episode_0284

About 30 minutes after the women started listening to the screams.

‘Is it over?’

No more screams rang out.

The women, who had been shedding endless tears until now, one by one began to dry their eyes.

Was it because the main culprit who had ruined them was dead?

Their faces, having ceased their crying, were filled with a sense of emptiness.

Still, they didn’t lose their reason and rampage.

As the air felt subtly heavy.

Creak-

The door opened, and two blood-soaked men emerged.

A strong scent of fresh blood wafted from them.

The two men clearly looked exhausted.

Park Moojin and Choi Kang-doo paused, seeing the women sitting sprawled out in front of them.

The women also froze, seeing the two men covered in blood.

Park Moojin, glancing around, silently posed a question with his eyes.

“The people who were locked up.”

“…I see.”

“Looks like they’ve suffered quite a bit.”

Park Moojin nodded heavily at the light question.

“I did everything I could.”

“Oh…”

“Just as you said, I heard endless pleas to be killed.”

Park Moojin’s dry voice held a mix of emptiness and regret.

Choi Kang-doo, who had a similar expression, cautiously spoke.

“Um, Seonghan-ssi. Thank you. For everything.”

“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”

“Haha…”

“I will… definitely repay this debt.”

“Sure, whatever.”

Park Moojin, wiping the bloodstains from his face, calmly swept his gaze over the women.

Ignoring their involuntary flinches at his gaze, he asked me.

“What will you do with them?”

“…I’m not sure?”

“Weren’t you trying to rescue them?”

“Do I look like a rescue team?”

“That’s… no.”

As they exchanged nonchalant remarks, Choi Kang-doo interjected.

“B-but wouldn’t it be wrong to just leave them in a place like this?”

“Then you take care of them.”

“Ah…”

Choi Kang-doo, realizing his oversight only then, looked troubled.

His personality seems moral, but…

It looks like neither of them has a base.

But how would they take care of this many people?

I also have no reason to take care of these women.

As if reading my expression, Park Moojin spoke.

“Kang-doo is a former firefighter. Don’t think badly of him.”

“…A firefighter?”

“Only a low-ranking second-year, though. Haha~”

No wonder he was strong.

That explains his tall stature and good physique.

Anyway, a veteran with a noble profession.

“Not me.”

I glanced at Park Moojin, and he cut me off sharply.

When the conversation stopped, Choi Kang-doo interjected instead.

“Um, Seonghan-ssi, what are you going to do now?”

“I’m going home.”

“Home…?”

“I have people I live with. Today, I came out to look around the area, and this happened.”

“Ah…”

“What will you two do?”

“That’s… haha…”

“…”

Seeing both of them fall silent, it seemed they had no plans for what came next.

First, I turned my gaze from the two dumbfounded men.

“What about you all?”

“…”

Seeing the women bowing their heads deeply, it was the same situation.

“Do you have nowhere to go?”

“…Yes.”

The heavily scarred woman who had clung to me answered timidly. It was the same for the other women.

They had all lost their homes and had their families taken from them.

There was no detailed explanation, but it was enough to understand.

‘This is quite something…’

Now that they’ve been brought out, they’re a lot of trouble.

I quietly asked Choi Kang-doo, who was wiping his face.

“Where did you two come from?”

“Ah, we came from Guri City.”

“Guri?”

“Yes. We came past Manguri, chasing after Kim Gwanghyeon.”

“Y-you came through there?”

The woman was startled by Park Moojin’s words.

“Why are you reacting that way?”

“That place… the zombies were increasing there…”

“Oh? You know about it. That’s why we had such a hard time crossing over. We nearly died…”

“Choi Kang-doo.”

“Ah.”

Park Moojin, who cut off Choi Kang-doo’s words, looked puzzled.

What was so special about nearly dying?

…Wait.

“Zombies increasing?”

Park Moojin’s eye twitched at my question.

“There weren’t many zombies there originally. What do you mean they were increasing?”

“Uh… th-that…”

As the woman stammered, Park Moojin stepped forward.

“You really don’t know?”

“I’m asking because I don’t know.”

“…He’s a strange one.”

Park Moojin truly gave me that look.

“From my perspective, you’re stranger.”

“You seem to have been there, but you said there weren’t many originally?”

“Yeah. When I checked before.”

Park Moojin, hearing my words, stated definitively.

“Then they were attracted by people.”

“What?”

“I think they reacted by following the direction the people were fleeing.”

“What does that mean?”

“If someone being chased by zombies successfully escapes, the zombies will repeatedly move in that direction within a certain range. In short, they follow.”

The pattern Park Moojin described, I remembered it.

“If they succeed in attacking a person, they don’t stray far from that spot.”

“…”

“Instead, they wander nearby. Their patterns vary.”

“There are patterns too?”

“…”

“Why?”

Park Moojin, sighing openly, slowly continued in a flat tone.

“…No. It’s a guess, but I think it might be due to their habits or memories from when they were alive.”

“For example?”

“They enter buildings with open doors.”

