episode_0064

I, along with the other nine members of our group, felt like ascetics who had chosen to walk a difficult path of thorns.

Our feet were comfortable walking on the well-paved roads of modern technology.

However, pushing through corpses was mentally exhausting.

It was an incredibly difficult task to perform with a clear mind, so the group was greatly agitated. Though they didn’t show it outwardly, they couldn’t hide the signals of discomfort that emerged from each of them.

What I chose to do was simply to pass through quickly.

Needless to say, I pressed forward with a somewhat forceful pace.

I urged the group on with a feeling of, ‘Don’t think of anything else, just follow quickly!’

At times like this, trying to encourage them gently would only backfire.

I increased the pace to the point where they couldn’t even think.

This truly made them follow the rule of only looking at the person in front.

Thanks to this, we passed over the countless corpses, crossed Seoul Bridge, and entered the main road.

We were retracing the path I had taken before, when I acquired guns and supplies. Unlike when I ran alone, this time I was with many people.

And there were parts that had changed from when I had passed through before.

There were no zombies wandering the streets, nor any wailing cries coming from all directions. Had they evaporated in just a few days?

The uncanny silence made me feel as if the city had been completely emptied.

I felt fortunate that we were moving on foot without protection right now.

However, the sense of crisis, which had become an unseen threat, uneasily stirred my heart.

I kept walking, scanning my surroundings without a break.

The traces I had seen at the rotary earlier were found everywhere.

The zombies hadn’t just conveniently evaporated.

Just as I could perceive moving beings, the zombies had also perceived them.

The existence of living people.

And without hesitation, they rushed in, attacking people as if craving meat.

Remains of indiscriminate slaughter and predation against humans were left behind.

These were things I hadn’t seen before.

It felt as if the danger grew with each new trace of remains discovered.

I suppressed and cast away the feeling of creating unnecessary anxiety.

Anyway, anything that appeared and rushed at us could just be dealt with.

I had set out with that intention from the beginning.

I gently stroked the crowbar in my hand, steeling my resolve.

Hiding my slightly tense heart, I adjusted my pace to match the group’s.

The breathing of the group, who had been diligently following behind, grew louder.

Though not exactly ragged, their exhales were labored and heavy.

Just as I was thinking I needed to manage the pace more carefully,

Representative Choi spoke, gasping slightly for breath.

“It seems the zombies have been following survivors.”

What Representative Choi added after I gave a small nod was something I couldn’t just ignore.

“Whether they know people are hiding, or it’s just instinct…”

“What do you mean?”

I slowed my pace and turned to Representative Choi.

Looking puzzled, he quickly recounted his experience.

While fleeing from zombies, he was fortunate enough to encounter soldiers.

Thanks to the armed soldiers, he managed to save his life and hide inside a building.

But the zombies kept clinging on.

He said he initially thought they had gathered in response to the gunshots.

I had thought so too.

However, the more I listened to his story, the more it seemed it wasn’t just that.

Representative Choi said that the survivors he was with couldn’t even breathe properly for fear of being discovered by zombies. Even though they held their breath quietly, zombies gathered without their knowledge.

One by one.

The zombies that had been gathering slowly began to increase in number.

But they didn’t immediately rush at the people.

Perhaps they hadn’t perceived the people hiding in a certain part of the building, for they simply wandered inside, emitting gruesome groans that tortured the ears.

The soldiers prepared for a counterattack and kept vigilant amidst the tension.

But the zombies didn’t attack them.

“We hunkered down and endured for two days, hidden. Everyone was getting exhausted, and someone said, ‘It’s annoying how these zombies wander around like it’s their own home.’”

“…Are you talking about homing instinct?”

At my words, Representative Choi shook his head vehemently.

“At that time, there was an officer leading the soldiers. When he heard that, he said something similar. It was a suspicion that perhaps habits from their living days remained. Things like living in a house. The fact that there were people inside the building. Things like that.”

“……”

“We couldn’t be sure, but we couldn’t rule it out either. There were indeed zombies just wandering the streets, but there were also quite a few gathering in front of buildings. Like department stores, for example.”

“…Department stores?”

Representative Choi, showing affirmation, added an explanation.

“The soldiers found them while we were frantically trying to escape. The entrance was blocked, but they didn’t break in, they just gathered. I saw it myself from a distance.”

I began to understand what Representative Choi was saying.

If one considers that only the zombies’ murderous instinct remains, harming humans…

Then habits from their living days might subtly remain.

Working when the sun rises, going home to rest when the time comes.

If such concepts remained even as fragments in their instincts?

‘…Even if they didn’t see living humans, their stumbling attempts to enter buildings make sense.’

Moreover, it seemed plausible that at times, zombies not even visible on the streets might have instinctively entered buildings.

