Northdong Office (5)
"...You mean confirm it?"
"Yeah, three guys with guns came all the way to the South Office, right? The mart, the mart—has to be Rocket Mart over there, doesn't it?"
The biggest mart around here was Rocket Mart, no question. But Jeong Suhyun shook his head.
"But in a situation like this, if zombies showed up, the mart would already be overrun by..."
"Jeong Suhyun."
I cut him off.
"When did the zombie outbreak start? Around midnight, right? Midnight."
"...Ah..."
That meant the mart's doors were probably all locked tight. So if someone had taken it over, it could've been an empty one with no zombies inside. And the same went for the church.
"You mentioned a church too, right? Which one? Our Love? Mutual Gospel? Hallelujah? Nah. Closest one's gotta be Our Love Church. Plus, isn't that the one they converted a fancy villa into?"
"...You're right."
"So if they're holed up there with guns, pulling off some shady shit and feeling guilty about the murders, why not just go check it out yourself? What, you scared?"
"...How can you say that so casually?"
Jeong Suhyun stared at me. I was beyond disbelief at this point.
"Didn't you tell me first that you killed those three guys?"
"......"
"You whined to me about this whole mess. I listened. Now I suggest a plan, and you're snapping at me? You think this is a normal conversation?"
"...No."
"So let's go check it out. With me. Why do you keep dodging?"
"....."
Jeong Suhyun looked at me with eyes like he was about to cry. Fuck... a grown man on the verge of tears. But I got his situation, so I'd let it slide this once.
"Anyway, Northdong Our Love Church and Rocket Mart are close to where I live."
"Happiness Villa, you said."
"Yeah. So if you're right, they're assholes I need to deal with. For you, they're the source of your anxiety. Jeong Suhyun, you said you've killed before."
It sucked for me too, but it was one of the spots I had to check. If those Northdong raiders were really threatening civilians with rifles, raping and murdering, who knew when their reach might extend. But Jeong Suhyun still hadn't steeled himself.
"...What if not? What if I was wrong, and that guy Jin-su lied...?"
"What do you mean, what if? Just let them put the gun to your head and pull the trigger."
I looked him dead in the eye.
"I'm not your mom. You're twenty-nine, aren't you? What's your deal?"
"...You're right. But..."
"But what?"
But what? My face twisted.
Jeong Suhyun looked at me and said, "I can't do it."
"...What?"
I was baffled by his attitude. He squeezed his eyes shut and spoke.
"...I'm scared."
"...Scared of what?"
"Everything."
"No..."
A sigh slipped out before I could stop it. But that sigh seemed to light a fire under him.
"Sixteen guys with guns. And they cleared out the zombies outside and took over the mart and church. You want me to go there? With just one gun? Hell, even getting there is the problem. How do I get through the zombies?"
"......"
"And say I make it somehow. I killed three of theirs. What do you think they'll do when they see me? They definitely know my face. They'll attack on sight."
"Why? How?"
"The reserve soldiers on night watch all knew each other."
"Haaah. For real."
"...I know it's frustrating, but I can't help it. I'm not some superhuman like you."
Now he was calling me a superhuman. Well, a magic-using psycho might qualify. Fine. I was done talking to this Jeong Suhyun guy.
"Forget it. I'll check it out alone, so you stay here and cling to your lifeline. Got it?"
That was the last courtesy I could offer the first survivor I'd met since the outbreak.
"I'm going now. Survive on your own."
With that, I stood and turned away. It wasn't even noon yet. If there really was a Northdong Liberation Army group at the church or mart, I could confirm it today.
"Wait."
"What now?"
Jeong Suhyun called out again, his voice sharp in my ears. He hemmed and hawed, then let out a deep sigh before speaking.
"...Can I ask you one thing?"
"Yeah, sure. Shoot."
He hadn't asked me anything so far; I'd been the one grilling him. I could humor him one last question before leaving.
"...Why are you doing this much for me?"
"This much? What?"
Something had felt off in his words from the start, like key details were missing. I opened my mouth to speak, but he beat me to it.
"The mart, the church, the Northhai group—you don't have to go yourself."
Ah, so that's it. Wondering why I was being so nice to a stranger.
"That what you're curious about? Why I'm acting like I'm helping?"
"Yes."
There were a few reasons, but one stood out.
"I want to verify what you're saying. I'm not being nice to you. Not helping you."
I didn't trust Jeong Suhyun. But his story had potential. So I wanted to see it with my own eyes, feel it with my body, and test if he was telling the truth. Had the office people really been exiled like he said? Had the military really taken people away by helicopter to the 2nd Fleet? Was there really an armed group occupying the church and mart? And if so, were these Northdong Liberation Army bastards actually kidnapping, raping, and murdering?
"Got it?"
I said to the slightly dazed Jeong Suhyun.
"What, you thought it was something else? From a guy you just met? If you get it, I'm out. This is annoying."
"...Yes."
With that, Jeong Suhyun trudged up to the fourth floor. I watched him climb the stairs listlessly, then slipped out the back door through the first floor strewn with clothes and blankets.
Missed opportunity.
A sigh escaped naturally. Northdong Office. If I'd checked it out a week ago when I first decided to, I might've made contact with other survivors. No people here—that was my mistake for trusting the Korean government and military.
No, water under the bridge.
Better to focus on finding others now. Especially that Northdong Liberation Army. If Jeong Suhyun was telling the truth, contacting them might not be a bad idea. An armed group of reserves. He called them kidnappers, rapists, murderers—but who knew. Holding both the mart and church meant they had skills.
I'd patrolled around the villa for twelve days without seeing a single human, but they'd seized the mart and church with just sixteen guys.
Not just the guns, though.
Northdong had nearly ten thousand people. Unlike the office, Rocket Mart was smack in the busy district. Punching through there with sixteen, no losses, taking a locked mart, and holding it for a week? Not to be underestimated.
And systematically blocking zombies drawn by the gunfire.
That proved they had hierarchy and rules.
Can't buy all of Jeong Suhyun's story, though.
I narrowed my eyes at the stairs. Jeong Suhyun. Twenty-nine years old. Same age as me, six years as a reserve. A guy whose mind seemed a bit off from zombie trauma and killing. Didn't seem like a bad person.
But.
His story has too many inconsistencies.
There were holes all over what he said.
First, the outbreak at night.
Possible. Hiding bites to sneak into camp was a cliché in novels and movies.
But too clichéd. The commander might miss it, but reserves and soldiers?
Not buying that they couldn't spot a bite in this mess. Plus.
Exiling fifty people—would they just take it lying down?
Threatened with rifles, sure—but no families among the reserves or soldiers? And if zombies broke out inside, there'd be bullet marks everywhere in the office.
But there aren't any.
No damage from gunfire anywhere. And he said he heard shots when the sixteen guys slipped out to the mart.
But no bodies with bullet wounds around.
The corpses I'd seen coming here were all torn by zombies or crushed by heavy objects.
Tsk...
Hallucinations, auditory issues, or mental breakdown—had to consider it. Or maybe Jeong Suhyun had been lying from the start.
I'll find out when I go. That damn mart and Our Love Church.
Thud.
But it was all stuff I could settle with my own eyes. I vaulted over the Northdong Office's back gate and headed down the mountain path I'd come from.