Chapter 13: Farming
Chapter 13: Farming
#
We decided to hit the convenience store on the first floor first.
Ga-yeong said she was going to grab as many supplies as she could and hole up at home.
Personally, I was skeptical of that idea.
Fear made me want to stay somewhere safe too.
But in the long run, wouldn't it be better to start learning how to fight zombies and survive now?
"Should we stop by the fitness center?"
We came down to the second floor, and when I saw the fitness center, I asked if there was anything we should grab.
Ga-yeong saw the zombie corpses strewn in front of the fitness center and declined, saying she was fine.
They were probably all people she knew, so going inside would have been deeply unsettling.
Maybe because we'd fought so noisily earlier, there didn't seem to be any zombies left in the building.
We reached the convenience store without trouble and began gathering what we needed.
We could only carry so much weight, so we focused on foods with the longest expiration dates.
"Still, let's take all the canned fruit. It might be hard to find later."
I grabbed men's underwear and socks, too.
The thought of finally getting a decent night's sleep lifted my mood.
"Here, at least take this."
"Huh? Why are you giving me... Oh."
There was a long umbrella in the corner of the store, so I handed it to Ga-yeong.
It was flimsy, but perhaps she could use it to keep a zombie's teeth away from her.
The four bags were soon stuffed full.
They weren't that big to begin with, so the weight wasn't an issue.
If we ran into zombies, I'd have to do most of the fighting.
So when Ga-yeong offered to carry the bags instead, I handed them over without a word.
"Be careful from here on and follow me closely. Let's get home in one piece."
#
We entered the apartment complex through the door on the opposite side of the shopping arcade from the entrance we'd used.
Normally I'd stroll down this path without a second thought, but now it felt like walking into the Demon Lord's castle in an RPG.
We moved as quietly as possible, creeping forward.
Crouched side by side behind a parked car, we scanned all the way to the entrance of Building 301.
The distance was about twenty meters.
If we cut straight across, it wouldn't even take a minute.
I had no idea how many people or zombies were in this apartment complex, but the scene right in front of us was eerily silent.
Tap, tap.
Seon-yeong tapped me on the shoulder, and I turned around.
She pointed at what looked like the security office.
A figure in a security uniform stood half-hidden behind a tree.
If it's standing that still... it probably isn't human.
The security office wasn't on the path we needed to take.
But if we walked toward the entrance of Building 301, we'd likely enter that security-guard zombie's field of vision.
I signaled with my hand that I'd go handle it alone and quietly approached, keeping behind the tree.
As I closed in, I used the part of the zombie's uniform protruding past the tree to judge its position and circled behind it.
Thwack.
I quietly killed the security-guard zombie and returned.
Using the line of parked cars as cover, we advanced slowly toward the entrance of Building 301.
I'd thought there might be zombies left inside the cars, but luckily they were all empty.
Phew.
We entered the apartment building.
We decided to avoid the elevator.
It made noise, and if the floor we got off on was packed with zombies, there'd be nowhere to run.
Now that we were inside, I got the sense this was a nice apartment building.
The stairwell was right beside the corridor leading in from the entrance, with no door blocking access, so we could climb immediately.
We wouldn't have to endure that nerve-racking moment of opening a door every time.
If I ever ended up living in an apartment building from then on, I figured I'd better check how many doors the building had first.
I couldn't see much.
Before heading up, I leaned on the stair railing and checked above, but of course I couldn't see much.
For situations like this, I'd grabbed a small hand mirror from the convenience store.
I hadn't forgotten the idea I'd gotten from Seon-yeong's phone camera.
I fished the mirror wrapped in a handkerchief from my pocket and used it to check above us as we climbed.
At each corner, I could simply extend the mirror to look ahead, which made us much faster.
"Hah... hah."
When we reached the fifth floor, I heard someone behind me trying to catch her breath.
Shouldn't five floors have been manageable?
Without breaking stride, I walked to Unit 501 and pressed my ear to the door.
Seon-yeong put her ear to the door of Unit 502.
For the moment, I couldn't hear anything, but I still wasn't sure.
There could be people; there could be zombies.
Ga-yeong punched in the door-lock code.
Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep—ding-dong.
The door lock was louder than I'd expected.
Startled, we all gripped our weapons and kept watch on the stairwell above.
Oh, shit... that scared the hell out of me.
Were there no zombies on the floor right above us?
Grateful that nothing reacted, we went inside.
I stepped past the entryway first and scanned the situation.
The house was quiet.
When Seon-yeong, the last one inside, closed the door, the lock chimed again.
We'd probably need to take the batteries out right away.
"Anyone home?"
Ga-yeong had said both her parents had gone to work, but you never knew.
I called out to draw the attention of anything inside, just to be sure.
Even if there were zombies here, there couldn't be more than two, right?
We waited a bit, but there was no reaction.
Assuming any zombie inside would have charged out by then, I opened every bedroom door.
Me, taking the lead and opening doors, with two women following behind—it made me feel like a real-estate agent.
