episode_0043

The atmosphere, buoyant with the joy of survival, did not last long.

“Casualties! Stretchers! Stretchers!”

At the cry of a soldier who had dismounted from the rear of the six-wheel drive, several people moved frantically.

The seriously wounded female soldier was not in good condition.

The journey itself to get here seemed to have been a considerable burden.

“Lieutenant Lee! Hey! Snap out of it!”

Lieutenant Kim Daesoon, greatly flustered, as if they knew each other.

His usually expressionless face was now filled with shock.

It seemed he only came to his senses after being restrained by Sergeant Kang from shaking her shoulder. He quickly composed himself and began issuing instructions in an orderly fashion.

Instantly, the commotion died down.

Soldiers continued their vigilance against any possible attack, while other soldiers guided the vehicles that had transported us inside.

A situation where measures were taken without a moment to reunite.

Amidst the bustle, Lieutenant Kim remained true to his role.

“Lieutenant Kim-nim! Can’t you see Lieutenant Lee-nim is in critical condition right now?!”

“…It’s a procedure for everyone. No complaints, just comply.”

“……”

“There’s a doctor inside. …Hurry.”

“No one’s been bitten or infected. There are only casualties—”

“…Please hurry.”

Confirmation of potential infection.

Someone among the civilians tried to protest, but was ignored.

There was no compromise in his methodical actions.

‘He’s acting like a soldier, certainly, but….’

Sergeant Kang, grinding his teeth, quickly conducted physical examinations, urging the group along.

People’s expressions were not good.

Who would have thought, after barely surviving to get here, that such treatment awaited them? Moreover, had they ever undergone such a rigorous examination in their lives?

It was understandable for everyone’s feelings to be hurt, but there was no other option.

Though it was unfortunate for the people, Lieutenant Kim was doing the right thing now.

And in the future, such examinations would become a standard procedure.

It was a certain future, and for now, there was no choice but to get used to it and accept it.

After all, no one would want to be attacked by zombies in their safe space. While it might be upsetting right now, they might experience even worse things in the future.

Even the current examination process was considered quite polite.

‘He could have just let Lieutenant Lee go in first….’

He understood well what Lieutenant Kim was worried about.

But in a situation like this, he was too inflexible.

He would have done things differently, but it wasn’t his place to intervene.

In times like these, keeping silent is often the best course.

People weren’t used to it, but they had to adapt.

Everything might change in the future.

If they couldn’t adapt, they might not belong anywhere in the future.

Lieutenant Kim, too, seemed to not just be following rules, urging everyone on.

His sharp voice carried an undeniable urgency.

Sensing this, people no longer complained.

Sergeant Kang and the soldiers, who had been grinding their teeth, simply stripped their clothes quickly.

Perhaps due to the large number of people, the examination conducted outside soon concluded.

The women also passed safely under the examination of a female officer who came out from inside.

Only then could he and his companions enter through the main gate.

And the soldiers began to get busy again.

Soldiers carrying a stretcher, who seemed to have arrived sometime, were escorting Lieutenant Lee, and people wearing red cross armbands on their arms carefully examined the group.

While the 18 soldiers and people were all slumped on the floor, listlessly accepting the measures, Lieutenant Kim approached.

He had been about to follow Lieutenant Lee, but changed his course upon seeing him.

It seemed he was considerably worried about him.

‘There’s no need to go this far.’

Watching Lieutenant Kim, he hid the crowbar he was holding behind his back.

He had no time to put it away, so he couldn’t help it.

Lieutenant Kim scrutinized his blood-soaked appearance from head to toe.

He seemed slightly surprised but didn’t show it.

“You truly have an exceptional talent for surprising people.”

“That wasn’t my intention. Is there a doctor inside?”

He feigned a smile and joked.

At his response, Lieutenant Kim offered a small smile.

“Fortunately, we have military doctors and civilian doctors. Seonghan-ssi, aren’t you hurt? Perhaps you should go in and receive treatment as well…”

“I’m fine. Oh! That’s right.”

There was something he had completely forgotten.

Just as he was reaching into his pocket, leaving a puzzled Lieutenant Kim.

“Lieutenant Kim-nim!”

A soldier approached, panting.

“Hah. Hah. Ah, you need to go inside and see!”

“What’s wrong?”

“There’s been a commotion! There was some violence too.”

If a violent incident had occurred inside, it would indeed be quite urgent.

He remembered hearing about a stabbing incident before.

Lieutenant Kim’s face, as he listened, hardened abruptly.

It was certainly frustrating for an incident to occur right after overcoming one hurdle.

Humans pushed to the brink of survival are sensitivity itself.

And such humans were gathered en masse.

‘Where such people gather, conflicts can arise—’

“Those new people, you know. The ones with the celebrities— Hup!”

The moment he heard that, his expression couldn’t help but harden as well.

The people the reporting soldier was talking about were his companions.

The soldier, who had been explaining the situation while gasping for breath, saw him and fell silent.

He wasn’t surprised by the sight of him standing there covered in blood.

“…Where are my companions now?”

Unable to answer his question, the soldier fidgeted, glancing at Lieutenant Kim.

He waited for an answer, but the soldier did not reply.

“Seo, Seonghan-ssi! First, let me go and con—”

He took off running!

There was no need to hear more, so he immediately ran.

But there was no need to go all the way to the classroom where his companions would be waiting.

From inside the building’s entrance, immediately visible, shouts could be heard.

The closer he got, the clearer the sounds became.

The shouts of Lieutenant Park, trying to break up the people.

Someone else’s shouts, protesting and demanding answers.

He didn’t know the cause, but the atmosphere was utterly brutal.

‘……’

He quietly approached and observed the situation inside directly.

In the spacious hall of the entrance, people were facing off against each other.

The survivors were huddled together on one side.

