Chapter 56

Crack!

An ordinary zombie’s skull would have been cracked and the creature would be dead by now.

But this one didn’t die easily.

It twisted its waist in an odd way and wrapped its two legs around my body, and reached out to choke me around the neck with its arms.

I wondered how many joints its arms and legs had. I thought I had broken its arms at the gym, but it seemed that wasn’t the case. Its flexible joints allowed it to make abnormal movements.

Scrunch.

It was choking me harder. My arms weren’t long enough to reach it and I couldn’t come up with a plan against its unpredictable movements.

I was slowly losing consciousness. I knew that I would die if I didn’t do something.

‘You think you can get me?’

I gritted my teeth and glared at it. My glowing red eyes flashed, and my pupils contracted into slits, like a cat’s. I could feel my body grow warm as my blood began to flow more quickly. All my muscles tightened, and I felt them increase in strength.

Channeling all my strength into my arms, I pushed apart its legs that were wrapped around me.

Crack, crack…

I heard its joints creak as I strained to push apart its legs. It didn’t possess as much physical strength as me.

I grabbed onto its thighs as soon as my hands were free. I knew that a heavy impact wouldn’t be enough to break it, because of all the joints it had. I was well aware that flexible beings were difficult to break.

Since I couldn’t break it, I just had to tear it apart.

I squeezed its thighs and my fingers pierced through its thick flesh. Once my hands were tightly locked onto its thighs, I used all my strength and ripped its legs out.

Crack! Crack!

Its bones shattered and its flesh was torn apart.

KIAAA!!!

Its eyes went crazy, darting all over the place.

‘Is it feeling pain? Or is it angry at the fact that its legs got torn off?’

Once its legs were torn off, it released its arms, which had been choking me. It desperately grabbed a tree branch and got ready to swing away like a gibbon, as if it knew that it could not defeat me. Of course, I didn’t miss my opportunity to end the creature once and for all. I grabbed onto its right arm.

Planting my left foot on its neck, I ripped its right arm free.

KIAAA!!!

I ripped off every appendage it had like a crazed serial killer. This daddy-long-legs, with all of its arms and legs torn off, shook its head and wailed hideously.

“Please… save… Save… me!”

I really hated the creature’s cry.

I frowned and looked straight into its eyes. I wanted to end its life right then, but there was something else I had to confirm.

‘You, do you hear me?’

“Please… save… me!”

‘You don’t hear me?’

“Please… save… me!”

‘...’

“I’m… hungry.”

It seemed like it couldn’t hear my voice, but it also wasn’t saying what it was thinking. Its request to be saved wasn't coming from its consciousness. It was unconsciously spitting out these words, the same way the street zombies made their throat-rending noises. I wondered if it was repeating what people had said before they were killed by it.

I pursed my lips bitterly. I raised my right foot high as I looked into its horrendous face.

Every eye the creature possessed was looking at my foot, but there was nothing that this daddy-long-legs could do anymore, now that its arms and legs had been ripped away.

Thud!

The blunt, sickening feeling traveled its way from my right foot all the way up to my head as I stomped on its face. The creature stopped moving.

I exhaled, releasing the tension within me. I rubbed the soles of my bloody shoes against the ground and walked down from Dae Hyun San Park as if nothing had happened.

* * *

I knocked on the storage room door, and Lee Jeong-Uk’s cautious voice answered.

“So-Yeon’s dad?”

“Grr.”

I acknowledged him in my throat-rending voice, and the tightly-shut door creaked open. Since Lee Jeong-Uk could tell the difference between my affirmative and negative cries, he probably figured out that the being that was knocking on the door was me.

As the door opened, I saw Lee Jeong-Uk and the students. Shin Ji-Hye and Bae Jae-Hwan were calming their friends down. Everyone was curled up, barely making eye contact with me. Bae Jae-Hwan asked me in a rather agitated voice,

“So the mutant. What happened to the mutant?”

I took out my notepad and wrote a few words.

- I killed it.

