Recapturing the Villa
The indoor farm was bustling with activity. First, we watered the lettuce, turned on the grow lights, informed the people on Villa Street of the situation, and kept watch for zombies. The nameless man from the street was the most enthusiastic of all. He even brought out the candles stored in the farm, went through the trouble of melting the white paraffin in a double boiler, and busied himself attacking the zombies with it.
“Die!”
I walked over to the window and glanced outside. A zombie was running around screaming, covered in melted paraffin. Several had already been hit; a few zombies wandered the street with their hands flailing, their faces masked in hardened white paraffin.
“Whoa.”
I hadn’t thought of using candles as weapons. They actually worked pretty well as a water-based projectile. Water was safer and more efficient, but the paraffin packed a surprising punch. Most of all, I liked the way it looked. It had that horror-movie vibe.
‘I could probably upgrade the crosses with this. If I pour melted candles on them…’
I stroked my chin, lost in thought, when Jeon Dohyeong stepped in to curb my creative idea.
“Look, I get what you’re thinking, but please save the candles. We’ll need them for lighting once the power goes out.”
He was right. The water supply was still intact, making water an almost infinite resource, and using it was far more economical than candles. But this wasn’t the time to be stingy. We were trapped by zombies. It was the perfect moment to make them suffer just as much as we had. If we shared the pain with enough venom, maybe they’d finally back off.
I summarized my thoughts simply.
“There is no tomorrow. Resources don’t matter. Tormenting the zombies comes first.”
“This guy’s lost it again.”
Jeon Dohyeong shook his head in exasperation and went back to work, carefully distributing nutrient fertilizer to the lettuce. Having no interest in such boring tasks, I tapped the nameless man on the shoulder.
“I’ll handle the watering. You take a break.”
“No, this is—”
“Just stop for a second and help over there.”
The man, still holding the bowl of melted paraffin, slowly nodded. He had a conscience. It wasn’t fair for him to hog all the fun. I had risked my life to get here and suffered through watering the lettuce; I deserved to enjoy myself too.
Excited, I grabbed the bowl of melted paraffin and a cup of hot water, then looked down near the entrance.
‘Come on out. Oh, there you are.’
A zombie cautiously poked its head out and looked up. I quickly poured the hot water first, but the zombie swiftly pulled its head back to dodge, then darted fully into view. It was as if it had calculated the delay, but humans have two hands. I immediately flung the melted paraffin.
“Krrreeek!”
It barely missed. The zombie only got a splash on its crown and the back of its head. It jumped around wildly and fled down the street without looking back. It was exactly like whack-a-mole.
I grinned, refilled the cup with hot water, and focused on the area near the entrance until my eyes ached.
“There must still be a lot of zombies left, right?”
Time passed. Reclaiming Villa Street from the zombies was a slow process. We couldn’t wipe them out all at once; it was a gradual operation of tormenting them until they no longer had any reason to stay.
Hot water was sprayed from every corner of Villa Street. Following the information we’d quickly spread, everyone used the most efficient weapons available. Zombies that had been casually wandering into the street would get doused in boiling water, shriek in terror, and flee. Even the zombies inside the villa buildings began showing signs of wanting to retreat.
“Krrreeeeek…”
One zombie tilted its head back to look at the sky before scrambling away. Some had even learned to hold up the corpses of dead people or zombies like umbrellas to shield themselves. It was clearly just a desperate escape tactic, but I clicked my tongue.
“Don’t you think their patience is a little lacking?”
If they trapped people in their own homes, they should’ve been prepared to get trapped themselves. Running away after a little sprinkle of water? Could these things even be called zombies anymore?
I idly splashed some water toward the entrance. No zombie came out, but it was a warning and a threat. You’re not getting out. If you try, you’ll pay for it.
“We’ve given the water and the fertilizer. Can we head to the other houses now?”
“Right now? I think there are still zombies outside the entrance.”
It was Park Yanggun and Jeon Dohyeong talking. Park Yanggun walked over to me, glanced down at the street, and tilted his head.
“They were trying to climb the gas pipes and come in through the windows. Think the zombies will learn that trick if they see it?”
“They probably will,” I said, quickly waving my hand to stop him. That was actually scary. Zombies that learned to climb gas pipes and break in through windows? If any showed up, it would be a nightmare.
‘There probably aren’t any like that yet, right? No… I bet there are.’
Whenever humans found ways to fight zombies, the zombies watched and learned. Just like how they’d started throwing bricks during the defense of the Hope Church. If they saw a traceur sprinting across the city, they’d copy the movements and routes…
“Oh.”