On the opposite side, Lieutenant Park stood, rambling something.

Next to Lieutenant Park stood Hyuk hyung, glaring at the survivors.

Hyuk hyung’s shoulders rose and fell as he seethed, his eyes sharp.

And behind Hyuk hyung were the rest of their companions.

‘……’

Byeongsu-ssi, Shia’s manager, was sprawled on the ground.

Severe signs of beating were visible all over his body.

His injuries seemed severe, but he was still breathing.

Beside him, Bomi-ssi and Shia could be seen, holding Byeongsu-ssi’s hand and weeping. They, too, were not in good condition.

Bomi-ssi’s clothes were torn, and her face was swollen, as if she had been hit.

She was bitterly weeping, clasping Byeongsu-ssi’s hand.

Shia was not much different.

Her usually calm long hair was disheveled.

Her lips, once charming and eye-catching, were torn and bleeding.

Her large, innocent-looking eyes were swollen and streaming with tears.

Her long, delicate fingers were scraped, with blood welling up.

Her appearance, which she always cared about, was now a mess.

In that state, she was protecting Byeongsu-ssi along with Bomi-ssi.

An elderly couple and Dong-woo watched the two of them with worried expressions.

The couple was unharmed, but Dong-woo also bore signs of being beaten.

…Young-cheol-ssi was not yet visible.

He pushed past the obstructing soldiers in front and stepped forward.

Over Hyuk hyung’s shoulder, he saw Young-cheol-ssi lying collapsed.

He was lying in front of the crowd on the opposite side.

Someone was standing on him with one foot, shouting triumphantly.

From the looks of it, he seemed to be held captive.

‘……’

The moment Young-cheol-ssi entered his sight, nothing else could be heard.

Lieutenant Park’s shouts, trying to calm the crowd.

The voice of the man boldly shouting in front.

The murmuring of people disturbing the hall.

All of it became inaudible.

Instead, a clear sensation began to emerge.

Something was rising from below his chest.

A bubbling, boiling, burning sensation.

Contrary to the dynamic feeling, his mind briefly stopped thinking.

He merely recognized.

His people were hurt.

His mind grew cold, and his eyes fixed on Young-cheol-ssi.

His injuries were worse than Byeongsu-ssi’s.

Signs of group assault were left on Young-cheol-ssi’s once sturdy body.

The floor where he lay was covered in a lot of blood.

His head? Had a wound burst somewhere?

What he wanted to confirm before the severity of the injury.

He was faintly breathing.

Fortunately, Young-cheol-ssi was still alive.

That single fact determined the enemies’ fate.

First, he put the crowbar he had hidden behind his back into his inventory.

If he were to carry it out now, he wasn’t confident he could control himself.

He slowly began to walk forward.

Lieutenant Park and Hyuk hyung, who had been talking loudly, turned at his presence.

They were greatly surprised upon seeing him, but his gaze didn’t fall on them.

Leaving the two behind, he walked slowly.

The moment he stepped forward, he felt the air grow heavy.

He also felt people’s gazes converging on him.

The gazes, mixed with various emotions, did not feel good.

After all, though less than before, he was still covered in blood.

It was the perfect appearance to draw all eyes.

Drawing attention, he approached Young-cheol-ssi, who was still breathing.

The man in front of him was still standing on Young-cheol-ssi.

Only then did he look at the man.

The man, quite burly, was unkempt and dirty in appearance.

But for some reason, the man’s face was full of smiles.

As he stepped forward, the smile vanished, but the man did not remove his foot.

From the man’s foot upwards.

He slowly raised his gaze and met the eyes of the man before him.

Those eyes were familiar.

The gaze was glinting like a zombie’s, but the quality was different.

The dangerously glinting gaze that radiated bloodlust, despite being a corpse.

This was not that kind.

Eyes filled with jealousy and contempt, eyes that only found satisfaction in trampling and destroying others.

Those were the eyes, mixed with vile emotions.

Unsuitably, emotions of ecstasy and pleasure flickered across them.

That’s right.

This man in front of him was enjoying the current situation.

In contrast to the man who was enjoying himself, he began to feel his anger surge.

He could no longer suppress this crawling feeling rising within him.

As his emotions surpassed their critical point, his senses began to sharpen.

Simultaneously, his closed ears slowly opened, and he began to hear sounds.

“…What? Huh? Can’t you hear me?”

The man in front of him was arrogantly poking his head with a finger.

“Enough. It seems like the atmosphere is ready for dialogue again, so let’s talk.”

“Ah, if you say so, then it is so. But I don’t like this guy here?”

Someone’s words of dissuasion from behind him.

It was a young man’s voice.

The hand that was poking his head now pressed with such force it seemed intent on piercing through.

A common act of ignoring and provoking someone.

It was a pose of someone who had done this many times.

‘They’re the kind of guys who’d pull a stunt like this even with armed soldiers around….’

“Why are you walking around covered in such dirty—”

Grab!

Crack!

He snatched the finger that had been poking his head and bent it backward.

In a direction it shouldn’t go.

“Aaaargh~!”

The man, screaming a death-rattle, tried to collapse, but…

Crack! Crack!

“Urghh!!”

Instead of the finger, he seized the man’s hand and squeezed with all his might.

With a choking sound, the man’s eyes rolled back, and he even foamed at the mouth.

He gazed at the man and muttered in a low voice.

“I don’t like you either.”

CRACK-!!

A sensation of something breaking was transmitted through his fingertips.

A sound that shouldn’t come from a human body echoed through the wide hall.

As if by magic, not even a faint breath could be heard.

“It seems this isn’t the atmosphere for dialogue yet.”

He said, looking towards the young man standing behind.

“Let’s prepare together.”

He began to prepare for the dialogue they wanted.

In his own way.