Welcome My Lab (3)
A lymph node that had been out for six hours was essentially garbage. That meant if I wanted to use them, I had to rip them out of a freshly killed zombie. It was a hassle. Still, I couldn't complain. Above all, the fact that they lasted for six hours was a relief. If it had only been six minutes, they would have been useless—or at least, the applications would have been extremely limited.
But I couldn't blindly trust that six-hour window yet. The data I’d gathered so far was extremely biased. To put it bluntly, another zombie’s lymph node might expire in just six minutes. I needed more experiments and data to determine the average and the minimum values.
Zombie 3 and the two women. It was a waste, but I had to use them. Securing stability was the priority right now.
I killed Zombie 3 and secured its lymph node. Then, I turned Woman 1 into a zombie. I didn't really need sleep gas or a taser; I could easily overpower a single woman with brute force. I subdued her, bound her, and laid her out on the operating table. She screamed, but soon, the tape over her mouth made even that impossible. Then, I forced the zombie mucus into her nose. The mutation began immediately. Thus, Zombie 4 was created.
I repeated the same experiment. I placed Zombie 4 and the remaining woman together to see how long the effect lasted. Five and a half hours. It was roughly the same amount of time. At least it didn't seem like the duration would suddenly drop to, say, one hour. Still, you never knew. It might depend on the size of the lymph node. If so, the duration could be shorter for children or women, as they likely wouldn't have the same lymph node size as an adult male.
Now, only Zombie 4 and one woman remained. I had no lymph nodes left. The fortunate thing was that even if I killed Zombie 4, I could turn that woman into a zombie whenever I wanted. Then...
I needed to test something else. I locked the woman back up and looked at Zombie 4. A zombie that used to be a woman. Even though she was naked, I felt nothing. Only disgust. I remembered reading stories on internet communities about "zombie-fuckers" as a joke. I wanted to show those guys this. "Can you fuck this?" I wanted to ask. "Is that even possible?"
No, wait. If I thought about it, wouldn't this world be a paradise for necrophiliacs? Wouldn't those guys turn perfectly fine women into zombies? And then fuck them to their heart's content? Ah, I felt sick. Why did I even think of that? Having a vivid imagination was a poison in its own way.
Anyway, disgusted and horrified as I was, I grabbed Zombie 4 by the shoulder. Since I didn't have a lymph node, Zombie 4 thrashed like a madwoman the moment I touched her. Not that she could move much anyway.
It was a dilemma. Should I extract the lymph node? If I did, I’d have to turn that woman into a zombie. Now wasn't the time to be stingy. I had to learn as much as I could. So, I resumed the experiment. I overpowered Woman 2, laid her on the table, and turned her into a zombie. Then, I smashed Zombie 4’s neck with an axe to extract the lymph node.
With the lymph node in my possession, Zombie 5 showed no reaction even when she saw me. That was already proven, so it was expected. But what about physical contact? Even when I touched her, there was no reaction. She still seemed to ignore me. I wondered if she would suddenly have a seizure, but there was no sign of that either.
I decided to take a small gamble. Since Zombie 5 was a woman, I could subdue her again if there was a problem. I left the tape on her mouth and the bindings on her arms, but I untied the restraints on her legs and torso. When I kicked the operating table, Zombie 5 tumbled to the floor with a thud. Because her arms were tied, it was hard for her to get up. Still, she thrashed about and eventually managed to stand. She looked incredibly unstable. That was the state of Zombie 5. And, as if to prove my point, she wobbled and fell over again.
Ugh. How is this an experiment? Why can't she even stand?
Anyway, I waited until she got up again. Once she was standing properly, I approached her. Naturally, Zombie 5 ignored me. That was already known, so it meant nothing. I stepped back and approached her again, this time holding a metal bat. Still, no reaction. Even with a weapon-like object, she didn't care. I expected that, so it was fine.
I poked Zombie 5’s shoulder with the tip of the bat. She staggered and fell. She thrashed on the ground again. Even then, Zombie 5 showed no reaction toward me. No hostility, no intent to attack. She simply ignored me completely.
I stepped back, put the lymph node away, and approached her again. She immediately looked at me and lunged forward frantically. And then she fell again. Even in that fallen state, Zombie 5 thrashed about, trying to attack me. Even with her mouth taped and arms bound. She looked like she just wanted to get close to me, even if it meant nothing.
When I held the lymph node again, that behavior vanished. She ignored me once more. She tried to get up. When she stood, I struck her hard enough to make a loud thwack. Still, no reaction. She ignored me, showing not a shred of interest.
