The Return
In that instant I thought the female zombie might actually be singing, but no. A song was simply playing from a computer.
La La La—
The strange part was why the zombies were just sitting there calmly enjoying it. Creatures that normally went berserk and smashed everything in reach at the slightest sound, acting this peaceful?
I fixed a sharp stare on the female zombie and clenched my teeth. Scanning the floor, I slowly backed away.
I can't win this.
No matter how much stronger I'd become, that many zombies were more than I could handle. Terrain might have evened the odds, but the hallway was wide enough for at least two people to pass side by side. On top of that, there was the female zombie whose abilities I still hadn't figured out. Fighting here would be a straight-up stupid choice.
Slowly—very slowly, carefully—I shifted my feet. The moment I reached the door in the hallway—
Thud—
The song cut off without warning and silence flooded in. It was so quiet it raised goosebumps; I instinctively crouched low.
Kraaaak— Thud!
One zombie let out a cry, followed by a heavy crash. Then the music began to spread again.
I had no idea what was happening beyond the partition, and I didn't care. Curiosity kills the cat, after all.
"Hah..."
With the song as my soundtrack I opened the door and stepped out, finally letting out a breath of relief as I moved on.
Kraaaak—
Near the counter another cry reached me—not from behind, but from ahead.
I turned. From what looked like a bathroom, a zombie with its pants around its ankles came staggering toward me. Its dick dangled freely between its legs, a brown lump stuck to its thigh.
Pook—!
Before it could spot me I drove the pool cue straight through its skull. Once its body went limp I grabbed some drinks and headed outside.
Thought I was really gonna die back there.
Only after I was completely clear of the building could I finally unclench. It felt like waking from a vicious nightmare.
Special types aren't opponents you take lightly.
If I could just learn how they attacked, dealing with them would be a lot easier. With zero information, though, everything about them felt like a threat. In the end I'd have to go find out myself—but rather than risk that, running was far more comfortable.
Before heading back to the karaoke I looked up at the building.
Third floor. Through a wide-open window, a human shape was faintly visible. For some reason it felt like it was looking down at me.
The unpleasant sensation made me scowl; I ducked out of sight at once. Only then did the gaze vanish. I exhaled and started for the karaoke.
Gotta be careful.
Thanks to clearing most of the zombies on this stretch of main road, the walk back was almost pleasant. Once daylight came I thought about doing a little looting, but the special type flashed through my mind and I shook my head.
Too dangerous.
Even now my enhanced senses were screaming at me: get out of this area as fast as possible. The warning sat too heavy to ignore, so the moment morning arrived we'd head home.
I went down into the karaoke's semi-basement. Opening the iron door, I caught faint voices.
"No. Still, if we go out together and look for him it'd be much... Seong-won!"
When I opened the karaoke door, So-hye shot up from her seat. She started to run toward me, then hesitated at the blood covering my body. An Ga-hee looked me over and spoke.
"See? I told you. He'd come back on his own."
I didn't need the full story to guess what had happened.
"What, you were gonna come looking for me just because I disappeared?"
"Yes. The bed was uncomfortable so I woke up in the middle of the night and you weren't there. I woke Ga-hee so we could go look, but she said there was no need..."
"No. This girl was fretting that you might've gotten jumped or run into something dangerous. Kept insisting we had to go. So I stopped her."
An Ga-hee muttered that she couldn't understand why anyone would think that—what if we crossed paths and missed each other?
So-hye sat dejectedly on the karaoke sofa. In the end An Ga-hee had been right.
"Ah..."
Without a word I stroked So-hye's head. The thought itself was endearing. Once I confirmed both her ears had gone red, I walked over to An Ga-hee.
"...What?"
I stroked her head the same way. She flinched and pulled back a little, looking awkward—like this kind of affection still felt foreign.
"So-hye."
"Y-yes."
"Next time something like this happens, don't come looking for me. First priority is staying at the base and holding out. Hold as long as you can, and if I still don't show, then decide to head back. Got it?"
"...Yes."
When I lifted An Ga-hee's hand in approval, the two women's expressions split cleanly. So-hye lowered her head; An Ga-hee puffed her chest out proudly.
"I'm gonna wash up in the bathroom. Get some more sleep. We leave the second dawn breaks."
"That soon? We won't get much rest."
"Most of the zombies on the street are already dealt with, so it shouldn't be too dangerous."
"Are you rushing because of the special type you saw before you came down to the karaoke?"
I told So-hye yes. Something about it left me uneasy.
