What Fell from the Sky (3)
I had no thoughts. Because there were none to have.
I had no idea what I was looking at or why it was here.
I was holding a piece of paper. A4 size. Not printed from a regular printer—probably run off some kind of leaflet machine. It had a contact number scrawled on it, along with a short message: [Please Contact]. And below the text and number, a crude drawing of a scene.
Please Contact
[Phone Number]
Glass wall. Shattered side door glass beyond it. Faint mart entrance visible through the glass. Human Beasts standing at the entrance. A man charging at them, sword raised.
...Me.
I was printed on the paper. Su-hyeon beside me, Ye-eun and Eun-seo in front. Hoon-i and the others all stared at me, eyes wide.
A flood of questions hit my mind at once. No clue where to start.
I opened my mouth slowly.
"...So, where'd this come from?"
Dungbreath—no, Han-tae—answered.
"Yeah, hyung. It was on the roof. A small plane flew right over our heads from up there in the sky. Looked like it was raining something, so we checked it out. It was this."
"...You mean the light aircraft?"
"Yeah, hyung."
I bit my lower lip and looked back at the paper. Those light planes that had started showing up lately. The ones buzzing around the sky everywhere.
They'd been dropping shit all over the place. Turns out it was flyers with my face on them.
Everyone stared at me.
...Still no idea what to say.
I looked at Han-tae.
"...Why were you on the roof anyway?"
Han-tae started to answer, then hesitated, glancing at the others.
I spoke slowly.
"...Quit smoking. Or cut back."
Han-tae nodded sheepishly.
"Yeah, hyung."
Couldn't open windows anymore, so his spots were either the 5th or 6th floor, or the roof. Whatever. Not the point.
"...But why drop it here..."
I muttered, scanning the crowd. Su-hyeon's face looked off.
...Ah.
...Ah!
Su-hyeon! This scene—it was definitely when I brought everyone into this building, clearing out the bastards at the entrance!
And Su-hyeon was the one filming it on her phone!
I stared at her. No clue what my face looked like. Eyes pissed, mouth smiling.
"What'd you do?"
Su-hyeon sucked in a breath, glancing around. All eyes on her.
"...Uploaded it to YouTube..."
You...Tube.
YouTube?!
I dug into my pocket for my phone. Su-hyeon handed me hers. Already open to YouTube.
I took it. It was the video she'd shot—the one she'd shown me. Hit play.
Everyone crowded around to watch.
Bodies littered the street. Corpses sprawled from the mart's side door to the sidewalk in a neat line. I walked toward them. Hand on my sword hilt. No fear. Back turned, striding casually.
Then a slow jog. Building to a full sprint, leaping up the stairs into the door.
The Human Beasts whipped their heads around.
Kraaaah!
A roar echoed. And in an instant, I was a whirlwind.
If it had sound effects: Spurt-sploosh! Blood fountains from their heads. The charging ones tumbled lifeless.
I stood there drenched in blood. Swords in both hands. Slowly bowing my head.
"............"
Their stares hit me anew. They'd seen me hack and slash plenty, but this? Awe-inspiring.
I ignored them and scrolled down. Comments.
...Bad vibe in the comments. Nobody buying it. Makes sense. I wouldn't believe it either if I were them.
"...When'd you upload?"
Su-hyeon grinned awkwardly.
"The next day...?"
The next day. Basically right away.
I handed the phone back and picked up the flyer again.
...Please contact.
No clue who printed and dropped these. But a few things were clear.
They believed the YouTube video. Knew the location roughly. That's why the planes kept circling the city.
Why not drop them directly on the mart building? Maybe they thought we were just some passing farming group. Figured we lived nearby and hadn't scattered them around before.
"Sung-hoon, what're you gonna do? Call?"
Jun-hyeok asked. Hoon-i chimed in.
"Wh-what if something goes wrong after calling, sir? Those things are swarming out there. If anything happens... this place..."
...Hoon-i was right. Ten days since the Zombie Wave took the city. Peaceful so far.
Couldn't move rashly. They hadn't budged yet.
One wrong step, and they'd swarm the building. Game over.
I glanced out the window. Night. Work done hours ago. Past bedtime.
But nobody sleeping. They'd wait for me to speak.
I took a breath.
"Too late tonight. Rest up. I'll think about calling while I sleep. Head in."
"Yes, sir."
"Yeah, Sung-hoon."
They bowed and dispersed to their rooms.
Next morning. Bow in hand, up to the roof. Everyone followed.
They wanted to know. Call or not?
Biggest excitement in this eat-play-fuck routine.
For some, the biggest worry.
I set down two quivers full of arrows and turned.
All eyes on me.
"Oppa, what're you gonna do? Thought about it?"
"Sung-hoon oppa, call 'em. Yeah?"
"Hah, but I'm worried..."
Su-hyeon started, others chimed in.
Ten days in, they knew rooftop chats wouldn't rile the Zombie Wave below.
But too much chatter wasn't great.
I raised a hand. Silence.
"I'll call."
All attention on me.
"Hoon-i's right. Can't risk trouble. If they wanna come here or whatever, obvious no. But gotta ask who they are, why they're dropping these."
Mixed looks. Agreement, worry.
I slung the bow on my back, pulled out my phone. Dialed.
"...Phew."
"Oppa, speaker! Speaker!"
Su-hyeon waved frantically. Speaker on. Crowd closes in.
...Damn. One call, and this much hype? Making me nervous.
I cleared my throat and hit call. Ringing. Plain old tu-lu-lu.
Someone picked up.
"Yes. Where are you?"
A man. Polite voice. Hard to gauge, but late 30s? Maybe older.
"You dropped the flyers. Calling about that. Where are you?"
"Ah, the flyer."
Tone shifted, a bit weary.
"Terribly sorry, but we're looking for the sword-wielding man on the flyer. If you're calling to ask who he is, or if the video's real or fake, we have nothing to say."
...Ah. Tons of calls, huh.
Makes sense. Dropped flyers everywhere. Survivors scavenging would've found them and called.
The fatigue in his voice said they'd fielded a lot.
I said, "The guy's you're looking for? That's me."
"...Pardon?"
"The sword guy in the video? Me."
Silence on their end. Some bustling sounds.
Waited. New voice.
"Did you just say it's you?"
Old man. Gravelly, rough.
I answered, "Yes."
The old voice, cautious: "Pardon the rudeness, but may I have your name? And the video's authenticity? It's not edited?"
I glanced around. Jeong Eun-seo. She shook her head slowly.
I nodded and said, "Name's tricky. But it's real. Now, where are you? Who are you, looking for me?"
The old voice replied, "This is the Office of the President of the Republic of Korea."