Chapter 27
“Listen up. This isn't just happening in Seoul.”
“How do you know that?”
The woman's eyes went wide.
Jaejeong wasn't the type to be good with words.
Maybe that's why he couldn't explain every single question that came pouring in.
“I found out by chance. For now, ma'am, try not to get too worked up...”
“How am I supposed to stay calm? Is the whole country really going to hell?”
“Yeah, it is.”
Jaejeong nodded.
Sighs erupted from the crowd all at once.
“What the hell?”
“I gotta call my mom right now.”
“Why the fuck isn't the phone working yet?!”
They'd all been thinking the same thing.
That this mess was limited to Seoul.
No one knew who'd started that rumor, though.
With phones still down, people tried connecting to the internet via Wi-Fi.
But even that had failed since the power started flickering.
Despair settled over their faces.
That's when Minyoung showed up, dragging someone along.
Standing next to her was a young guy with a black cap pulled low over his eyes.
He looked fresh out of the military compared to Jaejeong or Beom-sik—still had that baby face.
The guy spoke up.
“I saw the power flickering earlier, so I flipped all the switches on the third floor. Try connecting to Wi-Fi as soon as the lights come back on.”
Minyoung quickly passed the password around to everyone.
In the meantime, a few people in the crowd eyed the guy and started whispering among themselves.
“Isn't that Lee Hyun-soo?”
“Kinda looks like him... Hey, aren't you BJ Hyun-su?”
“Ah, yeah. That's me. Hi.”
The guy under the cap lifted the brim awkwardly and replied.
As he exchanged a few meaningless words with the crowd, Jaejeong stepped forward again.
There was still more he had to say.
“Like I mentioned, no rescue team's coming. So we're heading to the Yeouido safe zone ourselves. And no matter what, we need to eat something first...”
Everyone latched onto those last words.
In all their talks with the hospital survivors so far, Jaejeong had never seen such a spark in their eyes.
It was no wonder—they'd passed hunger and were deep into actual pain now.
“We'll grab food from the cafeteria and mart in the main building's basement. No need to volunteer. More people just means more risk.”
“So... can we have some too?”
A woman clutching a child raised her hand tentatively.
Minyoung nodded quickly from beside her.
“We'll bring back as much as we can for everyone. It won't be enough, of course, but it'll help fill our stomachs a bit.”
Smiles broke out across their faces.
Jaejeong let out a short sigh and stepped back.
People who'd looked half-dead were grinning now.
Like they'd already hugged a sack of rations to their chests.
“...Excuse me.”
An unfamiliar voice cut through the group.
Jaejeong turned to see the guy who'd shared the Wi-Fi info standing there, courtesy of Minyoung.
He lifted his cap, revealing a pale, handsome face.
Pretty good-looking, by the way Anna arched a brow and nodded approvingly.
“Speak.”
Youngman replied kindly.
“Can I come with? To the cafeteria?”
“No, like I said ear—”
Youngman stopped Jaejeong from refusing and shook his head.
Let's hear him out first.
“What's your reason? We'll bring food back if you just wait here.”
“Sitting around waiting like this... it feels worse.”
Youngman nodded at that.
Maybe thinking it was refreshingly old-school for a kid these days.
Either way, the sincerity rang true.
“Might not be a bad idea to have him along. What do you think?”
Youngman tossed the decision to Jaejeong.
“I'll come too.”
This time, a man in a relatively clean suit—despite some scorch marks—stepped up.
His name tag marked him as hospital desk staff.
Good build, looked strong—could probably help somehow.
Jaejeong thought it over, then gave in.
He wasn't under any illusion that he was in charge, but teaming up with strangers in a crisis wasn't a snap decision.
Not for him, at least.
Regular folks might say tough times call for unity, but Jaejeong saw it differently.
A ragtag bunch of strangers could backfire spectacularly.
Doubly so when lives were on the line.
Jaejeong's gaze drifted from the man's shoulder to his name tag.
Kim Chaemin.
Suited him, somehow.
“If you're coming, ditch the coat.”
“Oh, right. Why am I still wearing this...”
Chaemin chuckled sheepishly.
The black-capped guy, who'd been standing blankly, glanced at Chaemin's tag and introduced himself.
Lee Hyun-soo.
He gave off a relatively upbeat vibe.
The group exchanged quick hellos and headed out of the annex.
Minyoung walked them down to the first floor to see Youngman off. They nodded at each other a few times before finally parting ways.
Jaejeong was in a rush.
Time was already short, and the chit-chat had burned even more.
Outside, a downpour hammered relentlessly, just as expected.
He glanced up at the sky.
