We Must Survive
Friday, August 16, 2024, 06:43 AM, Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province.
"Ah...!"
Following a gruesome scene filled with blood and gore, two victims with horrific appearances—who had clearly been dead—stumbled to their feet and began to walk. The live broadcast ended with 'those things' surging forward like a wave toward the spot where they had vanished. The TV screen cut to black immediately.
- T-the scene you just witnessed... no, this is...
- V-viewers... please...
Before the male and female anchors could even finish their flustered, bewildered commentary, the broadcast screen switched to a "Transmission Preparing" signal.
"Ugh..."
"Aah..."
At the request of Jun-ho and Baek Ha-il, who insisted there was something urgent to be done at dawn, everyone had gathered in the living room-cum-lounge, where several three-to-four-person sofas had been arranged. Now, with sleep-deprived faces, they were all trembling, eyes wide and mouths agape.
Baek Su-ah, her brother Baek Su-ho, the usually bright and smiling Choi Ha-neul, and even Yun Yeong-su, who had been dozing with half-closed eyes—not to mention Jun-hyeok and Baek Ha-il, who already knew about the apocalypse from Jun-ho—could not escape the shock of the live footage they had just seen.
"T-that..."
"Wait."
Jun-ho raised a hand to stop Baek Su-ho from speaking. Without a word, he operated the remote to show a different NewTube channel.
- Oi, you see that? That’s my neighbour Blake. That feral bastard’s...
- Nah nah nah, this has gotta be fake, right? L...Like some kinda prank? Is he...
- Fuck! I’m out...!
Once the horrific, urgent video filled with Australian-accented English ended, Jun-ho played a few more clips, mostly from overseas, particularly Australia and New Zealand, all under 30 seconds to a minute long. They all had provocative titles like 'Zombie Attack Stream', 'GRAPHIC', or 'WTF', but the content was much the same. It was nearly identical to the horrific live stream from the Korean correspondent in Sydney they had seen first.
As the faces of those gathered in the living room turned even paler, Jun-ho switched the channel to a domestic terrestrial news station.
- We are reporting once again! Around 6:30 AM today, local time around 7:30 AM, unexplained mass violence and large-scale riots broke out in Brisbane and Sydney, Australia! The situation is currently ongoing, and it is reported that there are extreme casualties...
- Breaking news just in! It appears a similar situation started earlier in Samoa and New Zealand...
- Not only humans, but at a zoo in Australia, monkeys are...
- The Australian government is mobilizing all available personnel, including the military and police...
After showing the domestic news channel for a few minutes, Jun-ho checked the time, turned off the TV, and looked around at the people with a hardened face.
"We don't have much time, so I'll explain briefly. I know you have many questions, but I won't be taking any right now."
"......!"
"The situation you just saw, by my calculations, began about an hour before sunrise. It was just past 5:00 AM when I happened to see a NewTube live stream from New Zealand. It was around 8:00 AM their time."
"Ah..."
"And as you can see from the news and the NewTube videos, this situation started in the places on Earth where time is fastest—Samoa, New Zealand, Australia... In other words."
As Yun Yeong-su, who had already guessed something, flinched, Jun-ho continued.
"Okinawa, Japan, Korea... We have a little over 10 minutes left."
"......!!!"
Jun-ho operated the remote again. A split-screen of four static CCTV feeds appeared on the TV. Since it was a 75-inch large screen, all four were large and clear.
"The screen you see now is Gahyeon-ri, just over the mountain in front of our pension. It's a CCTV feed I installed in a house I acquired. It will start there soon. Perhaps even here."
Jun-ho knew that, with the exception of Choi Ha-neul—whom he hadn't met before his regression—none of the shelter members would become an Alpha on the first day. However, he couldn't isolate Choi Ha-neul separately. Problems would inevitably arise later. Therefore, Jun-ho had discussed it with Baek Ha-il in advance, and they had agreed that all shelter personnel, including themselves, should be isolated for about an hour on the first day.
"So, everyone..."
Baek Su-ah was crying, Baek Su-ho was shivering, and Choi Ha-neul was holding Baek Ha-il's hand, teeth clenched despite her trembling. Even Yun Yeong-su was muttering something to himself. Jun-ho looked at them all and continued.
"Please go into your respective rooms. This CCTV feed will be on the TVs in your rooms. Lock the doors from the inside, and I will lock mine as well. In an hour... let's see each other just as we are now. Just in case, please leave your phones with me for a moment. I ask this for the safety of us all."
