Chapter 3.
Chapter 3.
The distance to the guy was about 50 meters. It wasn't an easy distance to hit him exactly in the head.
"What should we do?"
Sangman-hyung said quietly, looking at me.
"For now, let's keep our distance and see how he reacts."
Sangman-hyung stepped forward a little and quietly called out to the man.
"Hey, u-um, excuse me. Are you okay?"
When he called out louder, the guy's arms, which had been spread wide, slowly came down. Then, he turned his head toward us.
"Kuaaaak!"
A ear-piercing scream burst out.
I made eye contact with him. The happy smile from before was gone, replaced by a distorted, crazed expression. And he started running toward us like a madman.
That is definitely not human.
I raised my bow and aimed. I pulled the string and steadied my breathing. Just do it like usual. Like usual.
With my hands shaking, I released the string.
The arrow grazed the side of his head and fell to the ground.
Fuck... I missed.
I quickly pulled out another arrow and nocked it. My hands were shaking, so I couldn't do it as fast as usual. The arrow kept slipping between my fingers.
40 meters.
30 meters.
"Hey, hey... hey! Hurry!"
Hyung-nim's urgent voice burst out.
20 meters.
I barely managed to nock the arrow and pull the string. There was no time to aim. I shot by instinct.
10 meters ahead.
The arrow pierced his head exactly. Blood splattered everywhere.
The guy stumbled at the speed he was running and then pitched forward. He sprawled onto the ground as if sliding.
His movements stopped.
My heart was beating like crazy. My hands were shaking, and sweat was pouring down my whole body.
I pulled out another arrow and shot one more at the fallen guy. It stuck in his torso, but there was no reaction. He seemed completely dead.
I lowered the bow and gasped for air.
Hyung-nim didn't say anything either. His hand gripping the hammer had turned deathly pale.
After that, we stayed in the camper for a long time without a word. We didn't bother going out to check the corpse.
We just crouched there in silence. Hyung-nim was sitting with his back against the corner of the bed, hugging his knees. His eyes were staring into space, unfocused. He seemed to be in quite a panic.
Outside, screams could still be heard occasionally. They got closer, then moved away, then were heard from somewhere else. It sounded like the world was collapsing.
Maybe an hour had passed.
"Hyung-nim."
I opened my mouth first.
"What should we do?"
There was no answer. Hyung-nim remained still in his crouched position. As if he couldn't hear me. Had he lost his mind?
"Hyung-nim, should we look around nearby?"
Still no answer.
"Or, how about we check the food first? To see how long we can hold out..."
Grrr.
A low sound was heard.
Hyung-nim slowly lifted his head. The empty look from before was gone. In its place was ferocious madness.
No, why?
He hadn't been bitten. I had shot the zombie with my bow before it could pounce, and because there was distance, no blood had splattered on him at all. He had never made contact.
Why on earth?
The moment I questioned it, Hyung-nim stood up.
My body moved instinctively, opening the door and running outside.
After running a few steps, I looked back.
Hyung-nim was running out of the camper. He was running toward me like a madman. In the same posture as that zombie earlier, like a beast.
He had truly become a zombie.
I didn't run away. I turned around and took a wrench out of my pocket.
I should be stronger than Hyung-nim, who was in his 30s and close to obese because he rarely exercised.
"Hyung-nim! Stop!"
I shouted. My voice cracked.
"Stop!"
My shouting was useless. Hyung-nim just kept running, throwing his body at me with his hands outstretched. I barely dodged to the side, and Hyung-nim sprawled onto the ground.
I instinctively brought the wrench down.
One hit, two hits... three hits.
I felt the vibration in my hand. Blood splattered. The dull sensation of his skull collapsing traveled up through my palm.
Hyung-nim's body, which had been trembling, soon went limp.
I stopped.
Gasping, I looked down at my hands. They were covered in blood. It had splattered on the back of my hands, my palms, and my body.
I stood there like that for a long time.
I roughly wiped the blood off with my clothes. No matter how much I wiped, the sticky feeling wouldn't go away, so I just gave up and returned to the camper.
I closed the door and slumped into a chair.
Is it airborne?
Hyung-nim wasn't bitten. No blood splattered on him, and he never made contact. Yet he still changed.
Then, will I, who was right next to him, be next?
I'm scared.
My whole body was shaking. I closed all the curtains in the camper. So I couldn't see outside. So I couldn't see anything.
I sat curled up in the chair. Hugging my knees, just like Hyung-nim had been sitting.
The fear that I might become a zombie crushed my whole body.
I don't know when I'll change. It could be the next moment. It could be in a minute, or an hour.
I hid like that. I couldn't think of anything. I couldn't do anything.
Sitting like that, I closed my eyes.
I opened my eyes and found myself on a green meadow. An endless field of grass was waving in the wind, and the sky was so blue it hurt my eyes.
I couldn't tell if I was lying down, sitting, or standing.
My sense of my body was faint. Even though I knew it was a dream, it was a strange feeling, not like a dream.
A voice was heard from high up in the sky.
It was closer to a resonance than speech. It felt like it wasn't being heard with my ears, but being carved directly into my brain.