Even more clouds had gathered, making it impossible to tell day from night.
Those looked like storm clouds—thunder and lightning weren't out of the question.
Hoping it was just his imagination, Jaejeong pressed on.
They passed the annex's long hallway where he'd sprayed the extinguisher to escape earlier and stepped outside.
No basement in the annex, so they had to head to the main building on ground level, then take stairs down.
Thick raindrops soaked them the moment they emerged.
The infected had chased the fireworks popper underground, but it wasn't safe yet.
A straggler could be anywhere.
Weapons out, they scanned every direction.
Jaejeong shortened the handle on his sledgehammer.
Up on the second floor with Anna, the length had made it awkward to swing.
Beom-sik, meanwhile, had scored a new weapon.
While rummaging the storage room before leaving, he'd found an awl—long enough to be perfect for stabbing infected.
Bigger and longer than a standard one, by several times.
The new guys, Chaemin and Hyun-soo, were empty-handed.
They didn't look like they'd tangled with infected yet.
Not a drop of blood on their spotless clothes.
The group soon reached a small side door by the main building.
Beom-sik glanced at Jaejeong as he reached for the handle.
“You first?”
“Open it.”
Jaejeong rolled his shoulders and stepped in.
Beom-sik and Youngman followed, then Chaemin and Hyun-soo, with Anna covering the rear.
The main building's first floor was a wreck.
More like a slaughterhouse you couldn't believe.
This was the busiest spot in the hospital—administration offices, cardiology and orthopedics for patients, even a children's clinic.
Now, all that lingered was an unbearable stench and the coppery reek of blood.
Small mercy: nothing alive moved inside.
They'd chased the fireworks and vanished.
Searching for the emergency stairs to the basement, Beom-sik froze at something.
A massive rainbow and murals of kids playing in the woods outside the children's clinic.
Trees that should have been green and lush were splattered with unidentified blood. Bloody handprints clawed across the children's faces.
Jaejeong watched Beom-sik closely.
Thinking of his little sister again?
She'd gone radio silent around ten—right about the age of those kids in the drawings, scampering around.
His mind grew tangled.
Could values really shift this fast just because the world had gone to shit?
Watching his opinion of Beom-sik change, Jaejeong felt a strange unease.
“Let's go. No time.”
Jaejeong muttered low and picked up the pace. Beom-sik snapped out of it like waking from a dream and followed.
Rain pattered through the shattered lobby glass where the infected had burst out.
The dead silence amplified every drop hitting the building.
Thankfully, the infected below weren't reacting.
Maybe they still had enough instinct left to tell natural noise from man-made.
As they walked the hall, Youngman pointed to a dark emergency exit.
“That'll take us down.”
Power out, the deeper into the building they went, the darker it got.
Stormy weather made it pitch-black like midnight.
Opening the emergency door scattered their flashlight beams nervously.
At the landing leading underground, Jaejeong halted.
“I'll check first. If it's clear, Anna goes in ahead.”
He whispered, turning the handle slow—agonizingly slow.
A faint scrape of the lock, then it gave.
Suddenly, Youngman grabbed him.
“Why didn't I think of this sooner?”
“Think of what?”
Jaejeong shot back, startled.
“Think about it. We popped those fireworks at the underground parking lot. The ones up top chased the noise down there, sure. But this is the basement—no way out except up. Unless they're polite enough to take the elevator, they've got nowhere to go. Which means...”
“Huh. Yeah, you're right.”
Jaejeong hesitated, then gripped the handle harder.
“We're here now. Can't turn back. Gotta check.”
Click!
Maybe because of Youngman's words.
Everyone froze at the tiny sound.
Jaejeong peered through the narrow gap.
Too tight—nothing visible.
At least nothing right in front. No infected noise.
He pulled the door wider.
Just enough for his head. He scanned the hall.
Clear. No infected, no people.
Not as dark as expected, but far from bright.
Jaejeong furrowed his brow for better sight, then spotted the light source.
An outdoor park in the basement center.
Faint light seeped in, giving dim visibility.
All the surrounding glass walls shattered—must've been where the infected went after the fireworks.
'But why no noise?'
The hospital cafeteria Jaejeong remembered was packed unless it was the dead of night.
If they'd swarmed the park, there should've been sounds.
Jaejeong slipped into the hall alone.
He waved off the others with a palm, checking everything in sight.
The lit-up park: still empty.
Where the hell had they gone?
Youngman asked.
“See anything?”
“No. Nothing... but...”
Too quiet. That was the problem.
At least the visible stretch—dozens of meters—was empty.
Jaejeong beckoned. Anna nocked an arrow and glided in.
Infected People