They say the strongest, oldest fear humans feel is fear of the unknown. It seemed pretty accurate.
"Keep that in mind. Now go back to sleep."
I stepped out into the hallway, went to the bathroom, wiped the blood from my face, and roughly cleaned the rest off my body. Thinking I'd need to grab fresh clothes later, I returned to the room. The moment I lay on the sofa, exhaustion slammed into me—like every scrap of fatigue that had been stacking up finally exploded.
So it isn't just hunger. The load hits like this too?
At least it hadn't hit while I was fighting. I closed my eyes grateful for that small mercy, and dropped into sleep like someone had flipped a switch.
"Seong-won. Seong-won!"
"Hey. You think he's gonna wake up like that? Move."
The two women's voices slowly pulled my eyes open. An Ga-hee stood over me with her fist raised.
"...What the hell are you doing?"
"You wouldn't wake no matter how much we called, so I was about to punch you awake. Can't I hit you just once?"
"Get lost."
I shoved her arm aside and sat up. The fatigue wasn't completely gone, but it had eased some.
"Drink this."
I took the water So-hye offered, drained the whole thing, and stood.
"Since you wouldn't get up, we packed everything already. Just grab whatever's on the table and we're good."
"Yeah. Nice work."
I slung the bag over my shoulder and picked up another plastic bag in my left hand—drinks we'd taken from the karaoke storeroom. With the pool cue in hand I spoke.
"Let's go."
"Yes."
We opened the karaoke door. In daylight the zombies I'd cleared the night before looked almost peaceful.
Is the ability tied to fatigue somehow?
I warned them to watch their step around the corpses as we climbed the stairs.
Outside, dawn air met us and long bluish shadows stretched across the ground. Looking up, the sky glimmered faintly purple.
Without the corpses it might have felt dreamlike. Instead it just felt eerie.
"Let's hurry."
An Ga-hee clearly didn't like the atmosphere either and pushed us along. I agreed and turned into an alley instead of the main road.
Neither An Ga-hee nor So-hye questioned it. They probably figured I had a reason for everything.
I did. Following the main street would mean passing the PC bang building, and I really didn't want that.
It might still be watching from the third floor.
So we slipped through alleys, cut across a park, and by the time the sky was fully bright we finally made it home.
"God, I thought I was gonna die."
"Same..."
We climbed the stairs.
"I'll shower and come up to the fourth floor."
"Alright."
I took the bag from An Ga-hee, parted ways with her on the third floor, and went up to the fourth with So-hye. Opening the door revealed the familiar space. We hadn't even stayed a few full days, yet it already felt like home.
So-hye started to put the whiskey in the fridge; I stopped her at once.
"Why?"
"Whiskey's a drink you enjoy for the aroma. Refrigerate it and the aroma dies."
"Ah."
I gave the short explanation, then set every bottle in the innermost room. Once the chocolate, snacks, and drinks were all put away, we finally got to shower.
The fourth floor had two bathrooms, so we washed separately and came out to the living room. Around then An Ga-hee knocked.
"You here?"
"I'm here~"
She flopped straight onto the bed the second she walked in. I quietly lay down beside her. A faint scent drifted over.
"I'll make breakfast."
So-hye glanced at us and disappeared into the kitchen. An Ga-hee, who had been staring at the ceiling, turned her head toward me. I rolled onto my right side to face her.
Hair still slightly damp from the shower. Cheeks flushed. Eyes half-lidded and languid. An extremely attractive face—one that held up even next to So-hye's.
She stared at me for a moment, then cupped my face with both hands and kissed me.
"Chup, chuu...♡"
Whether she really was a virgin or not, only our lips kept meeting. I licked across her moist lower lip. She shuddered and pulled back.
An Ga-hee's whole face was scarlet. The look was new enough that it came off a little cute.
"Why the sudden kiss?"
"The zombies in the karaoke basement and out on the main road—you cleaned them all up."
"Yeah."
"Watching that got me... excited, I guess. I decided hanging around with you is the best option."
"So this is a bribe?"
"Pretty much. Why, you mad?"
An Ga-hee tilted her head.
"Nah. Feels fucking great."
"Chup...♡"
She kissed me again. We were still rubbing lips together when So-hye called from the kitchen.
"Chuu..."
One last kiss, then we slowly separated. An Ga-hee fanned her bright-red face with one hand.
"Let's go eat."
"Yeah."
Watching her back as she headed for the table, I thought: life from here on out is probably going to get a lot more interesting.