Bae Jae-Hwan stared at me in wide-eyed awe after reading what I had written. Shin Ji-Hye’s expression grew surprised, and she examined me from top to bottom.

“Did you get hurt anywhere?”

I shook my head. She teared up but then quickly turned her face to the side. It seemed like Shin Ji-Hye had been going through a lot as well. She was probably worn out by the suffering she endured each time one of her friends disappeared while heading out to get fresh water.

As a leader that had to make decisions, she probably felt that she was helpless in the face of the weight of responsibility and of life. I understood how Shin Ji-Hye would be feeling, and so I carefully lifted my hand and patted her on the shoulder. She flinched, but then burst into tears and collapsed to the floor. I quickly stashed my hands in my pockets, not knowing how to react. I looked at Lee Jeong-Uk and smacked my lips.

Lee Jeong-Uk smiled gently.

“How dare you make a girl cry! You’re a bad boy, aren’t you?”

I couldn’t believe he was making jokes right now. As I took a deep breath and let my head sink, Lee Jeong-Uk came up to me and put his arm around my shoulders, speaking in a low voice.

“She’s just loosening up. She’s just relieved, that’s all.”

I looked at the students grimly. Some of the other students were following Shin Ji-Hye’s example and were tearing up a little. I was proud of what these young students had gone through, having survived to this day, but at the same time I felt bad and sorry for them.

After a while, some of the students came up to me and thanked me by bowing deeply toward me.

“Thank you very much for saving us. Thank you very much.”

“If it weren’t for you, we would’ve been long gone. Thank you very much from the bottom of my heart.”

They were the students that had been in front of the window when the mutant’s arms had broken through it. If I had just screamed without grabbing onto the mutant’s arm, these students would have died in that instant.

I nodded slightly to acknowledge their thanks.

- I’ll be outside. Please calm the students.

I headed toward the gym entrance after showing Lee Jeong-Uk my message, but he grabbed onto my shirt.

“So-Yeon’s dad.”

“Grr?”

As I turned to look at him, he flashed a gentle smile.

“Smile, man. You deserve to smile today.”

I didn’t know why, but his words hit me differently. They went straight to my heart. I bit my lips and frowned, trying to contain my sadness. Lee Jeong-Uk patted me on the back.

“You’re doing a great job. Even to the point that I respect you.”

I could tell that Lee Jeong-Uk wasn’t just mouthing empty words. I nodded slightly and left the gym, going outside.

The cool fall breeze and the smell of grass tickled my nose. I took in the fresh air and stared into the pitch-black darkness. Even when the world was this dark, the air was surprisingly fresh.

I knew there were still more people in this world that had the desire to live on, just like the students in the gym. They were probably praying for someone to help them as they waited in safe havens. And it wasn’t because they were weak or useless. As a human, it wasn’t wrong to be afraid in this situation. They could only hope for an almighty figure to save them.

I knew this because I, too, had prayed for somebody to save me while I’d been trapped in a room before all this happened.

I recalled the sad face Lee Jeong-Uk had made when we decided not to allow new members to Shelter Hae-Young.

‘A safe buffer zone, huh…’

I stared at the night sky blankly and pictured a map in my mind. I wanted to expand our safe buffer zone, but I realized that this was the time to reinforce our shelter internally.

I wanted to take care of all the zombies in Haengdang 1-dong and Majang-dong first, and then find the hidden survivors. But after finding them, there was no need to bring them back to Shelter Hae-Young.

I could just make a place for them on their own. It was the only way to protect Shelter Hae-Young from the ‘dogs’ while saving the survivors. I believed that I could save everyone by creating a network of shelters, instead of being restricted to one shelter. However, I would have to act as a gatekeeper for all of them.

Everyone was weak individually, but I knew we could achieve more if we worked together. A reliable alliance would be safer for me and my family and would become the backbone that supported our lives. I could only think about my only ally, the being that I could trust with all my heart.

I needed to have a serious talk with Kim Hyeon-Jun once he woke up.

