Chapter 27 - There's No Law Saying We Have to Die
Kim Jun and Eun Ji were locked in a tense standoff.
She stood with her arms spread wide, telling him to shoot her anytime, waiting with eerie calm. A single minute stretched out like an hour, and through it all, Eun Ji was smiling.
All while the cold muzzle of a shotgun remained trained on her forehead, ready to blow her brains out the instant she showed any suspicious behavior, her eyes rolled back, or any zombie-like tendencies appeared.
It was an incredible stroke of luck that there were no zombies in the area right now.
As the two of them remained like that, a creature slowly revealed itself behind Eun Ji.
It was a wild dog. It had been cautiously drinking from the flowing river when it spotted Kim Jun and flinched in surprise.
“...”
Kim Jun pulled the trigger without hesitation.
“!!!”
Yelp!
He had deliberately fired near the wild dog by the water’s edge. A spray of water exploded upward, and the dog bolted away with its tail tucked between its legs.
“Whew...”
Kim Jun lowered the shotgun and looked at Eun Ji. Her eyes were closed, her body braced as if ready to throw her life away at any second. A single tear glistened at the corner of her eye.
“...Let’s go home.”
“...”
When Kim Jun lowered the gun and called out to her, Eun Ji followed without a word. They gathered up the supplies scattered around the vehicle one by one and prepared to head back.
They could have done more looting given the time, but he decided to skip it today. Besides, they had already secured roughly forty to fifty liters of bottled water and gathered a massive amount of food. The camper was now well-stocked.
The chance that Eun Ji had been infected was dropping by the minute. She sat quietly in the partitioned passenger seat.
He had lost his temper earlier and cursed her out, but the atmosphere on the drive back couldn’t stay this awkward.
“Say something. Anything.”
Kim Jun spoke to Eun Ji, the woman who had been ready to throw her life away and call it a sacrifice. Until the outbreak, she had been his number-one favorite idol. Now she was a walking time bomb who might go off at any moment, yet also a coworker living under the same roof.
Was this her way of offering her life if not her body?
Whatever the case, Kim Jun let out a sigh and lit a cigarette.
Eun Ji slowly opened her mouth.
“I’ve been thinking while watching the wild animals drink from the river since earlier.”
“...”
“If animals drank the water and became infected, they should have charged at us. But they ran the moment they sensed us. Maybe there’s no infection to begin with.”
“What if a zombie corpse had fallen in there at exactly the wrong time?”
“It’s already been nearly three months since the zombies appeared and the world stopped… Any corpses that were going to fall in would have done so by now.”
“That’s even more dangerous logic.”
“That’s why I told you to shoot me.”
“Whew...”
Kim Jun recalled chasing off the wild animal earlier. He had fired near it as a warning shot, and the fact that it fled immediately told him animals weren’t getting infected—or at least that the virus didn’t spread through river water. It was one solid piece of information.
He felt slightly relieved, but the incident had still been far too close for comfort.
“Don’t ever pull that shit again.”
“Understood.”
“Do you have any idea how badly you scared me? I’m sorry for cursing at you.”
When Kim Jun apologized first, Eun Ji bowed her head toward him. Still, she continued talking about what had happened when she scooped up and drank the river water.
“The water was cleaner than Cheonggyecheon. There were quite a few big fish in the area—crucian carp, carp, that sort of thing.”
“River fish are fishy and gross.”
“I can make absolutely delicious steamed crucian carp. All I need is some aged kimchi and radish—”
Seeing Eun Ji crack her first joke, the anger that had been simmering inside Kim Jun finally melted away. He let out a small chuckle and headed back inside the vehicle.
Of course, the trip home still involved discovering dozens—sometimes hundreds—of zombies, dodging them, and wandering through alleys, which ate up several more hours.
“Alright, let’s sort the water.”
“These are 350 ml, 500 ml, and this one’s two liters.”
The girls sorted through the massive haul of water bottles. Gaya, their leader, checked everything with strict precision. She even calculated how much they had already drunk today before neatly stacking the water and drinks inside the refrigerator.
“See? There’s no law that says we have to die. We can keep getting water, right?”
Emily grabbed a 350 ml bottle and started gulping it down. Shouts immediately erupted from every direction.
Kim Jun clapped his hands to get their attention and spoke up. The lingering awkwardness from the incident with Eun Ji was still bothering him, so he decided to make something delicious for everyone. Nothing lifted the mood like a good meal together.
“Anyone want milk?”
“Milk?”
