Blackout
Faint sunlight filtering in from the entrance mixed with the weak glow of a phone screen, weaving together into a strange, uneasy atmosphere.
Boom—!
Screams and unidentifiable roars echoed through the pitch-black subway. Even knowing every sound came from human throats, it still made people flinch and shrink in on themselves.
Probably the psychological weight of the darkness and the sudden loss of power.
“For now…”
I started to speak, then shut my mouth again. Murderous intent and stares pressed in from every direction. Axe in hand, I swept my gaze around us.
Some of the ones who had been sprawled on the floor begging had pushed themselves up onto two feet and were staring this way. Greed glittered in their faintly visible eyes; tongues worked between parted lips as they swallowed hard, over and over.
“What the hell are you looking at? Eyes down.”
When I raised the axe in open threat, most of them flattened themselves against the wall and watched me carefully. Even after the warning, I still caught the soft scrape of footsteps and a presence creeping up behind me.
One step closer and you’re dead.
Whoosh— Crack!
The instant he crossed the line I spun. Both hands locked on the handle, I brought the axe down hard. It sank more than halfway through a man’s neck.
His dazed eyes, still trying to catch up to what had just happened, met mine.
“Guh… gahhh…”
A wet groan followed as blood erupted in thick spurts. I wrenched the blade free; his head lolled and he crumpled to the floor.
“Eeeek!!!”
Shrill cries rose from every side. A few people clutched their heads and sank down, muttering under their breath.
Clink—
Something the old man had been holding slipped from his fingers and hit the floor. It caught the weak light for a second—glass, from the look of it.
“Tsk.”
I wiped the blood from around my eyes with an irritated swipe and turned. Sohye and Gahi were staring at me, startled.
“We’re going up. Now.”
“Uh… uh…”
“Yes.”
I put them in front and watched our backs as we stepped onto the escalator. No power meant it was just a long flight of metal stairs; we climbed it on foot.
“Hey. What the hell’s going on down there?!”
The bald man at the entrance scowled at us. The people around him already had weapons out, bodies tensed.
“The power’s out.”
“A blackout? Shit…”
He scrubbed a hand over his scalp and let out a long breath. More tired than panicked—like he’d already been expecting something like this.
If this guy knows, the people in charge already saw it coming.
Right after the lights died the tunnels had been pure chaos—screams, shouting, everything. Now the passage had gone quiet again. That meant someone was already cleaning it up and locking things down.
“So why’s your face covered in blood? Answer carefully. Screw this up and you three might not be walking out of here.”
“We were on our way out when the power cut. Happened to be right where the beggars hang out.”
“…They tried to jump you in the dark and the confusion.”
“That’s right.”
“Tsk. Those scavenger bastards. Figured. If they’ve got the guts to jump people, they ought to use it on the zombies instead.”
The bald man nudged one of his men and pointed down the corridor.
“Go check it. Take this.”
“Yes, sir.”
The man took the flashlight and headed into the subway. We watched him go for a second, then I turned back.
“We’re gonna do a quick check. Keeps everyone from getting more tired than we already are. Fair?”
“Understood.”
“Good, good.”
The air between us stayed sharp. The men behind the bald guy were coiled, ready to move the second something went wrong.
“Sohye. Dig out something to wipe with.”
“Huh? Oh—yes. Okay.”
I deliberately let the tension drain out of my shoulders and kept my posture loose. Looking too ready for a fight here would only spark something we didn’t need.
Guilty people act twitchy. Don’t give them that.
She dampened a handkerchief and held it out. I took it and cleaned the blood from around my eyes and face.
“Check complete.”
“Yeah? What’d you find?”
The man who’d gone down returned. He glanced at us once, then spoke.
“Confirmed a body near the subway entrance. Tried to get a statement from the beggars nearby, but they’re all too scared to talk straight. Proper questioning’s impossible.”
“Hmm. So nothing solid.”
“Ah—and Captain.”
He stepped in close and whispered something. The bald man’s eyes widened a fraction.
“That so?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm. Interesting.”
He tapped the wall with one finger, met my gaze, then smirked and gave a short nod.
“All right. Go on through.”
“You sure? The facts still aren’t clear.”
“Funny hearing that from the guy who did it. You don’t look the type, and those scavengers down there? Yeah, I can see them trying it. Besides—”
He stuck a cigarette between his lips and added,
“They’re not our people. So digging into it doesn’t really matter.”
