Chapter 72
The more desires that were within you, the more your physical abilities increased exponentially. However, your mind grew weaker in the process.
Having just one of those desires destroyed was enough to turn you into a black creature. It seemed that devouring black creatures’ brains wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows.
In fact, eating a black creature’s brain was almost like taking a gamble. At least there was some good news. This desire of mine was almost the same as Kim Heyong-Jun’s desire.
I wouldn’t have been able to survive even for a day if I had eaten the brain of a black creature that harbored the desire to kill humans. A chill ran down my spine as I reached this conclusion.
However, there were still questions I didn’t have answers to.
‘When the enemy leader ordered me to kill Park Gi-Cheol as a threat, I was able to remain sane, right…?’
I’d been able to hang onto my sanity when I was put in the situation of either eating or killing Park Gi-Cheol. I wondered if some sort of physical trigger had to be involved in order for me to lose my sanity.
Now that I thought about it, my entire body had been engulfed in heat only after I’d seen blood trickling down from Park Gi-Cheol’s forehead.
Even back at the high school, it was when enemies showed up and my underlings informed me that the Lee brothers were in danger, that I’d gone berserk and gotten rid of all the red zombies on the first floor.
There wasn’t any physical contact involved, but it seemed like I had to have direct knowledge.
‘If I’d eaten Park Gi-Cheol’s brain, would I have turned into a black creature?’
I knew that, if Kim Hyeong-Jun hadn’t shown up at the right moment, I would’ve died on the spot or turned into a black creature.
I wondered what would happen if I hurt myself on purpose. As I pondered the question, I came to the conclusion that it was considered an exception.
When I slapped Kim Hyeong-Jun on the back or arm, nothing happened. In other words, it only worked when a complete stranger did something.
My head sagged, weighed down by all the thinking I was doing. Kim Hyeong-Jun bent down and looked me in the face, asking me worriedly,
‘Ahjussi, are you okay?’
‘Huh? Yes, I’m fine. Sorry for startling you.’
‘What was that face earlier? And what was the enemy leader talking about?’
‘Let’s talk later.’
I looked away from Kim Hyeong-Jun and back toward the survivors. They were all frozen, looking back and forth between me, Kim Hyeong-Jun, and the enemy leader.
“What are you doing?!”
At that moment, I saw a group of people making their way through Seoul Forest toward us. The woman walking toward us was on crutches, her upper body wrapped in thick bandages.
“Group… group leader! Are you okay?”
Park Gi-Cheol called out to the group leader as he wiped away the blood trickling down from his forehead. The group leader looked around at the people around her, then back at Park Gi-Cheol.
“I asked you what you were doing here.”
“Well… I heard the enemy leader’s daughter was here, so…”
“The enemy leader’s daughter?”
The group leader frowned and then looked at the enemy leader, who was still on the platform.
The enemy leader, with no arms or legs, met her gaze calmly.
After a moment, the group leader frowned and said, “Stop doing whatever you’re doing to sow chaos.”
“No, but it’s an important matter…”
“It’s forbidden to call a gathering here without my permission. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten this already?”
The group leader glared at Park Gi-Cheol. He smacked his lips, then looked to Kim Hyeong-Jun and me for help.
There was silence. The group leader drew her pistol from her waist and pointed it toward the enemy leader’s head. I quickly moved in front of her to stop her. She shifted her aim to me instead.
“I’m going to shoot you instead if you don’t step aside.”
I didn’t share the group leader’s wishes. I’d told the enemy leader that I was going to kill him if he acted funny, but in reality, I needed his data on the mutants.
Park Gi-Cheol observed the confrontation with a look of confusion, but he quickly recovered and leaped to my defense.
“Hang on a minute, group leader! There’s got to be a reason why these two haven’t killed this zombie yet. They probably need something from him. You can’t kill him right now!”
“Rules are made to be followed. According to the Shelter Regulations, Article Two, Clause One, zombies found within the shelter should be killed the instant they are discovered. Are you ignoring this clause as well?”
“But the situation’s different now.”
“No. Nothing changed. We made it through this fight, and all the zombies died. The remaining zombies in the shelter have to go.”
The group leader finished her sentence and pulled the trigger.
Bang!
The gun went off with a terrific, ear-splitting blast, and the bullet flew straight past my cheeks.
“This is my final warning. I’ll put a bullet through your skull if you don’t step aside.”
