Episode 48
“…Ms. Ga-eun.”
I heard a voice calling me from behind. It seemed like she had followed me here.
“In the end, I’m no different from them. Because I’m a murderer too.”
Yes. I was a murderer. A murderer just like those I despised.
“…You don’t have to think that way. He was supposed to die that day, but thanks to your sister, Ms. Ga-eun, he got to live a little longer…”
Her words were meant to tell me to let go, as if there was nothing good in staying entangled in the past anymore, but she was so kind. I couldn’t understand why she was doing so much for me.
Looking at the pipe in my hand, I opened my mouth.
“The first sport I learned as a child was Kendo.”
“Really?”
I hadn’t planned to tell her such a story, but somehow, being with her made me open up about my inner thoughts.
I first started exercising because my parents recommended it. They were worried about me frequently exploding when my emotions ran high, so they sent me to a Kendo academy to practice controlling and channeling those emotions elsewhere. But at some point, I forgot the original purpose and became deeply engrossed in Kendo itself.
Nothing felt more refreshing and pleasant than focusing solely on the sword and swinging it. No matter how much I sweated and felt uncomfortable, or how exhausted I was to the point of collapsing, I couldn’t stop. There was nothing more fun than this.
“You said it was dangerous to go without a weapon, right? It’s okay now. This is enough.”
“Don’t tell me… you’re not seriously going to fight with that, are you?”
“Even though it’s very different from a sword, this will do.”
“No, wait a minute. Are you saying you’re planning to go in there alone?”
Yes, it was a crazy thing to do. But I was confident. Even if the end was death, I wanted to do this. She looked at me as if she couldn’t understand me and tried to persuade me to stop, but her efforts were in vain. They just couldn’t break my resolve.
“It’s okay. You don’t need to help me anymore. To be honest, I know you’ve been worried about Do-yoon since earlier. You two seem really close, so go find him.”
“Huh…?”
Although she’d been taking care and showing concern for me all this time, I could tell. Even while doing all that, she had always been more focused on him. Maybe it was because he was an important person to her. Something about that made me feel envious of him.
“Wait… Wait a minute, Ms. Ga-eun!”
I heard her calling me anxiously from behind, but I didn’t look back until the end.
***
“Ugh… You’re a monster!”
“Such a person can’t be human.”
I looked at the fallen ones with indifferent eyes and then turned my gaze to the remaining ones gathered at the back. Cowardly bastards. They were hiding behind and sending the weaker men to attack me, obviously waiting for my stamina to run out. I’d rather they just rushed at me all at once. Attacking small groups kept breaking my flow.
“Are you scared of just one woman? Oh, right. You were scared of zombies too, so you caused all that chaos. You were always cowards.”
Then the ones caught in my provocation started running towards me. I corrected my posture and gripped the pipe with both hands. Then, one by one, I dealt with them. The more I swung, the more my lips curled up for some reason. My mood was getting higher, and now I was even laughing.
“Is she really crazy?”
“She’s been mentally unstable for a while now. She’s a psychopath, isn’t she?”
Seeing my appearance, they hesitated a bit, as if they found it eerie. But realizing they still had the numerical advantage, they regained their courage and charged at me again. Suddenly, I thought, if they had rushed at the zombies like they were rushing at me, what would have happened? My sister wouldn’t have died. If everyone had just gathered a little strength and stepped up, things could have been different…
I shook my head to clear my thoughts. It was all in the past. There was no way to undo what had been done. Continuously thinking about it would only make things harder for me. I wanted to end everything here. My revenge for my sister, the memories of that day, I wanted to rid all of them today.
“Come at me, you trash!”
I shouted as if pouring out all the anger in my heart.
***
I felt completely empty inside. Why didn’t I feel good after achieving the revenge I had wanted so much? Contrary to my expectation that I would feel relieved after the revenge, something still felt like it was tightly blocking my chest. I stared blankly at the disastrous landscape. Then I saw people hurriedly coming down from the second floor to the first floor in the distance. Come to think of it, they were still left. Was this why I felt this way, because I hadn’t dealt with all of them? But my body wouldn’t move. I didn’t want to attack anyone anymore.
Suddenly, I felt a strong pain in the right side of my abdomen. When I regained my senses and checked, I saw that the person I had attacked and who had fainted earlier had woken up and stabbed me in the abdomen.
“Ugh!”
As the knife was pulled out, I could no longer stand properly. I sat down and held the wounded area and closed my eyes, thinking.
‘Is this the result of my actions coming back to me… Is this my end?’
