Chapter 2.
Chapter 2.
The winter, which was always the same and boring, passed, and spring came again.
I got a call from a close hyung-nim I met in a hobby club.
"Hey, Min-woo. I just got a new camper. You free this weekend?"
I met Park Sang-man hyung-nim, a single man in his 40s, at the club. He's ten years older than me, but we hit it off. Both of us were single, and neither of us was the talkative type.
I headed to the outskirts of Gimpo on the weekend. We parked the camper in a quiet vacant lot on the outskirts of Gimpo.
The camper hyung-nim had newly acquired was on a medium-sized bus platform. It was a customized County Bus, commonly used as a minibus.
"How is it? Not bad, right?"
Hyung-nim asked with a proud expression.
Honestly, it was more than just 'not bad.' The roof had high-capacity solar panels, and the interior was equipped with a bathroom and even shower facilities. Sink, refrigerator, induction stove, bed. It was basically a small studio apartment.
"Whoa... Hyung, how much was this?"
"Don't ask, you'll just get depressed if I tell you."
Hyung-nim's bragging continued for a while.
How much battery capacity it had, how much it could charge via solar power, how many liters the water tank was. Something about the inverter output, something about the insulation.
I nodded along as I listened. I didn't understand half of what he was saying, but hyung-nim looked so excited that I just went along with it.
"With independent power, it can last for days. It's self-sufficient."
"That's cool."
"It's more than just cool. Do you know how much this cost? I'm growing old alone, shouldn't I at least fulfill a romance like this?"
Hyung-nim kept laughing and bragging.
Hyung-nim knew my hobby well.
I set up a wooden board in the vacant lot next to the camper and took out my bows. A 40-pound one and a 60-pound recurve bow. Those were the two bows I brought.
"Oh, nice. Let's shoot to our hearts' content today."
Hyung-nim said, loosening his arms.
Hyung-nim picked up the 40-pound bow, nocked an arrow, and shot. Since the target was about 20 meters away, it stuck into the wooden board without much difficulty.
I, who had been watching from the side, took the bow. Since it was a relatively light bow for me, I had been using it for rapid-fire practice.
I held three arrows between my fingers and took my stance.
Slavic Draw. You hook the arrow onto the riser on the side of the drawing hand, pull lightly, and shoot quickly.
Three arrows flew in quick succession. All of them stuck into the wooden board.
"Whoa, that's amazing."
Hyung-nim opened his eyes wide.
"You can actually do that? It's just like in the movies."
"I practiced a bit."
"Kya, that's cool!"
This time, hyung-nim picked up the 60-pound bow. 60 pounds is a heavy bow even for an adult male. It takes quite a bit of strength to pull.
Hyung-nim grabbed the string and pulled. His arm muscles tensed up.
"Ugh..."
He pulled it halfway before hyung-nim grimaced.
"Ah, my arm hurts. How do you shoot this?"
"I'll show you."
I took the bow from him.
I pulled the string back smoothly all the way. I steadied my breath and maintained my posture while relaxed.
The arrow flew and stuck into the center of the wooden board.
"It doesn't necessarily work just because you're strong. You need to know the trick."
"The trick?"
"If you pull with arm strength, you'll get tired quickly. You have to use your back muscles. And you need to apply strength when pulling, but relax when maintaining the draw. Anyway, 60 pounds is hard for a beginner, so the 40-pound bow is more suitable for you, hyung."
Hyung-nim nodded.
"As expected, someone from the archery team is different."
"I only did it for a little while in elementary school, though."
"If you're this good after doing it for a little while, that's talent."
Hyung-nim laughed and patted my shoulder.
After shooting for a while, we cleaned up, and I took a drone out of my backpack.
"What's this?"
"A drone. If hyung-nim bought a camper, I bought this."
It was a small mini-drone. I unfolded the drone's wings and placed it on the ground.
"Don't you need a license to fly a drone? Don't you have to register it too?"
