Chapter 6.
Chapter 6.
The next morning, when I opened my eyes, the first thought that crossed my mind was that I was still alive.
I raised my hand and touched my face.
My skin was normal, and my consciousness was clear. I checked my bitten left arm.
The wound still hurt, but the swelling seemed to have gone down compared to last night. The area around the tooth marks was hardening into a scab.
There were no signs of infection. No fever, no clouding of consciousness, and no urges to bite people. It really felt like I had become immune.
When I opened the camping car door, the chilly morning air rushed in.
The refreshing feeling unique to early mornings filled my lungs, and dew had formed on the grass, sparkling in the sunlight.
I heard bird sounds. Birds were chirping somewhere. It was a peaceful morning. To the point where it was hard to believe the world had ended yesterday.
First, I launched the drone. Because a zombie might have approached during the night.
As the drone rose into the air, the surrounding scenery unfolded on the controller screen. The area around the camping car was clean.
There were no signs of zombies, and nothing was moving. In the distance, I could see the corpses of the zombies I killed yesterday sprawled on the road. Relieved, I returned the drone.
I prepared breakfast. One instant rice pack and one can of food. I heated the rice in the camping car's microwave, opened the canned tuna, and put it on top of the rice.
It was a simple breakfast, but warm rice is truly delicious. In the current world, there must be countless people who can't even eat food like this.
I ate while basking in the sunlight coming through the window.
Eating breakfast inside the camping car in the middle of nature, it still felt like I was out on a trip.
Amidst a bit of happiness, I suddenly felt bitter thinking that this camping car belonged to Sangman-hyungnim.
Solar panels, water tank, shower facilities, a wide bed. Everything hyungnim used to brag about so much was all here.
Hyungnim had said he planned to travel all over the country camping in this vehicle. Back then, I had asked to go with him... but that hyungnim was no longer here. He was lying as a corpse in the bushes not far from here.
As for me, I don't even have parents who would look for me if I died right now, but that wouldn't be the case for Sangman-hyungnim.
Hyungnim's parents who he said were in Busan, the younger sister he said he called sometimes. Do those people know hyungnim is dead? No, they might have already passed away too.
I did the dishes and sat blankly for a while. I tried turning on the radio, but the same content as last night was repeating. Stay at home, the government will solve it. It was a repetition of the same content.
'Will waiting really solve anything... What on earth is the military doing? No, has the military collapsed too?'
After killing time for a while, I made a decision. I decided to go zombie hunting.
Kill twenty zombies. I remembered that voice I heard in my dream. It said if I achieved that condition, it would give me a new ability. Since Infection Immunity was real, it was highly likely the next ability would be real too.
And anyway, I couldn't just live by avoiding zombies. To get food, I have to go outside, and if I go outside, I'm bound to run into zombies. If so, it's better to strike first.
I picked up the 40-pound bow. The 60-pound bow is for accurate and powerful shots, but considering the rate of fire at close range, the 40-pound bow is more versatile.
There were 22 arrows in the quiver.
I opened the camping car door and stepped outside. The morning sunlight was dazzling. Today's hunt begins.
Before leaving the camping car, I launched the drone first.
Drone reconnaissance was becoming a habit now. Because I had to avoid running into a horde of zombies while walking around blindly.
The surrounding scenery unfolded on the controller screen.
I slowly expanded the range, centering on the vacant lot where the camping car was.
For safe hunting, I need to catch zombies in the most secluded places possible.
Two on the east road, three near the northern farmhouse, one in the western field. They were all in the familiar pose of standing with both arms spread, facing the sun.
The sight of them standing still and photosynthesizing was still creepy.
I decided to start with the closest ones. They were the two on the east road.
I approached quietly and stopped at a distance of 70 meters. I raised my bow and aimed at the first one.
I steadied my breath, felt the direction of the wind, and released the string.
It narrowly grazed its head. Is a headshot at this distance impossible after all?
The guys reacted, their heads turning this way, and they came running with strange noises. I calmly nocked the second arrow and fired.
A hit to the head at 30 meters. The guy slid down as it fell.
I quickly nocked an arrow and hit it in the head when it got to about 5 meters away.
Along with the sound of the arrow breaking the skull, blood and brains splattered and scattered on the floor.
I'm shaking, but I definitely seem calmer than yesterday.
I approached the fallen guys, pulled out the arrows stuck in their heads, and moved to the next target.
There were three near the northern farmhouse. They were standing side by side in front of a shabby barn building, with 2-3 meters of space between them.
If I shoot one, the others will come running at the same time. I remembered the experience at the convenience store. I almost died back then. But now was different from then. Now it's an open space, and there were plenty of places to run.
I fired the first shot. Headshot. One guy fell, and the remaining two came running at once. I quickly nocked an arrow and shot the second guy. It fell with a headshot. The third guy got closer.
There wasn't enough time to nock an arrow. But I didn't panic and dodged to the side.
The guy ran past me, sprawled on the floor, and I quickly nocked an arrow, turned around, and fired.
Pierced the head. The guy trembled for a moment, then stopped moving.
I exhaled. My hands were shaking a little, but it was better than before. Am I getting used to this?
I retrieved the arrows and headed to the western field. There was one standing alone there. It was the easiest prey.
I snuck as close as possible, aimed, and finished it in one shot.
