Chapter 40
I didn’t give him a straight answer, but Kim Hyeong-Jun didn’t think much of it. He got to his feet, and I straightened as well. Kim Hyeong-Jun flashed me a satisfied smile.
‘Do you have anything else you’re curious about?’
I started to think about what else I could ask. I remembered the questions the zombie who attacked the high school had asked me. It had asked me what would happen if we ate human brains, if we ate zombie brains, and the number of underlings we could have. I wasn’t going to let this chance go to waste.
I asked Kim Hyeong-Jun all the questions I’d been wanting answers to. He titled his head in confusion, and followed up with a question of his own.
‘Ahjussi, you’ve never left Haengdang-dong?’
‘No.’
‘That’s why you don’t know anything, huh?’
I cleared my throat and smacked my lips. Kim Hyeong-Jun chuckled and continued.
‘We can only have two hundred underlings at a time.’
‘You seemed to have a lot more than that, though.’
‘Our control extends by fifty more underlings each time we eat a brain. I fought with gang members in Seongsu 1-dong and 2-dong day and night.’
‘So basically, the weak get wiped out while the fittest survive.’
‘Exactly. And each time we eat a brain, our physical abilities increase as well. So do those of our underlings.’
I slowly nodded as I absorbed what Kim Hyeong-Jun was saying.
‘The survival of the fittest, huh.’
Haengdang-dong was free from the zombies with glowing red eyes due to the black zombies, but the other areas were basically warzones. That also meant that Kim Hyeong-Jun had taken down a good amount of zombies.
His experience couldn’t be overlooked. I slowly realized why I hadn’t been able to feel his presence earlier on.
‘What else did you ask?’
‘What happens if we eat human brains?’
‘Unfortunately, I don’t know the answer to that. You see, I’ve never eaten a person.’
I nodded slowly. To be honest, I wouldn’t have been able to trust him if he’d known the answer to this question. He was right. There was no way to know without trying one. I asked him one last question.
‘Let me ask you one more thing. Do you know what happens if someone eats a black creature’s brain, like I did?’
‘Just like the previous question, I also don’t know the answer to that. I’m not sure how you defeated my brother, who turned into a black creature, but it’s almost impossible to beat a black creature.’
‘Did you say it’s impossible?’
‘The black creatures grow stronger when they eat brains, but they can also grow stronger without eating brains, just like we do. But I’m not sure how, or what conditions they need to fulfill to do so. One thing is for sure, though. The black creatures get stronger and stronger with time. I think it’s fair to say that you got lucky beating my brother, since he transformed rather recently.’
I rubbed my chin as I listened to Kim Hyeong-Jun. As he mentioned, it was possible that I’d been extremely fortunate back then. I wasn’t sure if I was lucky in the sense that I’d been bitten by a black creature, but given what had happened until now, I realized that I’d indeed been lucky. If I hadn’t eaten the black creature’s brain, I would’ve been killed by the red zombie at the high school.
Suddenly, Kim Hyeong-Jun flicked his finger, as though he’d just remembered something.
‘Oh, right. Be careful when you meet any creatures that have grown teeth.’
‘Teeth? Like you and me?’
‘Yeah. These teeth are a sign that they’ve evolved, that their rank has increased.’
‘Rank?’
‘Hmm, how do I put this? It’s like a symbol of power. Your physical capabilities grow stronger as you grow your teeth, and the connection between you and your underlings grows stronger too.’
I was more than aware of the physical improvements, but the connection with my underlings? At that moment, I remembered what I’d sensed when I’d been locked in combat with the zombie with glowing red eyes back at the high school.
- Enemy found. Get rid of the enemy.
That’s what I heard.
Of course, for the survivors, it had probably been just another throat-rending cry. But to me, I’d received their message loud and clear. The cry had come from the underlings that had been in charge of defending the high school as they had begun to fight red zombies.
As I replayed the memory, Kim Hyeong-Jun chuckled.
‘It seems like you remembered something. You heard your underlings’ voices, didn’t you?’
‘Do you know why that happened? In the beginning, I couldn’t hear them. But all of a sudden, I started hearing them.’