"It's under 250g, so I don't need a license or have to register it. But there are flight-restricted areas, so I just have to be careful about that."
"Oh, I see."
Hyung-nim looked at the drone as if it were fascinating.
I launched the drone. With a small wing sound, the drone rose into the air.
"Hyung-nim, you try it too."
I handed him the controller. Hyung-nim awkwardly moved the sticks.
The drone wobbled, went sideways, shot upward, and then came back down.
"Hey, this is hard."
"It's like that for everyone at first."
After hyung-nim operated it a few more times, he seemed to get the hang of it and slowly moved the drone forward.
"Oh, it's working, it's working."
The drone circled the vacant lot once.
"Whoa, this is fun."
Hyung-nim said with a laugh.
When evening came, hyung-nim took meat out of the icebox.
We unfolded a folding table in front of the camper and put a grill plate on top of a burner. As the grease heated up, we put the pork belly on, and a savory smell spread everywhere along with the jigeul-jigeul sizzling sound.
"There's nothing like eating meat outdoors."
Hyung-nim said as he flipped the meat with tongs, and smoke rose from the grill as grease splattered.
I cracked open a cold can of beer and took a sip. Water droplets formed on the can and ran down between my fingers, but I didn't care.
I dipped the well-cooked meat in ssamjang and took a bite, and the greasy juices spread throughout my mouth.
It was comfortable even without much conversation. Grilling meat, eating, drinking beer. A few words thrown out here and there were all, but that was actually better.
When the sun completely set and darkness fell, the sound of insects began to be heard around the vacant lot.
After finishing the meal, hyung-nim brewed coffee. It was hand-drip, which was also one of hyung-nim's hobbies. While the hot water slowly dripped over the coffee grounds, the coffee aroma mixed with the night air and spread out.
"As expected, hyung-nim, the coffee tastes amazing."
"It's good, right? I tried a different bean this time."
Steam rose from the mug I was handed, and when I took a sip, the bitter taste lingered in my mouth for a long time. When I looked up at the night sky, stars that couldn't be seen in the city were densely packed.
As the night deepened, I felt the chilly air, and we went inside the camper.
The interior was warm. The air from the heater tickled my toes, and it felt even cozier in contrast to the cool air outside.
The bed area was divided into two, with beds placed at the front and back, respectively.
"It's spacious here. Much more than I thought."
"Four or five adults can sleep here. I utilized the space well. There's quite a bit of storage up there, too."
Hyung-nim pointed toward the ceiling and said, bragging again.
I sat on the edge of the bed, and the mattress was softer than I thought.
"Well, if I were married, I would have brought my wife and kids."
Hyung-nim muttered, sitting on the opposite bed. His voice sounded somewhat bitter.
"Ayy, if you were married, you wouldn't have been able to buy something like this."
"Haha. That's true."
Hyung-nim chuckled.
As we each lay in our beds and turned off the lights, faint moonlight came in through the window. Hyung-nim's breathing gradually deepened, and it seemed he had fallen asleep quickly.
I stared at the ceiling and thought about the day. It wasn't a bad day. As I closed my eyes, I fell asleep before I knew it.
Sunlight shone through the window. It was the next morning.
When I opened my eyes, hyung-nim was already up. I could hear the sound of coffee being brewed, and a savory aroma was filling the camper.
"You're up? Have a cup of coffee."
Hyung-nim handed me a mug. I wrapped my hands around the warm cup and took a sip. It was the same bitter taste as last night.
I opened the camper door and stepped outside. The morning air was cold but refreshing. The sky was clear and cloudless.
"The weather is nice."
"Yeah. Should we hang out a bit more before we go?"
Hyung-nim said, unfolding a folding chair.
Just then, hyung-nim turned on the radio. Music flowed from the small radio attached to the camper. It was a normal morning broadcast.
But suddenly, the music cut off.
Hyung-nim and I made eye contact.
"What is this?"
Hyung-nim turned up the radio volume.