* * *

The next day, I led all the survivors outside. The cool morning air, heavy with the scent of grass, tickled my nose. After a moment, Shin Ji-Hye spoke up.

“We’re ready. Let’s go.”

I took a quick glance at the students gathered in front of the gym. A lot of students, including Shin Ji-Hye, were staring at my back. After I had taken out the mutant, the way they were looking at me had changed. Just yesterday, everyone was looking at me with distrust. But the way they were looking at me now wasn’t just a simple feeling of relief.

It was hope.

I saw a glimpse of hope in their eyes.

They knew they weren’t heading for a utopia, but I could sense that they believed they could dream of a better future if they followed me.

I nodded slightly to Shin Ji-Hye and started walking toward Shelter Hae-Young. I didn’t call in my underlings to reduce the chances of getting caught by the black creature. I kept an eye on the street zombies and guided the survivors along safe routes. Unfortunately, the breathing of so many survivors together agitated some zombies, and they ended up charging toward the survivors.

I knew better than to agitate the attacking zombies, so we just kept walking while I recruited the ones that charged toward us as underlings.

Shin Ji-Hye, not knowing what was going on, whispered to me,

“Why… Why aren’t they attacking?”

All the zombies that I touched lost their aggressive instincts and tagged along with the survivors. I guess she was surprised at this interaction. I smacked my lips, and Lee Jeong-Uk, who was next to me, answered in my stead.

“So-Yeon’s dad can turn zombies into his underlings.”

“Huh?”

Shin Ji-Hye gasped, her eyes wide. Lee Jeong-Uk quickly covered her mouth.

“Keep your voice down.”

“Hmm, Hmm, I’m sorry. I was just so surprised…”

“Someone like you getting surprised by something like this? You weren’t even surprised when you saw zombies!”

“Well yeah, obviously right?”

Shin Ji-Hye answered bluntly, and Lee Jeong-Uk smirked.

“You’re in for a ride if you’re already this surprised.”

Shin Ji-Hye muttered inaudibly instead of answering and blinked her round eyes. As we made our way down from the hill, avoiding zombies, Shin Dong Ah apartment slowly came into sight.

I gave orders to my underlings who were waiting there for me.

‘Everyone, come out. But don’t answer back. Be quiet.’

My underlings came piling out from the apartments, their footsteps soft. Shin Ji-Hye and the other students grew anxious as they watched the zombies coming out.

“It’s a wave. A wave!”

Shin Ji-Hye gasped and screamed again, and this time Bae Jae-Hwan calmed her down.

“Ji-Hye, calm down. They’re on our side.”

“Huh? What?”

“Those zombies. They’re on our side.”

“What in the…?”

Shin Ji-Hye fell to the ground and looked at all the zombies that were piling out of the buildings with a dumbfounded expression. Bae Jae-Hwan wasn’t nervous or on guard when he saw the zombies come out, since he had already heard more than enough about the blue-colored zombies.

Lee Jeong-Uk offered Shin Ji-Hye a hand, as he knew exactly how she would be feeling.

“Everyone reacts pretty much how you did at first. It’s normal, so there’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

Shin Ji-Hye got herself together and patted her bottom as if she was embarrassed by what Lee Jeong-Uk had told her. Lee Jeong-Uk quickly stashed his right hand back into his pockets in embarrassment.

“Did you say ‘wave’?”

“Yeah, the way the zombies gather up in one area.”

Shin Ji-Hye answered him straightforwardly, and Lee Jeong-Uk grew thoughtful.

“Oh, are you talking about resonance?”

“Is that what you call it, ahjussi?”

“Is it because you guys are young? That’s why you use English phrases?”

“It’s more suitable to say ‘wave’. It’s weird calling it ‘resonance’.”

Lee Jeong-Uk kept a straight face. I quickly got my notepad out and wrote:

- Why are you trying to talk back to a kid?

This was the perfect opportunity to get back at Lee Jeong-Uk. He mumbled something under his breath and strode into Shin Dong Ah apartment complex first.

I followed him, smiling.