Northdong Station Survivors (1)
"Are you... really human?"
"Is this guy nuts? How the hell did a person get here? We gotta go tell the others!"
"No."
Thudding footsteps faded into the distance.
"Wai..."
The presence of people vanished before I could even finish my sentence. Amid screams and clattering chaos, the two men bolted like their lives depended on it, racing each other to escape.
Ha...
No, these weren't kids—they were grown-ass men acting like clowns in some comedy skit.
But no matter how much I called out after that, there was no response. I let out a sigh.
Why were they so paranoid about outsiders?
Why, huh...
From what I could guess, this place seemed completely cut off from any human traffic. They'd built barricades from the start, and it didn't look like they'd ever anticipated visitors. If anything, their reaction made sense in a hostile world like this. Hell, even I'd jump if someone showed up in a spot where no one was supposed to come.
Plus, I'd overheard them griping about bad legs—they must've felt like they'd spotted a dangerous intruder from the safety of their hideout.
...And the reason they'd sealed this side off was probably those blood clump zombies the men had mentioned.
Not exactly precise, but close enough.
Whatever the case, my hunch was that they had info on those things. Which meant I needed to make contact fast. Our Love Church was my base now, and there was always a chance their survivors could cross paths with whatever was controlling those flesh masses.
But...
How the hell do I handle this...
The barricade was the problem. I considered blasting it with an Ice Spear, but held off. Smashing my way in might sour first impressions with the locals. And from their earlier chatter, those guys were likely to drag more people back here.
No need to lead with violence...
So I decided to wait it out.
"No, Mr. Gapsu, you're sure you heard a human voice?"
"I told you, unless my ears are busted, a person came from that direction!"
Sure enough, it didn't take long before the voices returned—the same men, plus a young woman's, weary and strained just like theirs.
"You ran here like that with your bad legs, no wonder you're hearing things."
"You calling me crazy now? Huh? Even you, Euna?"
"Maybe if you didn't act so unreliable, Gapsu."
"Wh-what?"
Two men who'd fled earlier, and now one new woman.
That woman must be their leader or something.
From the name "Euna," she seemed like the one in charge here, whether officially or not. They'd already reached the spot right in front of me, chatting away.
Clunk.
"Nothing here. No damage either."
"No, I swear I heard a young guy's voice. Right, Youngchul?"
"Yeah, Gapsu's right. We were patrolling here, and a man's voice spoke to us."
The men's names were Gapsu and Youngchul. Euna grumbled at them.
"We blocked this off because of the blood clumps. No one's coming through here. You must've misheard."
"We thought so too."
"But then it talked to us."
"No reason for Mr. Gapsu and Mr. Youngchul to lie, though..."
They got along fine, it seemed. Despite the bickering, they respected each other's takes.
Not a raider group, then.
That much was clear from their talk. They'd barricaded because of these blood clump zombies—whatever the hell that meant. No ties to raiders or the like, either.
Just your standard survivor crew.
The kind clinging to pre-apocalypse norms.
"Tch. I could've sworn I heard a human voice."
"Could be something that talks like one, Youngchul."
"If a monster like that exists, better off dead, right?"
"Enough, both of you. Let's head back. And don't tell the others— no need to stir up panic."
"Got it."
"But do one more patrol today. Just in case."
"Fine, fine."
With no reaction from me, they wrote it off as a brief scare and turned to leave. Made sense—if I wasn't causing trouble, ramping up watches was enough.
But I wasn't about to let them go that easy. I spoke up.
"Hey."
"......"
Silence crashed down the instant I opened my mouth. A chill settled over the subway station interior. I pressed on.
"I'm human. Mind talking?"
"......"
No reply. What, did something go wrong? Were they prepping some ability?
"I'm from Northdong. I'd like to see your faces and chat..."
"...W-wait a sec."
"...Huh."
Panicked voices murmured from beyond the barricade. They clearly hadn't expected me to speak up again.