The group leader’s voice remained icy as she reloaded her gun. I swallowed and looked at Park Gi-Cheol, who seemed out of ideas as well.
I caught his gaze and drew a square in midair, then gestured as though I were writing something. He gasped, realizing what I wanted. He swiftly passed me back my notepad and pen. I scribbled down some words and tossed my notepad toward the group leader.
She looked at me disapprovingly for a moment, then lowered her gun and picked up the notepad off the ground.
- There’s a bigger threat emerging. We have to combine forces in order to make it through.
The group leader snorted while reading what I had written down.
“Emerging threat? Combine forces? You think you’re some sort of savior or something?”
Despite her mocking tone, she tossed my notepad back at me. It seemed like she was asking me to elaborate if I had anything else to say.
I sighed nervously and wrote some more.
- I’m sure you know why you can’t just go ahead and shoot me. You know that you need our help.
The group leader bit her lip after reading what I’d written down. After a moment, she gave orders to the person beside her.
“Tell the officers to be ready for a meeting right now.”
“Huh? Group leader! How could you trust those monsters…”
“They’re saying there’s imminent danger. We can at least listen to what they have to say.”
“Well…”
“If you don’t have any other solutions, please refrain from coming up with excuses.”
“My apologies…”
“And you, on the platform, I’d like you to take part in the meeting as well.”
Once she’d said her piece, she went back the way she came without looking back once. The men who had accompanied her shouted to the survivors to go back to what they were doing. The survivors glared at us disapprovingly, and some spat on the floor while hurling curses at us.
Park Gi-Cheol, who observed their actions, looked bitter.
“I apologize on behalf of them. The people here are really against zombies.”
I nodded slightly, keeping my expression calm. Kim Hyeong-Jun walked over to me.
‘Ahjussi, should we tie up the enemy leader first before we take part in the meeting?’
‘Sounds good.’
As the saying went, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. As long as we were in Shelter Seoul Forest, it was probably best to go along with the group leader.
* * *
We locked the enemy leader in the apartment again and I ordered my underlings to keep an eye on him.
When we returned to Shelter Seoul Forest, the guards hurried toward us and led us to the meeting room. The waterfront recreation room on the north side of Seoul Forest was being used as a meeting room.
I entered the meeting room anxiously. Eleven people, including the group leader, were sitting in a circle. The group leader took a deep breath as Kim Hyeong-Jun and I entered.
“The two folks will be joining our meeting for today.”
“Aren’t, aren’t they zombies?”
“They are. But they can think rationally. They also promised to provide us with information that we are not aware of.”
The meeting room erupted in hushed murmuring.
The group leader had clearly expected that reaction. She slammed her hand on the desk and called for silence.
The officers exchanged looks, unsure of how to react. The group leader pointed toward a couple of seats that were far away from the meeting table.
“I’m sorry, but if you two could take your seats over there.”
Kim Hyeong-Jun snorted after hearing her request.
‘She’s just straight-up keeping a distance from us.’
‘I can tell how badly they don’t want to sit with zombies.’
‘Hmm, it’s not the best feeling, isn’t it?’
‘What other choice do we have?’
I sighed and sat on a chair near the wall.
After everyone took their seats, the group leader flipped through her documents before speaking.
“There were ninety-two casualties in this battle. Among them, there are fifty-four dead. Guard leader, what do you think about this battle?”
“The problem was the mutants that appeared out of the blue. We should increase the height of the outer walls and conduct more research on these mutants.”
“How much cement do we have left stored away?”
“We won’t have much left after we fix the interior of the shelter..”
The group leader was clearly unhappy at the guard leader’s report. She directed her gaze toward the woman next to her.
“The supply team should help out in the hospital after dispatching the minimum amount of people required for food distribution. We have to focus on treating the injured.”
“Roger that.”
“The same goes for the facility team.”
“Got it.”
The group leader went through her documents again after receiving the officers’ acknowledgments. She then turned to a man in a lab coat that had almost turned yellow.
“How are the medical staff?”
“We’re low on painkillers and gauze. Not to mention blood.”
“What blood type are we talking about?”
“We’re low on RH+ B-type blood.”
The group leader seemed lost in thought for a moment, then looked at Park Gi-Cheol.
“Rescue leader, please stop all rescue team activities and look into everyone’s blood types.”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“We need RH+ B-type blood. If there’s anyone that has this blood type, we’ll give them meal vouchers in return for their blood.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The group leader and Park Gi-Cheol, who had spoken rather informally outside, tried to keep their conversation as formal as possible during meetings.