‘That’s the difference between creatures that have grown teeth and those that haven’t. As you know, our underlings get stronger as we get stronger. In other words, our connection with our underlings becomes more intertwined. They grow more sensitive and sophisticated.’
I nodded. Kim Hyeong-Jun glanced up at the night sky and then back at me.
‘Ahjussi, you grew teeth, so that means you can have an army of at least five hundred.’
‘...’
‘I won’t tell you to get out of Haengdang-dong, but be careful from now on.’
‘Be careful of what?’
‘Everything. Ever since my brother turned into a black creature, I tracked down his movements with my underlings. My brother roamed around Haengdang 1-dong.’
‘Is there a black creature in Haengdang 2-dong as well?’
‘According to my scouts, there’s one there too. But it was there way before my brother transformed.’
‘What are the odds of it coming to Haengdang 1-dong?’
‘Well, I’m not sure. Wouldn’t it start moving once it runs out of food?’
‘When you say food, are you talking about zombies with glowing red eyes?’
Kim Hyeong-Jun nodded without saying a word. After a moment, he gasped.
‘Ahjussi, the gang member you killed. It was from Haengdang 1-dong, right?’
‘Yeah.’
‘It’s bait.’
‘Bait?’
‘It’s one of the methods the gang uses. They pick out a weak gang member and send them into Haengdang-dong so that the black creature stays where it is. I mean, it’s basically a suicide mission for the one who is sent, but they send them anyway and justify it as patrol duty.’
‘...’
‘They’ll keep on sending bait. Make sure that none of them escape. If a scout escapes, all the officers in the gang will start moving.’
‘Officers?’
I tilted my head in confusion, and Kim Hyeong-Jun’s expression grew serious.
‘They’re zombies that have grown teeth like us. I have no information on how strong they are or how many underlings they have. All I know is that they never move alone. That’s all I know.’
‘So you mean they move in groups?’
‘The officers always move in pairs or in groups of three. Individually, their powers are problematic, but the real problem is all the underlings they have under them. So, look out for yourself.’
I acknowledged Kim Hyeong-Jun's warning. He stretched his body.
‘Now then, shall we part ways?’
‘Are you going to Ttukseom?’
‘Yeah. You want to come take a look?’
‘Take one of my underlings.’
‘Yours? Why?’
‘Since we’re on the same team now, we should at least have one underling at each safe haven. That way, we can help each other in case of an emergency.’
‘You’re right. I totally forgot about that.’
Kim Hyeong-Jun sent out his throat-rending cry with a smile of satisfaction, and one of his underlings emerged from the darkness. His underling also looked purple to me.
‘Take this one,’ said Kim Hyeoung-Jun.
I took a close look at Kim Hyeong-Jun’s underling. I liked how it held itself, like a well-trained soldier. With a satisfied expression, I turned to Kim Hyeong-Jun.
‘Do you think your telepathy will be able to reach us all the way from Ttukseom?’
‘If you’re worried, we can leave a couple of underlings in between to act like cell towers.’
‘What’s the range of our telepathy?’
‘It’s five kilometers. Oh, you didn’t know?’
‘I know now. That’s what matters.’
As I chuckled, Kim Hyeong-Jun roared out a laugh, then shook his head and grinned.
‘Ahjussi, you do realize that you can be pretty cheesy sometimes, you know?’
‘I’ll take that as a compliment.’
I couldn’t help but grin as well. I reached out to the underlings at the supermarket.
‘I need two of you to come here.’
As soon as I gave orders, two of my underlings jumped out of the window. They made it from the third floor to the first in an instant, and stood at attention in front of me.
It was about three kilometers from Haengdang-dong to Seoul Forest. If the range of our telepathy was five kilometers, leaving just one underling in between would be more than enough. However, I planned to send two of my underlings, just in case anything unforeseen happened. Kim Hyeong-Jun also called another underling of his, as if he’d read my mind. He looked me straight in the eye.
‘Two underlings each. That should be enough, don’t you think?’
‘Yup.’