Jun-ho and Baek Ha-il guided everyone in the shelter to their pre-assigned rooms and locked the doors from the outside. These external locks had been installed solely for this moment and would be removed in about an hour.
Excluding Jun-ho and Baek Ha-il, the last person to enter her room was Choi Ha-neul. With a frame under 160 centimeters and a bright, clear impression that made her look four or five years younger than her actual age, she entered the room while tightly holding Baek Ha-il's hand.
"Boss Ha-neul, don't worry. Nothing will happen. Just trust me."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Uh...?"
Choi Ha-neul offered a smile to the bewildered Baek Ha-il.
"I've always trusted you, Oppa. But now, you need to trust me, don't you think?"
"You're right. And... thank you for following my lead."
"What are you talking about? I'm the one who's grateful. And, Mr. Jun-ho."
"Yes, please go ahead."
"I have a lot of questions, but there's no time, so I'll ask later. Anyway, I'm incredibly grateful to you, Mr. Jun-ho."
As a woman in her late 30s, a divorcee, and a somewhat successful self-employed business owner who had tasted both the sweet and bitter sides of life, Choi Ha-neul seemed to have already guessed something.
"That is..."
Choi Ha-neul let go of Baek Ha-il's hand, approached Jun-ho—who was two or three times her size—and gave him a light hug.
"It's okay. I don't know how to beat around the bush. That's why I feel like you're the one who saved me, Mr. Jun-ho. So, I'll just be grateful for that."
"...Yes."
She pulled away from the hug and smiled softly, as was her habit.
"I'll come out in an hour and make you something delicious. We have meat and vegetables and all that, right?"
"Yes. We have everything."
"Okay. Look forward to it."
The nun at the orphanage had certainly given her a fitting name. Even in this situation, Choi Ha-neul smiled airily and willingly participated in the quarantine.
Soon after, Baek Ha-il entered the room right next to hers. Jun-ho and he exchanged a silent, firm look before Jun-ho locked the door. Entering his own room, Jun-ho turned on the TV. It was past 7:00 AM, and the four-split CCTV screen showed vehicles and people moving busily, despite it being a holiday.
Then, a few minutes later, someone suddenly burst out of a convenience store visible on the villa's CCTV. Jun-ho narrowed his eyes and observed him closely. It was a man in his mid-to-late 20s wearing a convenience store vest.
"Alpha..."
Jun-ho committed the convenience store clerk to memory as he suddenly collapsed to the floor, vomited, and then began to twist his entire body in a grotesque manner. The first naturally occurring Alpha had been infected by an alien virus contained in meteorites and meteor showers created when the asteroid AX-07 'Essex' was partially torn apart by Earth's tidal forces and the Roche Limit.
...That was what two scientists had claimed in a video he saw before the internet went down completely. A space biologist and a virologist from the European Space Agency (ESA) had sat before the camera, looking haggard. They estimated that humans and apes, known as Alphas, were infected by a virus that had survived in Earth's atmosphere for a day or two due to genetic (NOTCH2NL, FOXP2) peculiarities, that the number was roughly two or three per 1,000, and that no more Alphas would appear in the future.
However, they said that being bitten by a Non Organic Bio Infected (NOBI), including an Alpha, resulted in a 70-80 percent chance of infection, and the rest died without exception. The two scientists, who said they couldn't be 100 percent sure because there is no 100 percent in science, but that their research suggested it was highly probable, left a final message in a video watched by countless survivors, including Jun-ho, who were still living in countries with internet access:
- Ce n’est pas une catastrophe, mais la fin de ceux qui n’ont pas été choisis (This is not a catastrophe, but the end of those who were not chosen).
They then took their own lives. Recalling this information from before his regression, Jun-ho muttered under his breath.
"If that's true... it means there are at least 20 Alphas in Gahyeon-ri."
Gahyeon-ri's population was about 9,000. Assuming that entire population was staying in Gahyeon-ri, a simple calculation meant that 20 to 30 people were experiencing, or would soon experience, the same moment of mutation as that convenience store clerk. And if one were to expand that from Namyangju through Gyeonggi-do and the metropolitan area to the entire Republic of Korea...
"About 100,000 to 150,000..."