“I understand. Still, I want this settled clean.”
“Yeah, yeah. We’re not coming back on you for today. Relax.”
Quick on the uptake. Maybe he was the station’s security chief.
“Understood. We’ll head up, then.”
I gave a short bow and led the way up the stairs. Halfway up, a voice called after us.
“Come visit again!”
“If the chance comes, we will.”
With that we left the station behind. We were halfway across the road before the two of them finally let the tension out.
“Holy shit, I thought I was gonna die of stress!”
“M-me too. My legs almost gave out. I was holding my breath the whole time.”
“Not here. Let’s get inside a building first, then talk.”
Raiders could still be watching. Better safe. Though with the power gone, whether anyone still had the headspace for that was another question.
“Yes.”
We cut toward the nearest building. It looked like a commercial strip; the stink of rot hung thick. They’d probably cleared the zombies while cleaning up the area.
We stepped into a tteokbokki shop on the first floor, took seats with a clear view of the entrance and the street, and I set the axe on the table.
“Haa.”
Sohye and Gahi sat across from me.
“…I’m exhausted.”
“Yeah. Feels like we packed a week into a few hours.”
Sohye getting jumped by that middle-aged woman. Using the weapons shop, trading at the market. The blackout, the beggars trying to jump us, nearly getting sideways with the station guards. For a few hours’ work, it had been a full circus.
Just walking here from the house was already rough.
One hour twelve minutes door to door. Even a straight walk would’ve been tiring; add constant vigilance and actual fights with zombies and the fatigue was worse than it looked.
“Twenty minutes rest, then we move. If you’re hungry, eat some of the food we brought and drink water.”
“What? Only twenty minutes? Shouldn’t we take at least an hour? I’m wiped.”
“Same here. But the situation outside isn’t friendly.”
With power and internet both gone, being out in the open was too dangerous. People who’d lost their grip could do anything.
The blackout had hit the physical side. Losing the internet had kicked out the mental prop holding a lot of people up.
“Is the internet really that big a deal?”
“We’re fine—we’re three people moving together. What about everyone else?”
Plenty of people had already been hanging on by a thread when the world ended. Seoul alone had single-person households at thirty-seven percent of all homes. Those people were more fragile than most.
“And that’s last year’s number. This year it’s higher. Where do people like that dump the loneliness and the pressure?”
“You’re saying the internet.”
“Exactly. Communities, really. Just posts, comments, chat—but that was enough to keep them going. For a lot of them it was the only outlet they had.”
Alone in the house. Food short, so always hungry. Outside, zombies everywhere; open a window and the stench rolls in. At night you hear the undead howling and people screaming.
Even if you went out looking for other survivors, there was no guarantee they’d be friendly. The communities had already been full of talk about raiders.
How many people would risk going outside under those conditions?
“Then the internet dies and the last line of contact vanishes. How do you think those people feel right now?”
“…Desperate.”
“Right. When a person hits the mental wall, they usually pick one of two options: give up, or go crazy.”
The ones I was worried about were the crazy ones. Those people would do literally anything.
“And there’s one more reason we need to get home fast.”
“What?”
Instead of answering I stood and walked into the kitchen. I turned the faucet. Water came out.
“After a blackout, water cuts out in as little as two hours. Four at the outside. We need to get home and start filling every container we’ve got.”
“Ah!”
Both women’s eyes went wide, then dimmed. The situation was worse than they’d thought.
“So skip the jerky for now and finish the hardtack first. It’s dry—you’ll need more water with it.”
“Yeah. That makes sense.”
“And every time we drink, we refill right away. Every drop counts.”
“Yes.”
We dug the remaining hardtack out of bags and pockets and started eating.
Crunch, crunch—
The mood wasn’t great. Hard to blame anyone given how the day had gone. Still, I didn’t think it was that bad.
Not ideal, but at least we’ve got water. That’s something.
We weren’t going to die of thirst tomorrow. A few months from now was another story, but right now was what mattered.
Best case, Sohye or Gahi develops some kind of power over electricity or water…
That felt like pure fantasy. We still weren’t even sure abilities existed in the first place.
But if one of them did…
I was still half-lost in the thought when—
Thud—!
A sound from the shop entrance snapped my head up. My body locked.
Blood was sliding down the full length of the glass door.
“Wh-what is that?”
Something was wrong. I grabbed the axe and shot to my feet. In the same instant the door swung open, and all three of us froze.