episode_0088

Two pharmacies were located right at the main entrance of the Red Hospital.

They were separated by a narrow alley, barely 10 meters apart.

I wondered what they were thinking, setting up shop so close to each other.

I was impressed by the placement, as if business ethics had been thrown to the dogs, but my choice was already made.

One pharmacy was clearly destroyed, its interior already ransacked.

[Four-Leaf Pharmacy]

The hospital also operated a funeral home, and the pharmacy was right next to the funeral home’s entrance.

‘What a location….’

A hospital and a pharmacy for the living.

A funeral home for the dead.

The entrances of these two opposing places, situated side by side, gave off an odd, eerie feeling. Normally, I would have just passed by, but given the current situation, my eyes were drawn to it.

Perhaps because it was a funeral home on a street crawling with zombies, an inexplicable chill ran through me as I passed its entrance. And that chill wasn’t just due to the cold weather.

The shiver running down my spine was fleeting.

I didn’t think much of it until I stood at the pharmacy entrance, just a few steps away.

I sensed a presence inside the pharmacy, as if a survivor was hiding.

Perhaps they had been through a lot?

It wasn’t malice, but a taut, circling tension.

I planned to quietly do my business and then leave.

I carefully opened the door, so as not to provoke anyone inside.

The moment I stepped through the open door.

The tension that had filled the pharmacy instantly focused on me.

Along with a faint killing intent aimed directly at my forehead.

Bang-!!

The moment I sensed the killing intent, I reflexively raised my crowbar.

I shielded my face, holding it in a reverse grip.

Clink~

A bullet struck the crowbar, precisely where my forehead would have been.

An ambush and a defense executed in a mere flash.

Immediately after a successful defense, my body reacted before my mind could.

Before I could even register the strong recoil from the crowbar, my body shot forward as if propelled.

My target was the two eyes, clouded with bewilderment in the darkness.

I swung the crowbar, still in a reverse grip, adjusted my hold, and brought it down.

I intended to split the head of the cowardly ambusher who had taken the first shot from the darkness.

Whoosh-!

!!

The moment I caught a fleeting glimpse of the assailant’s face.

The crowbar, which had been whistling menacingly through the air, stopped just before impact.

It was moments away from connecting with the crown of the unidentified assailant’s head.

Even though his head was about to explode, the assailant seemed oblivious to the situation, belatedly widening his eyes in shock and gasping for breath.

Gulp-

As I heard the sound of dry saliva gulping down his throat.

I spoke to the person whose familiar face I could vaguely discern in the darkness.

“…Kang Ilbyeong?”

“Huh?”

The assailant, stammering and disoriented in front of me, was Kang Ilbyeong.

The soldier who had been friendly towards me and my group just before we parted ways in Yeongdeungpo.

A soldier whose sociable personality and outstanding shooting skills I had liked.

Out of regret, I had told him the shelter’s location, but I never imagined I’d meet him so soon, and in such a place.

I was about to speak to the half-dazed Kang Ilbyeong, but I had to hold back.

Graaaah-!!

Groan-!

Responding to the gunshot, distant roars of zombies could be heard through the open door. I immediately moved.

Hearing the sounds of footsteps pounding the ground from all directions, I quickly closed the glass door.

I swiftly dived behind the counter and held my breath.

Kang Ilbyeong, who had still been disoriented, saw my actions and only then covered his mouth, holding his breath.

When I held a finger to my lips, Kang Ilbyeong, though his eyes were still trembling, nodded. It took him a moment to fully come to his senses, but he quickly grasped the situation.

It was only a brief moment until we finished the non-engagement and hid ourselves.

Just as Kang Ilbyeong’s ragged breathing began to calm down.

The sound of zombies running and their guttural roars started to grow louder from beyond the glass wall.

“……”

“……”

I exhaled softly and looked at Kang Ilbyeong, who was huddled in the corner.

He leaned against the wall, eyes closed, struggling to hold his breath.

He was hidden in the shadows so I couldn’t see him clearly, but he didn’t seem to be injured anywhere.

More than anything, I was truly relieved to see that the crown of his head was intact.

‘Whew….’

Although I acted reflexively, I almost bludgeoned an acquaintance to death.

I’d have to say something about him shooting a gun at my forehead, though.

As I was thinking that, the sound of zombies’ footsteps grew very close.

Seeing them rush over from hearing just one gunshot, their hearing was definitely still alive.

And it wasn’t just one or two zombies drawn by the sound; the front of the pharmacy was filled with the roars of a teeming horde. It was a grating, unpleasant noise.

They had clearly rushed over, knowing something was here, but since they couldn’t see anything, they seemed rather agitated.

I held my breath, pondering for a moment what to do.

‘Should I just kill them all?’

Zombies generally loiter quietly unless something enters their line of sight or stimulates their hearing. Their range of action is limited, but they do move.

But it didn’t seem like they would move away from the front of the pharmacy.

‘Full one moment, gone the next… and then rushing back again….’

I wondered why the zombies were acting like this, but then stopped trying to figure it out.

There didn’t seem to be any benefit in understanding the behavior of corpses.

…If I understood it, I had a feeling that would be problematic in itself.

Unlike me, who was thinking these thoughts, Kang Ilbyeong was sweating profusely.

