episode_0084

My meager patience instantly hit rock bottom, but I endured.

It didn’t take long for the people in front of me to regain their senses.

At most, a few minutes.

But with every second crucial, I felt my insides burning.

At the end of the short but arduous wait, the conversation began.

“My name is Jang Heeyeon. Thank you for saving us.”

“I’m Kim Seonyoung. Thank you so much.”

“I’m Lee Joohee. Thank you very much…”

I received greetings from the three women but brushed them off lightly.

My gaze was fixed on the doctor.

This woman, Jang Heeyeon, was a doctor. She looked to be in her early to mid-forties.

She was wearing a gown, and she indeed gave off a doctor-like vibe.

And she seemed to have a strong mentality.

Even after I stabbed a knife into a person’s body right before her eyes, she didn’t panic.

I postponed further observation and immediately got to the point.

“Are you a doctor?”

“Yes. I’m an internal medicine doctor. Specializing in endoscopy.”

“…Endoscopy?”

I unconsciously furrowed my brow slightly.

It wasn’t that I disregarded her field, but it wasn’t what I needed right now.

‘Damn it… is this a bust?’

My expression must have been obvious, as the two nurses flinched.

Only the doctor met my gaze steadily.

“It seems I’m not the person you’re looking for.”

Her tone felt a bit sharp, but I didn’t make much of it.

“There’s someone in my party who is seriously ill. It… doesn’t seem related to endoscopy.”

“……”

Her gaze felt like she was scrutinizing me carefully, closely.

But I had no time to worry about such things now.

Though it hadn’t been long, I felt I had wasted enough time.

‘I should go to that hospital I saw earlier.’

Recalling the hospital with the Red Cross sign I saw from the rooftop, I got to my feet.

There was still time.

If I hurried, even a sliver of hope might turn into a great opportunity.

Without hesitation, I turned to go outside.

The women were startled by my sudden movement.

“Huh? Huh?”

“W-wait a minute! What are you doing— no, where are you going?”

“Didn’t I say there’s someone ill? I’m going to look for a doctor.”

As I answered without turning back, the doctor’s urgent voice reached me.

“I-is that patient suffering from a fracture or bleeding?”

“…Why do you ask that?”

Perhaps due to my urgency, my voice was low.

Slightly flustered, the doctor quickly continued, perhaps to stop me.

“If it’s not that kind of injury, I might be able to treat it! I told you I’m an internal medicine doctor. While endoscopy is my specialty, I can perform other internal treatments too!”

Her words brought my steps to a halt.

“Isn’t an endoscopy specialist someone who only does endoscopies?”

“Oh, no.”

Other than needing hospital care right after the forced return, I had only been to the hospital a few times for minor colds. It was embarrassing, but it meant I knew nothing.

Fieldwork meant rebar was only rebar, plastering was only plastering, electricity was only electricity.

There were clearly divided specialties.

Of course, a veteran with long experience could be somewhat versatile, but I didn’t know doctors could be like that too.

My face felt a little hot, but I didn’t show it and approached the female doctor.

She seemed to have something to say, but I ignored it and conveyed what I needed to say.

Byeongsu’s symptoms and current condition.

I told her exactly what I had seen and confirmed with my own eyes.

The female doctor, who had listened to my story with a serious expression, pondered for a moment before giving her answer.

“Just from what you’ve said, it sounds like a dangerous condition… I’ll need to see it directly to know for sure.”

“There’s no time, and he’s not in a condition to be moved. Can you come with me?”

“……”

At my request to come along, the female doctor noticeably became wary. It seemed something had happened, but I had no intention of listening to her reasons.

“I don’t know why you’re doing this, but I don’t think you wanted me to just leave. That’s why you stopped me, right?”

“……”

“I won’t tell you that you *must* save him. Just do everything you can. Even if the treatment fails, I won’t resent you or blame you.”

Since I was the one desperate, my words started to become lengthy.

I wasn’t asking for much from the doctor.

I’d be satisfied if she just did her absolute best.

I felt sorry for Bomi and Byeongsu, but even if things went wrong, I wouldn’t blame them.

…I just didn’t want to watch him die without being able to do anything.

Seeing her hesitate even after my words, I felt frustrated.

As impatience and forgotten memories began to surge, a boiling, crimson anger threatened to rise within me.

Just as I was about to force her to choose whether to go or not.

“Um… isn’t it dangerous outside?”

“I don’t know how you got here, but there are a lot of zombies…”

“Ah…”

I had completely forgotten.

I wasn’t afraid of zombies and had few restrictions on movement, but I forgot that these people weren’t the same. These people were terrified to go outside right now.