I felt that a Giant Existence, which I couldn't tell if it was the sky or the sun, was up there. I couldn't see a form, but something was definitely looking down at me.
Is it a god? Or something else...
I couldn't reply. Rather than couldn't, it felt like the thought of replying didn't even occur to me. I was just blankly accepting the voice.
And I opened my eyes.
It was inside the camper. Faint light was leaking in through the curtains, and my body, which had been asleep curled up in the chair, was stiff.
Was it a dream? But the voice I just heard was still vivid in my mind.
Anyway, it's just a dream. My worries must have manifested as a dream.
I checked the time and it seemed I had slept for about 3 hours.
I still hadn't turned into a zombie.
Hyung-nim changed within that short time, so why am I fine?
Is it different for everyone? Or was Hyung-nim already infected from the start? I couldn't know. Anyway, the only thing that matters is that I'm alive right now.
I opened the curtain slightly and looked out the window.
Hyung-nim's corpse was still lying on the ground, and no other zombies or people were visible nearby.
The screams that had been heard from afar had now become infrequent.
I carefully opened the camper door and went outside.
I stood in front of Hyung-nim's corpse. I saw the collapsed skull and dried blood.
He was the person who had been laughing and bragging about his camper just a few hours ago. My throat tightened, but now was not the time to be lost in sentiment.
I searched Hyung-nim's pockets, took out the hammer, and kept it. Then I pulled out the arrow that was stuck in his head.
I felt a damp sensation when I pulled it out, but I tried to ignore it.
I went to the other zombie I had killed earlier and pulled out the arrow stuck in its head too.
The arrows I brought were 24. That's the amount that fits in one quiver.
Arrows are limited, so I have to save them. I felt like I needed to get into the habit of retrieving them every time I shoot.
I looked at Hyung-nim's corpse again. It didn't feel right to leave him sprawled out like this, so I dragged him and moved him near the bushes behind the camper. It was a place that wasn't easily visible.
I didn't have the luxury of burying him, but at least I didn't want to leave him abandoned on the road.
"I'm sorry. Sangman-hyung-nim."
I muttered quietly. There was no answer.
I returned to the camper and carefully examined the inside.
I opened the refrigerator, and all that was there was a few pieces of leftover pork belly from yesterday and a couple of beer cans.
When I rummaged through the cabinets, three or four cup noodles, a few bags of snacks, and a few chocolate bars came out.
This was about the extent of the emergency food Hyung-nim had brought. It was natural, since he had planned to stay for only two nights anyway.
I took everything out, laid it on the table, and calculated. No matter how sparingly I ate, it would only last me 2 or 3 days at most.
There was water left in the camper's water tank, and there was a water purifier, but that would also run out after a few days.
I looked out the window.
This place is a rural area with few people, so it wasn't bad for hiding. The possibility of zombies swarming like before would also be lower than in the city.
But the problem was food. No matter how safe it is, it's useless if I starve to death.
Even if it's the countryside, if I look, there should be a convenience store or a small mart.
I remembered passing a small village on the way to the camper yesterday. How far would it be? 2 kilometers? 3 kilometers? It's not a long distance, but the problem was that I didn't know how many zombies were in between.
After thinking for a moment, I took the drone out of my backpack.
Placing it on my palm, I felt its small, light weight. Just yesterday, it was a drone I flew just for fun, but now it had become a tool for my survival.
I took out the controller and turned it on. The remaining battery was 80 percent. It was enough for one flight. I opened the camper door slightly and sent the drone outside.
With a small whirring noise, the drone rose into the air.
I was nervous that zombies might react to this sound, but nothing moving was visible nearby. As the drone went higher, the noise became almost inaudible.
The surrounding scenery unfolded on the controller screen. The vacant lot where the camper was, the surrounding trees, and the small village visible in the distance.
I slowly moved the drone toward the village and watched the screen.
I saw a few zombies on the road.
Some were walking around, and some were looking at the sun.
It was the familiar posture of standing with both arms spread out, looking at the sun.
I sent the drone closer to the village. It was a small town center where some shops were clustered.
A small convenience store sign caught my eye. But even from a distance, the inside of the convenience store was completely empty.
I look for another convenience store.
I found a convenience store where some of the shelves were empty, but quite a bit remained.
Around the convenience store... there are five zombies.
I identified the optimal route with the drone and confirmed that there were about five more on the way there.
The zombies on the screen were standing still without moving. I got goosebumps thinking about those faces that must be wearing happy smiles.
The drone's battery level was dropping significantly. I couldn't fly it any longer. When I gave the return command, the drone started to return automatically.
I put down the controller and sank into thought.
To get to the village, I have to deal with at least ten zombies.
I have 24 arrows. In terms of numbers, it's enough, but I also have to consider the case of missing.
It would be good if I could retrieve the arrows after shooting, but they could be permanently lost or broken.
The voice I heard in my dream earlier came to mind.
Kill ten zombies. I will grant you an ability.
Is it real? Or is it just a bullshit dream I had in an extreme situation? Either way, to survive, I have to kill zombies.