The quiet streets, sometimes left with only traces of zombies.

Considering the zombies that filled the Holy Sale Yangjae branch area before, it didn’t seem entirely wrong.

Behavioral patterns based on the faint remnants of instinct.

One could hypothesize that.

But it couldn’t be confirmed.

Whether it was a clear fact was unknown, and there was no way to know.

Nor did I have any intention of researching them to uncover more about zombies.

‘It’s not like I’m some mad scientist.’

“You only need to remember one thing about zombies.”

“What’s that?”

The group, still gasping for breath, looked at me with curious eyes.

“They die if you smash their heads. That’s all you need to remember.”

At my words, Representative Choi stopped walking, his expression dumbfounded.

But soon he grinned widely and nodded vigorously.

“You’re right. That’s a very clear answer.”

“What Representative Choi said is all plausible, but we are not here to understand zombies. Our goal is to survive by avoiding them.”

I walked slowly, matching the pace of the group.

“If zombies get in our way, what do we do?”

“…Their heads?”

“……”

At Shia’s timid utterance of “Their heads?”, the atmosphere seemed to freeze instantly, but then laughter erupted from the group.

Though embarrassed, Shia seemed satisfied that she had lightened the mood, sporting a mischievous smile. Thanks to her, the atmosphere became much lighter.

The snickering laughter didn’t quite fit the situation.

But it was a pretty good joke, timed perfectly.

“That’s right. Just smash their heads.”

I playfully emphasized the zombies’ weakness once more.

Walking along like that, we arrived at a place where abandoned military trucks stood.

I didn’t know if no one had touched them or if they couldn’t, but the vehicles remained intact. Just then, more than an hour had already passed since we started walking.

The trucks, even with their covers drawn, were suitable for a short rest.

“It’s cramped, but let’s rest inside the truck for a bit.”

The group, brightening at the mention of rest, quickly climbed into the truck.

Though narrow and uncomfortable, they could rest their bodies.

The expressions of the group, subtly relieved by this fact, soon relaxed.

Then they took out simple food from their bags and had a late breakfast.

After the meal, I explained the plan to those enjoying their rest.

“We’ll follow Gangbyeonbuk-ro and Dongbu Expressway, but we won’t use the roads themselves.”

“What do you mean?”

I simply replied to Jihyeok hyung’s immediate question.

“We’ll walk along the walking paths next to those roads.”

“Ah!!”

I thought while looking at the map.

The reason we were in danger was because of the overwhelming number of zombies on the streets.

A situation where we had to walk through such a city, unprotected.

‘We don’t necessarily have to follow the roads, do we?’

Habits were frightening; as I looked at the map, I unconsciously sought out familiar paths.

We didn’t necessarily have to cross the city by car, sidewalk, or subway line.

As long as we were outside, danger was unavoidable.

If there was no safe path anyway, we might as well choose the less dangerous one.

It would be a somewhat longer detour, but it was much better than wandering through the middle of the city.

The walking paths, meant for people’s healing and leisure, were connected for longer than one might expect.

They were a type of path located in the middle of the city, but the population density was relatively low.

The probability of encountering zombies was low.

Even if we did encounter them, it was likely to be a small number.

I judged it not to be a bad option for us, given our many limitations in movement.

The downside was the lack of buildings to hide in.

So, I decided.

If a major crisis arose during our movement, we would give it our all.

Whether the timing of everyone nodding was good or bad…

Representative Choi carefully spoke.

“…I’m wondering if this plan isn’t too dangerous.”

“Is there a reason?”

“Well, um. A fact I had momentarily forgotten just came to mind.”

Representative Choi, hesitating to speak, looked uneasy.

“You, um, you saw it too, Seonghan? That unbelievably monstrous zombie…”

Our group members had no experience encountering mutated zombies yet.

Representative Choi was one of the people who had been chased by a mutant and survived.

He knew the horror of mutants well.

“They’re completely different from regular zombies. We couldn’t kill it even with guns. I only saw one of them, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t others…”

Representative Choi was right.

There was no way to say there weren’t others like it.

Just I alone had caught three mutants.

Their strength, and their persistent durability, were enough to make one shudder.

“The casualties from just that one were too great. We might not encounter another one like it, but…”

For an ordinary person, Representative Choi’s reaction was normal.

Regular zombies were enough to make one lose their mind, so encountering a creature like that would justify going completely insane.

At this new information, the group members’ faces stiffened.

They realized Representative Choi wasn’t just trying to scare them.

Their eyes filled with worry and fear, wondering if they should believe these words.

This couldn’t be helped.

I had intended to tell everyone about the mutants.

However, by postponing it, it had ended up like this.

At Representative Choi’s unexpectedly sharp question, the atmosphere in our resting place froze solid.