‘Then, I’ll see you again, ahjussi. And ask me anything you want to know. I’ll try and answer to the best of my knowledge.’
‘Take care.’
‘You too, ahjussi.’
Kim Hyeong-Jun went off toward Seoul Forest with his head held high. At that moment, all of his underlings that were hiding in the surrounding buildings began streaming out. It was quite the view.
The creatures, glowing purple in the pitch darkness, caused the ground to rumble. They flowed across the ground like an elegant piece of purple silk. It was a comforting sight.
‘The Survival Rally Organization.’
I finally had an alliance.
As I watched my two green underlings trail behind Kim Hyeong-Jun, a slight smile spread across my face. I took a deep breath, then looked at the two purple creatures in front of me. They were staring at me blankly.
‘Can you hear what I’m saying?’
They didn’t answer. It seemed like I couldn’t give them orders even though we were on the same team. As I headed toward the supermarket, the two purple underlings followed me as well. For some reason, it felt like I had guests.
* * *
I returned to the apartment with Lee Jeong-Uk, who had been waiting patiently at the supermarket with my remaining underlings.
As soon as we got back to the apartment, Lee Jeong-Uk asked me what had happened. Throughout the night, I used letters and drawings to explain what had happened. When I had finished, Lee Jeong-Uk lay back on the couch.
“So, you’re telling me that the zombie you met at the supermarket is now on our side?”
I nodded.
“And the two behind you are his?”
I nodded.
He frowned as though unconvinced.
“Those two. Can we tie them up somewhere?’
“Grr?”
“Honestly, I’m not comfortable with them around. I can’t trust them just yet.”
I nodded without hesitation. I felt sorry for the two purple underlings, but my priority was the safety of my people. I thought about tying them up on the rooftop. They were merely tools for communication, so I only needed them to be on the lookout for gang members while they were tied up on the rooftop.
I retrieved some thick ropes and headed straight toward the apartment rooftop. I lined the two zombies up back-to-back and then tied their arms and legs. They didn’t feel any fatigue, so leaving them up there would be no problem. They just needed to carry out their duty.
I returned to the living room after taking care of the task.
“Daddy!”
So-Yeon ran toward me as if she had been waiting for a long time. I smiled and took her into my arms. She probably hadn’t come out earlier because of the zombies. I was glad that I had taken Lee Jeong-Uk’s suggestion. Lee Jeong-Uk watched me and So-Yeon closely, then sighed.
“You two. It seems like you can’t stand to be away from each other even for a second!”
Despite his words, he had a gentle smile on his face. After a moment, Choi Da-Hye walked in from the kitchen.
“So-Yeon’s father. What’s going to happen to us now?”
I looked at her questioningly.
“You said there’s a shelter in Seoul Forest, right? Are we going there as well?”
I heard expectation and hope in Choi Da-Hye’s voice.
‘Does she want to go to the shelter in Seoul Forest?’
Just then, though, someone else chimed in, shattering her hope.
“Who knows what kind of people are in that shelter?”
It was Lee Jeong-Uk. He smacked his lips and sat on the floor, his face glum.
“We don’t know anything about that place. We don’t know how many people there are, what kind of people there are, what they do with food, and what kind of defenses they have set up there.”
His words brought a frown to Choi Da-Hye’s face. Lee Jeong-Hyuk, who was watching them, spoke up.
“Hyung, how about we go and check out the people over there?”
“You want to go and check? You just want So-Yeon’s dad to go check, don’t you?”
“No, hyung. That’s not what I meant.”
“You know what? Just stop it. You might as well just go up to So-Yeon’s dad and make him go.”
Lee Jeong-Hyuk shut his mouth after hearing what Lee Jeong-Uk had said. The older brother must have hit the nail on the head. Lee Jeong-Uk clicked his tongue and looked around the room.
The survivors from the supermarket and high school all had gloomy expressions. Lee Jeong-Uk looked at everyone’s faces, then took a deep breath. His voice took on a firm edge.
“Everyone, mark my words. No one here should ever ask So-Yeon’s dad to make sacrifices for us. Is that clear?”
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