first day.

“Wow…”

The spectacle of zombies filling the street before my eyes created the illusion that they were mocking my complacency.

***

I proceeded past the overpass towards Onsu.

It was a mess, but quiet, so I didn’t think much of it.

Most cars were half-destroyed or abandoned, and there were no sudden attacks.

Up until then, things had been smoother than expected, and my tension had eased.

My lighthearted mood grew heavy as the overpass ended.

My pace inevitably slowed from the main street where commercial buildings and skyscrapers truly began. My relaxed tension also tightened once more.

An unsettling feeling emanated from ahead. An uncomfortable sensation, as if my neck was being gently squeezed.

Goosebumps rose on my skin from the chilling sensation that made my fine hairs stand on end.

The faint sensation grew stronger the further I went, feeling like a warning not to proceed any further.

I paused for a moment and looked around.

A sense of alarm too strong to simply ignore and proceed blindly. Before moving, I decided to scout ahead from a high vantage point. Just then, there was a building nearby, roughly ten stories high.

The entrance to the building I entered had bloodstains trailing from the floor.

A subtly foul odor and an unpleasant feeling that slightly heightened my tension. I couldn’t be certain, but I instinctively knew there were zombies inside the building.

I held my breath and moved with steps as light as a cat walking on a wall.

My purpose wasn’t to search the building, but to observe the situation from the rooftop, so I only needed to move quietly. As I climbed the stairs.

Gurgle— Groan—

A faint, low groan of a zombie was heard from above.

I paused for a moment, cautiously peeked my head out, and quickly scanned the top of the stairs.

‘Not on the stairs, and I hear wind. Is it on the rooftop…’

It would be strange not to encounter a single zombie in a building where people lived.

I pulled out my crowbar and continued up the stairs. Carefully, quietly.

Zombies themselves weren’t the problem, but a moment of carelessness could be fatal.

If bitten by a zombie, I would transform like them and end my miserable life.

Though stronger than others, I was still human, so cold sweat running down my back was unavoidable.

Soon, the rooftop entrance came into view.

Fortunately, the door wasn’t locked and was slightly ajar.

It was a typical sturdy iron door, but there were signs of dents.

Between the bloodstains and scratches, human fingernails were embedded.

Hair was tangled in the pieces of flesh hardened and stuck to the door, adding to the horror.

I didn’t know if it was the victim’s struggle to survive, or the zombie’s desperate thrashing to bite the living. Or perhaps both.

‘They’re here.’

As I crept to the door, I heard low zombie groans from beyond it.

I gently pushed the door open and quickly darted my eyes around.

‘Five of them. I’ll take them.’

Without hesitation, I lunged forward.

Just as the zombies, recognizing me, lunged forward with frantic welcoming gestures.

Thud—! Thump thump thump!

Without needing any finesse or tricks, I swung the crowbar at their heads.

I simply attacked quickly and accurately before they could react properly.

And then immediately ducked.

Whoosh—!

Feeling a stinging sensation at the back of my neck, I hastily ducked and rolled.

I quickly regained my posture and tracked the identity of whatever had aimed for my neck.

‘That was incredibly fast! What was it? An animal…’

“Screeeeech!”

A zombie twisted its neck like a puppet from a horror movie, looking up at me from a bizarrely lowered stance. A zombie letting out a monstrous shriek of unknown origin, whether anger or threat.

“…Clench!”

I confirmed it was a zombie and gritted my teeth.

It looked like a girl, probably no older than five in life… a zombie girl looked up at me. Its single remaining eye was discolored, making it impossible to read any emotion, but the thick murderous intent distinctly reached my Adam’s apple.

My brain momentarily froze, but perhaps reacting to the zombie’s killing intent, my body instinctively prepared to fight. The zombie watched me rise, its low growl unwavering as it kept its gaze fixed on me.

As if it wanted to tear my throat out at any moment…

“Screee!!”

The zombie, two meters away, leaped forward in its current stance and charged.

Without any preparatory movements, and at high speed.

“!!”

The speed, unimaginable from such a small body, startled me, causing my reaction to be slightly delayed, preventing a counterattack. As soon as I frantically raised the crowbar—

“Crunch! Gnaw! Gnaw!”

With its gaze still fixed on my neck, the zombie furiously gnawed at the obstructing crowbar.

The unsettling sound of teeth crumbling irritated my eardrums.

The tiny zombie, clinging to the crowbar it bit, thrashing as if it had no other thoughts, was grotesque and horrifying.

For a child, there would have been the sweet scent of baby formula, a soft, fluffy fragrance…

Instead, there was only the smell of blackish-blue blood oozing from broken gums, and a foul, decaying stench.

The smell of the dead stimulated my nasal cavity, and the fact that it was a zombie of a young child, not an adult, made me feel like my mind would go hazy.

“Hup!”

I instantly twisted my right wrist, which held the crowbar, and pushed the small body away with my left hand.

The zombie rolled backward but sprang right up as if nothing had happened.

It seemed to lower its stance, then lunged at me again with another jump.

This time, without panicking, I extended the crowbar to match its charging speed.

