The Hardware Store
“Haah...”
Alice let out a long sigh and crossed to the window in the corner of the lab. Beyond the glass, the ruined city sprawled in desolation, and the sight dragged her heart down even further. She fished a pack from her pocket, drew out a cigarette, and set it between her lips.
Damn it. I was supposed to have quit...
The lighter flared. Flame wavered, and smoke rose in a slow curl. She drew it deep into her lungs and closed her eyes.
“Fucking psycho soldier. I was never a virus researcher to begin with.”
The mutter died uselessly in the silence of the lab.
Memory cut through her mind.
When the soldiers first stormed the hospital, she had taken them for salvation. It was only a delusion.
What the general said next was pure despair. The outside was already finished. The government, the military, most of every facility—collapsed. She was the hope. Make a vaccine.
“Dr. Alice, you are our only hope. You alone can stop this virus.”
The trouble started because one of the men under his command recognized her.
And he recognized her because of an absurd newspaper article.
It hadn't even been naturalization, not really. Her father was American. She had simply held dual citizenship and given up the American one.
At first, she had been confident. Her parents' influence had left her knowledge of viruses at a specialist's level. She had seriously considered following their path, and so she trusted herself with the research.
The early trials were on dogs. The virus did nothing to lab mice or cats. They even pressed soldiers into service, scraping up every stray in the area—and failed, again and again.
When the dogs ran out, they moved on to patients and soldiers who had been bitten, after securing consent in advance. She never would have imagined it before. The general's pressure—that even in the moment she stopped, thousands were still dying—forced her to continue. She failed anyway.
As even those subjects dwindled, familiar faces began to appear on the table, one by one. They were the patients she had been treating in the ICU.
Only then did she understand that something had gone deeply wrong. She went to the general and shouted at him to kill her instead. She couldn't do it.
What he said then locked a shackle around her throat.
That cold voice became the iron at her neck.
And now, with even the critical patients used up, people she had never once seen were being brought in as specimens.
“Goddamn it...”
She looked at herself in the mirror. A face soaked in exhaustion, skin gone pale, and dark circles sunk deep beneath her eyes. Seeing it, she wanted to lay everything down.
Her hand reached toward the scalpel on the bench. Cold metal met her palm.
If I end it like this... would it all be over?
But in that instant the general's voice rang through her head again.
Without you, what do you suppose we would do?
Alice's hand stopped. She let out a long breath.
“Not yet... I can't. Not yet.”
Slowly, she set the scalpel down and began to pull on her lab coat. She still couldn't give up. She had already walked too far for that.
“Haah... of all days, I miss my teacher.”
For some reason, today she wanted to see the mentor who had retired. She had taken Korean citizenship in the first place so she could learn a little longer under him—and then, not long after, he had retired anyway. The time had been short, but what she learned from him was precious beyond measure.
“Hnn... I wonder what that old man is up to.”
She had given him a telescope as a retirement gift. She hoped he was somewhere quiet, watching the stars through it. Somewhere still and far from this hell.
Points Held: 2,330 P
A faint dawn light was beginning to pick out the wreckage of the city. I woke, rubbed my eyes, and went downstairs. Lee Jia, Lee Jaemin, and Jang Sangcheol were still deep asleep. Their peaceful faces eased me, if only a little.
“Everybody up. Today's going to be another busy one.”
At my voice they stirred, one after another. Lee Jaemin raked a hand through his hair and stretched.
“Mmm... it's morning already?”
Lee Jia blinked and rose slowly. Jang Sangcheol was still rubbing at his eyes.
“Listen. Today's important. We have to get to the hardware store and bring back materials for the barbed wire.”
We finished a simple breakfast and got ready. While we checked weapons and packed our bags, I kept sweeping the surroundings. No zombies in sight—but carelessness would get us killed.
The road to the hardware store was quiet. Too quiet, and that only made it worse. We advanced slowly, backs to one another.
“There—I can see the hardware store.”
Jaemin's call snapped all of us tight. A single zombie stood in front of the shop. Luckily, it didn't seem to have noticed us.
“Quiet. I'll handle it.”
I closed in slowly. The sword in my grip was slick with sweat. I slipped in behind the thing and swung in a single instant.
Imperial Swordsmanship Lv. 2
The forgotten swordsmanship of the empire manifests in the user's body.
One Shot One Hit! Lv. 1
Accuracy and critical damage increased.
Shhk.
The zombie's head came off clean. In that same instant an arrow sheared past my eyes.
“Behind you!”
With Lee Jia's shout, the second zombie at my back dropped.
“Thanks, Jia.”
I gave her a nod. A faint flush rose in her face.
Luck was with us. We reached the hardware store without the dead putting up much of a fight.
Screee.
I shoved the rusted iron door open and stepped inside. Dust and the smell of iron stung my nose. Kang Hanna and Lee Jia followed me in. Lee Jaemin stayed outside to keep watch.
“Whoa. There's a ton of stuff in here.”
Hanna sounded honestly impressed. I nodded and looked around. Every shelf was lined, neat as a catalog, with tools and materials of every kind.
“Wire and steel cable first. The rest can wait.”
We split off into the sections we'd each taken. As I scanned the shelves for what we needed, the distant growl of zombies reached me now and then. Cold sweat ran down my spine.
Find it and get out. Fast.
I steadied my breathing and focused. Then I had it. A thick coil of steel cable caught my eye.
“Hey! Over here!”
Hanna came at a run. Sweat beaded on her forehead.
“Good. This ought to be enough. But Dohyun, how are we supposed to haul this? It's heavier than it looks.”
She tried to lift the coil and winced. I was still turning the problem over when Jia hurried up.
“Oppa, I found a handcart. Couldn't we use this?”
The girl who had called me mister the first time we met had since promoted me to Oppa. The gift offensive—starting with the bow—had done part of it, along with that pouty little plea: if I was about Hanna's age, why did she have to call me mister? In any case, the shopping cart she dragged over let me loose a breath of relief.
“That's our youngest. Sharp as ever.”
At the praise, Jia ducked her head, shy.
We hurried the rest of what we needed onto the cart. Steel cable, wire, and a few tools besides, in case something went wrong.
Then Jaemin's voice cracked in from outside, sharp.
“Hyung! Get out here, quick! The zombies are coming!”
We looked at one another. Fear and tension crossed in the same breath.
“Shit. Move!”
I took the lead, shoving the cart, with Hanna and Jia right behind me.
The moment we cleared the hardware store we linked up with Jaemin. His face was bloodless.
“Look.”
I turned the way she pointed. Off in the distance a pack of zombies was lurching toward us.
“Wh-what do we do?”
Jaemin's voice shook. I pulled in a deep breath, shoved the fear down, and read the ground.
“They're still a long way off. We're faster. We push the cart and we run. Jia, you watch our back. If they close in, hold them off with arrows.”
And so we broke into a run once more.