The Burning Lure
Jang Yeeun’s plan. It was, quite frankly, an absurd one. She wanted to burn down the entire PC cafe located right in front of the church. Of course, PC cafes are packed with items that can explode, like lithium batteries and electrical equipment. She meant to use those to create a "deafening roar" to lure the infected.
“But Yeeun, wouldn’t the person who sets the fire be in danger?” That was the biggest drawback of this plan. “The person who ignites it would end up trapped between the fire and the infected.”
Jang Yeeun listened to me, chewed on a Calorie Mate with a relaxed expression, and tilted her head slightly. “…I’m planning to shoot a fire arrow.”
“A fire arrow? You’re going to shoot a fire arrow?”
“Yes. I’m confident I can do it.”
“But what about your shoulder? Do you really think you can draw a bow in that state?”
At that, Jang Yeeun forced her shoulder up, gritting her teeth. “I’ll endure it.”
Jang Yeeun’s face was twisted in pain, but her eyes held the gaze of someone who would never give up. “Then, let’s head to the PC cafe for now.”
It was best to move as quickly as possible. Time was not on our side. But at that moment, Jang Yeeun grabbed my arm. “…Let’s rest for a moment.”
“We don’t have the time.”
However, Jang Yeeun was firm. “It will be much better to move after we’ve rested properly. Above all…” She suddenly pulled me toward her, and as my posture faltered, my face landed right on her lap.
“…What are you doing?”
“Do you know how messy your face looks right now, Sehee?”
“…You know we don’t have time for this.”
Jang Yeeun hesitated for a moment, then answered slowly, yet gently. “…But it’s obvious you haven’t even been able to sleep properly.”
She held my head in place on her lap and raised her hand to stroke my hair, as if soothing me. At that moment, I felt my body and mind, which had been stiff with tension, loosen, if only for a second.
“Still, right now…”
Jang Yeeun shook her head and covered my mouth. “No, right now, for this moment, you must rest. That is what we both need more.”
In the end, I couldn’t say anything more. A moment later, I felt the sharp nerves that had been buried deep within my body gradually soften every time her touch reached my head. That touch felt as if it were quietly lulling the filthy desires that had been writhing inside me to sleep. Those desires—the craving for blood, the instinct to break and tear something apart, the monster-like version of myself.
I must have been too tense. The urgent situation, the constant running, and the fear and anger growing inside me. All of it subsided for a moment under her touch. But I knew it was only temporary...
At that moment, Jang Yeeun looked down at me and smiled faintly. “…Sehee, your cheeks are so cold.”
That remark sounded so light, but it made me realize something in an instant. I came to my senses. I… was a zombie now. I wasn’t human. She said my cheeks were cold. And at those words, I naturally accepted the "realization that I was not human."
My heart was no longer hot, and my fingertips were no longer warm. Her touch and her blood had merely suppressed the desires within me for a moment; it didn’t make me human again. I was slowly drifting away from this world.
I couldn’t escape the thought that I had to "use" Jang Yeeun. But at the same time, the guilt of needing to use her weighed me down. If I told her about her antibodies, what if an unforeseen situation occurred that I couldn’t control? The terror that everything would end in that moment was consuming me.
That was why I had to act. I mimicked a smile with my facial muscles, which were already sluggish and stiff. All I could do was make her feel at ease.
I raised my cold hand and carefully stroked her warm cheek. The difference in temperature was so vivid. My cold hand and her warm skin. Yet, I acted. I infused my voice with softness.
“Jang Yeeun… your cheeks are so warm.”
There was a hint of envy in those words. She was still alive. She was still warm, still human. But I realized, feeling that warmth, that I could no longer possess it.
Her blood. The antibodies in that blood. Do I need to consume it periodically? Or is it some kind of one-time effect? What if I don’t consume it? Will my body gradually turn into a mindless zombie? If so, will I eventually lose my humanity completely?
