Are You Bitten?
I managed to rappel down from the 7th floor and, after much struggling, hauled myself back up to the 8th. By the time I reached the 8th floor, I was breathless and my entire body ached. Though the family members who had turned into zombies had fallen from the building, I had no intention of staying here long. Anxious memories simply flickered through my mind.
In the story I wrote, the "zombies" were merely secondary; the true enemy was the zombie virus itself. The zombies were just the vessels of the infected, and that virus was the real monster I had to avoid. By now, the virus would be secreting from the zombies' bodily fluids. The very "space" where the zombies had lingered was contaminated with the virus. What if it entered through a wound? Or if I made a mistake and got pricked by their fluids... Death would arrive in that very instant. One slip, and I would become one of those monsters.
Fortunately, my platform boots—the ones they call menhera boots—clutched my ankles tightly, so there was no risk of dying from stepping on broken glass. "Still, this is better than I thought..."
Just then, I spotted the AirPods I had tossed toward the 8th floor. Luckily, they had landed on the side opposite the shattered window, and seeing the light glinting from behind them, I realized... oh, they were fine. I should pack them away; I might be able to use them for something like this again.
I reached out with my gloved hand, fumbled to put the AirPods back in their case, and headed straight for the 9th floor. Upon reaching it, the traces of someone who had fled were evident. Furniture was scattered, and objects were rolling across the floor. The door was tightly shut. A textbook example of a cautious Korean. To think they’d even bothered to lock the door in such a state.
But there was another problem. "They even closed the window, you damn fool..."
In the original work, the protagonist smashes the door with a hammer, but that method was impossible for me. I had no hammer, and I had no strength. No, really, I just don't have any. It wasn't like I could pry the window open with my fingernails, either.
I pulled a kitchen knife and a wire from my bag. Carefully, I wrapped the wire around the knife and pushed it through the gap in the window. "Got it..."
Little by little, I began to push the handle. This was only possible in an old apartment complex; modern ones aren't built so sloppily. As the tip of the wire gradually slid under the handle, the door began to creak open. Once I finally stepped inside, I gripped the kitchen knife and began rummaging through the room's contents one by one. Carrying the rope alone was heavy and cumbersome enough, and even after cutting it to a manageable length, it was still quite a burden.
"I'll have to retrieve it when I go down later..."
Carrying the full 20-meter rope was impossible. The most important thing on this floor was, without a doubt, the radio. Since modern smartphones had dropped their DMB functionality... just being able to hear news of the world through a radio was a huge asset. There were high-end items left in the room. The owner must have been quite elderly. "You've probably become a zombie by now..."
I offered a silent prayer for the deceased, paid my respects in my heart, and quietly borrowed the radio sitting in the room. After checking that the front door was locked tight, I took off my boots. The hallway on the 9th floor was also crawling with zombies. Walking in boots would make too much noise. I adjusted each step with extreme care, ensuring I didn't shatter the quiet air of the room.
Just then, a loud noise erupted from the 10th floor. It sounded as if someone had fallen straight from the 11th floor to the 10th. "What is that?"
Along with the sound of shattering glass, I heard the noise of zombies clawing at the iron door. As the sound grew more intense and the threat felt more palpable, I gripped my kitchen knife and cautiously retreated into the room. While I was hiding and observing the living room situation, something flew in quickly from the balcony. And something was thrown onto the floor.
...It was an arrow.
...It’s Jang Yeeun.
I approached the note cautiously. ...The protagonist was a woman crazy enough to survive even if the world ended. You never knew what might happen. The moment I grabbed the arrow, "...Found you!"
I saw a woman on the 10th floor. A woman with a ponytail and a vibrant expression—Jang Yeeun. "...Would you mind putting down the kitchen knife before we talk?"
I was startled and quickly shoved the knife into my bag. "...I came to save you!"
"...Keep your voice down!"