I took a short break and launched the drone again to search for zombies in the vicinity.
There was a small orchard about 1 kilometer away from the camping car, and four of them were gathered around it.
The sight of them standing between the fruit trees and photosynthesizing was bizarre. It was like scarecrows guarding the orchard.
I approached and took them out one by one. The first and second were smooth. But the moment I shot the third, an unexpected guy popped out from behind a tree. It was a fifth zombie that hadn't been visible on the drone. It must have been hidden by the tree.
Two guys came running at once. I nocked an arrow and shot the one in front.
Hit with a headshot. But the one behind was too close.
I threw away the bow and thrust my left arm forward. The guy jumped in and bit my left arm. It was still wrapped in a coat, but I could feel the pressure of its teeth.
I pulled out a hammer with my right hand and struck it down. One hit, two hits. The guy's head crushed, and its strength gave out.
I pushed it away and gasped for air. The coat on my left arm was torn again. There's plenty of fabric to use as protective gear.
I just need to strip off leather or tough-material clothes from the zombies or corpses scattered on the roadside.
I strip off the coat of the zombie in front of me. It's a young man with a good build. Swallowing the bitter feeling, I wrapped the coat tightly around my left arm.
Just then, I heard a noise nearby.
Sounds like fighting were coming from the yard of a small country house.
I quickly ran toward that place and checked inside from outside the yard gate.
Four zombies were gathered in one spot, and something was moving in the center.
A middle-aged man was fighting the zombies, swinging something. He swung a shovel to push the zombies away, then swung again. But it was not enough. The guys were rushing in from all sides, and the man's movements were getting slower.
I aimed at the one on the outermost edge. They are moving targets, but if I shoot from behind, I can catch them safely.
Hiding behind the gate, I quickly fired arrows at them.
I took down two with headshots at once, and killed the rest by firing a few more shots.
Since someone was drawing their attention in front, I could freely deal damage.
The yard became quiet, and the middle-aged man gasped for air and sat down on the floor. The hand holding the shovel was shaking, and his whole body was covered in blood.
But his condition was already serious. Several tooth marks were visible on his arm, and it looked like his neck was bitten too. Blood was streaming down. There was a wound on his leg, and his clothes were torn, revealing flesh ripped away near his ribs. At this rate, even if he wasn't infected, it looked like he would die from excessive blood loss.
"Are you okay?"
Even as I asked, I knew he wasn't okay. It was just something that came out because I felt like I had to say something.
The man lifted his head and looked at me. It was a face that looked to be in his fifties. There were tear tracks around his wrinkled eyes, and the will to live had already vanished from his pupils.
"Thank you... for helping..."
The man opened his mouth with difficulty. A sound mixed with blood came from his throat.
"My family... they all changed..."
The man turned his head toward the inside of the house. Beyond the open front door, the dark interior was visible. It looked like there were corpses there too. Were they his family who became zombies? Or did the man kill them himself?
"My wife... my daughter... they all became zombies... I... I did it myself..."
The man's voice cut off. Tears flowed from his eyes. Blood and tears mixed and flowed down his cheeks.
I couldn't say anything. I didn't know how to comfort him. The sensation of when I killed hyungnim came to mind.
That moment when I brought down the wrench. This man must have been the same. He had to kill his family with his own hands.
"I'm... finished too..."
The man said, looking at the wound on his arm.
"If I've been bitten this much... I'll change soon..."
The man looked at me again. His gaze was desperate.
"Please... end it for me..."
"..."
"I don't want to... wander around as a zombie... please..."
The man bowed his head. A trembling voice flowed out.
"I beg you..."
I stood there for a moment. My hand holding the bow felt heavy.
The man was right. If he's been bitten this much, he'll change before long. If that happens, this man will become a zombie and wander around. This man, who tried to survive even after killing his family himself, would eventually become a zombie and bite someone else. He said he didn't want that.
I raised the bow, nocked an arrow, aimed at the back of the head of the man who had bowed his head, and fired.
The man's body, with the arrow stuck in the back of his head, went limp.
After bowing my head slightly to him, I went inside the house.
I searched the man's house. There were a few usable preserved foods, so I packed them into my backpack.
As I was about to leave, I found an electric scooter in the yard.
It's a small and quiet transportation device. If fully charged, it should be able to be used for distances of tens of kilometers. Charging is fine using solar power.
I packed the charger too and got on the scooter.
I rode the scooter back to the camping car. The battery still had more than half left.
Now that I had a quiet and fast means of transportation, it felt like my radius of action would widen.
I took out the preserved foods I had packed from the backpack and organized them.
A few cans, instant rice, snacks. It was enough to last a few more days. But this alone was not enough. To survive long-term, more supplies are needed.
Anyway, since the camping car is based on a minibus platform, it has plenty of storage space, so storing them isn't difficult.
Come to think of it, many people became zombies. That also meant many houses were empty. Houses where the owners died or changed. Food and daily necessities would still be there.
I launched the drone to search the surroundings. There was one more small village within a 1-2 kilometer radius of the camping car. It was a place where about a dozen houses were gathered. A few zombies were standing on the street, but most of the houses looked quiet.
I rode the scooter and arrived at the outskirts of the village. To minimize noise, I got off at the village entrance and walked in.