Chapter 88: One's True Duty
Kim Jun ignored the Jeilpa thugs outside the door who were rampaging and begging for their lives.
After he finished his cigarette, the noise died away, leaving only the sounds of zombies beyond the steel door.
Groooan— Krrraaaah—
Groooooan—
Thud! Thud! Thud-thud-thud!
When the banging against the steel door started, Kim Jun loaded slugs into his shotgun despite his battered condition.
The lights inside the camper van flicked on as they watched him preparing for yet another massive fight.
“…”
They couldn’t just sit still after all.
The camper window cracked open, and In Ah’s face appeared.
But the moment she saw Kim Jun drenched in blood, she froze solid, her hands trembling violently.
Gaya quietly pulled her back and opened the window herself. Even she was shocked, but she bit her lip and held it together.
Kim Jun let out a small chuckle at their efforts and approached quietly.
“Bring me a bottle of water and some oil.”
“Y-yes…!”
Gaya rushed inside and returned with a cold bottle of water from the camper fridge and a drink container filled with oil they’d prepared for firebombs. Kim Jun gulped down the water first, then poured the rest over his head, washing away the clotted blood in one go.
But he’d been stabbed multiple times, and the wounds from earlier in the day had reopened. Blood kept flowing with every step he took.
In this state, all he wanted was to say screw it all and collapse into sleep. But he still had to take care of every last zombie outside.
Click!
He loaded the air gun first, then began searching for the auto shop’s back door.
The front shutter was down and secure. The side door, now piled high with supplies, was also safe.
Next, he headed for the other door he’d spotted earlier while looking for car parts.
Kim Jun passed through a filthy workshop covered in dust and oil—where one wrong touch could give you tetanus—and let out a long sigh as he reached the swinging door.
Luckily, when he cracked it open, no zombies were visible on the other side. Just around one corner, he could hear them frantically tearing into the Jeilpa corpses.
Crunch. Crack.
Rip— Schlop!
The sounds of bones being chewed and flesh being torn suggested they were devouring all three of the Jeilpa thugs.
And soon those bodies would rise again as infected zombies. He had to finish this while they were distracted.
“…”
Kim Jun opened the drink container, looked around, and spotted a filthy rag covered in grease. He tore it apart and stuffed it into the container.
The moment he lit it with his lighter and the flames roared up, he threw the door open without hesitation and hurled it around the corner.
Crash!
WHOOOOSH—
Flames suddenly erupted in the narrow alley. As the area lit up, what came into view was a dried-up rice paddy ridge.
Kim Jun abruptly tossed both his shotgun and air gun aside, clenched his eyes shut, and sprinted straight into the paddy.
Crash-thud-thud-thud!
His body tumbled wildly down the slope until he hit the bottom. The instant he opened his eyes, he saw human-shaped figures reacting in front of him—zombies slowly advancing through the flames.
Hiss— Crackle—
Groooooan— Kyaaaaah—
Thankfully, not a single runner had appeared.
Lying on his back with an HD light in one hand and his revolver in the other, Kim Jun opened fire on the zombies pushing through the flames.
Bang— Bang— Bang—
Three bullets blew apart their heads. He especially targeted their snouts so they couldn’t bite, sending blood and shattered teeth flying everywhere before they burned up in the fire.
Without moving an inch from his position, Kim Jun systematically eliminated every burning zombie between the two buildings.
Bang— Bang— Click!
When all six revolver rounds were spent, he calmly rolled over, grabbed the air gun, and fired from a prone anti-air position.
Thwack!
Crack!
At this range, even a wild boar would drop dead from a headshot.
He dropped one zombie, then rolled the other way, pulled out the air pistol, and burned through the last of his lead pellets.
When he rolled back once more and grabbed the shotgun, there were no more moving zombies left.
All that remained was the fire steadily spreading down the weed-choked hill toward the paddy where he lay.
If it kept going like this, everything would burn and turn into a wildfire.
Kim Jun slowly stood up. Every part of his body ached from blood loss and sprains, but he forced himself to climb back up.
Staring into the flames, he staggered back into the factory, picked up the half-empty water bottle he’d left earlier, and slowly poured it over the fire.
Hiss— Sssssss—
The acrid stench of burning zombie flesh mixed with the smoke as the water hit. The flames gradually died down.
“Haa…”
For a second his vision almost blacked out, but Kim Jun barely held on to consciousness. He walked over to the camper and knocked on the window with a blood-soaked hand.