Even if 100 people staged a terror attack at the same time, a national state of emergency would be declared, but here, a population 1,000 times larger was simultaneously attacking the humans around them indiscriminately. Moreover, unless the victim died within 2 to 3 minutes, there was a 70-80 percent chance they would turn into the same kind of zombie. How could this be stopped? The military? Even at the battalion level, there would be at least one or two infected. If unlucky, it could be five or six. And that tiny minority would multiply their 'kind' dozens of times over within 10 minutes. It was impossible to stop. The great U.S. military, the Chinese military with its overwhelming numbers—there was a reason why they all fell into disarray. There was a reason why the government functions of almost every country on Earth collapsed in just a month or two.
"......"
Jun-ho stared at the screen with intensity, as if he didn't want to miss a single thing. He saw the convenience store clerk, having finished his mutation, pounce on and bite a resident who had passed by. Soon, people flocked to the scene, and the convenience store clerk and those bitten by him threw themselves like beasts to attack others. Residents fled in all directions in an instant. A few brave individuals stepped forward with sticks, chairs, and fire extinguishers, but the monsters, who felt neither pain nor fear, continued their attacks without hesitation. Similar scenes began on the other two CCTV feeds installed at the high-rise apartment complex. A car driving along suddenly slammed on its brakes, causing a pile-up with two cars following behind. The driver of the car that caused the accident emerged with grotesque movements, and just as he seemed to collapse, he suddenly rose and pounced on the person closest to him.
"......"
Jun-ho clenched his fists, imprinting every single sight into his eyes. He had no intention of watching other broadcasts on terrestrial or cable TV. In any case, anchors in a panic would be screaming on every channel, and some would soon go off the air. Therefore, he had to focus only on Gahyeon-ri, where the people he would live with for the next few years—sometimes cooperating, sometimes supporting, and sometimes resolutely 'executing'—lived.
"Sob... sob..."
Amidst Baek Su-ah's low sobbing, everyone had gathered in the living room again, and as expected, not a single person had mutated. They all wore expressions of utter despair. It was only natural, as they had all been watching the Gahyeon-ri CCTV feed for the entire hour on the TVs installed in their rooms.
"S-sister... stop crying. Sister..."
When Baek Su-ho hugged Baek Su-ah's shoulders, she, who had always been strict with her younger brother, buried herself in his embrace.
"Waaaah! What are we going to do... what are we going to do now..."
"What do you mean, what are we going to do? We have to survive."
Yun Yeong-su said quietly. Because he rarely came out of the control room, no one except Jun-ho knew him well. Even Baek Ha-il, who had seen him the most, only knew him as a shut-in who was a bit strange but did his job reliably. However, Jun-ho knew Yun Yeong-su well from his experience before the regression. Therefore, Jun-ho nodded inwardly as he watched Yun Yeong-su, who was doing the work Jun-ho would have otherwise had to do himself.
"You all checked the CCTV in your rooms, right? Korea is screwed. No, it's being screwed right now, and the whole world will probably end up like this. The news, NewTube, it's all chaos."
Saying that, Yun Yeong-su took out a small tablet and said to Jun-ho.
"I'm sorry, Boss, but I secretly hid this and brought it into the room. Oh, I didn't contact anyone else at all."
"Yes, that's fine."
Jun-ho didn't mind, as it was exactly what he expected of the Yun Yeong-su he knew.
"Japan is being screwed too. China, Taiwan, and the Philippines started a little while ago. And right now, our country doesn't even know how many people have turned into zombies or how many have died. Even the news doesn't know what the President and the government are doing. Well, if it's that bastard Yang Jin-cheol, he's probably still sleeping in the official residence. Anyway."
Yun Yeong-su looked around at everyone, then stopped his gaze on Jun-ho and continued.
"I don't know about the others. But I think you're the one who saved us, Boss. Well, I think I know why I'm at this pension, but I don't really know either. Anyway, Boss."
"Yes, go ahead."
"Thank you so much. I have a lot of questions, so I think I'll be asking a lot later... anyway, I'm loyal, loyal to you."
Jun-ho nodded to Yun Yeong-su, who was habitually pushing up his horn-rimmed glasses.
"Yes. Now, everyone..."
"Oh?"
Just as he was about to continue, Jun-ho narrowed his eyes. Everyone's gaze turned to the TV screen Jun-ho was watching. The CCTV feed of the two safe houses, the apartment and the villa, was still being displayed in a split-screen.
"That is..."
Jun-ho focused on the CCTV screen for the villa. An adult male holding a child and a middle-school-aged girl were running while holding the hand of a small boy. Behind the four of them, a dozen people—no, zombies—were in pursuit.