Chapter 116
“Gwangjang-dong… was a place where people who had survived the zombie apocalypse lived together. There were five people at first, then twelve, then more and more people came. It soon became a paradise where one hundred and fifty people lived together.”
The man’s expression grew bitter, and his head sagged. I crossed my arms, listening intently to his story. He sighed and continued.
“Then the survivors from Jongno came here.”
"Jongno?"
“Yes. At first they tried to adapt to our lifestyle, but at some point, they suddenly changed.”
“And was that because of the Family?”
“How do you know…?”
The man on the left widened his eyes and trailed off. His question made me feel bitter inside. The situation they had gone through was similar to that of Mr. Kwak and his people, whom I’d met in Majang-dong.
At first, the dogs infiltrated the shelter and slowly perverted the shelter to their ways. Then the gang members would make their move and oppress the original survivors, establishing a kingdom of their own. It seemed like Gwangjang-dong had suffered a similar fate as Majang-dong. Perhaps their situations had been exactly the same.
I smacked my lips.
“So what happened after that?”
“They told us that we had to become dogs. They told us they’d kill us if we disobeyed…”
“And?”
“At first, everyone was against the idea. Everyone thought they were out of their minds and few of us got angry. However, after we watched the rebellious ones being slaughtered by the members of the Family… The rest changed their minds.”
“So you became a dog?”
“No, I planned to escape at first.”
The man’s expression grew somber, as though remembering the events of that fateful day. I waited patiently for him to continue, and after a while, he did.
“Those who made their way to Guui-dong and Jayang-dong were caught and killed by the Family, and those who tried to go to Guri-si via Achasan-ro were caught by the dogs that were lying in wait ahead of time.”
“Has anyone made it past Achasan?”
“Some escaped into the mountains, but we lost contact with them a long time ago.”
I rubbed my neck as I listened to him lay out the situation.
I realized that they had been backed into a corner, forced there against their will. They had no other way to survive, besides becoming dogs.
I looked into the man’s face.
“So, did you become a dog?”
“I had no choice. I had to, in order to survive.”
“Then let’s just go over one thing before we continue our conversation.”
“Go ahead…"
“Did you kill and eat a human being?”
The man did not answer my question. Instead, he bit his lower lip, and his expression fell. I furrowed my brow at his reaction.
“Why did you do that?”
“Are you telling me that I should have died instead?”
“Why did you have to survive at the cost of sacrificing the lives of others?”
“Busan… I wanted to go to Busan.”
"Busan?"
I raised an eyebrow and tilted my head. It was an unexpected answer. I wondered if he was lying to get out of this situation.
I looked him in the eye and repeated my question.
“Why Busan?”
“My parents are in Busan. There’s no guarantee that Busan is safe… But I wanted to see it with my own two eyes before I die. What happened to Busan… I wanted to see it one last time.”
Having heard him out, I turned to the tall man next to him.
“Are you trying to get to Busan as well?” I asked him.
The tall man nodded instead of answering.
It seemed like they were two people with the same objective, and they had come up with a plan to escape this place. However, their plan failed, and the price they had to pay was death.
These people had eaten human flesh in order to survive. I couldn’t tell if they were the architects of their own situation, or if the current state of things had forced them to act this way.
This series of events had happened very recently, and I wasn’t able to ascertain the truth behind this question.
I rubbed my face with my palms, then looked at the two men again. They looked at me tactfully, seemingly intimidated. I looked at the man on the left.
“The bodies here. Who were they?”
“They were people who questioned their life as a dog.”
"So you're saying that everyone who got caught while trying to escape was executed here?"
“Whoever sees these dead bodies quickly loses their desire to escape. We were supposed to join them as well.”
The man’s voice was calm. It seemed like he had already accepted death earlier, as they were being dragged away.
I looked at the man dead in the eye and asked him one last question.
“When you ate human flesh… Did you eat it willingly?”
“Have you ever starved for three weeks?”
“...”
“If you starve yourself for three days, you realize that there are so many different kinds of smells in this world. If you starve for a week, everything starts to smell sweet. And if you starve yourself for three weeks… You lose your ability to think properly. You lose your sanity.”
I could tell that the man was speaking nothing but the truth. In his furrowed brow, I could sense his guilt and remorse.
I examined the man up and down. His bony frame and protruding ribs told me that he’d been starving for a long time. In fact, he was skinny enough that I could see his heart beating in his chest with my naked eyes. His pale skin and sunken cheeks made me feel sorry for him.
I wondered who had the right to judge them for what they’ve done.
It was up to God to decide.
I put my head in my hands and let out a deep breath.
After I processed all that I had heard from them, my mind grew calmer.
“Where's their base?” I asked them.
“Pardon?”
“Tell me where their base is. I’ll spare the two of you once I verify that you haven’t lied to me. If your information is true, I will spare you.”
“Over… Over there! There’s a hotel over there!” answered the man on the left immediately, looking rather excited.
I wondered how much he had longed to hear the word ‘spare’.
I quietly rubbed my chin and said in a low voice, “A hotel…? It can’t be the Grand Walker…”
"Yes, yes! You’re right! It’s right there.”
I laughed out loud because I didn’t know how else to react. It was a moment that proved the truth in the saying that whatever looked pretty to me looked pretty to others as well. Clearly, our views and thoughts were very similar.
The enemy had established a base in the very hotel that I wanted to use as our shelter.
I let out a short breath.
“How many of them are there?”
“The only people who can come and go freely from the hotel are the leader and the twelve Believers. There are guards… But most of them are armed with maces or knives.”
“There are only thirteen people, yet they’ve claimed the whole hotel to themselves?”
“That’s why they’re bastards.”