After a short wait, an unexpected response came.
"You really human?"
"...?"
What else would I be?
"Yeah, human. Or should I say monster?"
"...I-I'm Officer Lee Euna. Can you show some ID?"
Officer? So Euna was a cop.
"ID?"
"Yes, maybe slide it through the space under this desk and chair..."
I patted myself down. But my wallet and ID were back at the villa—fat chance of finding them.
I peered at the small gap she'd mentioned and replied.
"No luck, don't have it."
"Then... anything to prove who you are?"
I checked again at her prompt, but nothing.
"Nah. Do we really need all this? I'm just a regular guy. Something happen here?"
Honestly, why prove anything between humans? But her response was firm.
"S-sorry, but without ID, we can't let you in."
"Right. Basic proof you're not dangerous, yeah?"
"M-monster! Officer! No ID means it's a talking monster!"
"That's going too far, Youngchul."
"Too far? You bald bastard!"
"What'd you say? Wanna go, old timer?"
"Ah, wait, hold on."
The men were on high alert too. Chaos erupted beyond the barricade as Euna tried reining them in. I sighed.
Yeah, figured it'd be like this with other survivors. I gave up on entering.
"Fine. No real reason to come in anyway. I get your situation."
"Th-thank you."
"Nothing to thank. Anyway, you said Officer Lee Euna? I'm Kim Junyoung."
Basic courtesy: introductions. Once I gave my name, the commotion died down.
"Ah, yes. As I said, I'm Lee Euna. Was a cop... not long ago."
"Nice to meet you, Euna. You too, everyone else."
"Can't say hi..."
"Then why say nice to meet ya?"
The men's banter aside, suspicion lingered in their voices. But post-apocalypse, who lets in an outsider without proof?
Anyone too welcoming would be the weird ones.
I shook my head, thinking of Our Love Church remnants. A soft survivor group still intact was a miracle in itself. Exchanging greetings like this was a novelty in this world.
Feeling the silence again, I continued. My goal was scouting survivors, not barging in.
"Face-to-face is tricky, so how about a chat? Cool?"
"Chat... you mean?"
Euna sounded hesitant.
"Yeah. Thought we could swap info. Lots I don't know."
"What kind of info?"
She perked up a bit. I chose my words.
"Hm... Northdong... Status Window... monsters... zombies. Anything. You know about skills?"
"That's..."
"Monsters, zombies, Status Window, skills—you know too, huh?"
"Not a monster, then. Hey Gapsu, outsiders know all that?"
"Nah, thought that fatass was bullshitting."
"Guys..."
As Euna tried speaking, the men drowned her out. She shrank back, overpowered. Then one called out to me.
"Look, kid, don't know who you are, but bear with us. We got no clue what magic you might have."
"Not magic, skills."
"Skills, magic—same damn thing."
"Old man's clueless. It's different."
"Tch... whatever. Point is, you get it? After the fall, all this cursed magic shit popped up."
Their banter turned serious as they brought up Status Windows. Looked like these survivors had awakened abilities too.
I confirmed it.
"Yeah. True."
"Polite young man—sorry about this. Anyway, because of these damn powers, we've been hit hard lately."
"Attacks?"
"Eh, hard to explain in detail, but outsiders attacked us bad. Can't even contact other groups. On top of the monsters."
"Over half our original people died. Wait, that explain nothing?"
"Sigh, enough, both of you. Come out. I'll explain."
"No, Euna..."
"Officer, abusing your rank..."
"Quiet. Sorry, they're stressed lately."
"We aren't..."
"I said enough. Sigh, fine. You seem like a real survivor..."
Euna hushed the men and spoke bitterly.
"Y-you don't seem tied to the southerners, so I'll tell you. We're isolated now. Humans from Southdong Station, red monsters from Northdong Station."
She sighed, adding that the remaining survivors were dying off one by one.