“Wait, you brought that too? But we don’t even have a working fridge—wouldn’t it have all gone bad?”
Kim Jun smiled and pulled out a pack of powdered skim milk from his bag.
“Oh! That stuff!”
“In Ah, go grab a water bottle from the cupboard.”
When In Ah quickly brought one over, Kim Jun added a little powdered milk and sugar, poured in water, and stirred vigorously.
“I used to drink this all the time as a kid. You know that sweet vending-machine milk? This is it.”
“Ooh~ It’s been forever since I’ve had this.”
“You can even turn this into ice cream. All you need is some ice.”
“Too bad. Let’s save that for after we’ve properly solved our drinking water situation!”
Kim Jun finished stirring the milk in front of the idols, placed it in the refrigerator, and promised they would all drink it together once it was cold.
After that, he headed upstairs to take care of one more task before the day ended.
Ssshhk— Sshhk—
He sprayed the punctured tire with bleach, scrubbed it thoroughly with a brush, then let it dry. Next he prepared soil and chemical fertilizer. He had decided to start planting crops in the old tires from now on.
Even a waste tire was too valuable to throw away these days.
While he worked, a shadow crept closer, glancing around carefully before suddenly wrapping him in a hug from behind.
“Whoa?!”
Kim Jun instinctively started to swing his elbow but stopped when he felt the soft pressure against his back.
“Ah, who is it? Knock it off.”
“Oh my! So cold. Have you already forgotten about that hot night we shared?”
It was Rana’s voice.
After their last looting run she had unearthed an incredible item—a walkie-talkie. She was also the girl who had been the first to seduce Kim Jun among the nine people now living together, the one who had helped him “build the Great Wall.”
“Why are you doing this when everyone’s watching?”
“I suddenly got in the mood today.”
She kept rubbing her chest against his back. He barely managed to pry her off.
But she purred like a cat in heat and tried to cling to him again.
“Should we turn on the walkie-talkie tonight? It’s been a while.”
“No. We have to prepare for tomorrow’s looting run.”
“Then take me with you. Eun Ji unnie already went twice, so it’s my turn now.”
“Haa… You really are something else.”
“It just means I have good taste in men.”
Kim Jun ruffled Rana’s hair and prepared to head back down.
At that moment another woman stepped outside. She had been pacing alone in front of the camper van, keeping her distance from everyone and refusing to get involved.
When she saw Kim Jun walking over with Rana glued to his side, she greeted them.
“Ah, you two came together.”
“Oh my, Eun Ji unnie!”
At Rana’s words, Eun Ji quietly greeted the pair. She acted as if she had already forgotten about what happened at the river during the looting run, remaining calm and silent.
Kim Jun approached her.
In the pitch-black night, he quietly shone his tactical light on her face.
“!?”
“Oppa? What are you doing? Why are you shining that in Eun Ji unnie’s—”
Rana looked flustered, but both Kim Jun and Eun Ji shared a look of mutual understanding.
Her large, naturally double-lidded eyes and attractive brown irises moved back and forth. The whites of her eyes showed no blood vessels at all. After confirming there were no changes, Kim Jun turned the light off.
“Sorry about that.”
“It’s fine.”
Watching the exchange between them, Rana grabbed Kim Jun’s arm again.
“What was that about? What happened? Why were you checking Eun Ji unnie’s eyes like that?”
“Uh… There was a reason.”
“Do you like big eyes? Mine are pretty big too, you know. And my eye color is—”
“I already said no.”
Kim Jun dragged the clinging Rana inside the house with him.
By then the rest of the girls—including In Ah and Gaya—had tasted the freshly made milk and were giving their reviews. They spotted him as he entered.
Kim Jun had fallen into a deep sleep when the walkie-talkie woke him at dawn.
“Ugh… What the hell… Fuck…”
He had been sleeping so well. Kim Jun forced his eyes open.
The voice coming through the walkie-talkie belonged to Rana. Then came the sound of knocking at the door.
“Ah, seriously! That crazy bitch has lost her—”
At that moment, another sound reached his ears.
The sound of water pouring down heavily.
He had woken up to many different noises while sleeping before, but none had ever been this welcome.
Kim Jun quickly threw on his clothes and opened the door. Several girls were already waiting outside.
“Hooray! Kim Jun oppa’s awake!”
“Oppa, it’s pouring outside right now!”
“Yeah, I heard!”
After listening to Gaya and Rana, he ran over and yanked the curtains open. The sight of the torrential downpour made him clench both fists tight.
“There really is no law that says we have to die!”
