Chapter 84
Kim Hyeong-Jun asked me a question after we left the shelter. It seemed like he’d been waiting for the right timing to ask it.
'Ahjussi, don’t you think we have to decide where we want to go first?'
I nodded and replied.
‘Apartment Complex I in Seongsu 2-ga is on the way to Konkuk University Hospital anyway. Let’s stop by the apartment first then go to the hospital.’
‘And if this somebody named Kim Ga-Bin is alive? What are you going to do then?'
‘We’ll have to take Kim Ga-Bin with us.’
‘That’s what I’m saying. So you’re planning to take Kim Ga-Bin to Konkuk University Hospital with us?'
‘We’ll just check if Kim Ga-Bin is alive or not. If Kim Ga-Bin’s alive, we can order our underlings to protect them while the two of us go to Konkuk University Hospital.'
Kim Hyeong-Jun nodded and dropped the subject. Then he looked into my eyes again.
'How many underlings did you bring?'
‘Four hundred, not including the mutants.’
‘Same, I got four hundred too.’
‘We should be fine then.'
‘What if we get into a fight with the Hwayang-dong leader?’
‘Hwayang-dong is smaller than Seongsu-dong. It's only about a quarter in terms of size.'
‘Are you saying the dong leader’s strength is related to the size of the district?'
Kim Hyeong-Jun snorted, his face suggesting that he found my assertion ridiculous. I didn't think much of his mockery and replied,
‘I’m sure.’
'How sure?'
'I saw it on the map.'
'What map?'
Kim Hyeong-Jun tilted his head as though demanding an explanation. I then told Kim Hyeong-Jun about the map of Seoul I’d gotten at the high school.
Kim Hyeong-Jun listened intently to my story, then paused before speaking again.
‘So Hwayang-dong was an area marked in green?'
‘Yeah. It was probably pushed back by all the other surrounding neighborhoods since it’s a small district to begin with.'
‘And what were the other districts colored?'
Kim Hyeong-Jun asked, slight agitation showing on his face. It seemed like he was nervous deep down. I knew I had to calm him down first before we did anything else.
'Seongsu-dong and Majang-dong were orange.'
‘Seongsu-dong was orange? But the dong leader of Seongsu-dong was much stronger than the dong leader of Majang-dong.’
'It's a pretty outdated map, so perhaps the information hadn’t been updated. The dong leader of Seongsu-dong was supposed to become the eighth officer. So, it’s probably right to think of Seongsu-dong as a red area. Or perhaps even more than that.'
I tried to speak as calmly as possible to make it seem like it wasn’t a big deal, hoping to relieve some of Kim Hyeong-Jun’s anxiety.
However, his expression remained nervous as he followed up with another point.
'Then it’s possible Hwayang-dong is no longer a green area.'
‘Okay, sure, but it’s orange at best. I mean, we got rid of the dong leader of Seongsu-dong, and he was in charge of an orange area. Besides, he was basically an officer of the Family. Orange areas no longer pose a threat to us.’
'What colors are the surrounding districts?'
‘Gunja-dong, which is next to Hwayang-dong, is also green. Both are small in terms of size. The other districts nearby, like Jayang-dong, Guui-dong, and Junggok-dong, were orange.'
Kim Hyeong-Jun considered this for a moment, before he sighed and spoke up.
'I hope you're not wrong.'
‘Just like the members of the Family, we’ve also gotten stronger. So no matter what the map showed, things couldn’t have changed that much.’
‘I trust you, ahjussi,’ mumbled Kim Hyeong-Jun.
I wondered if anyone would trust his words, given the face he was making right then. I slapped Kim Hyeong-Jun on the back and laughed lightly.
‘No matter what happens, you have me. You good now?'
Kim Hyeong-Jun smirked.
‘I think I should be the one saying that. Have you already forgotten that I saved you when you were struggling against the leader of Seongsu-dong?'
After all I’d done to relieve his anxiety, he was now the one teasing me. I shook my head, disarmed by his playful and joyful mindset. Kim Hyeong-Jun began to walk forward with vigor, calling out,
‘How long are you going to stay there? Let’s get going!'
‘Okay, okay.'
I snorted and followed Kim Hyeong-Jun.
He seemed serious at times, but he was also light-hearted and always lively. I was glad that I’d been able to form an alliance with him. Having him as an ally helped ease my mind.
Perhaps I’d been able to keep moving forward while fighting against the members of the Family because I had Kim Hyeong-Jun next to me.
