The Cracks in the World
Awakening. Kim Sehee. I was checking on the people with Jang Yeeun. This time, it was the 13th floor. The hallway was dark and quiet, but the whispers and cautious movements coming from inside the rooms betrayed the presence of survivors. When I knocked on a door, a small voice drifted from the other side. "Who is it...? Are you... are you okay?"
"It's Jang Yeeun. If you're safe, please stay inside. The hallway is dangerous right now."
From inside the room, I heard the hurried sound of furniture being pushed against the door to barricade it. Their reaction wasn't one of relief, but of mounting fear. "Understood... please, stay safe..."
Sensing movement from another door, I heard the sound of it being opened cautiously. A hunched-over grandmother poked her head through the gap. "Yeeun, there are kids upstairs... they'll be okay, right? You told them not to come out into the hallway, didn't you?"
"Yes, Grandmother. Please, do not come out under any circumstances, and make sure the door is locked tight. Once things settle down, I will definitely come back to check on you."
With trembling hands, the grandmother closed the door, whispering a small prayer. Everything seemed to be proceeding with a calm, routine air. But that was when it happened. A scream from the floor above tore through the silence of the apartment complex.
"AAAAAAAAAAH!!!"
Jang Yeeun jumped, startled, and shouted, "...Everyone, get inside! Right now!"
The few people who had been lingering in the hallway screamed and scrambled back into their rooms. The sound of doors slamming shut echoed one after another, and the hallway fell into silence once more. Jang Yeeun looked at the rope tied around my wrist and said briefly, "I'm sorry, but I'm going to cut this."
"Are you still worried about something like that?"
She severed the rope with ease. Before I could even check my freed hands, she quickly drew her bow from behind her back. "We're going up."
With those short words, we headed for the stairs. But at that moment, a massive impact shook the barricade. Bang! Bang!
"...Damn it! The noise is too loud!"
I gritted my teeth. Zombies are sensitive to sound! But we had to go upstairs. The screams and noises coming from above were a far greater threat. We held our breath and climbed the stairs. When we reached the floor above, a faint light illuminated the hallway. And under that light, I saw a moving shape.
A person...? No. In the darkness, it was crouched on the floor, devouring something. The sound of torn flesh, sticky blood, and crushing bones made my entire body crawl.
"...That is..."
Before my voice could even trail off, Jang Yeeun pulled back her bowstring. "Stay still."
Jang Yeeun can see in the dark. I had set her up to have excellent eyesight and night vision so that I could frequently include scenes of her shooting her bow. With eyes that shone even in the darkness, she was glaring at the creature. After a moment of silence, her arrow sliced through the air.
Thwack!
The arrow pierced the monster's head with precision. "It's taken care of," she said, but there was no time to be relieved. Before the sound of the head-pierced zombie collapsing could even fade, I heard something moving on the floor above. Bang, bang, bang!
"...Damn it!"
"There are more upstairs!"
My body was already exhausted, but I couldn't stop. Even as we climbed, a question kept piercing my mind. Why? Why were infected people continuing to appear? It wasn't time for the infected to emerge yet. I knew for a fact that the infected were supposed to start appearing only tomorrow. But then...
"...Ah, no way!"
The puzzle pieces in my head clicked into place. They didn't become zombies tomorrow; they had become zombies today, and were only being discovered tomorrow! If that was the case... my arrival here, changing the movement patterns of the people, had become the problem! A chill ran down my spine. The way I had entered the password for room 1102 earlier, and my reckless movements now... I had been too hasty. I forget too easily. I am nothing more than an ordinary girl who happens to know a little bit more. Just because I knew a little more about zombies and this survival environment, I had been acting as if I could control everything.
I gritted my teeth and bit my nails. Stop. If I keep this up, I'll cause an even bigger problem. At that moment, Jang Yeeun—no, the woman I now had to call 'Captain'—drew her bow. *Tak.* The arrow flew, slicing through the air. A zombie was knocked backward and collapsed to the floor. But she was already in a state unlike her usual self. Her shoulders were stiff with tension, and her fingertips were trembling. I reached out and took her hand. It was freezing cold.
"...Upstairs... the kids... the kids are gathered there."
No sooner had she finished speaking than she bolted toward the floor above. "Wait, Jang Yeeun! It's dangerous!"
