episode_0018

“Hmph…”

It seemed like they felt very cold because they were in a high altitude.

Didn’t he say he’d come right away without looking back, because of that idiot?

“호…”

It was a problem that my body was cold, but the bigger problem was that my hands were gradually freezing.

If I made a mistake while crossing the wire like this, there was a high chance that I would end up as tomato ketchup like the zombies that fell earlier.

I blew hard on my hands to warm them up. For a moment, I felt warmth in my hands that had been red and had no warmth at all.

I should have brought a hot pack.

It was already too late to think about it now. I never imagined I would do something like this in the first place, so even if I went back to before departure, I wouldn’t have thought of taking a hot pack with me.

I glanced down the street. There were zombies. They weren’t grouped together in a way that would seem odd, nor were they facing any particular direction.

Those aren’t the guys the old man was luring.

I left a big X on the map. This block is also a dud. I was hoping to win, but it seems like that’s going to be difficult.

I held Griphook in my hand, and my teeth chattered as I thought about going over to the other building. I sighed. This fucking human, this stupid human…

Once again, the partner I chose… No, it wasn’t me who chose it, it was chosen for me, but anyway.

“Ha…”

Even if I swore like this, nothing would change. I was still in the position of having to find the old man and having to get to that building.

I shouldn’t waste my energy on useless things. I needed to cross over before my barely thawed hands froze again.

“ Sons … ”

The wires connected the two buildings tightly.

The first few times I was able to jump across the wire like a clown, but now my concentration was a little lacking and my body was too cold to even think about trying.

After securing safety by walking across the bridge, I started to dangle and cross.

Even though the wire was coated, even though I was wearing clothes, even though my legs were protected by tights… it was inevitable that it would get a little worn out.

Maybe when you shower later, you’ll see that it’s bright red and swollen, or the skin may be peeling.

“I wish it didn’t exist.”

I glanced at my sternum, where I had eaten a mouthful of rope. That was the most painful. It was like a useless lump of fat…

The same process was repeated countless times.

“Is this the end…”

I let out the words as a sigh.

The map was full of X’s, meaning that they still had no trace of the old man until they reached the last remaining block.

At the same time, it also meant that there was definitely an old man somewhere here. Didn’t you just see a bunch of zombies gathered like ants when you came over here?

“ Where are you!

He swore into the walkie-talkie. What? You never take your eyes off me? You keep your promises?

The fact that I was at the last block meant that I was the furthest away from our destination, and this also meant that this was the second block that the old man had encountered when he started luring people.

In short, this fucking idiot idiot made a big deal and then got sidetracked in less than an hour.

If it had been found in the second or third block, I might have been a little more forgiving, but this was absolutely, absolutely unforgivable.

“…”

“Ho, okay. You’re going to chew on it till the end since you’re going to get scolded anyway, right? I won’t let you off easy once I find you.”

This place happened to be a residential area. It was filled with houses that felt similar to the house where Mr. Cheon Deuk lived. It was a house surrounded by things that looked more like a castle wall than a wall.

It was a terrain that was easier for me and had more exit routes than an area filled with luxury villas.

I was confident enough to find the old man somewhere here. As long as it wasn’t a dead end, the lack of arrows wouldn’t be a big problem.

By the way, I hope you’re alive.

I looked at my watch. It had been over three hours since I had been able to contact the old man, and it was approaching four hours.

*

A few hours ago,

As soon as Do-Hoon came out of the manhole, he caught the attention of the zombies around him. Not only did he scream loudly, he also took out the blood pack he had in his arms, soaked a spare shirt in it, and ran with it.

The zombies literally started chasing him, tail to tail.

Do-hoon smiled with satisfaction. It was because he realized that even if Dan-hwa and Cheon-deuk got out of the manhole, they wouldn’t be in too much trouble.

Now, all he had to do was move according to the plan he had made with Danhwa.

Do-Hoon kicked the ground. The solid road lifted his body up. He stepped on the heads of several zombies and jumped further.

The zombies that were stepped on couldn’t have been unscathed because a considerable amount of weight had crushed their heads. Every time Do-Hoon jumped, the zombies that had been stepped on fell backwards.

Among them, there were often those who broke their necks or fractured their skulls when they fell.

‘I guess I should call it quits around here.’

It was impossible to gather all the zombies from several blocks at once. Now that a reasonable number had gathered, I felt the need to gather them in one place and move on to the next step.

