The Path of Symbiosis
I returned to the shelter just as the sky was turning dark.
Hwang Gyunam and Han Jiyoung, who had been waiting for me, widened their eyes the moment they saw me enter the auto repair shop.
“Senior, are you alright?”
“What happened? Why do you look like that?”
They approached me, scanning my body from head to toe to check for bloodstains. I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the full-length mirror and realized I looked so disheveled that I’d have to throw away the clothes I was wearing.
“You weren’t bitten, were you…?” Han Jiyoung asked cautiously.
I let out a faint sigh and collapsed onto the floor, exhausted.
“Do I look like I would be?”
“What on earth happened? Please, tell us. What about the operation?”
“I finished it, mostly.”
I had managed to install the noise-making devices near Gusan, just as planned. But even I found it miraculous that I’d managed to finish it in my state of mind. Ever since I encountered the Alpha, my head had felt like a tangled ball of yarn, as if my ability to think had simply ground to a halt.
“If you installed the speakers and weren’t bitten, isn’t that a success? Why the long face? Are you just exhausted?” Hwang Gyunam was right. Regardless of the process, I had finished the job without injury. Even so, I wasn’t in the mood to feel relieved or smile, not even for a second.
“…I met the Alpha.”
“The Alpha? The zombie with intelligence? Where was it?”
“I ran into it while luring the others. It must have been somewhere not far from the exploration route.”
“So, what happened?”
“It could… control the zombies.”
“What?”
I recounted the day’s events in detail. The expressions of everyone present, including Oh Junghwan who had joined us midway, began to darken like a storm-ridden sky.
“Are you sure…? Is there any chance you were mistaken?”
“I wish I were.”
“The Senior wouldn’t make a mistake like that. He must have checked multiple times, right?”
When I told them about the fact that it had even made a gun shape with its fingers, and about my first encounter with it in the past, they couldn’t hide their shock. It was already difficult enough to deal with zombies that could run, but now, one with intelligence, long-term memory, and command capabilities? The Alpha was more than enough to push us off the cliff of despair.
“It can create its own legion….”
“Then that means it’ll only get more dangerous as time goes on, right?”
“The golden time has already passed. The threat is too massive to kill now.”
The fact that we could clear out the university zombies, or the plan to open an exploration route to secure a large supply of vaccines—all of that was predicated on the assumption that the zombies were simple and linear. The legion led by the Alpha would not move according to our will. Luring tactics wouldn’t work, and it could even set traps for us or launch a surprise attack as early as tonight.
“The Alpha will decide whether or not to fight Gusan, too.”
“True. It’ll be up to its whim, regardless of the noise devices.”
“And if it thinks a fight isn’t worth it, it could just retreat.”
Persistent vitality, transcendental stamina displayed in front of prey, overwhelming numbers. The only advantages humans have over zombies are intelligence and weapons. But against the Alpha’s legion, neither intelligence nor weapons meant much. As time passed, their numbers would only grow, far outstripping our firepower.
“It’s getting late. I’m going to head in first.”
“Yeah, yeah. Go ahead, Cheonsa.”
“See you tomorrow, Senior.”
We parted ways after killing time without any real plan. In truth, it would have been strange to come up with a plan in this situation. Even as Hwang Gyunam and Han Jiyoung were saying their goodbyes, Oh Junghwan was resting his chin on his hand with a very grave expression. No strategist could come up with a clever solution in this situation.
“Daddy!”
I returned to the hideout only after the sky had turned pitch black. Cheonsa, who had been waiting for a long time, waved at me with the brightest face in the world. Do-jin, who had come down through the dog hole, circled around me, sniffing.
‘I must smell like zombies.’
Do-jin hadn’t been able to approach me easily, but when I knelt on one knee and held out my hand, he finally wagged his tail and came closer. Even then, he didn’t press against me fully, as if he didn’t want the smell to rub off on him.
“Smart guy.”
I climbed the rope to the 4th floor. The 4th floor was being used as a warehouse, and beyond the open front door, I could see supplies piled high. Until this morning, seeing this had made me feel secure, but now it felt futile. Thousands of rounds of ammunition and boxes of luxury goods wouldn’t be enough to take down the Alpha.
“Daddy, aren’t you going to wash up?”
“Yeah. I’ll go up right away.”
I went straight to the bathroom and took off all the clothes I was wearing. I didn’t bother doing laundry since I planned to throw them all away anyway. When I half-opened the cap of the water bottle hanging upside down, a stream of water trickled out. It felt exceptionally cold today.
I had a quick meal of potato rice and went to bed early. I should have played with Cheonsa for at least 30 minutes, but today I didn’t have the energy. The good child seemed to understand my mood, burrowing into the spot beside me and snuggling into my arms.
Holding her small frame, the corners of my mouth, which had been stiff all day, slowly turned upward. It really was like a fairy tale.
“Cheonsa, thanks for helping me earlier. You were scared, weren’t you?”
“No? Daddy is super strong. I wasn’t worried at all.”
Such a good kid. Even if she said that, I clearly remembered Cheonsa’s voice. How could I forget that voice, trembling with urgency? I stroked the child’s hair.
“But Daddy, you were moving super fast earlier! How did you do that? I thought the GPS was broken.”