The man had a rather foul mouth. I couldn’t tell if he was releasing his pent-up anger, or if he was just excited.
I nodded slowly.
“Then what about the rest of the dogs?”
“There is a large apartment complex beneath the hotel. The remaining dogs live there.”
“And are there any others who share the same thoughts as you two?”
"Um… What do you mean…?”
The man didn’t understand what I was getting at. I snorted and rephrased my question.
“Is there anyone in there that you want to save?”
“...”
I wondered if I had asked my question too forcefully.
The man bit his lower lip and mumbled to himself. When I tilted my head, the man’s expression grew bitter.
“The people I want to save… they're all in this school.”
His answer left me speechless. The sight of the countless corpses hanging on the school walls flashed through my mind.
I nodded slowly, then turned to Do Han-Sol.
“Han-Sol, take these two and head back.”
"Huh? What are you going to do?”
“I’ll go take care of the dogs.”
“Alone?”
“If we all go, who’s going to protect the survivors?” I asked, tilting my head.
Do Han-Sol furrowed his brow, then his head sagged. I could tell that he didn’t like the idea, but at the same time he knew that this was the best we could do at the moment.
I chuckled lightly.
“Keep an eye on the two here. Tell Hyeong-Jun to increase his vigilance, and to get ready to set up camp at Baesuji Sports Park.”
“Got it.”
“Then let’s get going. We don’t have much time.”
Do Han-Sol took the two men back to the place where our group of survivors had gathered, as I’d asked him to. I went up to the rooftop of the building and looked down at the intersection again.
I assumed that the preaching was over. The dogs that had packed the intersection earlier on were no longer to be seen.
My blue eyes flashed as I increased the circulation of blood throughout my body. I held only one thought in my mind.
‘They’re not human. If these beings are potentially dangerous to my family… I’ll kill every single one of them.’
I headed to the apartment complex, steam leaking from my mouth.
* * *
Splash, splash.
With the sun at its zenith, a black figure entered the deserted Children’s Grand Park through the front entrance.
It splashed its way to the fountain in the center of the park, the sunlight glinting off its strong muscles, thick limbs and shiny skin, which seemed to have been oiled. It walked over to the remnants of the large campfire and sniffed it, then wrinkled its nose and shook its head vigorously.
After looking around, it walked over to where the tents had been set up. It lingered around the area for a while, then took the hilly pathway that led to the back entrance.
It looked around once again, sniffing, and slowly began to grin. It seemed like it was tracking its prey through their scent, trying to determine the direction in which they had gone.
Its grin widened even further, revealing its sharpened teeth.
GWAAA!!!
It let out an ear-numbing roar. Its howl seemed like it could destroy every living soul around it.
Splash.
The black creature headed to the rear entrance to the Children's Grand Park, its blue eyes shining.
* * *
I stepped out of the apartment where I’d just taken care of business, feeling the sticky blood on my fingertips.
I tried to wipe away the blood on my clothes, but it didn’t come off easily, since my clothes were already covered in blood as well.
I let out a deep sigh and closed my eyes. I’d slaughtered my way through every wing of the apartment, and it was beginning to be too much. It had to be done for the safety of my family, but the humanity inside me was slowly being ripped away as I constantly killed off humans that weren’t zombies.
I clenched my fists and slowly opened my eyes.
I couldn’t let weakness overtake me.
I couldn’t let any of this change my mindset.
My daughter, my people, my family… They were out on the streets at this very moment, shivering from the cold. I had to clear this place as quickly as possible and bring the survivors here.
I breathed in the cold winter air and moved on. As I got closer to the hotel, I noticed several guards in front of the entrance. I counted them briefly, then rushed toward them without the slightest hesitation.
"Je—!"
I didn’t even give them the time to scream. I chopped through their necks before they could react.
The human body… It was much weaker compared to the bodies of the zombies that I’d been dealing with so far. I easily took care of the two guards and hid their bodies. I covered the bloodstains on the ground with sand and headed straight to the first-floor lobby.
There were a couple of dogs waiting for me with baseball bats in the lobby. Humans, guarding thirteen fanatics.
I wondered what their sins were.
Honestly, though, I couldn’t care less.
But I knew what I had to do.
'I'm going to kill all of you, and go to hell as well.’
I sighed and strode toward the guards. The guards quickly noticed me. Their eyes went wide, and their expressions grew uncertain.
“So it shall be!” yelled one of the men, and prostrated himself on the floor.
Immediately, all the guards echoed his proclamation and fell to the floor as well. As I looked at them, I unclenched my fists and gave myself a moment to think.
Suddenly, I remember what had happened at Konkuk University Hospital.
When Kim Hyeong-Jun and I had pretended to be the dong leaders of Seongsu-dong, the dogs had let their guard down right away. None of them suspected that we weren’t part of the Family. Instead, they had tried to butter us up in order to leave a good impression.
They probably didn’t know what the boss of the gang looked like. I bet that they’d never seen the boss face-to-face before.
‘Wait, doesn’t that make these dogs similar to the dogs from the Konkuk University Hospital?’
I cleared my throat and walked forward, standing in front of the man who had first made the proclamation.
Unlike the guards around him, he was dressed in pure white. I wondered if he was one of the twelve Believers.
“Are you one of the twelve Believers?”
"Yes! You are correct.”
“Which one are you?”
“The ninth Believer.”
I wondered why there were twelve Believers. Perhaps they were a cult, trying to imitate Jesus and his twelve Apostles.
I slowly put my hands behind my back.
“Where is your leader?”
“He’s in the chapel!”
“Guide me there.”
"Of course!"
Things were turning out to be easier than I’d thought. I’d been thinking about how I would torture the guards in the lobby, but I was able to avoid all the dirty work and reach their leader in one go.
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