‘…Acting like an idiot…’

I thought I was calm, but I wasn’t.

I should have considered these people more, but my thoughts were too shallow.

I quickly composed my expression.

“Is it just the three of you remaining here?”

The female doctor quietly nodded at my words.

Her reaction and expression were grim and heavy.

‘Only three people left in a hospital this size…’

I was curious what had happened, but I set my curiosity aside for now.

Looking at her, I added.

“You don’t need to worry about the zombies. I can safely escort the three of you. Absolutely.”

“R-really?”

Though they seemed half-believing, half-doubting at my serious nod, their expressions indicated they had immediately made up their minds.

“…Please promise that you’ll protect me and these two until the end.”

“Dr. Jang…”

“That’s what I intend to do.”

“I’m not talking about the zombies.”

The female doctor’s resolute words puzzled me, but I soon realized what she meant.

The thugs lying dead and unconscious.

‘To think about the aftermath in this situation…’

She seemed to be a step above me in terms of thinking ahead.

Rather, I liked that she was straightforward about her conditions; it was refreshing.

I gave a brief explanation to help them make up their minds.

“There aren’t many people, but there are men and women, and also elderly individuals. They are all kind people. If you would check everyone’s condition and treat them while you’re there, I will also provide ample meals.”

The three women, quietly listening to my words, seemed tempted.

The word “meals” particularly got a reaction.

“…I can’t guarantee protection until the end. All I can say is that I will do my best.”

“…Seonyoung and Joohee, what do you think? I’m going with him.”

At the resolute female doctor’s words, the two younger women also expressed their agreement.

The female doctor’s expression, as she faced me again, was much more relaxed and gentle.

The moment I met her lively eyes, I was convinced.

The conviction that it would be okay to take these people with me.

My desperate situation made me omit many things.

However, after talking with them and observing, I didn’t sense any malice.

They didn’t seem to have any intention of exploiting me either.

If they had, I would likely have detected it in some form.

If it came down to trusting them or not, I still couldn’t trust them.

It was more a feeling that I needed them, and they didn’t seem likely to cause harm.

“We will all follow you. Can we trust you?”

“…Don’t worry. Let’s move immediately then.”

I didn’t tell them to trust me.

Because I couldn’t trust them either.

“Oh! Before we go, I need to pack some medicines. Seonyoung, I’ll pick out a few things from what we’ve hidden and take them.”

“Yes!”

The women, struggling to get up, busily packed the necessary items.

‘Hiding medicine? Are there people raiding places?’

If there were guys who cared about medicine, not just food or weapons, they must be quite cunning.

I looked at the thugs sprawled on the floor, but those guys didn’t seem to have such brains.

While the women were rambling professional terms and packing items, I searched the unconscious thugs. Nothing specific came out, but a small container one of them was sitting on had a bit of food in it.

‘…What kind of guys are these?’

Thinking that, I subtly pulled out my crowbar.

It seemed I’d be using it again soon.

“Ugh…”

Just then, one of them began to regain consciousness, rubbing the back of his neck.

The owner of the dirty backside who tried to rape Kim Seonyoung.

Crack—!!

I knocked him out again.

Killing him outright seemed too much, so I just slightly crushed his knee.

And quietly knocked out all the others who had been unconscious.

Meanwhile, the women, having apparently finished their preparations, stood idly, watching me.

They had slightly disgusted expressions at the somewhat brutal scene, but an atmosphere of satisfaction emerged.

“…Give me the luggage.”

“No. We’ll carry them. Instead! Please protect us thoroughly!”

“…Understood.”

I felt a strange forcefulness in their somewhat bold demeanor.

Just as we were about to pass the unconscious thugs.

Thud! Thud!

“Son of a bitch! Fucking bastard! How dare you, you little prick!”

Turning around, I saw Kim Seonyoung stomping on the thug who had tried to assault her. I thought, how much could small feet in flat shoes hurt, but…

Squish—!!

As his precious part was being kicked, an ominous sound accompanied a violent twitch of the unconscious thug’s body.

‘Ugh…’

I unconsciously turned my gaze away from the sight.

“Pant! Pant! I’m sorry.”

Kim Seonyoung, wearing a thin cardigan over her torn clothes as if she had no spare, had a quite refreshed expression.

The two other women responded to her with satisfied smiles.

That was only for a moment.

Soon, realizing they were about to go outside, their expressions turned serious.

‘…What was that?’

Was this familiar feeling just my imagination?

As I felt bewildered by their sudden spirited demeanor.

“The power’s out, so the elevator doesn’t work. And we can’t go through the main entrance. We have to use the back entrance.”

“We piled up some things, but we can clear them quickly.”

