Three Days Would Be Enough
“...Is this thing actually going to work?”
Haejun kept turning the crackling radio dial with a dubious look on his face.
“Yejin noona said so. There's definitely a channel that's broadcasting.”
“Come on, that doesn't make any sense. Power's out everywhere, water doesn't even run, and you're telling me someone's still putting out a broadcast? You actually believe that, hyung?”
“So what, Haejun? You don't believe it?”
Hyunmin blew on his glasses to clean them, then glanced over and shot the question right back.
“...Honestly, yeah, it's hard to buy.”
“Noona has no reason to lie to us. And exceptions exist for everything—how can you be so sure?”
“...Fine. I'll just keep turning it.”
Truth was, Haejun had felt uneasy about the radio ever since they'd grabbed it from the bike shop. Battery-powered, sure, so it could turn on—but the whole city had been plunged into a mysterious blackout for days already. What were the odds anything would come out of the speaker even if he found a channel?
That man had told him to bring it, so Haejun hadn't dared complain and just hauled it along. Now he was still spinning the dial, and all that poured out was endless static—not a single human voice.
In the end he muttered under his breath, irritation thick in his tone.
“Sijun hyung said it himself. It's not just the electricity—cars, every kind of device in the city, all of them are dead.”
“Maybe radio equipment's the exception.”
“No way! Even the motorcycles sitting right out in the middle of the street are completely fried. You really think a radio transmitter—way more complicated than that—would somehow be fine?!”
Haejun had been stuck alone with the radio ever since dinner, and the frustration finally spilled over onto Hyunmin sitting next to him.
“Hey, Kang Haejun. Find anything?”
“...Not yet.”
“Then keep turning. What's with that ugly look on your face, talking back to your senior like that?”
“Ahem. I—I didn't say anything.”
Soeun's voice cut in right after, and Haejun flinched, playing innocent as he meekly grabbed the channel bar again.
Hyunmin watched him with a pitying look and offered a single remark.
“Well, I'd switch with you if I could. Can't help it, though. I lost at rock-paper-scissors.”
“Can't you just trade with me, hyung? I'll put in a good word with Sijun hyung later.”
“...Huh?”
Hyunmin was speechless, but he held his tongue for Haejun's sake. The guy must have been seriously impressed by that man, the way he was already acting buddy-buddy. Hyunmin understood—he'd never met anyone stronger in his life either. Still, the second the man was gone, Haejun was already clinging to his coattails. The old saying really wasn't wrong.
And so the fox, desperately trying to expand his influence by borrowing the absent tiger's prestige, got shut down by Soeun, who was watching him with open disgust.
“What good word are you going to put in? Want me to tell the guy later how chummy you were acting?”
“...Hey. Kang Soeun. Let's not cross that line.”
The threat must have hit hard—Haejun went completely straight-faced as he stared at her. Soeun just snorted.
“Then sit there and keep looking. Finding it would benefit you too, wouldn't it?”
“What benefit?”
“When that guy comes back and hears you were the one grinding away at it alone, he'll look at you better, right?”
“...You think so?”
For Haejun, who'd survived school by latching onto the popular third-year seniors, Sijun—the one who'd saved him—was nothing short of a golden lifeline. He perked up, fiddling with the channel bar again, then gradually focused and leaned in to listen. Soeun shook her head at the sight.
A short while later, Yejin came in from the veranda holding a scrap of paper, face bright with excitement as she called out. Haejun's expression immediately soured.
“Guys, no need to keep searching! The people upstairs just gave us the frequency!”
“...Ah.”
Not that anyone paid him any mind either way.
Soeun snatched the radio from him and tuned it to the number written on the note.
Meanwhile, Chaeyeon had been standing alone on the veranda, staring blankly at the view outside, when a sound from below made her tilt her head.
...Car engine?
The low rumble of an ignition made her frown and look down. A gray van she'd never seen before was rolling closer to the villa.
Thud—
Bang—!
It shoved aside the illegally parked cars every which way, then stopped right in front of the main entrance as if barricading it.
While Chaeyeon stared down in disbelief, burly men climbed out one by one. The third and final man slammed the door shut—and the zombies came charging as if they'd been waiting for that exact moment.
