Chapter 41
Lee Jeong-Uk continued to speak.
“I think everyone’s just excited by the word ‘shelter’ right now, but there’s no guarantee that it’s safer than this place. To be honest, I can’t tell.”
Lee Jeong-Uk’s words were met with silence. After a moment, the principal got up.
“I agree as well. We don’t know if the people there will accept us or kick us out. I’m also against the idea of making someone else do things for us.”
The principal’s voice was trembling. I could tell that the incidents he had endured at the high school still weighed heavily on his mind. The only reason the principal hadn’t lost his resolve was because of the children and elders that had been relying on him.
However, he couldn’t have found his feet again without realizing what he’d done wrong. He had probably condemned the younger teachers who had abandoned them at first. But he’d been forcing them to make sacrifices as well. Only later did he understand what he had done wrong.
After a moment, Han Seon-Hui, who was standing next to the principal, spoke.
“Wherever we go, things won’t be too different. There’ll be zombies, and there’ll be bad people. In my case, I don’t want to be disappointed by humans anymore.”
Han Seon-Hui was clearly speaking from her experiences as a wanderer, and the constant lack of trust. Kang Eun-Jeong joined in the discussion as well.
“Why don’t we start something ourselves here instead? I don’t think there’s a need to join up with other people, especially a group of people that we don’t know that well.”
With Kang Eun-Jeong supporting Han Seon-Hui’s opinion, nobody else disagreed with what Lee Jeong-Uk. Everyone seemed to be on the same page. Choi Da-Hye and Lee Jeong-Hyuk slowly nodded as well. It seemed like they were willing to accept the others’ opinion. I opened the drawing pad and wrote down a few words.
- This place. Shelter. Make.
I had planned to organize the apartment after returning from the high school in the first place. I was planning to transform the apartment into a place where everyone felt safe, a place like no other in this world. I was going to turn the apartment into a shelter. The only shelter in Haengdang-dong—Haengdang-dong’s last hope. That was what I had in mind.
I had already taken care of apartment buildings 103, 104, and 105. I communicated my plans to everyone, and they all seemed like they were on board with me. After a moment, Lee Jeong-Uk slapped his knee as if signaling that things would be smooth sailing from now on.
“How about everyone decide on what they want to be responsible for? I’ll be responsible for getting food. I won’t impose any job on anyone, so feel free to say what you are willing to do.”
Lee Jeong-Hyuk carefully raised his right hand. “In that case, I’ll join you in getting food.”
Once Lee Jeong-Hyuk had spoken, everyone else started saying what they wanted to do one by one. The principal and Han Seon-Hui were in charge of the children’s education, and Choi Da-Hye and Kang Eun-Jeong were in charge of meal preparation.
The white-haired elder wanted to utilize his farming skills which he had picked up a long time ago, and the female students in their late teens, including Woo Ga-In, said they would help out with chores like farming, cooking, and laundry.
Kang Ji-Suk and Byeon Hyeok-Jin volunteered to help with getting food, and the remaining male students in their teens offered to guard the apartment.
In a flash, everyone had decided on what they were willing to be responsible for. I nodded eagerly at them, then wrote down a couple of words on the drawing pad.
- Tomorrow. Start.
As they read my words, their expressions grew determined. We had to be united in order to survive. In this moment, each person had chosen their own sphere of responsibility, and had committed to it.
Humans were creatures of action. This was the natural way of things. After a moment, So-Yeon came up to me and grabbed my hand. I patted her on the head and then thought to myself,
‘You have to behave yourself and listen to the principal and Han Seon-Hui.’
I wanted everyone to do their best. I prayed that everyone would have a smile on their face, and that So-Yeon would grow up into a bright person.
* * *
Now that everyone had chosen their individual roles, they all strived to do their best in their respective roles. No one slacked off. They were committed to trying their best. We were making the Haengdang-dong apartment complex into a safe shelter.
The Lee brothers taught Kang Ji-Suk and Byeon Hyeok-Jin how to avoid and hunt zombies on their way to the supermarket. Being youths, Kang Ji-Suk and Byeon Hyeok-Jin absorbed everything like sponges. They grew better and better by the day thanks to the skills the Lee brothers were teaching them.
