Chapter 29.
Chapter 29.
About 10 minutes had passed. In the distance, two camping cars approached, kicking up dust.
As soon as they stopped, Yerin jumped out of the car.
"Sajang-nim!"
She ran up and stood in front of me, scanning me up and down. My blood-stained clothes, the bloodstain on my side, the blood on my hands. Yerin's face twisted.
"Are you hurt?"
"It's not my blood. Mostly."
"If it's 'mostly', then some of it is your blood, Sajang-nim!"
Yerin anxiously inspected every inch of my body.
"The place I got hit earlier is fine. It's almost healed."
It was thanks to my Regeneration. The spot where I'd been hit by the air rifle didn't even feel painful anymore.
Yerin looked relieved, but her eyes turned red. She was forcing herself to hold back a face that looked like it was about to cry.
Junghoon and Sujin got out of the Staria. They looked at the corpses on the road. Fifteen bodies sprawled between the three vehicles.
"You killed all of these by yourself?"
"I caught them at a bottleneck. I took out the driver of the lead vehicle first, so the back got blocked... It was lucky that things went according to plan."
Junghoon shook his head as he looked over the corpses.
"Crazy... These guys had quite a few air rifles, too. But you used a bow for all of them..."
Junghoon looked at me. It was a look that was hard to tell if it was respect or fear. It was a complex expression, mixed even with awe.
Sujin approached and checked my side.
"It's much better than before. This recovery speed is really..."
She trailed off. She had a puzzled expression again, but she didn't bother asking further.
Seoyoon also carefully got out of the camping car and looked at the corpses on the road. Her face had turned pale.
I approached her.
"Seoyoon-ah, are you okay?"
"Sunbae, you did all this to these people... Are you okay?"
"They might come back, so we need to move quickly. Let's load the luggage first."
Seoyoon nodded, but her eyes didn't leave me.
The way she looked at my blood-stained figure was complex. It wasn't fear. It was a look that contained something close to awe.
We loaded the loot. Three air rifles, over 100 pellets, a 12V small compressor and charging hose, and spare air tanks. I also put the arrows recovered from the corpses into the quiver.
Junghoon whistled as he looked at the air rifles.
"Our firepower will go up quite a bit with these."
"Let's sort it out later. Getting out of here is the priority right now."
After everyone boarded, the two camping cars departed. We passed the road littered with corpses and headed north.
Yerin kept looking at me while driving.
"Sajang-nim."
"Yeah."
"Next time, don't go alone. Please..."
"It depends on the situation."
"Don't say 'it depends on the situation'."
Her voice was stubborn. I didn't answer.
In the back seat, Seoyoon was sitting quietly. She was still wearing my jumper. She pulled the collar of the jumper up and buried her nose in it.
I couldn't tell if she was smelling it or if she was cold.
I saw her in the rearview mirror. When she briefly made eye contact with me, she turned her gaze away.
Just then, a faint, strange sound, 'Kieeeeek', was heard from afar. It was a sound I was hearing for the first time. It wasn't a bird, and it wasn't an animal.
Without realizing it, a chill ran down my spine.
"What is that sound?"
Yerin asked.
"Hmm... I don't know. It sounds like a zombie. Or maybe it's the sound of an animal I don't know. Just keep stepping on it for now."
Yerin pressed the accelerator. The camping car picked up speed.
That sound was no longer heard. But once heard, the sound couldn't be forgotten.
We drove for a long time.
We launched the drone to scan the surroundings while comparing it with the map. We headed in a direction as far away from their factory as possible. At the same time, to a place that wasn't too isolated.
We turned northwest from the main road. A narrow road continued between rice paddies. Houses became rare, and a stream drew closer.
"How about here?"
Yerin asked, slowing down. Outside the window, a small village was visible. Five or six farmhouses. 100 meters to the stream. Since it was tucked away from the road, it couldn't be seen while passing by.
I checked the surroundings with the drone. Only three or four zombies were visible in the distance. It was quiet, with no traces of living people.
"This should be fine."
I informed Junghoon via walkie-talkie. The two camping cars entered the village.
Junghoon got out first and looked around. There was a large warehouse next to an empty farmhouse. A slate roof and iron walls. It seemed to have been used for storing farm machinery. A rusty cultivator was standing inside.
Junghoon checked inside the warehouse and came out.
"It's not used as a livestock shed. There's no smell, and the space is ample. Both camping cars will fit."
"Let's put them in. For now, it's better to hide here and avoid their eyes."
We pushed the cultivator out and put the large camping car in first. The Staria followed behind. Once we closed the warehouse door, from the outside, it was just a warehouse next to an empty farmhouse. Even if you looked from above with a drone, the cars were not visible.
Right now, the camping cars have plenty of food and supplies. There is still a lot left from what we brought from the large mart, and there's no need to worry about canned goods and instant food for the time being. As for water, since the stream is close, we can just purify it and use it. As we moved away from the city center, the zombie density is also low.
We can hold out here for a while.
I finished organizing the luggage and came outside.
The sun was setting. The sunset was spreading across the rice paddies. The wind blew, and the grass swayed. I could hear the sound of water from the stream. A bird chirped.
It was a landscape that made it hard to believe that the world had ended. Nature was always beautiful and peaceful. It was the human world that had ended, not nature.
Yerin was standing next to me, looking at the same scenery.
"It's pretty."
"Yeah."
"We can rest here for a bit, right?"
"Yeah, for the time being."
Yerin smiled faintly. It was a comfortable smile I hadn't seen in a while.
Seoyoon was standing in front of the warehouse, looking at the sunset. She was still wearing my jumper. Her long hair fluttered in the wind. The sunset light settled on her face.
The scenery and everything were beautiful.