But no matter how fast I ran, it was already too late. The moment we stepped into the hallway, it was a nightmare. The floor was soaked in blood, and the stench of iron stung my nose. The door was wide open, and inside, motionless figures lay sprawled out. As Jang Yeeun was about to step into the pool of blood, I instinctively grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back.
"Don't!"
She turned to look at me, startled. In that moment, I faced her head-on. Tears were streaming down Jang Yeeun's face. Her expression was filled with guilt, bewilderment, and an indescribable, deep sorrow. "I... I should have come faster. The children here..."
But now... I shook my head, steeling my heart. "Jang Yeeun, pull yourself together! It's not over yet!"
She nodded, not even bothering to wipe away her tears. A small shadow appeared on the other side. It was a child. A small frame, a slow, swaying gait. I couldn't see clearly, but the child opened its mouth with difficulty. "Help... me..."
"It's a living child!"
At that moment, I squinted and looked at the child. And under the moonlight, the child's side was exposed. There was a large, gaping wound there, mixed with blood. It was torn so deeply that the bone was visible. "No!"
I quickly grabbed a kitchen knife and threw it. The blade spun through the air and embedded itself into the child's head in an instant. My arm felt like it was going to pop out of its socket. *Thwack!* The zombie toppled backward. Thankfully, because it was a child's body, the bones were weak. Even if their physical abilities were extraordinary, it didn't mean their hardware had changed.
"What are you doing!"
Without hesitation, I slapped Jang Yeeun across the cheek. "Get a grip! Don't you see that kid's side was already torn to shreds?"
Only then did her pupils tremble. The dazed expression began to recognize reality. "...I'm sorry."
But the situation turned even more horrific. "What about the people on the rooftop—" Before she could finish, two human shapes dropped from the passage leading to the roof. "...!"
They hit the floor and stood up in grotesque postures. Soon after, another shape fell from above. This one landed face-first. *Splat.* The thing that hit the floor made a sound like a skull being crushed. But they all began to move. Jang Yeeun quickly raised her bow and pierced the heads of two of them. *Thwack! Thwack!* However, the last one charged straight at us. I stepped to the side and raised my handbag, striking the creature's head. "Damn it!"
The impact made it stagger for a moment, but its strength was beyond my imagination. With the strength of someone whose limiter had been removed, my underweight body couldn't handle it. In that moment, I locked eyes with it. Empty, emotionless eyes. But the instinct contained within them was clearly visible.
"...Ah..."
I froze in terror. That was when Jang Yeeun shoved me back hard and shouted, "Get back!"
I fell and rolled on the ground. Jang Yeeun pulled out a knife and charged at the zombie. "Die!" She grabbed the zombie by the neck and aimed for its head, but the creature suddenly twisted and shook her off. She lost her balance and stumbled for a moment, but she quickly regained her footing and drove the knife in with all her might. *Fwip.* Blood sprayed along the blade. Jang Yeeun caught her breath and looked back at me. "Sehee, are you okay?"
Looking at her, I finally realized that my own body was unharmed. "...I'm okay."
Fear threatened to swallow me whole. I had almost died. "...Damn it." But no matter how much I muttered, my trembling hands and cold sweat wouldn't stop, and I could feel my fingertips turning ice-cold. Get a grip. But those words weren't enough. I raised both hands and slapped my cheeks as hard as I could. *Get a grip!* Once. Twice. My cheeks burned with a stinging, hot pain. Tears welled up, but I raised my hands again and struck myself hard. *Get a grip!* This... this is reality!
My clenched fists trembled. I gasped for air and continued. This is reality. It's not just a novel, and it's not a dream I can wake up from. To survive here... I took a deep breath, bowed my head, and looked up again. ...To survive here, I have to keep my head together. The self-suggestion was effective. The chaotic noise in my head gradually subsided. The trembling in my fingertips also settled down bit by bit. I looked around. Jang Yeeun was still standing on the stairs, bow at the ready. "I'm sorry. I'm okay now."
Jang Yeeun nodded, but, "...Are you ready? We have to act before it's too late."
"Yes. Let's go."
But at that moment. The faint sound coming from below began to change. Bang, bang, bang. ...And it became an increasingly ominous sound. *Creak. Crunch.* The sound of metal on the stairs being torn and collapsing. And the wails of the monsters rang out horribly, like metal being scraped. I locked eyes with Jang Yeeun. "...Stairwell 1."
We realized it at the same time. "...They're breaking through."