He was rigidly frozen, eyes tightly shut, holding his breath.

He was silently screaming with his whole body for this to pass without incident.

It was quite pathetic, but a wise posture nonetheless.

A normal person would have panicked, screamed, and drawn the zombies’ attention.

And the end result would only be a fresh feast for the zombies.

Hidden under the counter, lost in my thoughts, waiting for the zombies to pass was utterly boring.

‘I should just clear them out and leave.’

Just as I was about to stand up, thinking that staying like this would be endless.

Honk~ Honk~ Honk~ Honk~

The loud blare of a motorcycle horn cut through the zombies’ cries.

And at the same time, the horde of zombies roared and rushed off somewhere.

The pounding footsteps of the zombies and the roar of the motorcycle engine gradually faded into the distance.

In the brief moment when the noise vanished, the front of the pharmacy grew quiet.

It felt like a lie that we had just been hiding from zombies with only a glass wall between us.

‘…They led them away cleanly.’

It seemed those guys were the ones who had been herding the zombies around.

They were bastards who weren’t even worth the oxygen they breathed, but for now, they had been helpful.

Silence descended, thanks to the unexpected turn of events.

I slowly got up and looked outside.

There wasn’t a single zombie visible beyond the glass wall.

Hearing no more cries, it seemed they had been properly herded away.

If that’s a skill, then I suppose it is.

Thinking of the bastards I’d encounter later, I turned towards Kang Ilbyeong.

“……”

In that brief moment, Kang Ilbyeong had once again aimed his gun at me.

“Who are you? Do you know me?”

Kang Ilbyeong’s voice trembled slightly, though he held a precise shooting stance.

His eyes couldn’t stay still, but the muzzle of his gun didn’t waver.

His finger, resting on the trigger, also remained perfectly still.

His clear intention to shoot if necessary was unmistakable.

‘He knows he almost died just now, but he’s still acting like this?’

Perhaps because he was a soldier who had crossed the line of death, his mental state was extraordinary.

Now that I looked closely, the aura emanating from his body had changed too.

He was distinctly sharper than when I last saw him.

What on earth could have happened in just over half a month?

Setting aside my curious relief, I spoke to Kang Ilbyeong.

“Kang Ilbyeong. It’s me.”

“Your face is all covered, so I don’t know who you are.”

“Ah….”

I had forgotten.

It was so familiar to wear that I had forgotten I was wearing a neck warmer.

I let my right hand, holding the crowbar, hang down and slowly raised my left hand.

Rustle-

I gently smiled and pulled down the warmer.

“It’s been a long time, Kang Ilbyeong.”

“…Huh? Huh?”

Unlike my smiling face, Kang Ilbyeong’s face was filled with bewilderment and surprise.

As I slowly approached him, Kang Ilbyeong weakly lowered his gun.

I took the crowbar in my left hand and extended my right.

Kang Ilbyeong, who had only been gaping, took my hand with a spellbound expression.

Even now, as I gave a slight shake of his hand, his expression was still one of disbelief.

“Uh, no, I shot… that, it, it wasn’t on purpose—”

“It’s fine.”

I patted Kang Ilbyeong, who was rambling, assuring him it was fine.

“I’m truly relieved to see you safe and sound.”

“……”

“You’ve lost a lot of weight since I last saw you. Have you eaten?”

The atmosphere had become much softer than moments before, but he was a welcome sight nonetheless. He looked visibly gaunt, as if he had been through quite a hardship.

I gently asked about his well-being out of concern, but Kang Ilbyeong’s face gradually began to contort.

Had my words been a trigger?

“Hyung-nim!!”

“Gasp!”

Kang Ilbyeong, tears streaming from his crumpled eyes, suddenly threw himself into my arms.

“Hy, Hyung-niiim~ Sniff! Sob! Waaahhh~”

“K-Kang Ilbyeong….”

Lending one’s embrace to another man was unthinkable, but I couldn’t push away the wailing Kang Ilbyeong. He seemed to have been through immense emotional turmoil, sobbing bitterly, his shoulders shaking.

I hesitated for a moment, then could only quietly pat his back.

In the midst of this, he still hadn’t let go of his gun; I suppose that was very soldier-like of him….

As I stood awkwardly, comforting Kang Ilbyeong as he poured out his emotions.

Rustle-

I heard the sound of someone moving behind the dispensary partition.

It seemed to be the people whose presence I had sensed earlier.

While I was stuck, unable to move, the people hiding behind the partition revealed themselves.

“Ah, hello.”

“……Um…”

“It’s Lee Sohee.”

“Yes, Lieutenant Lee-nim. It’s been a long time.”

I thought the face looked familiar; it was Lieutenant Lee, who had injured her thigh.

I was slow to recognize her because she wasn’t in uniform.

Now that I thought about it, Kang Ilbyeong was also in civilian clothes.

Next to Lieutenant Lee stood a man clutching his side and a young woman holding a child.

They silently looked back and forth between Kang Ilbyeong, who was clinging to me, and myself.

…Their gazes felt a bit uncomfortable.

“…Kang Ilbyeong. Calm down…”

“Sob!! Ugh~”

“……”

It was an utterly awkward situation.

An embarrassing silence continued with everyone watching.

Kang Ilbyeong finally calmed down only after his tears had thoroughly soaked my shoulder.