Gaon's Resolve
“Uncle, are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m fine.”
“Your face… it looks like it hurts so much, Uncle.”
Tears welled up in Gaon’s eyes again in an instant.
Seeing the child like that, Beom-sik shook his head vigorously.
“No, no. Don’t cry. Uncle’s really okay. If you cry and make noise, who knows what those bastards might do.”
“They’re not uncles. They’re bad guys.”
Gaon shook her head too, her little face twisting for a moment.
As tears streamed down, she lay on her side and stroked Beom-sik’s swollen face, squeezing her eyes shut.
Every time the child’s warm hand touched his inflamed wounds, Beom-sik felt not pain, but something hot surging through him.
Even a kid has the will to comfort an adult…
Beom-sik regretted how he’d weakened, if only for a moment.
Tap tap!
Gaon poked at his face, just like she had on the raft.
“Uncle.”
“Yeah, Gaon.”
“I cried on purpose.”
“What do you mean?”
Gaon’s eyes drooped heavily, hinting at something deeper.
It was astonishing that a child could have such a look in her eyes.
“I heard the bad guys talking. They said they tied you up. So I bawled my eyes out. I cried that I wanted to be with you. Now I’ll untie you. Let’s run away from here.”
“What?”
Beom-sik couldn’t believe it.
He’d thought she was just an innocent kid who knew nothing, but Gaon was anything but.
She’d grasped the situation and faked her tears to throw a tantrum about staying with him.
Whose smarts does she get that from?
But there was no way out.
Beom-sik had rolled around enough to scout the room, and there was nothing here sharp enough to cut the ropes.
They were thin ropes, but without a knife or fire, they wouldn’t budge.
It was right then, as he hung his head in despair.
A flash of inspiration hit Beom-sik as he looked into Gaon’s resolute eyes.
“Gaon.”
“Yeah.”
“Uncle’s got a lighter in his left pants pocket.”
“A lighter? What’s that?”
Gaon reached into his pocket as she asked, pulling out the lighter.
“This… it makes fire, right?”
“Exactly. Press that button hard, and fire comes out. Try it.”
Click! Click! Click!
“It’s not working?”
The lighter, soaked from days of rain, showed no sign of sparking.
Meanwhile, the voices filling the hallway made Beom-sik’s heart race with urgency.
“Flip it over and smack it on your palm. Water’s probably inside.”
“Hold on.”
It was enough to scare anyone, but Gaon’s face was calmer than anyone’s as she shook out the moisture.
She was better at controlling her emotions than most adults.
Beom-sik watched her drain the lighter, barely suppressing the swell of emotion in his chest.
Seeing a child’s desperate struggle to survive made it impossible to stay calm.
How many times did she shake it out?
Click!
The lighter ignited brighter than ever.
If it had been a gas lighter instead of a standard one, it never would have worked.
Gaon extinguished it again and tapped the now-hot lighter.
“What do I do with this?”
Beom-sik rolled onto his side and wiggled his fingers at her.
“Use the flame to burn the rope around Uncle’s wrists. It’ll snap.”
“Got it.”
Click! Click!
Gaon’s eyes grew serious as she steadily burned the rope.
Beom-sik gritted his teeth against the searing heat traveling up his wrists.
It was unbearably hot, but for survival, he could endure far worse.
How much time passed like that?
Just as the rope was about to give, a set of footsteps rapidly approached down the hallway.
“Gaon…”
Beom-sik flipped over in alarm, but against his fears, Gaon was already lying down, pretending to sleep.
Slide!
The moment the door opened, Beom-sik squeezed his eyes shut, feigning sleep too.
Please, just go away. Please.
He couldn’t see, but he could feel the gaze of the man standing at the door.
“Boss! How long are we keeping them in here?”
“Not yet. Ending it quick would ruin the fun. World’s got nothing else going on. We gotta drag it out, drain him slow.”
“…”
The Viper’s underling glared at Beom-sik instead of answering, then shut the door with a regretful look.
Slide!
The instant it closed, Gaon sprang up, and Beom-sik flipped over in perfect sync.
They resumed their work.
Click!
The relit flame and the burning heat on his wrists had never felt so welcome.
And…
Snap! Thud!
The ropes that wouldn’t break no matter how he twisted finally gave way.
With his hands free, Beom-sik didn’t even glance at his rope-burned, battered wrists—he went straight for the ropes on his legs.
Then he pulled Gaon, still holding the lighter, into a tight embrace.
The two clung together for a long while, feeling each other’s presence as if they’d never see it again.
A bonfire crackled in the shop, where the Viper and his men huddled against the cold night air.
“Boss, what’re you thinking so hard about?”
One underling asked the deep-in-thought Viper.
“Ha… Tough call. How do I wreck that bastard so all this pent-up shit finally clears?”
“Just kill him, no?”
“Nah. Think about all the hell he put us through. Can’t go easy.”
“Toss him to the zombies?”
“Rip him joint by joint, boss.”