"It's not my house, but you can go ahead and make yourselves comfortable."
After checking every room, I made the joke to let them know they could relax.
As if my words had released the tension, Ga-yeong started crying again.
Anyway... this place is immaculate.
Her family must have kept the place tidy.
Afraid of getting blood on anything, Seon-yeong and I stood there without sitting down.
"I'm sorry... Would you two like to wash up first? Seon-yeong can probably wear my clothes. I'll see if I can find something of my father's for you."
"Ga-yeong, if you have a large trash bag, could you bring one? I think the team leader and I need to throw away everything we're wearing."
Seon-yeong and Ga-yeong talked as they headed for the bathroom in the master bedroom.
I went into the bathroom off the living room and quickly stripped off my clothes.
I tossed the blood-soaked clothes onto the floor, turned on the warm water, and stepped under the shower.
Once I was naked, I could see that the blood splattered over me throughout the day had even dried against my skin.
After rinsing the mirror, I saw a dark bruise along my side.
Even then, if I took a deep breath or made certain movements, it hurt.
Haa... this still felt wonderful.
After running around on edge all day, a shower had me humming to myself without even realizing it.
My mood improved, and I took my time under the water.
Oh? Come to think of it, my body looked pretty... different.
I'd lost weight.
The contours of the muscles on my body had gotten a bit more defined.
It didn't make sense for my body to visibly change in a single day, but I chalked it up to the influence of my ability.
Was this the effect of Body Enhancement?
Hot damn.
I was thinking about my ability when I happened to glance down, and the sight of my cock stopped that train of thought cold.
It looked hefty.
If anyone saw it at a public bath, they'd probably take a second look and have trouble looking away.
It was impressive enough that even another man would have admired it.
What the hell... Why was my dick the part where I felt Body Enhancement most?
Feeling both bewildered and pleased, I washed it with particular care.
#
After finishing my shower, I put on the new underwear from the convenience store and the clothes Ga-yeong had set out.
Sweatpants and a cotton T-shirt—a comfortable combination.
Still, since I was built on the bigger side, the clothes were snug and not entirely comfortable.
They were a little tight, but I was dry, clean, and no longer smelled, so I finally felt human again.
Seon-yeong was still in the bathroom, and Ga-yeong was on the living room sofa, dozing off, head bobbing as she waited for us.
"Ga-yeong, you should go wash up and get some rest soon, too. By the way, can I use the kitchen?"
"Oh, yes. Please, use anything you like. There's food in the refrigerator and the kimchi refrigerator here, and if you look this way..."
I explained that I was hungry, and she even showed me the enclosed balcony beside the kitchen.
There was quite a lot of food the family had stored at home.
It looked as though they'd done a large grocery run over the weekend.
Once I had permission to use all the ingredients and kitchenware, I happily considered what to make.
I opened the refrigerator and found a pot of doenjang stew.
I took two packs of flat iron steak from the kimchi refrigerator and scooped rice from a storage crock on the balcony.
Meat really was the answer when you were exhausted.
There were plenty of basic side dishes, so I started looking forward to a full, proper meal.
I set the rice cooker going and was sitting in the living room, resting, when Seon-yeong came out.
"Oh! What happened all of a sudden?"
"It was just too inconvenient in so many ways. I roughly cut it myself. Does it look really weird?"
Seon-yeong emerged with the hair that had once reached her waist cut short enough not to touch her shoulders.
It wasn't a professional cut, but it didn't look awkward at all. Short hair suited her.
She had to have been uncomfortable, honestly.
She'd had trouble from day one just because she had no way to dry it.
"It really suits you. Mm... anyway, you did a great job."
"You could just say I look pretty. Guess I'm not pretty, huh?"
"Of course you're pretty. Is that even a question?"
I was still searching for the right words when Seon-yeong smiled teasingly and sat beside me as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
She was wearing either Ga-yeong's clothes or something I hadn't noticed while scavenging: short dolphin shorts and a tight white T-shirt.
Fresh from her shower, Seon-yeong seemed to be in a good mood. She kept smiling as she talked.
We had grown much closer in only two days.
She still called me Team Leader, but I already felt a bond with Seon-yeong that went beyond being coworkers.
"Anyway, you must be starving, right?"
A pleasant scent wafted from Seon-yeong, sitting close beside me.
The glimpse of bare skin and her pleasant scent made my body react on its own.
Sitting pressed close beside her was torture, so I changed the subject as naturally as I could.
There was a faintly flirtatious tension between us, but Ga-yeong would be out soon.
"Wow! The team leader is cooking for us? I'm starving."
"There was plenty of food here. All I'm doing is rice and meat, but... anyway, our hardworking Assistant Manager Choi will receive the finest course I can offer."
Clap-clap-clap-clap-clap.
When I got up to prepare the meal, Seon-yeong got up with me, clapping like a seal.
She could've rested a little, but she followed right at my heels, as if she wanted to help with something.
I got the feeling that the cute side she was showing me now, rather than the businesslike image I'd seen at work, was Seon-yeong's real personality.