The principal and Han Seon-Hui were passionate about teaching the children. The principal was responsible for teaching children in their early to mid-teens, while Han Seon-Hui was responsible for the children below ten. The children, who had been unhappy to learn at some point in time, were now all happy to have the opportunity.
I wondered if they missed the atmosphere of huddling together with their peers in a classroom and learning. The children were growing brighter by the day. As the saying went, a nation that forgets its past doesn’t have a future, and so their education was oriented around history.
The white-haired elder was successful in growing sweet potatoes and potatoes in the apartment garden. It was an incredible day when we finally found out. The joy was surreal. Everyone hugged one another and danced the night away. The memory of the elder dancing, smiling gently while swinging his cane like a baton, was a memory I would never forget.
Although the elder was unsuccessful in growing carrots and cherry tomatoes, the potatoes and sweet potatoes generated a sense of hope for a better future. The fact that we could grow something on our own was enough to warm everyone’s hearts just a little bit.
Each time Lee Jeong-Hyuk went out to get food, he would bring a watermelon back and ask the elder to grow one as well. Lee Jeong-Hyuk sure loved watermelons. Even when I’d brought back food, he’d always looked for watermelons. His love for watermelons was quite something.
In the meantime, I took care of all the zombies within the apartment complex. I recruited the ones who looked sturdy and had bodies that were intact. The other ones, I set them free. I sent them to heaven.
The three hundred and ten underlings I had soon grew to an army of six hundred and fifty. At that point, I could no longer find any more zombies in the complex. After wiping out all the zombies within the complex, I went out into the streets in order to increase the safe zone around our shelter.
Every now and then, I came across red zombies that seemed to be part of the gang, and took care of them without hesitation. In order to expand my scouting network, I sent underlings to every part of Haengdang 1-dong.
As long as we stayed in Haengdang 1-dong, we would be safe from the black creature. And as long as we took care of the scouts sent into Haengdang 1-dong by the gang members, we would be safe from them as well.
Haengdang-dong, which had been crossed out with a big ‘X’ mark, became a safe haven like no other in the world.
The male students in their teens stood on guard duty as they promised. The female students got together to take care of the laundry. None of the children expressed any complaints. They were thankful that they could see a blue sky, breath in fresh air, and chatter away with friends every day.
Every now and then, when someone missed their parents or family, the community would gather around to console them together. Despite coming from different families, we were slowly becoming a family of our own.
* * *
The hectic summer passed, and fall was ushered in by a chilly breeze. A special event was about to take place. Everyone in apartment block 104, unit 505 had gathered, and all eyes were on So-Yeon. So-Yeon was looking closely at the map of Seoul, which was spread out on the living room floor. I observed her carefully with a gentle smile as I leaned against the wall. After a moment, Lee Jeong-Uk spoke.
“So, So-Yeon, have you decided?”
“Hmm, yes!”
“Alrighty! Here’s your pen.”
As Lee Jeong-Uk passed her a pen, she adjusted her grip on the pen over and over again with a rather serious expression. After a moment, she kneeled in front of the map of Seoul and then traced the pen over an apartment complex located in Haengdang-dong. She then drew a shield on it and wrote the following words in a clear font.
- Hae-Yeong.
As soon as she wrote down ‘Hae-Yeong’, the other survivors all looked confused. But I knew what she meant. Hae-Yeong was her friend’s name. Her best friend in elementary school was named Hae-Yeong.
Her place was five minutes away from here. But after this world had fallen, we had been thrown into an era in which it was impossible even to find out how those living five minutes away were doing. All along, So-Yeon had been curious about how Hae-Yeong was doing.
I smiled warmly and went to So-Yeon to give her a hug. She stood still in my arms for a while. However, her eyes soon began to well up with tears, and she shoved her face into my chest. As I patted her back, the others looked around and exchanged sad smiles, not knowing how to act. After a moment, Choi Da-Hye, who did not seem to sense the change in atmosphere, spoke up.
“Who’s Hae-Yeong?”
Everyone else clearly had the same question in mind, but hadn’t dared to ask. They all seemed relieved that she had brought up the elephant in the room. After Choi Da-Hye had spoken, all eyes turned toward me. I grasped a pen and wrote down several words on the drawing pad.
- So-Yeon’s friend.
Small sighs escaped from the lips of the survivors who were gathered around. Lee Jeong-Hyuk scratched his sideburns with a sad expression.
