What Are Their Intentions?
1.
"Were you trying to come down this hallway?"
The man stood frozen, kitchen knife clenched tight in his fist, so I threw the question first. He raised both hands.
"I was heading that way, yes — but I had no intention of looting anyone's home. I only wanted to check how many people are still living on the second floor."
"And why would you need to check that?"
A census, of all things, with the world like this? No matter how I looked at it, I couldn't bring myself to call the motive pure.
"It'll be clearer if you see this rather than hear me explain."
He reached into his coat and tossed a tightly folded sheet of paper my way. I kept my eyes on him as I bent to pick it up — he could still lunge at any second.
"Go on. Read it."
I unfolded the paper. The handwriting was neat, almost meticulous. I scanned it once and nodded.
"Survivors banding together?"
"Yes. It's been over a week since the world fell apart. If you've seen the news, you already know the government failed. The odds of the military coming to save us are vanishingly low — so shouldn't we at least pool our strength?"
"Sound reasoning."
"So you understand I didn't approach with any ulterior motive. May I enter the hallway, then?"
"No."
His brow furrowed. He bit down on his lip.
"Why not?"
"Because you could still be lying."
"…Then what am I supposed to do? I've done everything I can to show I'm not a threat. Or are you saying you refuse to cooperate at all?"
I shook my head.
I had no real objection to joining forces. I wasn't exactly sold on the idea either, though. Pros and cons either way.
"I'll survey this floor myself and report back. You said the meeting is on the rooftop tonight. When the time comes, I'll take responsibility for bringing the people from the second floor."
If his intentions really were clean, he'd take the offer. The man wrestled with it for a long moment, then finally let out a heavy sigh and nodded.
"Fine. If that's what it takes for you to trust me, so be it. But you'll be held to your word."
"Same goes for you."
He glared at me, then turned toward the stairs.
"I'll go on ahead, then. See you tonight."
"Yeah."
His footsteps climbed the stairwell. A knock followed, then the murmur of conversation — and I turned away.
Knock-knock.
"So-hye. It's me."
I rapped so lightly the man upstairs wouldn't hear. She cracked the door open with the chain still fastened, inch by careful inch.
"W-what is it?"
"Could I get your number?"
"…My number?"
"Yeah. We should have a way to reach each other."
"One second."
She scurried off and reappeared a moment later, angling her phone so I could see the screen.
"This is mine."
I punched the number into my keypad and dialed. My number lit up on her display.
"Just save it like that."
"Okay. Got it. But why the sudden request for my number? I heard voices in the hallway — is that what this is about?"
Sharp as ever, So-hye.
"Exactly. Some guy was trying to count how many survivors are left on the second floor. I told him I'd handle it and sent him off."
"Really? Why go through all that trouble at a time like this? Gives me the creeps…"
"Whatever his real goal is, he says everyone's gathering on the rooftop tonight to talk strategy. Are you planning to go?"
She hesitated, then nodded.
"It does feel off… but I should at least show up and hear them out."
"Alright. We'll meet up later tonight, then. Oh — and I'm heading outside for a bit. If that man comes back to the hallway while I'm gone, give me a call?"
"Of course I can. But are you sure you should be telling me this? What if I just go loot your place while you're out…"
"The fact that you even said that is why I can trust you. Besides — we're not exactly strangers, are we?"
Color flooded both of So-hye's cheeks. She lifted her phone to half-hide her face, and the gesture was almost painfully cute.
"Honestly… fine. I'll call you for sure. But can I ask one favor in return?"
"What kind of favor?"
"When you come back… could you grab some pads, and… a few other things?"
I knew exactly what she meant. Still, the urge to tease her was hard to resist.
"What other things, specifically?"
"Th-that is… I mean… ugh…"
She scrunched her forehead into a miserable pout.
"You already know what I mean."
"Alright. Is that everything you need?"
"F-for now…"
"Then I'll keep that in mind."
"B-be careful out there…!"
I nodded and headed for the stairs.
Conversation still drifted down from above — a woman's voice, sharp-edged and raw. From the scraps I caught, the words "ulterior motives" and "rape" floated through. Fair enough. When violence sits closer than the law, stepping outside your door is no small thing.
