The Wave That Never Came
The city was plunged into a blackout. A van crawled sluggishly down the dark road, trailed by a pack of zombies. Cool night air poured in through the wide-open windows. Na Yeji had stuck her phone outside, snapping photos with repeated flashes and even recording video. She shook the device excitedly and shouted, “Slow down a little more! So I can get them properly!”
“What are you doing? Close the window already!”
“How can I not film this? Ah—mmph!”
Jeon Dohyeong yelled in frustration while the other patients yanked Na Yeji back inside and slammed the window shut amid the chaotic commotion. I squeezed my eyes shut. Hope crumbles so easily. Watching the zombies trailing behind us, I felt that truth sink deep into my bones.
“...They’re not keeping up.”
There were fewer zombies following than expected. The ones that had charged after us like dogs chasing a thrown ball were now panting heavily, stopping in place before quickly losing interest and veering toward nearby buildings instead. The horde we had painstakingly lured toward the church scattered like a wave, smashing through innocent glass windows in the dim light. It looked like ripples left on water after a boat had passed. Of course, some zombies still chased the van and others joined in, but they weren’t nearly enough to replace a proper machine. If they had the stamina to outlast cars, we might as well catch some and use them to pull carriages.
Ah, at this rate… we’ll only manage to bring a handful. This isn’t a wave at all.
It wasn’t even a wave—it was barely a cupful. Maybe one marathon-runner zombie that kept pace steadily, plus a few from near the church. I counted them one by one in the side mirror. The closer we got to the church, the fewer they became. This was a disaster. This wasn’t a wave. It was something the people riding in the van could fight off and win against on their own. There was no way this would unite anyone.
“I’ll park near the entrance!”
Vroooom—! The moment the van entered the church grounds, it accelerated. With a sharp screech of brakes, it skidded to an angled stop beside the main doors. As if they had been waiting, the glass entrance doors flew open and the Evangelist urgently waved us in.
“Hurry inside!”
I got out slowly and glanced back. At most, I sensed the presence of only a few zombies. Blurry silhouettes. Sparse footsteps. The closest one came first—tap tap tap. No need to guess; it was the marathon zombie. The one in tracksuit who had chased us all the way from the start. Maybe it had glimpsed the entrance. Like a track athlete spotting the finish line, it picked up speed. Tap-tap-tap. The rhythmic footsteps drew nearer, the dark shape growing clearer.
“Whoa!”
“Quickly!”
People scrambled through the entrance in a panic. I let out a deep sigh, entered last, and timed it perfectly—slamming the glass door shut with my full weight. The marathon zombie’s full-speed charge and the heavy door closing happened at the exact same moment. The result was a collision.
Bang!
“Grrraaagh!”
The zombie screamed and tumbled backward. Several paving stones even rained down from above mid-air, completely crushing it. They had been thrown from the roof. It was so anticlimactic I couldn’t even feel satisfied with all the preparations we had made.
This is supposed to be a wave?
Click. The Evangelist shone his phone light upward and secured the latch at the top of the glass door. He spoke calmly.
“We’ve cleared the first floor. The second-floor defense team and the rooftop stone-throwing team are fully prepared. …Disinfection first.”
“Ah, right. Disinfection. Please make it quick.”
Shhhk-shhhk-shhhk. The disinfectant spray soaked our clothes thoroughly. Even our hair and exposed skin glistened as if we had just stepped out of a shower. I rubbed my gloved hands a few times while observing the others. The patients looked pale and haggard, while the Evangelist and Jeon Dohyeong remained composed. Na Yeji even seemed thrilled.
This is seriously too lacking…
My thoughts suddenly turned to someone else. The looter colleague who had left in a different vehicle—I had completely forgotten about him. I asked immediately.
“What about the Thief—no, the Supply Elder?”
“He returned quite a while ago. The situation in the city looked serious, though.”
The Evangelist gazed out into the dark beyond the entrance. Two zombies that had arrived during disinfection were now wandering nearby. Through a single pane of glass came their guttural growls. The Evangelist carefully began barricading the entrance with desks and chairs, whispering softly.
