Chapter 119
Kim Hyeong-Jun’s arms flashed forward, his hands locking around the creature’s wrists.
Kim Hyeong-Jun pulled with all his might, and the black creature's grip began to loosen. I coughed and barely managed to shake the black creature off of me.
As I was about to punch the black creature again, I noticed the grenade hanging on Kim Hyeong-Jun’s side.
There was nothing to gain by letting this fight drag on.
The creature could regenerate much more quickly than me or Kim Hyeong-Jun. The longer the fight went on, a single mistake could mean the end of either of us.
This was the way to end the fight.
This one blow would end this fight once and for all.
I grabbed the grenade from Kim Hyeong-Jun's side. Pulling the pin, I stuffed the grenade into the black creature’s chest.
Kim Hyeong-Jun’s eyes widened in surprise, and his eyes met mine.
"Take cover!!" I yelled.
Kim Hyeong-Jun let go of the creature's arms and fled immediately. I twisted my upper body about and prepared to leap into cover.
Grasp!
With its remaining strength, the black creature threw itself at me and grabbed my ankle. I struggled to escape its grasp, but it was holding onto my ankle as if its final wish was to make sure that I died along with it.
Desperation rose within me as I tried harder and harder to escape… But my body was growing even more sluggish.
Cold sweat poured down my forehead. I felt as though I were trapped in that single moment, which was stretching out into eternity.
“Fuck…”
BOOM!
The explosion deafened me, sending dust flying everywhere. I was thrown into midair as well.
Everything seemed like a distant dream. I felt a strange sensation, as though my soul was leaving my body.
"Ahjussi!"
I could hear Kim Hyeong-Jun yelling at me, but I couldn't figure out where he was shouting from.
My body hit the cold ground and sank into it, and I felt my limbs flop like wet towels. I saw someone running toward me from far away.
The man’s face resembled Kim Hyeong-Jun's face, but it seemed all blurry, as if there was a panel of opaque glass between us. Kim Hyeong-Jun lifted my upper body up, shouting at the top of his lungs.
Unfortunately, the endless high-pitched ringing in my ears made it impossible to grasp what he was saying to me. It felt like I had earplugs on. His voice lingered around the periphery of my earlobes, unable to make it into my eardrums, and eventually scattering into the air.
After a few moments, my eyes fell on the black creature.
The black creature was a lifeless corpse. Only its head was intact, its eyes still wide open.
As I stared blankly at it, the adrenaline that was coursing through my body drained away like melting snow. As my body began to relax, the thought arose in me that everything was over.
‘We’re safe now. Everyone is safe now.'
My eyelids were like iron weights. I wanted to rest for a while. Just like this, for a while. My skull was ringing so badly that I couldn’t move.
Just as I was about to close my eyes, I saw a large figure approaching the black creature with its hands on its hips. It stared blankly at the black creature for a moment, then opened its mouth wide open and swallowed the black creature’s brain.
I felt sparks go off in my brain as I watched the figure munching on the black creature’s brain. I came back to my senses instantly, as if someone had splashed cold water on me.
My eyes widened, and my mouth opened and closed like a goldfish’s.
"Swing… Mood… Swinger…!”
"Ahjussi, ahjussi! Are you okay?”
Tears fell from Kim Hyeong-Jun’s eyes as he slapped me hard on the cheek. I frowned and looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun. I waved a floppy arm in midair and pointed behind him.
"What's wrong, ahjussi? Wake up please!”
Kim Hyeong-Jun shook my upper body, his face covered in tears and snot. I wondered what he was so sad about when I was right there in front of him.
I furrowed my brow and tried to croak out a few words.
“Mood-Swinger…!”
“Mood-Swinger?”
Only then did Kim Hyeong-Jun turn around. His eyes fell on Mood-Swinger, who had already eaten the black creature’s brain. Kim Hyeong-Jun’s eyes went wide.
“Spit it out!!!” he yelled at the giant zombie.
But Mood-Swinger just burped and stared at us blankly.
* * *
“Step back!” yelled Do Han-Sol toward the survivors at the hotel entrance as he saw the dogs pour out from the hotel's emergency exit. The survivors were thrown into a panic as they saw the dogs streaming out.
