Give a Doe, Take a Mal
One week after the end of the world.
In that stretch of time—long if you dwelled on it, short if you didn't—countless survivors had come looking for the department store to stay alive, and just as many had died here.
The reason people kept dying in a place that looked safe as long as the entrances stayed locked was simple. Only a handful of spots inside the department store could truly be called secure.
With the constant threat of corpses pouring down from the upper floors at any moment, Do Wangu, the man in charge of the survivors, finally declared a full sweep of the building on the fifth day. In the process, the murky balance of influence among the people sharpened into something absolute.
Pre-apocalypse jobs and wealth were thrown out completely. Rank was decided by one thing alone: who killed the most zombies during the cleanup.
Naturally, Do Wangu sat at the top. He might swagger around like a thug and hit on the women most days, but the second they went upstairs he was always the first one through the door.
The feeling you got watching a former baseball player take that overwhelming physique and an aluminum bat and cave a zombie's skull in with a single swing—
After that, Kwon Jitae and every other survivor in the department store accepted him as the boss. The man himself hated the title, but what else were they supposed to call him? Nothing else fit.
The women were afraid of him, sure, but they also knew exactly how much he was cutting them slack.
He could have separated out the ones too scared to fight zombies and raped them whenever he wanted. He never laid a hand on them. Threats and persuasion, yes—but even that was more than they had any right to expect.
Once the third floor was more or less cleared, Kwon Jitae’s contributions earned him a spot as Do Wangu’s right hand and the department store’s number two. The ranking, of course, was pure strength.
He wasn’t Do Wangu’s level, but among ordinary people his physique and gym history were more than enough to claim second place. The old fossils who strutted around calling themselves Wangu’s buddies got brushed aside without effort—they had zero real skill. He still treated them with surface respect, of course. All the actual perks went to him.
Which was exactly why Kwon Jitae could not understand it.
No—he didn’t even want to understand it.
Why the hell was the boss bowing and scraping to some random piece of trash who had rolled in from nowhere? Situations where, on any other day, he would have grabbed the bastard by the throat with those thick arms and hurled him across the room, and yet Wangu never got angry. He even treated the guy like an equal—no, better than equal.
After finishing the errand Wangu had given him, watching the boss calmly send that bastard and the two women hanging off either side of him upstairs made Kwon Jitae doubt his own eyes. The intention was obvious. He was handing over the goods on the second and third floors.
Crrrk—
Kwon Jitae clenched his fist so hard the skull tattoo on the back of his hand twisted into a snarl that matched his own face.
Then he reached over and roughly groped the breast of the woman who was cooing next to him, waiting for her share of the combat rations.
“Ahk…!”
“What. Don’t like it? Then fuck off, you ugly bitch.”
“N-no, it’s fine. Hehe. Jitae Oppa’s hands are just so naughty…”
Her face was twisted in pure pain rather than pleasure, but Kwon Jitae only snorted and chugged his beer.
Fuck. That nobody walks around with girls that hot? Makes me so goddamn hard…
The short-haired one whose eyes he had met at the end kept floating in front of him. Exhausted, hurt, pretending she wasn’t leaning on that bastard with every step, yet those sharp cat eyes…
“Fuck!”
Touch her and Wangu hyung-nim might literally fold him in half. That wasn’t a metaphor.
Kwon Jitae had watched a zombie get grabbed by those gorilla hands and have its spine crushed in real time.
He took another long pull of beer, kneading the breast in his hand, drooling over the pie in the sky of his imagination—when his eyes met those of a man walking past.
The man narrowed his eyes. Kwon Jitae’s face crumpled just as hard.
“Hey, Ju Minho. What’s with the look? Never seen a guy drink beer before?”
“No. I’ve seen it. Just feels like I’m seeing it a little too often. Hasn’t it been a while since I issued that brand? You wouldn’t happen to be skimming…?”
“Don’t fucking start! You trying to pin something on me? This is what I’ve been saving!”
Kwon Jitae barked the words with genuine outrage. He could ignore the food manager all he wanted, but Do Wangu sure as hell wouldn’t.
Ju Minho finally nodded, accepting it.
“Good to hear. Always nice to see someone carefully rationing their food.”
“Hold up.”
Kwon Jitae blocked him as he tried to walk past.
“That bastard the boss just sent upstairs. You said you knew who he was, right?”
Ju Minho’s eyes narrowed.
More precisely, the completely insane title Kwon Jitae had just used for the man made him mutter inside without thinking.
What is this, some new method of suicide?
He kept his face blank and answered calmly.
“Yes. I know him well enough.”