It was funny. It felt like she was doing it on purpose. I even wondered if it was all an act. Was she trying to make me let my guard down to look for an opening? If I untied her arms and mouth and continued the experiment... would she suddenly stop ignoring me and lunge? The reason I had such suspicions was obvious. Those zombies had pulled a trigger. It meant they knew a gun was a weapon. But why were these zombies like this? Was it the memories left in their brains? Their professions when they were alive? Habits ingrained in their bodies? I couldn't know.
I just needed to set my lower limit at "zombies can use guns." I continued experimenting with the zombie until the lymph node's effect wore off. The conclusion I reached was one thing: as long as I had the lymph node, the zombie wouldn't attack even if I smashed its head in right next to it.
Zombie 5 was still lying on the floor, twitching while tied up. Zombies were great for this. They didn't die even like this. That meant Zombie 5 was still functioning properly as a lymph node storage container. A storage container I could use whenever I wanted. A biological refrigerator that kept the contents fresh until then.
Would they stay alive even if I cut off their limbs? Would it be more convenient to store them that way? Maybe I could put them in metal containers and carry them around? Then, if I needed one, I could just kill it and take it out.
The problem was that I didn't know how long a zombie could last without eating anything. Zombies weren't immortal. They died, too. Did that mean their digestive systems were still intact? How did they absorb nutrients? Cannibalism must have been an act to obtain nutrients.
For now, I cleared out Zombie 5 and cleaned the lab thoroughly. I had no lymph nodes left. Just one zombie. I needed a human. I needed someone to cooperate with my experiments. Even if it meant using up food, it was better to have someone I could turn into a zombie at any time. That way, I could use them when I needed to.
The problem was that I couldn't trust people. I had a lot of things, and I was weak. So, it was easier to think of all living humans as enemies eyeing my possessions. Even if I told myself they wouldn't, as long as there was a chance they might, trusting anyone completely was impossible.
Should I just capture and lock them up? Like livestock? If I’d known this, I would have built a prison. No, wait. I couldn't have built one anyway. If an individual built something like that at home, the construction company would have been suspicious. Could I have made an excuse that it was for "SM play"? Then they would have looked at me like an even bigger freak.
I knew how annoying it was to keep two police officers and two women tied up. Keeping them bound like that was hard. They would die before three days passed. And I couldn't feed them or clean up their excrement at every mealtime.
Should I resort to the time-honored, effective tradition of hostage-taking? If I had hostages, I could control people. Exactly how I wanted. Exactly as I ordered. But that wasn't perfect either. If they gave up on the hostages and just charged in, there was no answer. If they decided they’d rather die than suffer, there was no answer.
In the end, I was alone. I had to do everything by myself. So, locking them up just enough to ensure minimal survival was the right way.
Suddenly, I wondered where that bastard Baek Jin-ho was and what he was doing. Was he alive? Was he living in luxury in the kingdom he’d built for himself? I wanted to check. Since I had the satellite phone, I should be able to at least confirm whether he was alive or not.
But I couldn't turn the phone on here. I didn't know if he could track my location, and he might already know where I was, but I couldn't take that risk. Hmm. So, I had to go out at least once. I’d leave this place and turn the phone on as far away as possible. It would be best to go all the way to the studio apartment where I used to live, but that would be impossible now.
I cleaned up neatly and washed my body thoroughly. Then, I operated the drone to scan the surroundings. I confirmed there were no immediate threats. I didn't need to go that far anyway. Just being in a completely different location would be enough.
As soon as the sun set, I got in the car and headed out. I followed the route I’d checked earlier, moving far away from my base. It was at least comfortable to have the thermal camera attached to the drone running in front of me. It was much better to have something like this than to just crawl through the darkness with my bare eyes. I didn't know why I hadn't done this last time.
After I’d traveled a fair distance, I finally inserted the battery into the satellite phone and turned it on. I pressed the number stored inside and made the call. A different ringtone than a regular phone. But there was no response. I waited for a long time, but the other side didn't pick up.
This was unexpected. No connection? Don't tell me those guys, who had prepared so much, couldn't do anything and all died? Well, they didn't know exactly what would happen or how. I hadn't told them that much.
I hung up the satellite phone and took the battery out again. Sigh. I didn't think that bastard Baek Jin-ho would die so easily. I wouldn't worry about it for a while. For now, I’d just continue my experiments. Still, it was disappointing. If I caught a disease like this, who would treat me?