A moment later, I turned my head and looked at Yerin.
"Let's eat. Everyone is hungry."
Junghoon took out the burner, Sujin grabbed the bottled water, and Yerin took out the instant rice.
Seoyoon stood there not knowing what to help with, but at Yerin's request for help, she moved carefully.
The five of us sat around in front of the warehouse and ate.
Instant rice with canned side dishes. It wasn't a grand meal, but no one complained.
Everyone was alive. That was enough.
After finishing the meal, I took out the air rifles. I placed the five rifles side by side on the ground.
"Take one each. Everyone needs to be able to shoot in an emergency."
I handed one each to Junghoon, Yerin, Sujin, and Seoyoon. I kept one as a spare.
Seoyoon received it carefully.
"This is my first time with something like this."
"It's okay. I'll teach you everything right now."
Everyone sat around. I explained the structure of the air rifle. How to put pellets in the magazine, how to pull the bolt to load, and the location of the safety.
"The air tank is a consumable. The pressure gauge is here, and if it enters the red zone, you have to replace it."
I took out a spare air tank and demonstrated how to replace it. Unscrew it, put a new one in, and tighten it. It's simple.
"Even if you run out of air tanks, if you have this compressor, you can charge it. Just plug it into the camping car's 12V socket and connect the hose."
I even showed them how to operate the compressor and started practice shooting.
I put an empty can instead of a target on a tree 20 meters ahead. I lifted the air rifle and aimed.
Pak.
The can flew away. At the same time, the dry firing sound unique to an air rifle spread around.
Yerin tilted her head.
"It's quite loud, isn't it? In movies, it's like 'pyok' and quiet."
"That's one with a silencer attached. I know that silencers are illegal for domestic air rifles due to regulations, so they don't have them. This is the sound of a normal air rifle."
"At this level, quite a few zombies would flock in the city center."
"If you shoot inside a building, it reflects and gets louder. In a city, it seems it could be heard up to 200~300 meters away."
Everyone's expression stiffened slightly.
"Still, it's fine in a quiet place like this. Because the zombie density around here is low. Let's practice shooting every day starting tomorrow."
This time, I picked up the bow. I put a new can at the same distance.
Shuk.
Only the sound of the wind was heard, and the can flew away.
It was quiet. It was on a different level from the air rifle.
"As expected, the real ultra-silent weapon is the bow."
Yerin said. Everyone nodded.
In places with many zombies, the bow is indeed the answer.
Air rifles can only be used freely in the countryside, and in the city, you can't shoot them carelessly unless you have a silencer.
"That's it for today. Everyone is tired. Let's start in earnest from tomorrow."
Everyone dispersed. Junghoon checked the warehouse door, Sujin organized the medical kit, and Yerin plugged the drone battery into the charger.
Seoyoon was looking down at the air rifle for a long time while holding it with both hands.
It seemed the air rifle was quite awkward for her.
"You'll get used to it soon."
Seoyoon lifted her head, looked at me, and smiled faintly.
"Yes, I'll learn hard. Thank you, Sunbae. Really..."
That night, we decided on sleeping arrangements.
Once we organized the luggage inside the large camping car, we were able to use two beds. This was because the items brought from the mart had decreased quite a bit.
Yerin spoke up first.
"Seoyoon-unnie and I will sleep in one bed."
It was a natural suggestion. But I knew. It wasn't natural; she had made a preemptive strike.
She had blocked Seoyoon from sleeping next to me just in case.
"Okay. I'll use this bed."
Seoyoon hesitated slightly.
"Wouldn't I be a burden? Weren't you originally sleeping with Yerin-ssi?"
Seoyoon added with a smile.
"You two look so close, I thought you were a couple."
For a moment, the air became subtle. I could see Yerin's ears turning bright red.
"No. It's not like that... It's just that there was a lot of luggage in the camping car, so we slept in the same bed."
Yerin denied it quickly. She denied it so quickly that it was obvious she was conscious of it.
I felt like I should say something too, but I thought that would be even more awkward, so I just stayed still.
Seoyoon smiled, saying "I see." It seemed like she brushed it off lightly, but her eyes looked at me for a moment. It was a look of relief, confirming that we weren't a couple.
I turned off the lights and lay down. I could hear the sound of Yerin and Seoyoon sharing a blanket on the other bed.
"Unnie, is the blanket enough?"
"Yes, it's enough. I'm actually worried if it's too cramped for you, Yerin-ssi."
"It's okay. I don't have bad sleeping habits, so don't worry, Unnie."
Yerin and Seoyoon's voices were affectionate. The sounds of them taking care of each other while laughing continued.
Before long, the sound of Seoyoon and Yerin's breathing could be heard faintly.
I took turns on night watch and monitored with the drone. They didn't chase us again. It seems the annihilation of the pursuit team served as a lesson.
Peace returned again.
A routine was established. Drone reconnaissance in the morning. Grasping the surrounding terrain. Drawing water from the stream and purifying it. Shooting practice in the afternoon. Changing shifts for night watch in the evening.
I went around the vicinity with Yerin and hunted zombies. Since it was the countryside, the number wasn't large, but it steadily accumulated. About 30 to 50 a day.
We needed to clear out zombies for safety, but we also had to hunt them steadily for the goal of 1000 kills.
Yerin's air rifle skills improved rapidly. She hit a can at 30 meters, and now she occasionally hit zombie heads too.
Perhaps due to the power regulations of the air rifle, the power of the air rifle was weaker than I thought. At long distances, there were often cases where it didn't penetrate at once even if you hit the head.
Seoyoon also adapted little by little. Her hand holding the air rifle stopped shaking, and pellets started to enter the target.
As a few days passed, Seoyoon also adapted and became stable.