My memory was hazy after that. I think I remember her coming towards me and a lot happened. When I opened my eyes again, I was in a car I had never seen before. The noisy sounds around me made my eyes snap open, and I saw zombies sticking to the windows. I barely suppressed a scream and tried to move, but the sharp, stabbing pain from my side reminded me of my condition.
“Oh, my god… I’m still not dead.”
I was sure it had been a while since I had been stabbed, and yet I was still alive. I thought for sure that I was going to die. Where the hell was I anyways? Why was I here?
While I was lost in thought, a black dog caught my eye. It was curled up next to me, with only its head raised, looking at me. Unlike ordinary dogs, its completely black appearance reminded me of the animals that man had turned into shadows. This one was probably one of them. So, did the two of them bring me here?
I was in the middle of my thoughts when suddenly there was a loud bang and the car shook. The sounds coming from above made me think that zombies had climbed onto the car. If this continued, I’d be surrounded by zombies and die trapped inside the car.
I thought I had already taken revenge and that dying now wouldn’t matter, but when faced with the prospect of death, I felt afraid. To be torn apart and eaten by zombies would probably be agonizing. Thinking about it made me clench my fists. After hesitating for a while, I finally threw myself at the door, opened it, and ran out of the car. I ran forward without looking back. It was pathetic, but I didn’t want to die like this. I wanted to live.
“Haa… Ugh.”
The more I ran, the more the wound got stimulated and the pain intensified. If I kept going like this, I wouldn’t get far before the zombies caught me and killed me. Was there no answer other than death in the end?
Suddenly, I felt something pulling at my feet. Was a zombie already here? I hurriedly looked down and saw the small dog from the car pulling at the hem of my pants, pointing in one direction. Following its gaze, I saw…
“…a hospital?”
Come to think of it, I did recall her talking to me before I lost consciousness. She suggested going to the hospital… Could she be there? Trying to find a way to treat me?
At the end of that thought, I turned my body towards the hospital and ran with the last bit of strength I had left.
***
I was speechless when I found that my wound had disappeared without a trace. How could it be treated like this…? Even with the most careful surgery to avoid scars, some would inevitably remain. I couldn’t believe it.
And her subsequent explanation was just as baffling. Special abilities? Side effects? Now I remembered how she always seemed worried when he used his ability. It must have been because of the side effects… And the nosebleed she just had was likely due to those side effects.
They continued to say things that were hard to understand even after that. Survivors? Clear? It seemed like they knew a lot, but for now, I decided to move on instead of asking questions.
“Ms. Ga-eun, I’m thinking of moving now. Is your body okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
“Then let’s look for a weapon together. I’ve checked most of the rooms, but there are still some places I haven’t checked. Maybe there’s something of use there.”
For now, I followed her lead. After gathering weapons and heading down to the first floor, I found something that hadn’t been there when I entered. It blocked our way out.
Then, a loud noise came from behind, and zombies started pouring out of the emergency staircase. There was no time to think; I had to focus on dealing with them. A particularly dangerous zombie I had glimpsed on the third floor when I met her was now wreaking havoc throughout the place. It was hard enough to deal with zombies rushing from all directions, but whenever there was a slight opening, that zombie would appear and slash with its claws. Each time, she or the shadow creatures would appear and help, but eventually, the zombie’s attack succeeded.
“Ugh!”
I thought my left arm was being torn off completely. If I had been a little late in moving, my arm might have been severed entirely. My left arm was in tatters, and it was too painful to even look at. They say when the pain is too much, you can’t even scream, and I was at that point where I couldn’t breathe properly.
She pushed a wheelchair to move the zombie away from me, perhaps seeing my condition. She then rushed over to try and treat my wound. But the zombie was faster. Even though it had been hit by the wheelchair and been sent away, it was already back in front of me again, ready to slash with its claws. I had no choice but to push her aside.
I managed to avoid getting her hurt that way, but I ended up being pinned under the zombie. It drove its claws deep into my right shoulder while I was using it to struggle and get free.
“Huh… Aaah…”
I was writhing in pain that seemed unbearable enough to make me just lose my mind, and just then, dirt was thrown into my face. Before I could figure out where it came from, the creature on top of me had suddenly disappeared. As I brushed the dirt out of my eyes and tried to hold on to my sanity, she ran over, grabbed my hand, and started healing me. Instantly, the pain vanished, and I felt strength surging back into my body.
I was amazed to see my wound healing in real-time, but then the energy suddenly cut off. Confused, I turned to look and saw that she, who had been in front of me just moments ago, had been grabbed and slammed against the wall.
“Ji-ah!”
The zombie was standing in front of her, reaching towards her head.
No… I don’t want to see anyone else die!