“Bring me another bottle of water.”
“Y-yes!”
When Gaya brought another one, Kim Jun drank half of it, then went back to the rear door and doused the remaining embers.
Thanks to that, the fire didn’t spread any further. After half-burning the zombies, it was finally extinguished.
Kim Jun lit a cigarette and watched until he was sure, then closed the door. Dragging his ragged body, he headed for the camper.
Instead of going inside, he leaned against the rear wheel and collapsed heavily onto the ground.
As he slid down, blood smeared the surface. The camper’s rear door slowly opened as his eyes began to close.
“I told you not to come out…”
He spoke in a low voice, too exhausted to even get angry. But Gaya approached with a determined look, wearing a headlamp and carrying the first-aid kit.
“Oppa… you’re hurt so badly.”
“It would’ve been nice if Mari was here…”
“Let me take a look!”
Even so, the eldest sister had learned basic skills the others could handle and had been performing multiple roles inside the house.
“F-first, cover the wound and press down hard…”
She soaked gauze in alcohol and pressed it firmly. The pain was excruciating for a moment.
But Kim Jun didn’t let out a single groan. He silently held out his arm. When she rolled up his sleeve and saw the knife wounds everywhere, she was shocked. Still, she carefully cleaned each one, applied gauze and medifoam, then wrapped them with bandages.
Before long, In Ah—who had been panicking—came out cautiously, clutching something.
“Unnie, this…”
What she brought were the medicines Mari had packed separately before they left.
“What is it?”
“Mari unnie said… if Oppa gets really badly hurt, put this patch on his back and make him take these…”
Painkillers meant for Kim Jun, but she couldn’t say it to his face and had passed them through Gaya instead.
When he checked, they were items they’d taken from the medical supply company last time.
“It says ‘Traumatic Patch Painkiller’…?”
“Ah, that’s it…”
Kim Jun sat up and turned his back to Gaya.
“Lift it and stick it on.”
“Yes.”
He took off his top and slowly removed the motorcycle protector underneath.
If not for this, even if he had won the fight against the Jeilpa thugs earlier, a knife to the gut would have killed him before long.
Thanks to the protective gear, he had survived being stabbed repeatedly by a professional thug wielding a sashimi knife in the dark. The wounds weren’t too deep, and he could still move his limbs. As long as he stopped the bleeding, he figured he could endure it.
Once Gaya finished cleaning the wounds, had him take the painkillers, and applied the patches, completing the emergency treatment, Kim Jun spoke to them.
“Go back inside and sleep.”
“No. You go inside, Oppa. We’ll stand night watch.”
“Damn it…”
When he raised his hand and told them to get inside quickly, they had no choice but to obey.
Even as he watched to make sure the door closed, Gaya and In Ah brought out a blanket and handed it to him.
“It’s fine. I’m not sleeping.”
“It’s cold… outside.”
Kim Jun accepted the blanket they offered, draped it over himself, and let out a sigh.
During what should have been his night watch shift, he somehow held on until three or four in the morning. After that, his eyes finally closed.
When morning came and the sun rose, the two top stars woke up immediately and came outside to check the area.
The auto shop, which they had only seen by flashlight the previous dark night, was now splattered everywhere with pitch-black dried blood, giving off a deeply horrifying atmosphere.
In that scene, Kim Jun lay with his eyes closed. His pale, bloodless face was gradually turning a purplish color around the lips.
“Oppa!”
“K-Kim Jun oppa…”
Worried that something had gone wrong, the two idols reached out and touched his body. The moment they felt how cold he was, a single tear slid from Gaya’s eye.
“It can’t be… right?”
Her tear rolled down her cheek and fell to the ground.
They shook the superhero who had protected them over and over.
“Yeah. I’m not dead.”
“!?”
The two of them jumped in shock as Kim Jun, who had been lying there like a cold corpse, mumbled a reply.
“Huuu… water.”
“Y-yes!”
In Ah rushed inside and brought back a bottle of water. Kim Jun drank it down in one go, let out a long sigh, and opened his eyes.
“Why are you crying again?”
“Hic… sob…”
The eldest sister, who had been acting calm in front of her younger members this whole time, finally broke down. She buried her face in Kim Jun’s chest.
Kim Jun gently patted her back. He felt her stiff, curly hair and the sensation of her bra strap beneath her clothes.
Even after nearly dying, the movement of his hands brought blood flowing back through his body. Once again, Kim Jun moved for the sake of surviving another day.