The dogs immediately rushed at the survivors, wielding maces in their hands. Do Han-Sol and his underlings stepped in to deal with them.
The large lobby was quickly engulfed in chaos.
“AIEEE!”
A dog was coming perilously close to where the children were gathered. Just as it was about to swing its baseball bat at them, a bony man hurriedly threw himself at the dog.
He was the man who had been taken from the middle school earlier.
As the man engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the dog, another man who had been watching him hurriedly came to the rescue.
The short man and the tall man from the middle school put up a fierce fight against the baseball bat-wielding dogs, doing all they could to protect the children.
Do Han-Sol belatedly noticed them and dashed over, cracking the skulls of the dogs.
Gasp, gasp.
“Jesus…!”
The two bony men lay on their backs, breathing heavily. Do Han-Sol looked down at them.
“Why’d you do that?”
"Huh?"
“Why’d you help?”
“Because the kids were in danger,” replied the man, looking confused.
He’d answered right away, as though it was obviously the correct thing to do. His response caused a swell of complicated feelings within Do Han-Sol.
These two were dogs themselves that had eaten human flesh.
However, they had also been willing to sacrifice themselves to save the children.
Do Han-Sol had no clue what to think about these two. He scratched his head and clicked his tongue vigorously, then rejoined the fight against the dogs.
The dogs themselves weren’t threatening, but the fact that they had to fight indoors bothered him. It was difficult to protect the survivors, since it was impossible to tell when and where the dogs would appear.
Do Han-Sol looked at the survivors that had entered the hotel and yelled, “Everyone get out! I'll call you when I'm done dealing with them!"
The survivors made their way to the front door of the hotel, shoving away the dogs that tried to approach them.
Hwang Ji-Hye, who was behind the first group of survivors, frowned as she saw them streaming out of the hotel.
“What’s going on? Why are you coming back out? We have to get in quickly!”
Hwang Ji-Hye couldn’t understand why the survivors were leaving the hotel since she didn’t know what was going on inside. After a moment, Hwang Deok-Rok made it out of the hotel.
“It’s full of dogs inside!” he answered, wiping away the blood around his mouth.
“Dogs?”
“Do Han-Sol is holding them off. We have to keep an eye on the situation for now and concentrate on taking up a defensive position!”
After listening to Hwang Deok-Rok, Hwang Ji-Hye turned to the survivors following her.
“Everybody stop! Everyone stop!!!” she yelled.
The survivors, who were fleeing for their dear lives, raised their voices at her.
“What are you doing? Why aren’t you going in?!”
“There are monsters following us!”
“We have to hide, quickly!”
The panicking people were preoccupied with the thought of having to hide themselves somehow.
Bang!!!
A single gunshot rang out, its crack echoing around the area. The survivors crouched down in unison and covered their heads with their hands.
They looked toward the source of the sound and saw Lee Jeong-Uk standing there.
“Everyone, wake up!!!” he yelled.
Lee Jeong-Uk glared at them, and the survivors responded with bewildered looks. The principal, who was standing next to him, spoke up in support of him.
“What are you afraid of?!” he asked the survivors.
"Didn't you see the monster earlier?" shouted one of the survivors, directing his question at Lee Jeong-Uk. It was a middle-aged man with fear on his face.
The principal strode toward the man and grabbed him by the collar.
“Didn’t you see Mr. Kim Hyeong-Jun and Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok stop the black creature? What are your eyes for?!”
Even the principal, who always spoke in a measured manner, had raised his voice. The panicking survivors began to talk amongst themselves as they witnessed the principal’s change of attitude.
Lee Jeong-Uk lowered his gun.
“Are you still in doubt after seeing, hearing, and experiencing it firsthand?” he asked loudly. “Do you think Kim Hyeong-Jun and Lee Hyun-Deok will lose?”
“You… You never know what can happen!” came the angry replies.
Lee Jeong-Uk gnashed his teeth.
“If you want to run away, get lost already, you son of a bitch! Those who don't believe in Kim Hyeong-Jun and Lee Hyun-Deok, leave us! You surely won’t be of any help to us when we form our new shelter!”
In response to his tirade, the survivors began to mutter amongst themselves, eyeing each other to see how others would react.