“I tried contacting the local vigilante groups. Many aren’t responding, and quite a few are already in the middle of defending themselves. It seems the zombies all poured out at roughly the same time…”
The atmosphere sank as heavily as his low voice. That was when another rain of paving stones fell. The blocks returning to their earthly positions. The dull thuds, the sound of bricks striking dirt, the crack of zombie skulls—everything came down like a sudden shower. Visibility was poor and accuracy low, so it felt like they were simply throwing everything they had. Still, everyone was combining their strength to repel the zombies.
I tried to think positively. This is like a real-world vaccination or training exercise. The production and scale are a bit disappointing, but it’s not bad at all.
The moment that thought crossed my mind, as the Evangelist was guiding some of the more mentally unstable patients, the real crisis struck without warning.
“Once disinfection is done, let’s head up—”
Bang—!
An unnatural crash rang out. The sound of metal being struck. Then came flashing headlights and a deafening honk-honk-honk. A paving stone had hit the car. The vehicle, mistaking it for theft, blared its alarm at full volume. Loud enough to echo in every direction.
My head snapped up. My fists clenched involuntarily.
This is it!
Now the zombies from the entire area would swarm in. This was a real zombie wave. The crisis had been staged naturally. Whoever did it had done an excellent job. Throwing a stone at the car of all things.
“Uh, the car key—this is the key, right?”
Jeon Dohyeong fumbled to check the key fob and tried to rush outside to turn off the alarm. I quickly grabbed his collar. With my other hand, I pointed upward—at the people clutching paving stones, waiting for any chance to kill zombies.
“If you go out now, you’ll get hit by a brick.”
“But if we just leave it like this—”
“It’s too late. They’re coming.”
I looked outside. The world was dark from the blackout. Between bursts of the alarm, footsteps and shrieks drew closer. A car alarm was already unpleasant to hear. With it blaring like that, there was no way the zombies wouldn’t come. I pointed at the people rapidly.
“All of you, lock every door on the first floor. They can break windows to get in and open doors from inside. Hurry! Evangelist, please keep trying to contact the other vigilante groups. If the church falls into danger, find people who might come help us.”
Everyone began moving busily. I hurried upstairs while checking my phone.
Blackout… about thirty minutes left?
These were zombies that had been crouching in wait until the power failed. The moment civilization’s lights returned, they would retreat as well. It was enough time to hold out. And if it seemed like we couldn’t, I could hide myself faster than anyone.
I know car alarms usually sound for two to five minutes. That was more than enough time to draw in the zombies. As I climbed the stairs where barricades had been prepared, I shouted loudly.
“Assume the first floor will be breached! We must hold the line centered on the barricades here!”
“Yes, Deacon Kwon.”
“Never hesitate! These aren’t people—they’re beasts that will kill us!”
At the barricade installed on the stair landing, people with some physical strength stood ready. Male high-school students in uniforms and adult men. Each had a flashlight clenched between their teeth and gripped their weapons tightly. In their eyes, illuminated by the white beams, burned a strange kind of resolve. I knew quite a few of them had never even killed a single zombie, yet this was unexpected. So little fear.
The Administrative Elder waved his hatchet like a greeting.
“Deacon Kwon. Don’t worry. The Pastor personally showed us how to repel those Satan-possessed infected, remember?”
“Ah.”
My steps up the stairs faltered for a moment. The beloved Pastor came to mind. The performance of beating zombies to death with a cross. Since these people had witnessed it directly, it seemed their indirect experience was sufficient. It was a touching thing.
Pastor. The hope you left behind continues here.
Perhaps the Pastor had intended this all along. To get them gradually accustomed to killing zombies. To dull their hearts. After all, even movie direction is a technique for manipulating people’s emotions, so the Pastor’s staging must have served the same function. There was still the faint lingering power of religion as well.
I climbed lightly all the way to the rooftop. The atmosphere up there was completely different. It was grim. The Supply Elder was quietly seething.
“Who the hell throws a rock at a car? Of course the alarm would go off! A traitor? Is there another bastard like the Security Elder?”