The underlings tossed out ideas.
But the Viper looked unsatisfied.
“Too soft. Ah, that’s it.”
All eyes turned to him.
“That fucker loves the kid to death. Pretend to kill her right in front of him. That’d be fun.”
“Start with the kid?”
“You dumb shit. Is that all you think adults come up with? We crazy? Why kill a kid?”
“S-sorry, boss. So what’s the plan?”
The hulking brute who’d half-killed Beom-sik earlier asked sheepishly.
“Just the threat’ll drive him half-mad. Eyes bloodshot, powerless rage. Imagine it on your own kid. How’s that feel?”
“No sane man survives that.”
“Exactly. He needs to taste the helplessness we felt. No quick fixes. Slow and steady.”
“Can’t wait, boss. Years on edge, scared we’d lose our last house. Couldn’t even drink without watching for their crew. Thinking back makes me wanna pickle his ass in salt.”
“…Yeah. If it were anyone else, I’d cut a deal, share the turf—we’re short-handed. But not Lee Beom-sik.”
“No way, boss. Never.”
The Viper and his men buzzed with excitement for the revenge ahead.
Then a child’s wail filled the hallway.
The Viper’s forehead twitched violently at the sound.
“Why the fuck’s she screaming again? Didn’t she stop when we brought her? Go check!”
The cry was louder than expected.
Worried it might draw zombies, the Viper snapped.
“Yes, boss. I’ll handle it.”
The brute bowed and dashed toward the crying shop.
He flung the door open roughly, scowling to intimidate.
“Hey! You little shit, wanna get spanked? Why’re you crying again!”
“Uncle… Uncle’s not breathing!”
“What? Fuck!”
The brute rushed inside at her words.
Spotting Beom-sik lying motionless, back turned, he scratched his head in panic, at a loss.
The Viper had strictly ordered no touching.
But he’d lost it and beaten him senseless—not just punches, but sliced his thigh deep. Of course he was sweating it.
If Beom-sik died now, all blame fell on him.
Sure, he was braced for a beating over the face-bashing.
But death? That crossed the line.
Post-outbreak, the Viper was touchier than ever, getting stricter by the day.
Is my spot safe?
“Haa…”
Cradling his face, the brute squatted and grabbed Beom-sik’s body.
Right then.
Slide!
Gaon, at the door, slammed it shut with all her might.
As the brute whipped around in shock toward Beom-sik, a fist slammed into his left jaw like lightning.
He jerked his head to dodge, but the punch was faster.
Thwack!
Beom-sik charged the falling man, raining down punches before he could yell.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Aiming only for jaw and temples, the brute passed out in seconds.
The last thing he saw was the lighter clenched in Beom-sik’s fist.
Whoosh!
Beom-sik yanked the cleaver from the brute’s side and raised the blade.
Sensing eyes on him, he looked up.
Through the closed door, Gaon blinked her huge eyes.
Beom-sik’s frenzy-cooled eyes regained reason as he lowered the blade, glancing at the brute.
But he couldn’t just leave it.
No telling when he’d wake, and Beom-sik wasn’t one to settle for less than double payback.
Gaon, seeing his face, turned slowly on her own and faced the door.
A silent signal.
Gaon didn’t fully grasp death.
But she knew you had to strike first against those who’d harm you—or suffer.
Survival instinct, pure and simple.
Whatever Beom-sik did next, she knew he was aware of her.
That’s why she turned away.
Beom-sik gripped the cleaver tighter, eyes flashing with resolve.
Like Youngman had done at the sperm bank, he straddled the brute’s hips.
Only this time, he eyed the throat, not the ankle.
Slash!
The cleaver flashed, arteries severed, crimson blood spraying across Beom-sik’s face.
“Haa!”
A groan like exaltation burst from Beom-sik as he watched the geyser with wide eyes.
He rose slowly, blood dripping from his jaw and blade.
The brute would bleed out like that.
Reaching for Gaon, Beom-sik saw the blood on his arm and pulled back.
Instead, he grabbed the door.
Slide!
No time to waste—Beom-sik flung it open and stepped out.
Gaon stood facing the wall, silent tears falling.
Shouts erupted from the Viper and his men.
Seeing Beom-sik, drenched in gore, enter the shop, they recoiled in horror.
Facing a figure from hell, their fear twisted to rage, and they charged at Beom-sik, cleaver raised and motionless.
Over and over, the sickening sounds of tearing flesh and snapping bone.
Slide!
Someone approached Gaon, who stood by the wall with corpses at her back.
She looked up to see Beom-sik gazing down blankly, soaked in blood.
“…Let’s go.”
Gaon nodded slowly, clutching his shirt with trembling hands as they stepped into the hall.
The hallway and bonfire shop were a mess of bloodstains and shattered glass.
“Don’t look.”
Beom-sik covered Gaon’s view as she stared at the fallen bodies and the gasping Viper, still clinging to life.
Thick blood reek wafted from his red-stained hand over her eyes.
Infected People