The phrase “rain after a drought” had never felt more appropriate.
Kim Jun immediately pulled out a raincoat and put it on, then laid out the disposable ponchos for the girls.
“Wake up everyone sleeping in the rooftop room. We’re doing a group job. First, open the water tanks and start collecting in every bucket we have left.”
“We should bring in all the crops on the roof too. Can we store them in the boiler room next door?”
At In Ah’s suggestion, Kim Jun nodded.
“Yeah, do that! Wake everyone in the rooftop room and get them moving! I’ll—”
Just then, Eun Ji—woken by the commotion—stepped out of her sliding-door room. She immediately grasped the situation, grabbed a raincoat, and put it on.
“Everyone who used the rainwater tanks last time, come this way!”
At Kim Jun’s command, Do Kyung sprang into action. Gaya, who had come down late from the third floor, followed right behind. Together with Eun Ji, the four of them headed straight for the rainwater tanks while the rest grabbed buckets and climbed to the roof.
Kim Jun handed out valve wrenches and opened the three rainwater tanks.
Creak— Creeeeak—
With loud groans, the tanks began to open one by one.
“Ughyagagak! Hiyaaa!”
“Unnie, give it here! I’ll do it!”
“No, I’m definitely opening this one this time!”
Gaya was grunting hard while wrestling with the valve wrench when Do Kyung stepped in, saying she would handle it. In the end the two women combined their strength and slowly opened the second tank.
“You’re working too hard. It shouldn’t be that difficult to turn.”
“It’s completely stuck! I thought it was rusted shut!”
“Gaya, you really need to exercise more.”
Even while getting soaked by the rain, Kim Jun was smiling. He moved to open the third tank himself, but it turned smoothly on its own.
Click— Clickity-click— Click—
“!”
“...”
Eun Ji had opened her water tank alone with ease using the valve wrench.
It wasn’t because she was stronger than the former athlete Do Kyung or Gaya. She had attached a small hammer wrench to the end of the heavy valve wrench, turning it into a lever, then struck it with a hammer. The simple trick made it open effortlessly.
“Smart thinking.”
“In Ah taught me last time. She said rusted, seized nuts can be loosened easily this way.”
That countryside girl wasn’t just good at cooking and farming—she knew how to share her practical knowledge too.
In any case, all three 100-liter rainwater tanks were now open. The equipment Kim Jun’s grandfather had installed long ago for agricultural use had become an outstanding survival asset.
“It’s really coming down hard.”
“Even if we use every bucket inside, it might not be enough, right?”
Suddenly an idea struck Kim Jun and he moved forward immediately.
“Kids! One more job!”
He led them straight to the camper van and pulled out the waste tank from the side first. The chemicals had completely broken down the waste and eliminated the smell. He planned to empty it now and, while he was at it, fill the camper’s internal water tank that allowed for showers.
“There should be a funnel and hose inside. Find them and bring them out.”
“Where?”
“Ah, this is it!”
The two idols quickly retrieved the items and handed them up to Kim Jun, who had climbed the ladder. The tall Do Kyung passed them to him.
The camper could hold nearly 100 liters of water. It would serve as excellent storage on its own.
The rain continued pouring down. Even with raincoats, the girls were completely soaked and starting to feel cold. They were about to head inside when—
“Unnies~!!”
Rana poked her head out from the third floor, waving. For some reason her hair was covered in thick foam.
“Hey, what’s with your hair?”
“I decided to just wash everything while the rain’s pouring! Catch!”
Rana tossed down the disposable shampoo and body wash they had stocked up on during the motel looting last time. When the bottles landed at their feet, Kim Jun and the three idols stared at them in stunned silence.
“You want to shower in the rain with that?”
“This is insane. I’ve only ever seen this in manhwa.”
Even as she complained, Do Kyung pulled back her raincoat hood, bowed her head, and tore open a packet of shampoo.
The sight of the idols lathering up and washing themselves with soap and shampoo in the middle of a downpour made Kim Jun laugh for a second, but this was a genuine survival action.
Unable to just stand by, he poured shampoo on his own head and started washing too.
Eun Ji, however, simply smiled awkwardly at the scene. She lightly rinsed her hair once and quietly went back inside. Unlike the others—who had stripped off their tops and were washing in nothing but their bras—she kept things modest.
In any case, they had started the day with a rainwater bath and a natural water supply. It was a good way to begin.
Come to think of it, today was a special day. There was a lot to prepare.
“Alright~ Let’s eat breakfast!”