The Convenience Store

“So. When are we actually leaving?”

Once things had settled, Kang Hanna put the question to me.

“What’s there to stall for? We go today.”

Her brow ticked up. A faint tremor ran through her lips, and I could tell I’d caught her off guard.

“Today...? Isn’t that rushing it?”

I watched her carefully. This wasn’t the Hanna who usually carried herself like nothing in the world could touch her. Hesitation had gotten in. Her fingers worried at the tabletop, and she didn’t seem to notice she was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠doing it.

“More prep won’t change a damn thing. Better to get out a day sooner and start hauling food back.”

I didn’t leave any room in it. There were daily quests waiting, and points to earn. I couldn’t afford to sit out even a single day.

Even so, I understood the worry. Stepping out into streets packed with zombies would scare anyone.

“Still...”

Hanna stopped herself and shook her head.

“Nah. You’re right. We’ve gotta go out eventually anyway.”

Lee Jia slipped in, quiet.

“I’m ready.”

Her voice was small, but there was steel under it. She had her new bow in a white-knuckled grip.

Lee Jaemin hesitated, then found his voice.

“I... I can go too. I know how important it is that we find food.”

Jang Sangcheol let out a long breath.

“You be careful now. Out there’s a meaner place than any of you are picturing.”

I nodded.

“Yes. I understand. But we don’t have a choice.”

Every one of them looks scared. I kept it to myself, but I couldn’t blame them. In the middle of a zombie apocalypse, having to gamble your life just to stay alive would rattle anyone.

“All right. Let’s get ready. Weapons, packs—only what we absolutely need.”

Hanna nodded and pushed to her feet. A trace of hesitation still clung to the way she moved, but her eyes were hardening by the second.

“I’ll be ready in a minute.”

Jia and Jaemin rose as well, without a word. Fear and resolve shared their faces.

We split off to our rooms. I checked my weapons over and let my thoughts turn.

A short while later we gathered in the yard, tension drawn tight across every face. Jia had brought her bow. Hanna and Jaemin gripped the spears Old Man Jang had made for them.

“Everyone ready?”

They all nodded.

“Good. Let’s move.”

I opened the gate, and a cold wind cut across my face. Just like that, we were outside.

I held my breath and checked our rear. Luck had held—the horde hadn’t spotted us. Too soon to relax, though. Off in the distance, a lone zombie was lurching our way.

“Jia. That one.”

I tipped my chin and pointed ahead.

She caught the signal and raised the bow. Her breathing stayed even, and even in that strained quiet her hands didn’t so much as tremble.

Hell. Form like that, and she’s solid.

The string creaked, faint. Jia’s eyes went sharp. An instant later the arrow split the air—a thin, cutting whistle—and punched clean through the zombie’s skull. It dropped without a sound.

“Nice. Clean.”

I kept it to a whisper. Thanks to her, we could keep advancing in silence.

Not every corpse on its feet, though, was something we could slip past on her bow alone.

“Everyone, get ready. From here on, I don’t think quiet’s going to cut it.”

I passed the warning along as I took in the pack completely blocking the road ahead.

Hanna stepped up beside me, eyes keen.

“Got it. Right side’s mine.”

“Jaemin, left side’s yours.”

“Y-yes...!”

Formation set, we met the dead.

“Stay sharp.”

I kept my voice low.

“We hit first.”

Hanna nodded and locked both hands on the spear. Sweat beaded along her brow. Jaemin scuffed his feet a few times, uneasy, then screwed up his courage and stepped forward.

As the zombies closed in, Jia raised her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠bow. I heard the string draw ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠back under her fingers.

“Fire!”

The shout had barely left me when her arrow flew. Something gave with the soft, wet burst of a rotten fruit, and a zombie dropped.

A skin-crawling shriek tore out of the rest. They’d registered us, and they came running.

“Go!”

We threw ourselves at them together. A wet chop, a heavy thunk—Hanna’s spear burst through the nearest skull, and I took the head off the one lunging in from the flank.

“Aaaagh!”

Jaemin drove his spear forward with the yell and ran it clean through a zombie’s head.

“Keep pushing! Don’t let up!”

Jia’s arrows from the rear, and the others beside me, had us cutting the dead down fast. Then a shriek split the noise, and a human scream right after it.

“Agh!”

I snapped my head toward the cry. Jaemin. His thrust had missed the skull and buried the spear in a neck, and the zombie had bulled straight in on top of him. He was barely holding it off.

“Jaemin, hold on!”

I sheared through the neck of the one in front of me and kicked off in the same motion.

“Hanna, Jia! Clear the rest!”

Most of them were already down, so I didn’t forget to snap the order as I sprinted for him. I came in on the zombie’s back, hauled the sword high, and drove it down through the skull. Bone crunched. The thing went slack.

Jaemin stared at me, gasping. Relief and terror fought in his eyes.

“Hyung... thank you.”

His voice shook. I caught him by the shoulder and hauled him up.

“Jaemin. You okay?”

“I-I’m okay.”

He answered pale as paper, but he wasn’t tipping into panic. Hanna had told me his nerve was weak, and I’d been uneasy about it—but he looked steady enough.

He wasn’t finished.

“I was really scared at first. But with you backing me up, Hyung... I feel like I can actually do this.”

Having someone as strong as me at his back was probably the only thing keeping his head on straight.

I glanced around. Zombie corpses lay strewn across the street, and the reek of blood stung my nose.

“Everyone all right?”

Hanna and Jia nodded. Both of them looked spent, but neither seemed hurt.

I’d cleared the daily quest in the course of cutting them down.

“Let’s get into that convenience store.”

Only once the dead were down could we make for the store that had finally come into view. The glass door swung open with a skin-crawling creak. We pushed inside, and only then did we pause to catch our breath and take stock. A few fluorescent tubes flickered overhead, throwing the dim interior into stuttering light.

“Whew. Finally somewhere safe.”

Hanna let the breath out. Relief sat in her voice, but she hadn’t dropped her guard.

I nodded.

“Even so, we can’t get careless. Jaemin, you and Jia watch the door. If anything weird moves out there while we’re gathering stuff, call it out right away.”

“Yes, understood!”

He answered with some spirit in it. The close call seemed to have put strength in his voice. Jia nodded without a word and tightened her grip on the bow.

Hanna and I started working the shelves for food. Dusty bags of snacks and old cans came into view, and I checked the dates as I packed them away.

“Hey, Dohyun. Check this.”

She kept her voice low. A small portable radio sat in her hand.

“Oh. Nice find.”

I nodded. In a mess like this, information was as good as a lifeline.

She switched it on. Nothing came through but a hiss and crackle of static. Broken, by the look of it.

“We’ll have to get Old Man Jang to fix it later.”

“Yeah. Let’s do that.”

“Jaemin, Jia! Get this food into your bags too.”

“Yes!”

And that was it—our first supply run, a success.

If only it had ended that peacefully.

Uninvited guests had come calling.