If So-Yeon and everyone back at Shelter Hae-Young were like a lighthouse that shone brightly, reminding me where I belonged, Kim Hyeong-Jun was like a compass that pointed me in the direction I had to go next.
* * *
Kim Hyeong-Jun had already taken care of the zombies around Ttukseom Station.
Thanks to him, we were able to get to Seongsu Station in a more relaxed manner, without having to care much about our surroundings. However, as we got to Seongsu Station, we saw zombies roaming the streets.
We killed them mercilessly and headed for Apartment Complex I in Seongsu-dong.
Kim Hyeong-Jun cracked a zombie's head in front of him and spoke up.
‘Ahjussi, if the leader of Seongsu-dong was still alive… How strong do you think he would’ve been by now?'
'And why do you ask that?'
'Because there are so many zombies around.'
'Well in that case, how about us? We each have a zombie prison.’
‘Hmm… You do have a point…'
Kim Hyeong-Jun shrugged and looked around. After a moment, he pointed at an apartment complex.
'Is that Apartment Complex I?'
‘That’s Apartment Complex L. Apartment Complex I is behind it, so keep your eyes open from now on.'
'The two are next to each other?'
I nodded. Kim Hyeong-Jun nodded back, and his glowing red eyes flared. It seemed like he was heightening all his senses to the point where he could sense a mouse squeaking in the dark. He moved forward cautiously, his head moving from side to side.
I also heightened my hearing and sense of smell, my own glowing red eyes flaring. I was much more sensitive to the air around me. A musty smell was coming from the apartment complex. If I was able to smell this kind of smell outdoors, I knew that people had been living there until recently.
At that moment, I felt something extremely foreign, something new that I hadn’t felt before. I stopped in front of Kim Hyeong-Jun.
'Hyeong-Jun, isn't it strange here?'
'Huh?’
I looked around.
‘There aren’t any zombies here.’
Kim Hyeong-Jun looked around as well, his eyes widening. There were more than enough zombies wandering outside. But for some reason, there were no zombies within the complex. The difference was stark. It felt as though some unseen force was preventing zombies from entering the complex.
Kim Hyeong-Jun leaned against a wall next to him.
'Should we hide for now?'
'Let's hide our underlings, at least.'
Kim Hyeong-Jun nodded and sent his underlings to apartment 103, located in Apartment Complex L, which was right next to us. I gave the same order to my underlings.
After confirming that his underlings had all gone into apartment 103, Kim Hyeong-Jun asked me a question.
‘Do you think there are survivors here?'
‘There’s no way that the leader of Seongsu-dong would have protected survivors.'
‘Well, he did protect Shelter Seoul Forest.’
'That was because his daughter was there. Besides, do you actually think that was protection? It was more like surveillance. He was keeping his eye on them.'
As I clicked my tongue, Kim Hyeong-Jun scratched his sideburns and smacked his lips. After a moment, a possibility flashed into my mind.
Kim Hyeong-Jun noticed the change in my expression and tilted his head.
'Why, is there something wrong?'
‘You wouldn’t think… that this place is like a dormitory for the dogs, would you?'
Kim Hyeong-Jun nodded, seemingly impressed by my observation.
‘You have a point, ahjussi. I think that’s a possibility. It even smells like that here.'
‘What do you smell?’'
‘Can’t you smell something like tap water through the musty smell?'
I wrinkled my nose and sniffed the surroundings.
I could indeed smell tap water through the musty smell, but I couldn’t tell if I actually smelled tap water, or if Kim Hyeong-Jun’s words made me more sensitive to the smell.
I wondered if the smell of tap water was an important clue that could lead to something else.
I looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun with a serious expression.
‘No, you’re right. I can smell tap water in the air. Do you think it indicates anything?'
'That’s the smell that people who don’t wash themselves give off.'
Kim Hyeong-Jun replied with an equally serious expression. I looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun and my face darkened.
It was a rather outlandish claim. I wasn’t sure if he was being serious or not.
When I frowned, Kim Hyeong-Jun waved his hand vigorously.
‘Hey, hey, ahjussi, you were just about to say something bad, weren’t you? I could tell by your eyes.'
‘Then don’t come up with nonsense that’ll make me say something bad. What does not washing have to do with tap water?'
‘Wait, ahjussi… You don’t know?? People who don’t wash regularly smell like tap water.’