“Huh.”

“And they’re attracted to paths people frequent.”

“Occasionally, you’ll see some heading towards the subway too.”

“They also constantly shuttle back and forth a certain distance, until they’re drawn by an external stimulus.”

The two men’s words sounded plausible.

That’s because I’d already seen similar ones.

We all saw them at the Yongsan Base too.

There was also Heize’s testimony, who had endured there.

Looking back, there definitely were similar cases.

“Where is the place you mentioned?”

“Where? Manguri?”

“Yes.”

“Mangwoo Intersection. Near the large church.”

Park Moojin nodded at my explanation.

“Then what I said must be true. When Kim Gwanghyeon fled, he was chased by a considerable number of zombies. He somehow managed to shake them off, but ultimately, they were drawn by people.”

“So, those are the ones who chased him from Guri?”

Park Moojin nodded.

“But I can’t guarantee it. It’s just what I’ve observed personally.”

“…”

“They’re attracted to slight vibrations, small sounds, and faint lights. There are any number of elements that can make them move. To be exact… I can’t say for sure.”

“It’s more about judging roughly and avoiding them.”

I nodded at Choi Kang-doo’s words.

“How did you observe them?”

“If you hide in one spot for a long time, you’ll learn, whether you like it or not. Rather, I’d like to ask you something.”

“What?”

“Considering you’ve survived this long, you must have dealt with a lot of zombies, yet there’s a lot you don’t know.”

I have something to say about that.

“Because I caught them all before I could observe them.”

“…”

Seeing Park Moojin finally fall silent, I felt as if I had said something rude.

“I’ve caught more than you think. That’s why there’s a lot I don’t know.”

“…I see.”

He’s agreeing with this too.

But Park Moojin added something nonchalantly.

“Let me tell you one more thing.”

“What is it?”

“Zombies that haven’t been stimulated for a long time become slower in their movements.”

“Instead, they rush at you violently when you get close?”

“…You knew.”

“Some people even suspected they were conserving energy.”

Like a corpse in power-saving mode.

“I called it a pattern, but that only refers to their range of movement; their actual actions are mostly the same.”

“Charging and biting?”

“Yes. And blind hostility.”

“Hmm.”

Hearing various anecdotes made my head even more complicated.

Until now, I’d been busy catching them whenever I saw them, so I didn’t even know they had such characteristics.

I just dismissed it as ‘they’re acting strangely.’

Anyway, after hearing Park Moojin’s long explanation, I was convinced.

“…Cleaning the streets doesn’t make them safe, huh?”

“That’s right. If you do it, you have to wipe out the entire area and create a section to block it off.”

“Cleaning, blocking external inflow.”

“Yes. But for now, it’s impossible.”

Park Moojin’s expression, as he uttered ‘impossible’, crumpled slightly.

“We tried to purify the streets before, but they’d appear from somewhere after a while.”

“So the results weren’t good.”

“I see.”

For something like that, Sagajeong has been quite quiet for a long time…

“Unless you can eliminate a massive number of them all at once, it’s meaningless otherwise.”

Oh, really?

“…Really?”

“Yes. It’s from experience. A failure, though.”

“Even failure is valuable experience.”

There are many troublesome factors, but the conclusion is…

‘…It just means I have to wipe them all out at once.’

“I’ve heard some good information.”

“…It’s a small repayment for today’s events.”

I’d thought he was talking a lot, but it seemed he was minding such things with his expressionless face.

“Thank you. I’ll keep it in mind.”

At my thanks, Park Moojin stared at me intently.

“Why?”

“You believe my words?”

“You said it was from experience, didn’t you? I’ve had similar experiences too, so it’s trustworthy. Why?”

“…”

“W-well, before, when I said things like this, people treated me like I was crazy…”

Choi Kang-doo, who had spoken timidly, scratched his head.

But I only chuckled.

When it’s not enough to listen to everything and explore possibilities, what kind of nonsense is that?

“He’s the kind of guy who’d insist zombies are just sick people.”

“…”

“…”

“…?”

Seeing the two fall silent, I had a thought.

“…Did you really say they were sick people?”

“…”

“Wow. What a crazy bastard.”

“I agree.”

“Me too.”

We, dumbfounded for a moment, soon smiled bitterly.

When the men’s chatter naturally stopped.

“Excuse me.”

The woman who had come forward first spoke.

“K-Kang-doo-ssi?”

“Yes.”

“You’re a firefighter?”

“I’m a former one, though.”

The woman, showing a slightly surprised expression, looked at Park Moojin.

“Then… you’re Park Moojin-ssi?”

“…How do you know me?”

Park Moojin narrowed his eyes and glared at the woman.

“Um… H-perhaps.”

The woman spoke cautiously.

“…Do you know Seonyeong? Bae Seonyeong.”

Grab-!!

“You know Seonyeong?! You know Seonyeong?!”

“M-my arm…”

“Tell me! Where is the child!”

Park Moojin’s usually calm eyes had gone wild.