At that moment, the sound of zombies scratching at the 10th-floor iron door reached us. As the sound drew closer, we both held our breath in tension. Jang Yeeun seemed to realize the situation, too. "I understand..."
And... thinking it was a relief, I took her hand. In that instant, Jang Yeeun pulled me from the 9th floor to the 10th in one go with a strength I couldn't believe a woman possessed. "Oh, oh?"
Startled, I instinctively linked my arm with hers. The moment I stepped onto the 10th floor, I saw a hook attached to Jang Yeeun's back. The line was descending from the 11th floor, and from the 11th-floor balcony, several people were watching us. I felt a bit embarrassed and shook my head, grabbing her hand to pull her close, but she didn't stop; she gripped my hand tightly and pulled me up with one arm.
"This line is sturdy, so hold on tight."
In that moment, I could feel her faint scent, the sound of her heartbeat, and her muscular frame through her clothes. And right then, Jang Yeeun jumped from the 10th-floor balcony and caught the 11th-floor balcony. ...Truly monstrous strength.
People on the 11th floor began to pull her up, and drawn by that force, we arrived on the 11th floor. A dozen or so people were crowded onto the balcony. And I was still being held by Jang Yeeun. The intense energy clinging to her body and her constantly racing heartbeat still lingered within me, and strangely, I felt a sense of stability in her arms. As if I were safe from all the dangers of the world, my body began to relax, and my breathing deepened naturally.
I felt a slight stinging sensation in my left wrist, but I tried to ignore it, thinking it was nothing. I brushed off the small pain and looked around while standing up. It felt as if time had stopped. The situation had been so chaotic with so many things happening at once, but I greeted them with the calmest voice I could muster, looking at each of their faces one by one. "Hello?"
But the reaction was unexpectedly cold. The dozen or so people began to back away, gasping. "Why are you doing that?" I asked, bewildered, but Jang Yeeun’s eyes suddenly widened in shock. Her gaze shifted to my left wrist, and her face stiffened as if she had discovered blood flowing from it.
"That... what is that? Everyone, get out!"
The people began to file out as if bewitched by her command. Why are they acting like that? In that instant, Jang Yeeun moved behind me in a flash. My body was instantly subdued with unexpected speed. Her hands clamped down firmly on my wrists, and she pressed her elbow against my back, pinning me down with ease. My feet left the ground, and my body swayed. My heart rate spiked rapidly.
"What are you doing?!"
Even so, Jang Yeeun ignored my voice and continued to pin me down with force. My waist was pressed by her elbow, and the pressure from her wrists grew increasingly intense. I twisted my body for a moment, but her strength was beyond imagination. Feeling the overwhelming pressure as if she were controlling me like an object, my body eventually collapsed to the floor. My face hit the hard ground, and a sharp shock radiated from my forehead and nose. She kept my upper body pinned and pressed down hard on my left arm.
"Ugh!"
I twisted my body in unbearable pain, and only then did I realize something was wrong. At that moment, I saw the blood seeping from the bandage wrapped around my left wrist and finally understood. Because of the violent movement earlier, the wound had reopened and was bleeding. Watching the red liquid slide down my skin, I felt my whole body turn cold. And then, Jang Yeeun stared silently at my left wrist. Unlike a moment ago, her expression was cold and emotionless, as if devoid of feeling.
A strangely chilling sensation washed over me. What if this wound was a bite mark from a zombie? Then I... If this wound was truly from a zombie bite, I would have died instantly. Jang Yeeun was someone with enough strength to pose such a risk. And the decisiveness, too. But it was nothing more than a trace of self-harm. Damn the owner of this body. Because of you, I’m being suspected for no reason.
And then, her right hand quickly pulled away from my body. Even so, she kept her knee pressed against my back, making it impossible to move. She calmly reached into her clothes, and with a metallic click, she pulled out a knife. The sharp glint of the metal caught the light and entered my vision.
"...Are you bitten?"