How many people will show up on the rooftop tonight?
I was genuinely curious.
"Ugh…"
The second I stepped outside, I clamped a hand over my nose.
The stench of rot hit so hard I could barely stand it. No exaggeration — five minutes of breathing this and you'd lose your mind.
Next time I'm bringing a mask.
I picked my way carefully past the bloodstains smeared across the floor and walls.
Summer was creeping closer, and the heat was climbing day by day. Today the sun was especially vicious, which only made everything worse.
If the power goes out in summer, we're screwed.
The news had been screaming about how this year's summer would be brutal. If that turned out to be true, we were in real trouble.
Plenty of problems to worry about, but the biggest was water. Heat meant drinking more — no way around it.
And food storage? Most of what we had wouldn't survive the summer. That would only make every scrap of supplies that much more critical.
I need to find water jugs and stockpile as much as I can. Canned goods for food — save the long-lasting stuff for last.
Ramen didn't keep that long. The consumption window stretched a little further, but the oil still went rancid eventually. Nothing you could do about it.
I was walking toward the supermarket, turning over the most efficient way to ration supplies in my head, when it happened.
KRAAAAH—!
One of the zombies shambling around the building's parking lot spotted me and started lumbering over. I tightened my grip on the hammer and readied a swing.
KRAAAAAH!
A sudden howl from behind spun me around. A towering man — easily 190 centimeters — came charging at me, red eyes blazing.
"Shit."
That vicious glare, the raw killing intent pouring off him — my heart slammed into overdrive and my breath seized in my chest. My whole body went ice-cold. I bit down hard on my lip. The sharp pain snapped me back.
Which one reaches me first?
The tall zombie, farther out but closing the gap at a dead run? Or the short one ambling up right behind me?
I made the call in a fraction of a second and drove off the ground.
Whoosh—!
The tall one closed in fast, jaws gaping wide. I watched those filthy teeth lunge for my throat and brought the hammer down on a diagonal.
CRACK!
A heavy, solid impact. I tracked the collapsing body and hammered it again and again. If this bastard got back up, it would be a real pain in the ass.
Once I felt the skull give way and the hammer pulp the brain inside, I scrambled up and spun around.
KRAAAAAAH!
The other zombie was already right on top of me, arm outstretched. Filthy nails caked with blood and scraps of flesh came flying at my face like they meant to tear it open.
No time to think. Both legs jumped back on pure instinct.
Whooosh—
The blood-slick hand swept past my face in what felt like slow motion. The wind of it stung my skin.
Something soft and yielding squelched under my sole. I'd stepped on some piece of the zombie — an arm, a leg, who knew.
I locked my weight into the foot to keep my balance, and felt my leg sink straight down through whatever I'd landed on.
"Fuck."
The sensation was so foul I spat the curse out loud. As the zombie reached for me again, I kicked its leg out with my free foot.
Crunch—
It staggered, balance gone. The instant it pitched forward, I brought the hammer down on its skull.
CRACK!
A sound more violent than anything yet — and the thing crumpled to the ground.
"Hoo…"
Only after the finishing blow did I finally let myself breathe.
That was close.
A week of relative peace had made me soft. Too much time fretting over food and water. And more than anything, this was the first time I'd actually faced a running zombie — my reaction had been sloppy.
Can't let that happen again.
One mistake was forgivable. The end of the world was new to me too. Twice, though — that I wouldn't allow. Luck had carried me this time. One wrong step and I'd have been dead.
I'd finally gotten a world where I could live however the hell I wanted. I wasn't about to throw it away for nothing.
Stay sharp.
I checked the area for more zombies, then slowly pulled my foot free from the corpse's gut. Even through the shoe, the sensation was pure filth.
Something's definitely off.
Even for a zombie, belly flesh shouldn't tear that easily. Same with snapping a zombie's leg in a single kick — and the raw vitality flooding my body right now.
Before, it had just been a vague unease. Now I was sure of it. Something had awakened in me. Some kind of ability.
I didn't know exactly what it was yet, but I was fairly certain it wouldn't work against me.
Looking forward to this.
How far would this power take me? The thought genuinely excited me. For now, though — the supermarket first.