A zombie appeared. I instinctively flicked my wrist and poured out the hot water, but I missed the one sprinting at full speed. At the same time, the zombies that had been hiding inside the farm villa all burst out at once. It was a desperate, all-out sprint, like a bear was chasing them from behind.
“Wait, damn it.”
There was no water left in my hands. I hurriedly refilled the kettle, but the zombies had already fled. No more came out of the farm villa. And no more approached from outside either. The ones that had just entered Villa Street saw the fleeing zombies, stood there blankly for a moment, then turned around and left.
Just like that, Villa Street grew quiet again. We had, for the time being, successfully recaptured the area from the zombies. A brief peace had arrived.
I let my hands drop in disappointment. The zombies that had trapped us, ruined our lettuce farm, and destroyed the fruits of my labor—I hadn’t given them nearly enough payback…
Around that time, Jeon Dohyeong pressed his ear against the front door, then opened it just a crack after securing the safety chain. He pulled out his phone.
“It’s the farm. The zombies have all retreated. The rest of you can come over and water the crops in the other houses.”
Now that the zombies were gone, he was calling everyone back to take care of the farmland. I let out a deep sigh. It would be hard to have another fun mutual-destruction session like today. Once the water, gas, and electricity were completely cut off, it would be impossible.
Still, I tried to feel satisfied that we had survived, and melted down a few candles.
‘Time to upgrade those crosses.’
I went out to the street and poured paraffin over the rotting crosses. One by one, the people of Villa Street began to appear. Some crept forward cautiously, whipping their heads around at every step. Others dragged corpses while waving bloody weapons, checking if any zombies remained. A few walked over with bright, crinkled eyes and light steps.
But the moment they saw me, they all stopped in their tracks.
“Um… what are you doing right now…?”
“The crosses were losing their effectiveness, so I’m upgrading them. Someone from the other villa gave me the idea.”
“…”
They seemed to take a subtle step away from me, but I figured they were just eager to get to the farm. Then I suddenly noticed an empty spot. The zombie I had tied up. My Virus Generator. It was gone. Whether another zombie had freed it or the knots had loosened in the rain, the place where the zombie had been bound was now empty.
“It’s not dead. Did it escape? …I guess I did use it for a long time.”
Well, if it escaped, I could just catch a new one and tie it up. After roughly reinforcing the crosses, I stretched and headed back to the farm.
When I entered a house full of people, they were gathered in a gloomy, restless huddle. An older man was scribbling furiously in a notebook with a ballpoint pen.
“So many people have died.”
I peeked at the notebook. It was a list of names. Black lines were drawn through the page that listed everyone on Villa Street. From the old man who had died of heatstroke during the first zombie attack, to the two who died while entering the farm. Quite a few had perished.
Looking around, all the survivors of Villa Street had gathered in one house, yet the group felt incredibly small. The number of young, able-bodied people had shrunk dramatically. Normally, this many people crammed together should have felt suffocating, but the space was comfortably open.
‘Well, that’s good. We still have people to work the farms, and with fewer mouths to feed, resources will last longer.’
All in all, it was a decent outcome. The older man stroked his notebook with a dark expression, then suddenly turned his head. His gaze landed on the mother of the children. His voice came out heavy.
“The children…?”
“I contacted the school. They said the kids are alive. I even talked to them on the phone.”
The mother’s face was bright with relief as she spoke, but she quickly read the room and lowered her voice to a somber tone. Still, the news that the children were alive was a rare piece of good fortune in this situation. People murmured in agreement, saying it was fortunate.
“Good thing we sent them to school.”
“There are soldiers and police there. It’s safer than here.”
A hopeful atmosphere filled the room—the sense that they had survived another day. They looked around, then turned their attention to the crops. The leaves looked wilted from lack of water.
“Oh dear. They don’t have any strength left.”
“Let’s water them right away.”
The people moved busily. I slowly stepped back. I had taken on the most dangerous task of entering the farm first. It was time to rest. Leaving behind the sight of the older man and Jeon Dohyeong contacting the other groups, I returned home.
The roads were soaked with rainwater, the water we had sprayed, and paraffin. It was so quiet you’d never know zombies had been there. The hot sunlight and humid air clung stickily to my skin. When I looked up, I saw windows shattered by the storm. Not just the first-floor glass that people could reach, but even the higher windows were starting to break. It looked like the world itself—people dying one by one, buildings slowly falling apart, everything gradually sliding toward ruin.