“There really are awful people out there…”
“Ugh. That’s why I said we should throw them little by little.”
Aunts who had turned on their phone flashlights were either looking away or eyeing each other suspiciously, wondering who had done it. Somehow, this felt far more familiar to me. A comfortable feeling? At the same time, I realized it. The instinct or bond that came from being fellow looters.
The one who threw the rock at the car was the Supply Elder.
I was certain he was spinning lies. As expected of a main member. Wrapping himself in falsehoods and, merely by existing, driving people into distrust and suspicion. And on top of that, causing a zombie wave. Perfect.
Around then, I made my presence known.
“Elder. I’m here.”
“Oh, Deacon Kwon. You’re not hurt? That’s a relief. I felt uneasy about sending you to the hospital for no reason.”
How much truth was in those words? But distrust was the baseline, wasn’t it? We didn’t even know each other’s real names to begin with.
“I’m fine. I’m glad you’re unharmed as well, Elder. I was really worried.”
I smiled and approached the railing. Because of the overcast sky, even the moonlight was faint on the ground. Flashing headlights and repeating honks in the darkness. The zombies had arrived. Groans and shrieks. Countless footsteps like a marching army. A writhing darkness.
It’s too dark to see properly.
I frowned deeply. I wasn’t sure how effective the strings tied to streetlights or trees would be. We had planted nails, kitchen knives, and metal skewers in the ground at tripping height like seedlings. But we couldn’t even distinguish the sounds. The shrieks sounded too much like screams. Instead, a voice came from behind me. The Supply Elder must have been scared; his voice trembled badly.
“Isn’t that a lot? There’s so many?”
“Calm down. There will probably be fewer than you imagine. It just looks like a lot because it’s hard to see…”
I couldn’t finish the sentence. The van was still blaring its alarm. The area lit by its headlights was packed solid with zombies. A wave of them surged forward, devouring the blinking lights.
“…Deacon Kwon. There really are a lot.”
“Uh, no, that’s just within the headlights… No! Throw the stones!”
I urgently grabbed a paving stone and hurled it downward with all my strength. I had no idea if it hit or missed. Anyway, throwing was what mattered. People swarmed over and began scattering bricks haphazardly.
“Die, die, die!”
“You Satan bastards! You will not touch this church!”
In the fleeting glow of phone lights, the aunts’ faces were etched with sharp killing intent. But the overall situation was impossible to grasp. Time passed, the alarm eventually stopped, and the headlights naturally went out. The darkness was a terrible obstacle. In that unknown pressure, I strained my ears. Sound was the only clue we had to understand what was happening.
The shrieks and shouts are too loud. Are those screams? Ah, glass breaking. And…
Crash? It sounded like they were dragging away the barricade at the entrance. A cold sweat ran down my back. That’s right. Zombies could use their hands a little. They could break glass with the bricks we had thrown, or move the furniture we had set up as a so-called barricade.
We should have nailed the furniture to the walls from the start. At the very least, we should have welded them together somehow.
Why did the situation feel so wrong? I quietly stepped back and looked for the Supply Elder. He had been leaning over the railing, apparently able to see something, and now came over to me.
“Deacon Kwon. My night vision is a bit better than most.”
The Elder, boasting of a thief’s natural talents, glanced around cautiously before whispering.
“The zombies have scattered. No, they’ve broken all the first-floor windows and are pouring inside. We’re almost surrounded. And it looks like more keep coming.”
“Ah, that’s good then. We locked all the first-floor doors. It’s better if they split up.”
“Locked doors can be opened. And they’re wooden. Those things look like they could smash through doors like that.”
“…”
Was that true? Wooden doors did look incredibly weak compared to metal ones.
If there are gym zombies or ones carrying axes, they’ll definitely break through.
In the darkness, our eyes met. It felt like the day we had once plotted betrayal—our intentions aligning perfectly. I spoke to the Supply Elder, who could read the timing of betrayal faster than anyone, with genuine admiration.
“Everyone’s throwing stones well. There’s no need for us to manage them. Shall we check the third floor?”
“Right. There’s no one on the third floor at all. We should at least keep watch, shouldn’t we?”