Chapter 69
The moment I entered Yongcheol’s store, I saw Yongcheol drinking tasteless beer with a sullen expression, Mingyu staring at the sky with bloodshot eyes, and Jiwoo lying on the bar table, trembling with shoulders shaking.
What’s with the atmosphere?
I’ve only been away for three days.
Scratching the back of my head, I entered the store.
“What’s going on? Hey? Did someone die? Your faces look wrecked. Someone would think this is a funeral home.”
I intentionally joked around, but then.
“Jeong-woo died.”
“Ah.”
It wasn’t the time for jokes. Aish, this damn mouth of mine! No, not mouth—muzzle! I slapped my muzzle and let out a long sigh.
Yoon Jeong-woo was the colleague who informed me of Jeong Min-jae’s death before I left Seoul. And he was also the family of Yoon Jiwoo, who is currently crying.
“Min Ahyeon! Where are you going?”
Those were the last words I exchanged with Yoon Jeong-woo.
Realizing that the world is finally heading toward its end isn’t when you witness roads collapsing, factories shutting down, and civilization reverting to primary industries.
It’s when someone suddenly leaves one day.
You saw them not long ago, greeted them just the other day, thought they were still alive today, but then you hear the news of their death. It’s when you realize that nothing lasts forever, but in a world where eternity seems even further away, you feel a sense of powerlessness, knowing you can’t protect your own life, feeling like the world has truly come to an end.
I sat down next to the crying Jiwoo.
“Are you okay?”
Jiwoo slowly raised her head, sniffing back tears. Her eyes were swollen. I handed her the only clean handkerchief I had, and Jiwoo blew her nose into it. Ah, there was only one left.
“It’s because of me…”
Jiwoo said as she furiously rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand.
“Oppa died because of me.”
She then began explaining the situation that led to Yoon Jeong-woo’s death.
Yoon Jeong-woo, Yoon Ji-woo, and Kang Mingyu were always a group of mercenaries who stuck together. They weren’t like me, who would charge at the infected or engage in reckless combat. Most of the time, they would undertake tasks such as retrieving specific items or procuring supplies.
Apparently, this time was no different. There were still food supplies left in the Gochang region. They were told to retrieve it, in exchange for half the haul as payment. Not a bad reward, so they accepted the request and successfully obtained the supplies.
But danger lurked afterward.
“He didn’t look like a zombie.”
Yoon Jiwoo shouted, trembling.
“He just seemed like an ordinary person. His leg was injured so he couldn’t move, and he asked if we could give him a ride just up ahead. So of course, we helped him out. Thought he might give us something in return!”
Kang Mingyu placed a hand on Jiwoo’s shaking shoulder, but her trembling showed no signs of stopping.
“But then he suddenly turned into a zombie…and came at me. Oppa blocked him. And then…”
Ji-woo squeezed her eyes shut.
“…He bit him.”
After that, she fell silent. Seeing her say “he died” earlier, Yoon Jeong-woo must have also chosen to die like Jung Min-jae, trying to maintain his humanity. He probably didn’t want to live as an infected. Neither alive nor dead.
I made the sign of the cross towards him who had departed. Having to mourn twice in one day felt disgustingly bitter and uneasy.
“I’ve heard the zombies are evolving. Running away or evading attacks. But was that not the end of it? That they can actually…pretend to be human like this?”
Listening to Yoon Jiwoo’s anguished cries, I found myself clenching my arm tightly without realizing it—the same arm that was bitten by Daero.
“I went to Gangwon to investigate that.”
I answered, lowering my gaze.
“I encountered a similar infected in Gangwon, and we secured the body. Now that research will begin…some kind of result is bound to come out. So,”
“If results come out, then what?”
Yoon Jiwoo abruptly stood up.
“Will my oppa come back to life or something?”
“Jiwoo. Calm down.”
Kang Mingyu tried to calm Jiwoo, but she didn’t stop thrashing around.
“How, how have I endured this shitty world! I only trusted Oppa, I was just trying to live on with at least Oppa! But if he dies like this, like this…”
“Yoon Jiwoo!”
I quickly grabbed Yoon Jiwoo’s arm, which was about to put a gun in her mouth, and made her drop the gun. Looking at her eyes, it seemed she wasn’t in her right mind. She couldn’t be, of course.
“Hey. Jeong-woo got bitten trying to save you, you know. So what should we do? Huh? Not freak out senselessly like this, but somehow try to survive!”