Looks like Do Wangu’s influence was finally going to let him spill the story he’d been sitting on.
Meanwhile, at that same moment.
Chaeyeon and Soeun stared at the scene in front of them with identical looks of horror.
“Th-that can’t be…”
“Sijun Oppa… getting pushed back like that…”
They covered their mouths with both hands, putting on the cutest terrified expressions they could manage. I finally snapped, turned my head, and glared at the pair.
“Cut it out already. I’m already having a shitty time. Instead of helping, you two are just standing there.”
“But Oppa, you’re the one who said you’d fight alone for our sake.”
“Yeah. My mistake for underestimating you. Sigh. What kind of girls…”
Right then, the bald zombie that had been locked in a standoff with me suddenly realized I was completely ignoring it. It charged with murderous intent.
Thud—
I clamped its jaw shut so it couldn’t move and kept my eyes carefully away from its lower half, face twisted in pure disgust.
“Why the hell is this bastard here again? Last time I saw it, at least it had clothes on. Fucking thing.”
“Hic… Oppa. We’re so scared. The trauma from last time is still…”
“Stop the act and get over here. Both of you. Before I actually get mad.”
“Hiiing.”
Trauma my ass. The way they looked at the thing in my hand—like it was a ripped-open garbage bag of food waste—their mental states seemed perfectly fine.
When I’d first spotted this one mixed in with the zombies on the seventh floor, I’d been a little worried. Completely wasted effort.
Crack—!
I drove a fist full of pure revulsion and irritation straight into its face.
It finally registered that my strength completely outclassed it and tried to pull back—only for its entire upper body to go flying.
I’d crushed its face so thoroughly the eyes had burst from the impact. I ignored the thing thrashing on the floor and glanced at the tattoo on the back of my left hand.
The coffin that slowly filled black from the inside every time I wrecked a corpse, just like the skull.
At least sixty so far. Roughly thirty percent. Starting to feel it a little.
I’d only meant to hit lightly so Chaeyeon could have her share, but the power had retired it instantly. Time to start controlling my strength.
I settled into a stance, then looked at the fallen thing and made a face like the whole fight had been boring. Chaeyeon did the same.
Soeun, on the other hand, radiated pure disgust even as she edged closer.
“Kang Soeun. What are you doing?”
“Ugh… still. We have to finish it, right?”
She raised the bat with everything she had and brought it down full force. The bald head shattered into pieces.
In perfect sync, the stick that had given me so much trouble slowly went limp.
“It’s seriously disgusting. The tendons and everything. How does something even look like that?”
“Look away, Im Chaeyeon.”
“Come on. I’m almost an adult. I already know everything.”
“It’s not a knowledge problem, it’s a vision problem. When I say don’t look, don’t look.”
I crossed the now-cleared rooftop toward the box sitting in one corner… started to kick it open with my foot, then stopped, sighed, and gave up.
Went smoother than expected. Biggest reason was zero animal zombies. I was worried because it was indoors, but I figured at least one would show up.
I rolled my wrist once, thinking of that dog bastard from the morning, then tossed the box to Chaeyeon and Soeun, who were eyeing it with interest.
They flinched and caught it, looking confused. I gave them one line.
“You two open it. Looking at my luck, I should stay the hell away from anything that feels like gambling.”
“We can really open it?”
“Yeah. Rock-paper-scissors or just one of you. Whatever.”
Chaeyeon immediately fixed Soeun with a look that said she was ready to grab her by the hair. Soeun shook her head hard and handed the box over.
I watched the two of them get excited and start checking the contents—
Thump—
My quiet heart suddenly started hammering.
Grrrrrrr…
From the space behind the rooftop stairs, hidden by the asphalt wall, came an ominous growl.
Chaeyeon, Soeun, and I all looked that way at the same time.
A pair of unfocused beast eyes locked with mine.
“Ah, right. It’s always like this. The second you relax, something jumps out. Not even surprising anymore.”
“O-Oppa…? Th-th-that… why is that here…”
Even Chaeyeon, who was always calm, was stammering and tensing up. I let out a long sigh and lifted the iron bar.
“No idea. I’m curious too. How the hell does a predator like that end up on the roof of a department store in the middle of the city.”
“Both of you stay back. No matter what happens, do not jump in.”
I spun the iron bar once, settled into a stance, and glared at those goddamn black stripes I’d only ever seen in videos and zoos.
The tiger mirrored me, rotting teeth fully bared, staring me down with pure murder. I crooked a finger at it.
“If you’re gonna come, hurry up. Kitty.”
KRAAAAAAANG—!
A roar that felt like it would tear the department store apart, and the thing lunged.