The announcer's voice on the radio was trembling.
"Violent incidents? Did some kind of protest break out?"
Hyung-nim tilted his head.
That was when it happened.
Someone was running from far away.
At first, I thought it was someone jogging. I assumed it was someone out for their morning exercise. But something was strange. The way they were running was too desperate. They were flailing their arms and running at full speed.
"Why is that person acting like that?"
Hyung-nim looked in that direction too.
And two people were chasing behind them.
At first, I thought they were people running together. But they weren't. Their movements didn't look human. The way they were hunched forward and running like crazy was like beasts.
"Hey, hey, that..."
Hyung-nim's voice grew quiet.
I instinctively stepped back.
"Hyung-nim, let's go inside."
"Huh?"
"Hurry."
I pulled hyung-nim into the camper and closed the door. We looked outside through the window.
The person who was running away fell. Whether they tripped, they tumbled forward. They tried to get up, but it was too late.
The two who had been chasing them pounced on them.
A scream was heard.
I held my breath and watched. Hyung-nim was also looking out the window with a stiff expression beside me.
The person who had fallen struggled. They swung their arms to push them away, but it was useless. One bit their arm, and the other bit their neck.
Blood splattered, and the person's scream grew smaller and smaller until it stopped.
When the fallen person's movements stopped completely, the ones who had been biting them stood up. They stood there with blood-stained mouths, looking around. They didn't touch the fallen person anymore.
They started walking away slowly as if nothing had happened.
"W-what is this... I-is he dead?"
Hyung-nim muttered in a trembling voice.
I couldn't answer. I just stared at the corpse lying outside the window.
How many minutes had passed?
The corpse, which hadn't moved an inch, stirred.
It slowly raised its upper body and stood up, staggering. Blood was flowing from its neck, but it stood there as if nothing was wrong.
Most of its upper garment was torn, and the flesh of its upper body was almost exposed.
The man lifted his head toward the sky.
He stood still, spreading both arms and looking at the sun.
"D-damn it. What is this. What is..."
Hyung-nim said, stepping back from the window.
"It really looks like a zombie..."
"Hey, G-Kang Min-woo. Zombies are only in movies... That stuff doesn't exist..."
Hyung-nim's voice was trembling. He seemed to be trying hard to deny it, but the scene before our eyes was too obvious.
"Besides, look at that. Why is he standing still with both arms spread out?"
I looked out the window again.
The man who had been lying there bleeding until just a moment ago was standing. He was standing motionless with both arms spread out, head lifted toward the sky. The morning sunlight was beating down on the skin exposed through his torn clothes.
And there was a smile on his face. The sight of him standing still with his eyes closed and the corners of his mouth raised as if he were happy was even more chilling.
We were in a quiet countryside, but a few houses were visible not far away. Screams could be heard intermittently from that direction. Someone shouting for help. The sound of glass breaking. Even the sound of a car being smashed.
It was far, but I could hear it faintly.
We hid, holding our breath for a long time.
"What should we do?"
Hyung-nim asked in a low voice.
"If it's dangerous... we might have to kill them."
The words that came out of my mouth surprised even me. But I couldn't think of any other way.
"B-but that's a person. If it's just some kind of mental disorder from being infected..."
"It might be some kind of rabies... But if we act clumsily, we'll be attacked by that thing and get infected just the same."
"T-that's true..."
Hyung-nim nodded. His hands were shaking.
"I have a bow, but is there anything else that could be a weapon?"
Hyung-nim started rummaging through the inside of the vehicle. He opened the cabinets, opened the drawers. Soon, he found a toolbox. He took out a hammer and a wrench from it.
Hyung-nim held the hammer. It was a heavy steel hammer.
I took the wrench and shoved it into my back pocket. And I took out my bow and nocked an arrow.
A 60-pound bow. It was a weight I was used to.
I looked out the window again. The thing was still standing in that spot. With a happy smile on its face.
I opened the door slightly. A light breeze brushed against my face.