Moreover, recently, as the glare from Danhwa has become more frightening, Do-Hoon himself has been thinking that he should buy it.

What if he was late for his appointment? He probably would have been in trouble for weeks. I didn’t even want to think about it.

At that moment, Do-Hoon’s eyes caught sight of a cafe building. The messy scene of the cafe was clearly visible through the wide open glass windows.

If something like an entrance alarm had sounded, it would have been easy to round up the zombies and run away, but it had been a long time since the city had lost electricity, so it was difficult to expect that.

Inside the cafe, there was no artificial light to be seen.

Do-Hoon took out a hammer head from his bosom. Without hesitation, he threw it at the café window. The window shattered with a loud crash.

Thankfully for Do-Hoon, it wasn’t a piece that had been treated to prevent flying debris. The glass poured down onto the floor as soon as it broke.

The commotion also caused zombies scattered all over to appear. Do-hoon entered the cafe. One of the zombies, who was probably an employee, came straight towards Do-hoon.

Do-Hoon didn’t feel particularly threatened by it. He swung the jungle sword he had tucked into his waistband. With a bloody sound, the clerk’s head flew off.

The cross-section was not clean, even to a good extent. It would be more accurate to say that it was ‘torn off’ rather than ‘cut off.’

Instead of thick blood, a dark red jelly flowed out. I don’t know why, but most zombies were like this. Maybe it was because they had body temperature but didn’t have it, so their blood had hardened into a jelly.

Leaving those thoughts behind, Do-Hoon went about doing what he had to do.

He put the shirt he was holding in his hand over the body of the clerk zombie whose head had been blown off, and he cut off a corner of the blood pack and stuffed it into the spot where the head had been.

Instead of the musty, unpleasant smell of zombies, the pungent scent of blood began to tickle Do-Hoon’s nose.

‘Okay.’

Zombies didn’t eat other zombies. Maybe zombies had some kind of instinct for species preservation.

So this is what it had to be like. If fresh blood was on the dead bodies of former zombies who were no longer moving, they would bury their heads in it and chew, tear, and taste this meat without even knowing what was going on.

And eventually, they’ll realize that they’re just zombies like themselves and stop eating.

Anyway, that was enough time for Do-Hoon to shake off the zombies and escape. He quickly threw the clerk’s body toward the counter and ran upstairs.

The zombies chasing Do-Hoon were now divided into two groups. Those heading towards the corpse that was lying on the counter and giving off a delicious smell, and those following him up the stairs, moving briskly.

Do-Hoon kicked the head of the guy at the front of the group coming up the stairs. With a heavy sound, the zombie’s skull broke and its body flew for a moment. As a result, even the guys following him fell down.

Do-Hoon didn’t bother to check behind him. He continued to climb upwards.

The door leading to the rooftop was an ivory iron door, crimson handprints were scattered messily on the doorknob and the iron door, and underneath it was a corpse with its upper and lower body separated.

The upper body twitched as Do-hoon approached. Do-hoon stepped on the head without hesitation, causing it to burst. The upper body sagged along with the lower body, and eventually they became the same corpse.

Do-hoon grabbed the doorknob to open the door. The door was firmly locked. Do-hoon realized the situation.

‘That’s too bad.’

Do-Hoon immediately took out the hammer he had put in his bag. The hammer head weighed about 8kg. Without hesitation, he struck the doorknob.

In an instant, the doorknob shattered and light poured in through the round hole. The door that had been firmly locked and sent someone out to their death opened by itself as if nothing had happened.

There was a penthouse on the open rooftop. Several well-dressed skeletons were lying on the floor. Two large ones and one small one.

‘What a family. They must have died because they had nothing to eat.’

Judging by the black marks left on the floor, it seemed that the flesh had rotted and decayed over a long period of time since starvation.

Do-Hoon felt regretful, but at the same time, he felt fortunate. He came up after making a mess of the downstairs floor, but what if his living family had welcomed him?

They must have felt no small amount of guilt for messing up their shelter, while also failing to keep their promise to Danhwa.

Since he had already caused trouble, it was only natural to help him. I looked around to find a way for Do-Hoon to proceed.

There was a house not far away. It had the high walls typical of a wealthy home.

A puppy was moving. It wasn’t uncommon. The world had become like this and it was a good place for animals to live.

A boy playing in the yard poked his nose somewhere and waggled his tail. He was caught by a pure white hand that came out of the ground and disappeared into the ground.

“…”

It wasn’t an adult’s. Do-Hoon decided to check.