“I also brought the door key.”

I simply nodded at the three women, who each contributed a piece of information.

It was as if the three of them worked together seamlessly.

They coordinated smoothly.

I took the lead, guiding the three women, and slowly began to descend the stairs.

“There’s no one left in this building now.”

“…Not even one person?”

“…Yes.”

It was quite a large building, and the inpatient rooms alone occupied two floors.

Yet, the fact that only these three were alive meant something significant had happened.

I decided to hear what happened later and focused on what needed to be resolved immediately.

Broken fixtures began to appear from the second-floor staircase onwards.

They seemed intended to block the stairs, but now they were merely cumbersome debris.

And from here, traces of zombies began to appear.

I didn’t know how the people who held out in this building managed it, but they seemed to have succeeded in defending against the zombies.

The main entrance on the first floor had its fire shutter down, and various furniture and fixtures were piled up, completely blocking the passageway.

‘I can’t go through the main entrance anyway. The market entrance and the zombies are too close.’

It seemed correct to go through the back entrance, as the female doctor suggested.

The back entrance, which I was guided to, was also blocked by small furniture.

Unlike the main entrance, it felt somewhat clumsily and hastily piled up.

“If we clear a little, we can open the door immediately, but there’s a problem.”

“Zombies?”

“Yes. There are a few zombies outside the back entrance. Because of those damn things…”

“Originally, we exchanged help with the market people through the back entrance.”

As I listened to their story and prepared to clear the piled-up items.

“…Are you really sure? I’m truly grateful and want to trust you, but…”

“See for yourselves.”

It was audacious to tell me about the zombies only now that we were here, but.

‘It makes sense.’

These people hadn’t seen me fight zombies, so I could understand.

Nodding, I quickly cleared away the items blocking the entrance.

Soon, the steel door was revealed.

Gulp—

As the door became visible, I heard a loud gulp from behind me, as if they had realized they were about to go outside.

I turned my head slightly and relayed the words I had spoken to my party before.

“Don’t panic, don’t make loud noises, and just follow the person in front of you.”

The women nodded, their expressions stiff and rigid.

“Open the door and follow closely behind me.”

Lee Joohee, who said she had the key, cautiously began to open the door.

Faint sounds of zombies moaning could be heard beyond the door.

As I had heard beforehand, there weren’t many.

‘…She didn’t lie.’

It didn’t seem like much of a problem.

The zombies outside also weren’t a problem.

All that remained was to show them with actions.

The moment I made up my mind, the door opened.

Before the zombies could recognize me, I burst out of the spot.

Thwack—!!

Starting with a dull tearing sound, a threshing sound followed.

Sounds like bones shattering and drums bursting.

When heard from a human, it would be an unpleasant sound that made one frown, but when heard from a zombie, it was merely an exciting rhythm.

Swinging the crowbar for a moment to the rhythm, more than twenty zombies were dispatched.

After clearing them out, I realized they had been clustered tightly in a narrow space.

“Oh, wow…”

I glanced back to see the three women looking astonished, their expressions dazed with admiration.

“Follow the path up towards the intersection.”

“Ah! We go that way.”

At my words, the female doctor quickly came to her senses and began to guide the way.

We passed through a narrow path between the parking lot and the building.

Fortunately, we emerged at a location a little distance from the zombies clustered in the market.

Fearing detection, we moved cautiously, even suppressing our breaths.

The women also followed discreetly and well.

The distance to the shelter itself wasn’t far.

If we were careful around here, the chances of encountering zombies further up were low.

Still, remembering the incident in the alleyway before, I didn’t let my guard down.

I took the lead and began moving towards the shelter.

The women following behind kept up better than expected.

It was different from when my own group’s stamina was severely depleted due to isolation.

‘They said they exchanged help with the market people.’

Given how well they maintained their stamina, they probably weren’t on bad terms with each other.

Considering that they shared food in a situation like this, it seemed humanity was still alive.

In any case, I was benefiting from that now.

The three women, whose stamina was preserved, carried not many but some bags and diligently followed.

Having been cooped up in the building until now and coming out into a dead street, they seemed quite intimidated, but their feet didn’t stop.

I also didn’t stop walking, continuously scanning ahead.

Once we left the dangerous section, it was quick to reach the Fake House.

From here on, the reactions of the three women were no different from those of my own party.

Until we arrived at the shelter, they simply stared, mouths agape, filled with horror and astonishment.

Anyway, I successfully brought the doctor.

Thanks to that, Byeongsu was able to receive appropriate treatment and medication.

My party and I were relieved, and Bomi had no reason to grieve.

The hard work in a short time was worth it.

…That was the kind of day it was.