That thought felt like it was gnawing at my reason, so I decided not to think about it anymore. Now was not the time to find answers to all those questions. I hadn’t eaten in a long time, but I wasn’t hungry. That fact made me even more depressed. My body was gradually losing its human needs, drifting further away from the sensation of being a person. Yet, I wanted to live. The contradictory desire to do whatever it takes to survive weighed me down. Now, I have to swallow this feeling all alone.
After the bloodshot look in my eyes faded a little, I was able to get up from Jang Yeeun’s lap. Since the stress had subsided somewhat, and because Jang Yeeun was still having a hard time moving vigorously, I decided to go to the PC cafe, while Jang Yeeun would provide cover from the rear in case of an emergency.
My role was to gather things that were easy to burn. Fortunately, the building’s entrance was open. The traces of it not having been blocked or entered by anyone waited for me like a vast, empty space. But the inside of the building was a mess. Perhaps it was the chaos left behind by the infected rushing out in a hurry, or people fleeing.
Overturned chairs, broken pieces of monitors, and discarded trash were scattered across the floor, and a foul odor was wafting from the refrigerators where the electricity had been cut off. The smell piercing my nostrils was no longer the smell of ordinary daily life. However, I looked away. Amidst it all, the canned drinks were intact. Since the lukewarm canned drinks remained inside the refrigerator, I quietly gathered a few of them. I had been a burden to Jang Yeeun… would she be happy if I did at least this much for her?
Next, I began to gather the flammable items and computer equipment. I piled up computer towers, keyboards, and anything that looked like it would catch fire easily and lightly. My fingertips trembled, but I didn’t stop. The fact that Jang Yeeun was watching over me from behind was the only thing barely holding my sanity together.
Looks like I’ve gathered enough. After finishing the preparations, I left the window open. Everything I had piled inside—the tissues, the butane gas, the flammable items—would now become the trap that would buy us time to escape. Of course, I also grabbed a few things we could use in the process. Canned drinks and a few bags of ramen; they were small things, but it was quite a fruitful search in this hellish situation.
Carefully observing the outside, the zombies were still far away. I could pinpoint their location through the hellish, growling sounds they made. Thanks to my heightened hearing, unfortunately. I ran quietly toward the church. In the distance, Jang Yeeun was holding her bow and looking in my direction. While her gaze followed me, I arrived at the church and handed her a Pepsi Zero Lime.
“I picked it up on the way.”
Jang Yeeun accepted it with a smirk. I pointed to the PC cafe window. “You just need to hit it through that window.” Then I took out the roll of toilet paper and the lighter I had brought.
“I don’t expect to succeed with the fire arrow on the first try. We’re amateurs, after all. But… if we try a few times, one of them will succeed.”
Jang Yeeun nodded at my words and slowly raised her bow. Her fingertips were trembling slightly. There were 20 arrows in the quiver. If she didn’t succeed within 20 shots, this plan was a failure.
Jang Yeeun aimed her bow and made her first attempt.
Whoosh!
The fire arrow flew, but it missed the window and hit the wall. She quickly prepared the second arrow. It seemed she had aimed more accurately this time, but the fire arrow bounced off the edge of the window and fell to the ground. Jang Yeeun gritted her teeth and steadied her shaking hands.
“…The third one will definitely go in.”
The third attempt. She caught her breath for a moment and drew the bowstring. Fine smoke was rising from the tip of the soot-stained fire arrow.
Whoosh!
The arrow cut through the air. And finally, the fire arrow passed accurately through the window and entered the PC cafe. At first, it was quiet. But soon, I could see flames gradually rising from inside. The fire swallowed the pile of tissues and butane gas, spreading into a massive blaze.
At that moment, BOOM!
An explosion rang out, flames burst out of the window, and the PC cafe turned into a burning hell. Instinctively, I covered my ears. The explosion was too loud, and my body, with its heightened hearing, reacted to the noise, causing me to tremble all over. But the infected I had seen in the distance began to swarm toward the burning PC cafe one by one. They were moving, drawn by the noise and the flames, making growling sounds.
“That’s it! Now is the time. Run, quickly!”