The men, just as ready, pulled kitchen knives from their jackets in perfect unison.
They drove the blades reverse-grip into the throats of the gaping corpses that lunged at them, then yanked sideways like pulling a lever.
Crunch—
Krrrk—!
These weren't first-timers. The clean, practiced motions severed necks and dropped the zombies in heaps. With a final scrape of bone and a nauseating sound effect, the last of them went down in seconds.
The men stood there dripping rotten blood, muttering among themselves, until one of them casually tipped his head up and looked toward the upper floors of the villa.
Chaeyeon flinched and jerked back just before their eyes could meet.
She stood frozen on the veranda for a moment, then hurried into the living room and approached the others clustered together.
“Unnie. There are weird people outside.”
“...Huh?”
Yejin had been about to punish the radio—still spitting nothing but static even after she'd set the channel—when she turned to stare at Chaeyeon, who was suddenly spouting nonsense.
“What are you talking about, Chaeyeon?”
“Exactly what I said. Three thugs just walked into the villa. And they brought a van.”
“...A van?”
Yejin was honestly stunned, but she didn't show it. On the first day of the collapse, how hard had she struggled just to reach this villa following Sijun oppa? They'd passed dozens of vehicles along the way—cars with zombies face-planted against the steering wheel, luxury sedans abandoned without so much as a crack in the glass. She'd stood right beside Sijun when he tried the ignition on a few motorcycles that still had keys in them, and that was when she'd truly grasped how thoroughly civilization had been wiped out.
Tanks full of gas, every single one of them dead. They'd had no choice but to walk the whole way here.
And now, out of nowhere, a van? Yejin's eyes wavered with shock before she pulled herself together and spoke.
“Chaeyeon. Are you sure you didn't missee?”
“Yes. Unless my brain's completely fried, I'm sure. I don't know what they're after, but just from the vibe, they're definitely not—”
KWAANG—
KWAANG—
A sudden roar cut Chaeyeon off mid-sentence.
The sound came from below, violent enough to shake the whole villa. Everyone's eyes went wide as they looked at one another. Chaeyeon finished her thought.
“...They're not here on friendly terms. I hate to say it, but... they might even be looking for us.”
“Someone's looking for us? What the hell does that mean?”
Haejun asked with a deeply furrowed brow. Chaeyeon stood, picked up the fencing sword she'd leaned against the veranda wall, and answered.
“What do you think it means? It means we've got more than just zombies to watch out for now.”
In every survival story—not just the zombie ones—what was it that ultimately put the protagonists in the worst danger?
Always the same answer: other humans.
Moving corpses and alien monsters were practically supporting cast. You could never take your own species at face value.
Everyone held their breath and quietly armed themselves with the weapons they'd brought from the bike shop. The crashing sounds kept coming at irregular intervals—sometimes minutes apart, sometimes tens of minutes of silence before another sudden boom. It was more than enough to inspire terror.
Sujin covered her ears beside Yujin, eyes trembling with anxiety, as the silence that had filled the villa began to fracture again.
Heavy footsteps approached beyond the front door. Chaeyeon narrowed her eyes and stared at it.
Beside her, Soeun was watching the same spot. She whispered.
“...What do we do?”
“Those noises earlier. Pretty obvious they were smashing doorknobs, right?”
“Yeah. But that doesn't matter for us, does it? We've got a digital lock.”
“I wonder.”
The footsteps echoing down the hallway finally stopped.
Cold silence settled once more. Sujin, nerves frayed, started to open her mouth—only for Yujin's urgent hand to clamp over it.
Chaeyeon mouthed a single sentence to the whole group.
...They're right outside the door.
Someone was standing there with an ear pressed to the door, listening for any sound. The realization made Sujin clap both hands over her own mouth in horror. Then a man's voice drifted in from outside.
“Ah, is anyone in there?”
Naturally, no one answered.
They stood frozen in place, eyes darting, terrified of making even the slightest noise. The man continued, almost singsong.
“I don't know if you're really not there, or if you're just pretending not to hear me~”
“Holding your breath like that won't do you any good~”
We're going to smash the place open and check either way.
The man grinned and shot a look at his companion. The other man returned a twisted smile, swung a sledgehammer back over his shoulder with everything he had—
and brought it down on the doorknob.