Hwang Ji-Hye quietly crossed her arms and fixed her gaze on Lee Jeong-Uk. She had no intention of stopping him. He was taking a rather forceful tone, but she knew that it was necessary to make his point at least once.
Lee Jeong-Uk pointed at the survivors.
“The people behind us are putting their lives on the line. Not for anyone else but for us! Think about what you did to get here. Nothing, huh? Do you think their sacrifice is something you’re entitled to? Do you think that their protection is some right of yours?”
“...”
“If you’re thinking about surviving without contributing, leave right now. I’m not willing to have anyone here who I can’t trust! You fucking parasites that can’t even breathe without someone’s help—those bastards can leave right now!”
None of the survivors dared to talk back to him. All of them stayed silent.
It wasn’t because Lee Jeong-Uk had a gun in his hand, or because he was all worked up.
It was because he hadn’t said a single wrong thing. The survivors were repenting over how pathetic they’d been.
Lee Jeong-Uk let out a breath. When he spoke again, his voice was tinged with resignation.
“You people, let me ask you something. Do you still think that Kim Hyeong-Jun and Lee Hyun-Deok, those two who are fighting the black creature, and Do Han-Sol—who is fighting the dogs in the hotel—are zombies?”
The survivors, who had calmed down now, sagged their heads in remorse. Lee Jeong-Uk slicked his hair back.
“Wake up, you people! Why are you trying to pin the blame on someone else when we should be coming together to get through this? Don’t you feel sorry for the three of them who are fighting for us? Don’t you feel ashamed?”
He frowned at the remaining survivors. His appeals seemed to reach them, and they finally got back to their senses.
Park Gi-Cheol, who was in the crowd, shouted in a loud voice, “Everyone, get into a defensive formation!”
The survivors moved into a defensive formation in unison, following Park Gi-Cheol’s order.
They couldn’t go back, nor could they move forward. The best thing to do right now was to get into a defensive stance and trust in Kim Hyeong-Jun, Lee Hyeon-Deok, and Do Han-Sol.
The survivors shook off the fear that had been troubling their minds and began to focus on what they could do at the moment. Lee Jeong-Uk moved among the survivors, reinforcing the perimeter.
Hwang Ji-Hye came up to him.
“Once this place becomes stable… I think you should be the group leader,” she said in a low voice.
“So-Yeon’s dad is the group leader. I’m not sure what you mean.”
“It’s not that I don’t trust Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok. But the people here need a human leader. Someone equally vulnerable, empathic, and one who has a beating heart. They need someone like you.”
Lee Jeong-Uk sighed and didn’t say a word. He knew that being human meant being weak and being imperfect. But he also knew that, as humans, they could make up for each others’ shortcomings and grow stronger together through change.
Lee Jeong-Uk looked up into the sky and let out a deep breath. Unlike life on this miserable earth, the sky above was spotlessly clear. The juxtaposition seemed stronger than ever.
* * *
“Ahjussi, what should we do now?”
“How would I know?”
I massaged my temples gently, my annoyance showing on my face. Steam was rising from my body as my injuries slowly repaired themselves.
Regarding the changes Mood-Swinger had gone through in the meantime… Mood-Swinger had morphed into a spherical object again, just like it had when it turned into a stage-two mutant.
Kim Hyeong-Jun and I sat down and waited for Mood-Swinger to wake up.
I wanted to run to the survivors right now, but I decided that the right thing to do was to trust Do Han-Sol, and observe Mood-Swinger’s change.
It was impossible to predict what would happen to Mood-Swinger. It was possible that Kim Hyeong-Jun would lose his authority over Mood-Swinger once the transformation was completed.
Kim Hyeong-Jun bit his nails as he watched Mood-Swinger’s transformation process nervously.
“Hyeong-Jun.”
"Huh?"
"What if… what if you lose your command over Mood-Swinger when it’s done transforming?”
“What do you mean? We’ll have to kill it.”
Kim Hyeong-Jun’s expression remained neutral. He tried his best to not make it sound like a big deal, but he couldn’t hide the trembling in his eyes from me.
I sighed.
“I know you’ve grown fond of it. You really think you can kill it?”
“Of course.”
“Let me know if it’ll be too hard on you. I’ll take care of it for you.”
“...”
Kim Hyeong-Jun’s expression fell, and his head sagged.
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