‘...And how do you know this?’
'Well, I didn’t really wash myself that often when I was in school.’
Kim Hyeong-Jun gave me a thumbs-up as if he was proud of his past. I massaged my temples and sighed at his shameless pride regarding his days as a dirty kid.
On the bright side, it seemed like we had concrete proof that this place was definitely being used as a dormitory for the dogs, so I was happy to let this one slide and move on for now.
I sat down and thought for a while. Whether this truly was the smell of tap water or not wasn’t what mattered right now.
The doctor had said that his younger sibling was in apartment 106 in Apartment Complex I, which was right next to us. And if this place was actually the base for the dogs, that probably meant that Kim Beom-Jin’s younger sibling had either become a dog, or became their food.
I closed my eyes, my expression troubled.
Kim Hyeong-Jun sat next to me and shook me by my shoulder.
I looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun. He was staring straight ahead, his eyes glowing like a hunter eyeing prey. I looked in the direction he was staring at, and I saw two people who obviously looked like dogs. Both of them were men, grumbling away while scratching their bodies.
I sharpened my hearing and eavesdropped on their conversation.
“Then what’s going to happen now?”
“How am I supposed to know? A new dong leader will probably come.”
“What about Seoul Forest? What’s going to happen to the guys over there?”
“I don’t know, you bastard. Are you going to keep on bothering me with these questions? I’m already annoyed that I’ve been losing so much hair."
“Isn’t losing hair good for us? It means you’re eating less.”
As the guy on the left let out a weak laugh, the guy on the right started swearing.
“That's why starving to death is the perfect fate for you, you fool. Can’t you see that it’s the perfect timing to change everything up, or even get rid of us? Especially since there are fewer of us now, and the fact that we’re not even aware of what’s going to happen with the dong leader?”
“Oh snap, I didn’t think of that.”
“What I’m saying is that our lives depend on whoever is installed as the next dong leader.”
“Then what should we do now?”
“We have to pray that the dong leader is alive.”
The two walked past Apartment Complex L into Apartment Complex I. We stealthily followed the pair. After a moment, they began to converse again.
“Hey, aren’t we supposed to get food together?”
“We are, but… What’s the point of getting food when there’s no dong leader?”
“We have to get food regardless. What if the dong leader gives us shit for not restocking the food when he comes back?”
“God damn… Maybe I should just kill everyone and kill myself while I’m at it.”
“Hehe, kill everyone else except me, then.”
“This fucking idiot. Just go round up some people to help out. And don’t forget to bring rope.”
As I eavesdropped on them, I looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun. He was looking back at me, and it seemed like there was something he wanted to say.
'Ahjussi, how about we follow them instead of killing them?'
'I agree.'
'The food they’re talking about… They’re probably referring to survivors right?'
'I’d say it’s very likely. This might be the chance for us to figure out where they store their food.'
I kept my eyes on them as I calmed my rapidly-beating heart. After a moment, the guy who’d gone to get help came back with four other dogs. They had long coils of rope slung over their shoulders. They shared several dumb jokes and began to walk.
We shadowed them as quietly as we could.
They walked over to the dumpster located within the complex and started smearing something all over their bodies. I squinted and noticed that they were smearing zombie blood over their bodies. The dumpster was full of severed zombie limbs, and the dogs were using them to smear blood all over themselves.
I didn't feel sick or nauseous even after breaking zombie limbs, but seeing them smear blood from dead zombie bodies onto themselves made me feel disgusted.
Smearing the blood of someone who’d just died onto your own body was disgusting in itself, but these dogs were smearing blood from a dead zombie’s body, a zombie that had died gods knew how long ago. Smearing blood from a decaying corpse onto yourself was something that nobody with a sane mind could do.
As I frowned and looked away, I saw Kim Hyeong-Jun retching next to me. Kim Hyeong-Jun wiped his mouth and spoke up.
‘They’re insane.’
‘That’s why they’re dogs.’
‘Putting zombie blood on their bodies… That probably means that their food storage is outside, huh?'
‘We know for certain that it’s not in either Apartment Complex L or I.'
I frowned and spat foul-tasting saliva onto the floor.
I could tell that Kim Ga-Bin was not here. If these dogs had taken control of the apartment complex, Kim Ga-Bin couldn’t have survived, unless he had turned into a dog himself.
Until we surveyed their food storage area, there was no way of telling if Kim Ga-Bin was alive or not.
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