“Naming the shelter after her friend Hae-Yeong…Does she want her friend to come here as well?”
Lee Jeong-Hyuk had figured out her intentions right away, like he always did. Everyone understood the sadness that she must have gone through. Their expressions grew gloomy, and several began to sniffle. Lee Jeong-Uk spread out a large piece of drawing paper.
“Today’s the inauguration of Shelter Hae-Yeong! Why is everyone crying on a good day like this?” He said, trying to lighten up the mood.
“Should I write it out?”
“Sure Da-Hye. Your handwriting is good. Go ahead.”
Lee Jeong-Uk passed her the blue marker, and Choi Da-Hye began writing on the large canvas.
- Shelter Hae-Yeong. Hope for Haengdang-dong. Safe Haven for Humans. Screening Stations on your Right.
We were planning to put the canvas up at the entrance to the apartment complex. Anyone who passed by this canvas would be able to be screened and then welcomed into the shelter. In this day and age, when allies were necessary, we weren’t going to cut ties with the outside world.
We decided that we would accept more people and open ourselves to the world. We had a strong belief in the community and system that we’d built, and did not think that those who joined us would be able to disrupt it.
I recalled the three conditions I thought survivors needed after I’ve turned into a mutant. Now that I had achieved the third condition, the people who were willing to join us had to meet the first and second conditions. This was the purpose of the screening center.
This also gave those who wished to enter the shelter no choice but to see me. If the person entering was rational, the sight of me would deter them from trying to cause trouble. But if anyone still tried it, I would get rid of them without hesitation.
I knew that people who were standing always wished to sit, those who were sitting wished to lie down, and those who were lying down wished to sleep. It was only natural to seek out a more comfortable state. Even if we let people into the shelter, there would be no place for them here if they didn’t have a sense of humanity or were too selfish.
As I comforted So-Yeon, Lee Jeong-Uk led everyone else outside. They were going to hang up the canvas sign and put up a tarp to the right of the apartment entrance. I was blessed to have people like them. They knew what to do on their own, and were thoughtful enough to leave me and So-Yeon alone.
I tickled her wrist, and So-Yeon stopped crying. She looked up at me with a smile. As I looked into So-Yeon’s crystal-clear eyes, I couldn’t help but smile.
She pretended to act grumpy, burying her face into my stomach and hugging me even more tightly. I slowly closed my eyes, hoping this harmonious peace would last forever.
* * *
After the inauguration of the newly-established Shelter Hae-Yeong, I immediately felt the need to explore the area further. I alerted the community that I would be on patrol. Lee Jeong-Uk nodded right away.
“Thanks for taking extra measures to stabilize the shelter. Take care while you’re out there.’
I knew what he was grateful for. I couldn’t thank him enough. I waved gently at the others and headed toward the front entrance.
In the beginning, it had been scary to step out onto this path. It felt like walking on thin ice. But I was no longer the same person. I remembered being trapped inside, unable to take a single step outside. But now, I had made the place a safe haven for everyone, and had become their leader. It was a feeling I couldn’t express in words.
Did it feel like I was flying? No, it was nothing like that. Ordinary words were not enough to express the feeling. It felt like going out on a date on a sunny weekend morning, dressed in new clothes.
For some reason, the zombies on the streets didn’t seem hostile at all. I felt like I was standing in the center of the world, as if this path I was taking was the right path to take. I looked at the twenty underlings I brought out with me.
‘Tell me when you see a supermarket or convenience store.’
GRR! GAA!!
My underlings answered with their loud, throat-rending noises. The supermarket where the gang members’ heads were still hanging by the entrance was slowly running out of food. No matter how much food a supermarket had, there would not be enough to sustain more than thirty people forever. I was planning to discover a new stockpile of food, and retrieve weapons that everyone could use. Besides that, the elder had also asked me for a favor.
- If you walk by a park, get me some soil. I need some soil for planting flowers. Not sand like this.
There was a children’s playground in the center of Shelter Hae-Yeong. The elder remarked that the sand wasn’t suitable for growing crops. The elder’s solution was to dig out all the sand from it and fill it up with soil that was more suitable.
There was a lot to take care of. I needed to hurry. My underlings and I picked up the pace.
Follow current novels on freewe(b)novel.c(o)m