As it made contact, I slightly pivoted my body on one foot, using it as an axis to maintain my balance.

From my foot to my waist, from my back to my shoulder, from my arm to my right wrist.

A short, continuous movement, activating the joints from bottom to top.

Swish—

Outwardly, it looked like my body had merely twitched, but the sequence of movements created a powerful, fluid rotation, and the result was—

“Screeeeech!”

I lightly deflected the charging zombie with the crowbar, creating an effect that sent it flying off the rooftop.

Thud—

……

After a moment’s hesitation, I glanced down from the rooftop.

The small figure that had flown mid-air and fallen onto a car could no longer charge at me.

…Haa.

I sank to the floor and stared at the crowbar.

There were slight bite marks, and blood dripped from it.

As I looked at it, a disgusting feeling surged from the pit of my chest.

I irritably scratched my head, then finally pulled out a cigarette and lit it.

“Hoo…”

Above the exhaled cigarette smoke, I saw dark clouds that seemed as gloomy as my current mood.

***

It was only after chain-smoking for a long time that I got up.

I had no particular aversion to zombies in adult form.

However, encountering a child-shaped zombie, which I hadn’t considered, did make me a bit flustered.

“I’m about to die right now, so what’s this useless sentimentality?”

It wasn’t a luxurious emotion like guilt. I had merely hesitated for a moment due to the social moral concept that children should be protected, and its appearance. After all, the opponent was a reanimated corpse. Regardless of its appearance, if I wanted to survive, I had no choice but to eliminate it.

Thinking about it again, I was dumbfounded at myself for panicking and reacting slowly.

A self-deprecating laugh escaped me, but it was only for a moment. It was a problem I could do better on next time.

I pulled myself together and surveyed my surroundings as originally intended.

First, there seemed to be no more zombies on this rooftop. I wondered if more might rush up from below due to the slight commotion, but seeing as it was quiet, I felt relieved.

As I surveyed the direction towards Guro, I climbed onto the roof of the rooftop entrance.

With my view slightly elevated, I felt like I could see that much better.

“Wow…”

From the large intersection ahead, a spectacle of zombies filled the street.

The sight of them writhing and roaming created the illusion of an ant colony on the move.

Their overwhelming numbers left me speechless, and I even felt an illusion that the stench of rotting flesh reached me here.

The faint, barely audible, grotesque wails of the zombies seemed like a provocative jeer, mocking my complacency in underestimating the zombie outbreak.

“Ugh… shit, what do I do?”

I took out my smartphone and searched for a map.

Fortunately, the data network seemed not to be cut off yet, and it worked well.

Though the GPS function had some issues…

“Direction… I came the right way… even if I go around, no, it’s the same everywhere.”

I admitted to myself that I had been too optimistic, too complacent. When I’d looted House Plus, the numbers weren’t that high, so I guess I’d vaguely let my happy circuit run wild.

I hadn’t seen zombies on the streets during the day before, and had mistakenly thought they were active only inside buildings and at night, but that wasn’t true.

“Right. They’re not vampires, what does day and night have to do with anything?”

I stared at the zombie horde for a moment, then sank to the ground and took out some food.

“First, fill my stomach. I’m hungry, haven’t eaten breakfast.”

Suddenly, I realized an important fact.

“Fire! Pot! Ah, damn it!!”

That’s right.

Stupidly, I had packed a lot of ingredients but hadn’t thought about cooking utensils or tableware.

To grill meat or boil ramen, no, to properly prepare meals in the future, these were essential items, and I had completely forgotten them.

“Am I really a dumbass….”

In the end, I took out the packaged sushi and Vienna sausages I’d eaten last time and crunched them down.

“A stove… is impossible, but at least something I can eat after blanching in boiling water…”

It would be better if I could at least slurp some ramen broth, but drinking only plain water felt disappointing. Though this was an emergency situation, I still wanted to eat properly whenever I ate.

I hated being hungry, but I also hated eating carelessly.

Seeing how serious I was about food, it seemed I truly was Korean.

As I finished my meal, I gave it some thought.

Before, I’d been satisfied just raiding the food section and had overlooked things.

But from now on, I needed to minimize such mistakes as much as possible.

In that sense, looting the pharmacy was a good move.

I don’t know what will happen in the future, and I could catch a cold or get sick…

“Ah! I need to get things like soap too. And good shampoo!”

Now, it’s difficult to even meet a doctor.

If I get hurt or sick, it will be dangerous. Even if it’s pharmacy medicine, how could it compare to medicine properly diagnosed and prescribed by a legitimate doctor?

Even if I stay alert and protect myself from injuries, for illnesses, all I can do is wash well and maintain cleanliness.

“For now, I’ll just gather everything without picking and choose, and sort it later… No, damn it, truly nothing is unimportant….”

It seems true that having a good head on my shoulders now will make things easier for my body.

Muttering to myself with a frustrated and gloomy heart, I adjusted my hat and sunglasses. I pulled up my neck warmer as well, thoroughly covering my face.

In a situation like this, I might think it doesn’t matter if someone sees my face, but it’s for personal reasons.

Anyway…

The immediate problem is how to get through that wave of zombies.

That is the question.