After a moment, the guard leader, who had remained silent while the rest had been speaking, spoke up.
“My apologies, group leader, but if I may?”
“Go ahead.”
As the group leader nodded, the guard leader glared at Park Gi-Cheol.
“I believe rescue leader Park Gi-Cheol has to be held responsible for what happened this time.”
All eyes fell on Park Gi-Cheol. The group leader arched her eyebrows in puzzlement.
“If you don’t mind elaborating…?”
“Rescue leader Park Gi-Cheol broke the rule regarding access to the storage room. Only myself, the group leader, and the chief secretary have the right to access the storage room. He also hid the fact that he had close relationships with zombies when he entered this shelter.”
With that, the officers grew agitated. Several gave Park Gi-Cheol sidelong stares, and they began to speak amongst themselves.
“Close relations with zombies?”
“Then this incident happened because of Park Gi-Cheol?”
“Whoever it is, if they lied to get in here, we shouldn’t take this matter lightly.”
Not a single person was taking Park Gi-Cheol’s side. It seemed like most of the officers held negative views toward Park Gi-Cheol. The officers were taking advantage of this situation to settle the grudges they had toward Park Gi-Cheol.
“Everyone, stop!”
The group leader slammed the table. The officers smacked their lips, their faces full of disapproval. The group leader looked at the guard leader.
“I gave them authorization to access the storage room. We were in a dire situation, and thanks to them, we were able to get rid of the enemies. However, regarding this relationship that you have with the zombies, I’d like you to clarify it for us.”
Park Gi-Cheol let out a deep breath and closed his eyes as if he knew the time had come for him to confess. After a moment, he slowly opened his eyes.
“It was two days after the zombie apocalypse broke out…”
Park Gi-Cheol explained the horrific events that followed the emergence of the zombies.
* * *
I was already aware of most of the things he mentioned.
After the world had been turned upside-down, Park Gi-Cheol met Kim Hyeong-Jun and Kim Hyeong-Seok, who were fighting for humanity. He stayed with the two of them to gather survivors. Through Kim Hyeong-Jun, he learned more about zombies with glowing red eyes, and he added that he focused on surviving every day, along with Kim Hyeong-Jun.
However, during their journey, a pregnant woman who was part of their group gave birth, which was why they came to Shelter Seoul Forest, as they couldn’t continue their nomadic lifestyle.
The group leader asked Park Gi-Cheol the question that was on everyone’s minds.
“Why did you hide the fact you’ve been with zombies all this time?”
“If I told you that I stayed with zombies, it was obvious that I wouldn’t be accepted here.”
The officers seemed solemn when Park Gi-Cheol gave his honest answer.
All except one. The guard leader frowned and started yelling, “Well, the bottom line is that he lied to us and deceived us! What else are you lying about? I bet he’s still keeping secrets from us. How are we supposed to trust someone like him?!”
Most of the officers seemed to agree with the guard leader’s assertions. The group leader ordered the guard leader to calm down and questioned Park Gi-Cheol.
“Rescue leader, are there any more secrets that you are keeping from us?”
“No.”
“Are you sure? If you’re withholding anything, please tell us right now. If something like this happens again, you will no longer be able to stay in Shelter Seoul Forest.”
“If you really want me to talk about it, I do have some information about the black creatures.”
“Black creatures?”
The group leader tilted her head, and Park Gi-Cheol went ahead and told them all about the black creature. He explained in detail how Kim Hyeong-Seok, Kim Hyeong-Jun’s younger brother, had turned into a black creature and the violent nature that the black creatures had.
The guard leader could barely contain himself, his mouth frothing.
“Isn’t he basically saying that the monsters in the back might turn into black creatures as well?! God only knows when they’ll turn!”
“Calm down, please,” the group leader demanded in an imposing manner, but the guard leader only shouted even more feverishly,
“You want me to calm down? This isn’t the time and place to be calm. How am I supposed to calm down when these monsters are in the same room as me? God knows when they’ll turn into something else! Aren’t I right, everyone?”
The officers tried to get a sense of the room as the guard leader finished his tirade. I could tell they were trying to pick which side to be on in order to make it through this situation. Looking at them made me sigh.
‘These idiots are officers? Come on…’
The officers here were nothing like the ones back in Shelter Hae-Young. I sighed and stood.
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