The Foretold Extinction
Accident, accident, accident. The world was drowning in accidents. I sat in the passenger seat, quietly absorbing the passing scenery. The opposite lane was gridlocked, a fire raged in the neighboring housing complex, and a single zombie lay handcuffed on the sidewalk after being hit with a taser. It looked like a movie set, but it was real.
“Apocalypse….”
Even the sight of firefighters, police officers, and civil servants running around with exhausted, half-dead expressions felt pessimistic. Government agencies were clearly starting to buckle under the strain. It was just an ordinary accident, yet officials had been called in as if a full-scale disaster had struck. They were already short on manpower.
At least one thing had improved compared to before: citizens seemed to have adapted to zombies. Nearly two weeks had passed since the first sightings, so people quietly slipped away without any fuss or commotion.
Just then, Jeon Dohyeong spoke with suspicion. “We’re almost there. That Professor Kim? Is he really an expert? Or just some attention-seeker chasing views?”
“No. He’s not. He’s a professor at a well-known university. He’s even done policy consulting.”
I glanced down at my phone. There was a reply from Professor Kim, telling us to come to a certain apartment in the city. The meeting was drawing near.
The apartment looked decent enough. The cars lined up in the parking lot appeared expensive, and the facilities felt clean and upscale. Because of the traffic jam, we arrived later than scheduled and hurried toward Building 102, only to be stopped at the entrance by the security guard grabbing our sleeves.
“Hey, hold on!”
Was he blocking us because we were outsiders? Or because we were carrying hatchets and hammers? This level of armament was common these days.
I spoke calmly. “We’re here to see—”
“Aigoo, it’s not that. You can’t use the elevator right now.”
“…Pardon?”
Both Jeon Dohyeong and I froze. I checked my phone again. The address said the twelfth floor. Did he expect us to walk up?
“Is the elevator under maintenance? When will it be fixed?”
Since we were already late, I considered asking the professor to meet later. The security guard let out a heavy sigh.
“It’s not maintenance. There was an accident in the elevator. A zombie and a person both died inside. We reported it, but the police and disinfection crew haven’t shown up.”
“Ah.”
Then there was no choice. We couldn’t ride an elevator filled with the virus. So we trudged up twelve flights of stairs, wary of traps that someone like me might have set. By the time we reached Professor Kim’s door, we were gasping for breath.
Ding-dong.
“Is anyone home? This is Kim Dain. I contacted you by email.”
My finger trembled as I pressed the bell. The door lock clicked open with a mechanical whir, but the door itself didn’t move. A few seconds later, a low voice spoke from inside.
“Come in.”
I opened the door cautiously. Professor Kim, wearing a mask, greeted us from a distance. He was a middle-aged man wrapped in exhaustion and despair. His hair was streaked with white, and his eyes behind the glasses were sunken deep. What should have been an intellectual, gentle face looked instead nervous and haggard. The very image of an apocalyptic thinker.
He gave a slight nod and walked inside. Jeon Dohyeong and I exchanged a glance before following him into the living room.
Professor Kim sat at the far end of the living room and pointed to the opposite side with a bony finger. There was nothing there—no chairs, no cushions—just bare floor.
“Sit over there. Far away. And don’t take off your masks.”
His voice was hoarse and heavy, like someone who had cried all night.
“Um, could we get some water?” Jeon Dohyeong asked hesitantly, worn out from the climb. I looked at the professor expectantly as well. My throat was dry.
Professor Kim’s eyes crinkled in a bitter smile as he shook his head.
“I’m sorry. I should offer you at least tea, but I can’t even give you water.”
“It’s fine. We understand.”
It could have soured the mood, but I quickly waved my hand and nodded. His caution was admirable. If we were asymptomatic carriers, we would spread the virus, so this level of wariness was only natural.
Following my lead, Jeon Dohyeong plopped down on the floor as well, leaning against the wall to catch his breath. While I was still wondering how to start the conversation, Jeon Dohyeong jumped straight in, as if he had never doubted the professor at all.
“Professor, is the world really going to end? Can’t the virus be stopped?”
“The I-Virus….”
I glanced sideways at Jeon Dohyeong. Asking an apocalyptic thinker whether the end was coming would obviously get the answer that it was. Or was this just his way of naturally opening the conversation?
Professor Kim stared blankly into space for a moment before replying in a low voice.
“The chairman of Immortal Company was a true genius. How did he create a virus like this? With that brilliant mind, why make one that would drive humanity to extinction? Why….”
It sounded more like a muttered curse laced with quiet rage. He seemed lost in thought, then suddenly snapped back to attention and fixed us with a steady gaze. His eyes held a dark certainty.
“Yes. It will end. The diagnostic kits are being developed too late. A proper initial response is impossible.”
“That doesn’t make sense. It’s just a virus. It’s only been a month. How could it possibly—”
I quickly cut off Jeon Dohyeong’s emotional outburst. What I wanted was the professor’s prediction. He would have seen the chairman’s larger plan more clearly than I had.
“How exactly will it end?”
“….”
Professor Kim hesitated, as if unsure whether he should say it. But after glancing toward the master bedroom, he continued with a resigned expression. It was a dark prophecy of the apocalypse.
“The documents confiscated from Immortal Company stated this: We have created an immortal virus.”
An immortal virus.