“Ah, that’s because I was riding a motorcycle.”
“A motorcycle? Daddy, you can ride a motorcycle too?”
“Is there anything Daddy can’t do?”
“Wow! Can you give me a ride later?”
“I will. I’ll definitely give you a ride.”
The child showed great interest in the motorcycle, which she had only seen in pictures. Like any other father reading a classic fairy tale to put his child to sleep, I patted Cheonsa’s back while telling her about the Freedom.
“It’s a cool mix of red and black. You have to wear a helmet when you ride it.”
“Do you have to pedal hard like a bicycle? It must be really tiring to go fast.”
“No. You just have to put in fuel, and it goes automatically.”
“Really?! Then how fast is it?”
“Hmm…. About ten times faster than running?”
“Wow! I’m so curious. But it sounds a bit dangerous.”
“That’s right. That’s why you wear a helmet.”
The child stared at me and started touching my head here and there. She seemed to be checking if there were any cracks, and I couldn’t help but laugh at the sight.
“I told you, I’m not hurt.”
“But where did you go on the motorcycle?”
“Ah…. Daddy met a strong opponent today.”
“A strong opponent? Like, super strong?”
“Yeah. It was very strong.”
“But Daddy is a national medalist. Is it stronger than you?”
“Yeah. It was tough.”
The child said, sounding slightly sleepy.
“When the grandmother opened the door, the mortar fell and hit the tiger’s back.”
“Huh?”
“The A-frame carrier knocked the tiger over, and the millstone fell on top of it. The firewood sparks burned the tiger’s fur, and the mouse bit its nose. Thanks to that, the grandmother was safe.”
“Ah, the story of the Red Bean Porridge Grandmother and the Tiger?”
“You told me. If you work together, you can win no matter how strong the opponent is.”
“Haha, is Cheonsa giving Daddy advice?”
“Try working together with your friends. Then it’ll be okay.”
“But Daddy doesn’t have many friends.”
“No. If you look, I’m sure you’ll find many.”
With those words, Cheonsa fell asleep. It was a night of many thoughts. Under her soft body heat, all my fears seemed to drift away for a moment.
The large auditorium where the search team members were gathered. As everyone assembled, with me being the last, Oh Junghwan spoke up.
“You’ve all heard the gist of it. We have two problems. One is covering up the deaths of the surveillance team, including Yoon Taesik, and the other is the concern regarding the Alpha legion.”
No one spoke, as if they had all been fed honey. When I raised my hand, the gazes of the room gathered on me. Oh Junghwan nodded and gave me the floor.
“There is a way to solve both problems at once.”
“At once? Is that possible?”
“We form an alliance. Small and medium-sized shelters like ours pool our strength. Once the alliance is complete, we can escape Gusan’s tyranny and create an opportunity to deal with the Alpha.”
“Hmm….” Oh Junghwan groaned. I observed the members’ expressions, and they didn’t seem very positive. Oh Junghwan ended his brief deliberation and opened his mouth.
“I haven’t not thought about that, but realistically, there are many difficulties.”
“What are those difficulties?”
“Basically, shelters are in a competitive relationship, stealing and being stolen from for limited supplies and space. They won’t cooperate.”
It was an answer I had somewhat expected. Even the members here were gathered because their interests aligned, rather than for the sake of the group. It was a fact I had felt in my skin while going through various incidents.
“I’m not asking for cooperation. I’m proposing symbiosis based on profit.”
“If it’s profit, that means we have to provide them with our supplies. We don’t have enough supplies for that, and there’s no one who would agree to it. Even if we increase search activities, it’s impossible.”
The members nodded, as if Oh Junghwan’s words were correct. The only ones taking my side here were Hwang Gyunam and Han Jiyoung.
“Now, now. Let’s not just think it’s impossible, but think about how it could work. It’s a fact that everything would be solved if we just had an alliance.”
“That’s right. Why is everyone so negative?”
Oh Junghwan immediately retorted. “Then Han Jiyoung, you answer. Things are already running tight, so how are we going to take care of other shelters? Don’t give me abstract talk like ‘we’ll search hard’ or ‘if we do it, it’ll work.’ Give me a concrete plan.”
“Th-that is…!”
“It’s not being negative, it’s being realistic. Proposing an alliance is an absurd suggestion.”
Han Jiyoung shut her mouth tight. Perhaps because she had been humiliated openly, she hung her head low with a red face. This junior of mine must still not know me. Who could be more realistic than me?
“I will provide the supplies for the alliance.”
“Do you even know how much that amount is?”
“Well. It might decrease if the scale grows, but if my estimates are correct, about a month should be fine.”
“So where are you going to get a month’s worth of supplies?”
“It’s too late if we try to get them from now on. I already have them.”
“What…?”
Supplies are like oxygen tanks that extend life. Possessing more oxygen is the only goal left in this world. Even so, I intend to open the oxygen warehouse piled high on the 4th floor. Because the biggest enemies threatening me in this situation are not the depleting oxygen, but Gusan and the Alpha.
“Let the shelter representatives meet.”
Solarium, Amhyeon, Gwangmyeong, Underpass, and so on. That day, we posted notices with dates, times, and locations in various areas influenced by Gusan. Exactly two days later, at the scheduled time, no one showed up.