For once, our Yongcheol spoke some sense. But Yoon Jiwoo still couldn’t regain her senses.
“I don’t know… I really don’t know. It’s too hard. I don’t know how to live, how to…”
Yoon Jiwoo collapsed and started sobbing, and since we didn’t know her heart, and even if we did, we couldn’t say we knew it a hundred percent, we had no choice but to keep our mouths shut and remain silent.
It was then that a familiar figure appeared from inside.
“….Nuna?”
It was Jun and Yeon, whom Yongcheol and I had rescued not long ago.
“Nuna. Why are you crying? Are you okay?”
“Hey, Min Ahyeon.”
At that moment, Yongcheol called me. When I turned my gaze, Yongcheol gestured outside with his chin, and I followed him outside the shop.
“Wanna smoke?”
Yongcheol offered a cigarette, but I shook my head. I never started smoking in the first place, knowing that I might regret it later if I got addicted to something hard to come by like cigarettes.
Anyway, Yongcheol lit the cigarette in his mouth and exhaled a long trail of acrid smoke while lowering his gaze. The cigarette smoke wasn’t unfamiliar. But having Yongcheol beside me instead of Shin Hae-jun felt quite strange, even though I had only been with Shin Hae-jun for a few days.
“Min Ahyeon.”
Yongcheol’s words immediately scattered my thoughts. I turned to look at him, and Yongcheol raised his eyebrows with a serious expression.
“You were with General Shin Hae-jun, right?”
“Yeah.”
“You encountered mutant zombies… No, mutant infected, right?”
“Yeah. But why?”
In response to my answer, Yongcheol furrowed his brows and scratched the back of his head. Ah, he muttered curses as he exhaled cigarette smoke.
“I’ve heard some things.”
I listened attentively.
“Don’t you think there’s been a sudden increase in the number of mutants infected?”
“What?”
I widened my eyes and looked at him, and Yongcheol took advantage of that moment to continue speaking.
“Mutant infected. It seems like they’re appearing all over the country simultaneously. It doesn’t make any damn sense, does it? Mutation? Are mutations happening that fast? Well, let’s say they’re fast. Then shouldn’t they appear in one area and spread from there? But suddenly, they’re spreading nationwide, worldwide, in an instant?”
He muttered with a serious expression, as if he was certain.
“There’s something going on.”
“……”
I stared at Yongcheol intently. Blink, blink. Slowly blinking my eyes, I burst into laughter.
“Yongcheol, you’re crazy with these conspiracy theories. Didn’t you believe the Earth was flat before?”
“Aish, come on, this isn’t a conspiracy theory! And the Earth is actually flat, you know?”
“Sheesh, damn it. Why am I even talking to you?”
With his beliefs in aliens, ancient civilizations, and the flat earth theory…he believed in everything, so I didn’t really want to lend much ear to his words. Well, it was true that the number of mutated infected increased suddenly, but there could be various factors, so I couldn’t just be blindly suspicious.
However, somehow…
I had an inkling feeling. Like I was missing something. That I shouldn’t just brush this off entirely.
‘Hmm.’
After pondering briefly, I eventually nodded in understanding.
“But I know what you’re worried about. So, I’ll look into it. Okay?”
“Yeah, sure.”
Yongcheol replied with a smirk. Then he glanced around, realizing there was nothing in front of the shop, and frowned.
“Where did you park my jeep?”
“Ah.”
Right, the Jeep.
I left it somewhere after coming here by helicopter.
Feeling awkward, I turned my head slightly, and Yongcheol’s face turned red and stiffened in an instant.
“You…you crazy…! Hey! I knew you’d pull some shit like this! Hey! Aaargh!”
He was so angry that he couldn’t even curse properly and just stomped his feet, yelling.
“Where is it? Hey? Bring it over. I might be able to fix it!”
“Uh, well. About that. I really want to bring it, but…”
I replied, completely turning my head away.
“It’s completely wrecked.”
“……”
Yongcheol muttered under his breath, grabbing the back of his neck. Oh dear, if he collapses from high blood pressure, there’s no medicine for that. What should I do?
“I’ll really get something good for you. Huh? Just trust me. Do you trust me?”
“The fuck, trust you my ass! Let’s just both die. Forget it, just forget it! Ya!”
As Yongcheol grabbed my collar and shook me violently, suddenly, someone entered my field of vision.
A very familiar person in a military uniform.
“…Huh?”
The moment I saw him, my eyes widened.
🕂
Thank you for reading! ♡
Thank you the chapters!