“Just as COVID mutated into Omicron, most viruses evolve to lower their lethality while increasing their transmissibility. But the I-Virus has already nearly perfected that direction. So how will it mutate next?”
Mutation. Evolution. My mouth went dry at the sudden realization. I muttered without thinking.
“Transmission routes….”
Professor Kim nodded as if pleased with a bright student and continued.
“Immortal Company predicted that the immortal virus would evolve to increase its hosts. It would evolve to survive in more diverse environments.”
A horrifying vision flashed before my eyes. A future where every animal was infected. Birds in the sky, beasts on the land. Their blood and waste would contaminate the soil and groundwater, spreading through broken water systems to engulf the world. Beasts, water, air. The world itself would become the virus, threatening all life.
For a moment, the chairman’s smile surfaced in my mind. It twisted into something vile and monstrous—an evil grin.
Chairman… this is going too far.
This wasn’t just extinction or the end. Even in a post-apocalyptic world, there should be room for people to live. At this rate, prison in an intact world would be preferable to this kind of collapse.
My fists clenched. My heart pounded. I looked at Professor Kim with desperate eyes, suddenly a devout believer in the government.
“A response. What if we act now?”
“It’s too late. By the time the diagnostic kits are distributed, the number of infected will easily exceed a million, rising sharply every day.”
Jeon Dohyeong suddenly shot to his feet.
“We need a proper response! We should petition, report to the news, convince people even now!”
“Do you know about foot-and-mouth disease?” Professor Kim asked.
An image flashed through my mind—pigs being culled because of an outbreak. A heavy silence fell.
Professor Kim suddenly seemed like a different person. Not an intellectual professor, but a mustached executioner. He gave a bitter smile.
“To stop the apocalypse, we’d need equally ruthless measures. We’d have to force virus testing and kill and incinerate every infected person. Only then could it be stopped.”
“Ah.”
That was… impossible. Even setting aside symptomatic zombies, asymptomatic carriers were indistinguishable from ordinary people. And by the time the kits were distributed, there would be over a million of them. If we tried such extreme measures…
“I proposed the most certain response plan, but I was immediately dismissed. Everyone looked at me the way you two are looking at me now.”
“That’s… impossible, isn’t it?”
It wasn’t a diagnostic kit. It was a mass-execution lottery ticket. Would people even submit to testing? Would the soldiers tasked with the slaughter obey? Resistance, escapes, rallies, protests. It would only create the perfect environment for the virus to spread. And in the end, the virus would mutate and bring about the end—
No!
No. I couldn’t trust this apocalyptic thinker. Even if it wasn’t pure delusion, it was only speculation based on the worst-case scenario. I desperately searched for hope and pushed back.
“It could evolve in a different direction. One that preserves reason.”
“It could. Symptoms could weaken. But if that happens….”
Professor Kim suddenly reached out, making a twisting motion with his hand. The gesture of pushing open a window. Or the professional motion of handling a tool.
“…Partially lost intelligence would only make the world more dangerous.”
He spoke with self-mockery. “Zombies are already quite intelligent. Heat and cold won’t kill them either. When the weather turns hot or cold, they’ll head for subways or underground parking lots.”
“No, they charge at stimuli. We could lure them with trucks or armored vehicles and run them over—”
Jeon Dohyeong voiced what I wanted to say, having witnessed zombies himself, but Professor Kim shook his head.
“The zombies would die. But the virus they spread during the incubation period would remain. It’s all too late. This cannot be stopped.”
The end….
I understood it deeply. My racing heart seemed to slow. Calm settled over me. Whether I wanted the apocalypse or prison in an intact world, reality offered no choices. But did that mean I had to give up and die?
No. Whether through plunder or twisting myself into something else, I would survive somehow.
Good. This is better.
There was no need to agonize at a crossroads. I could simply run straight down the single path ahead.
I clenched my fists and looked at Professor Kim. I needed this expert.
“Professor. Even if the apocalypse comes, people will keep living. Will you join us? Lend us your knowledge.”
“It’s a generous offer, but… I can’t.”
His voice was firm.
“If you help us, more people could—”
“Warning people through broadcasts is enough—”
I tried my best to persuade him, but the conversation went nowhere. Had he already lost all hope? Even the suggestion of surviving together didn’t reach him.
Just then, a sound came from the direction of the master bedroom.
Kraaaah.
A zombie’s rough cry.
Professor Kim stood up.
“My wife must be hungry. I’ll go feed her for a moment.”
He ladled white porridge into a bowl in the kitchen and went into the bedroom. Faint voices drifted from inside—the professor’s gentle tone telling her to eat. The door was slightly ajar.
Jeon Dohyeong and I crept toward it at the same time. Through the gap, we saw Professor Kim’s wife tied to the bed. A person who had become a zombie.
We understood at once.
Professor Kim was not qualified to join my band of marauders. He was certainly infected. More than that—
He’s someone I can’t understand.
He carefully spooned the pale porridge into the zombie’s mouth. Even as the zombie thrashed, it eagerly accepted the food. He wasn’t killing it, nor was he planning to use zombies as biological weapons the way I would. Despite being more certain of the end than anyone, he couldn’t make a decision or take action.
He wasn’t an apocalyptic thinker. He was an ordinary person swept up in disaster, a good man who still warned others through broadcasts even in this situation.
Marauder. Disqualified.