The Little Girl Playing Tag with Zombies

I had entered the world of a zombie apocalypse novel. On the second floor of the building were a cram school, a stationery store, and a hair salon. I'd already checked the cram school and hair salon yesterday, and the stationery store today, so there wasn't much to worry about. I'd just need to grab a few packs of ramen and some coffee from the salon, then see if there was anything edible left in the cram school. But before that, I headed to the convenience store to drink some water first—only to hear a faint rustling sound.

"................................"

I slowly extended my self-defense baton to its full length, ready to smash in a skull at a moment's notice. The second a zombie showed up, I'd put it down for good. But it wasn't a zombie.

It was a little girl who looked like she was in second or third grade. She was covering one ear with her hand while frantically stuffing canned food and bottled water into her bag with the other. A name tag dangled from the bag—Lee Yeji was written on it, along with what looked like her home address.

"................................."

"Hey, calm down, kiddo. I'm not a bad guy."

Lee Yeji pulled a small knife from her pocket and pointed it at me, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠slowly backing away. I could guess how she'd gotten inside. One of the doors was open. She'd probably rattled it to make the cleaning tools inside clatter and fall, then slipped through. Pretty smart for a kid, I thought, and reached out my hand again.

"See? I'm not a bad person."

"........Who are you, miss?"

"I was here first. Did you see the cleaning tools on the doors?"

"Yes."

"I put those there."

"Oh.... By the way, miss."

"Yeah?"

"Why do you have plastic wrap around your stomach?"

Lee Yeji ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠asked with pure, innocent curiosity. I guess it did look strange. If it weren't for the bleeding, I wouldn't have wrapped the damn thing around my gut either. It looked ridiculous. Still, I had a question for her too. What kind of parent sends an elementary schooler out alone in a place like this?

"Where are your mom and dad, Yeji?"

"......How did you know my name?"

"It's written on your bag."

"Oh."

"So, about your parents..."

"Mom and Dad are playing tag with the zombies. They told me not to bother them while they're it."

"..........Tag?"

"Yeah. My legs are slow, so I always get caught. They said I should just be the goalie instead. So while they're playing tag, I came here."

"..............................................."

It clicked. That so-called game of tag was probably a death race where they lured every zombie in the area. No wonder the zombies hadn't chased her even though she'd been going in and out of the building. Honestly, I felt like helping her. Even a kid who didn't know anything had to risk her life just to get food. There was still plenty of time left anyway. It'd be fine.

"Want me to help you?"

"Yes. I'd really appreciate it."

"What did they tell you to bring?"

"Um, Mom said to get water and canned food. Not ramen."

"It's okay. Grab some ramen too."

"Huh?"

"I'm going with you, aren't I? I can't eat all of this by myself anyway."

"Ah......... Thank you!"

Lee Yeji broke into a bright smile. Seeing her like that, I couldn't help but smile too. Pretending to be the big sister made me want to puke a little, but there was no helping it. If the kid in front of me thought I was weird and ran away, it'd hurt even more.

"Hey, Yeji."

"Yes?"

"Do you hear any weird voices in your head?"

"Voices?"

"No, I just saw you covering your ears earlier."

"I hear strange noises sometimes... but no voices."

"Ah."

Of course. It looked like Lee Yeji was suffering from post-zombie stress disorder. When the moans of the undead keep you up at night, they linger in your ears—faint and slow. It makes you hate being alive. That's when you need something to block your ears or give you some psychological comfort. In my case, I was wearing cat-ear headphones. And it seemed Yeji had her eyes on them too. Her gaze was glued to them; there was no missing it.

"Yeji."

"Yes?"

"Do you want my headphones?"

"................Yes."

"Here. Take them. I can find another pair at the big stationery store."

"Wow....... But it doesn't play music, right?"

"Nope. Just blocks sound. I cut the cord. You don't mind?"

"No, the cord gets in the way... I was thinking about wrapping it or cutting it anyway."

"Here you go."

Lee Yeji beamed as she looked at the headphones now hanging around her neck. She tucked her knife back into her pocket and started picking up the cans and water bottles that had fallen on the floor. Watching her, I felt bad and simply took her bag for her.

"Stuff as much as you want, Yeji. I'll carry it."

"Thank you!"

"Which way is your house?"

"Um..... If you go left from the main entrance of the big supermarket and keep going straight, you'll see the entrance."

"Got it."

I'd seen it two weeks ago. It'd probably take about ten minutes on foot. It was obviously going to be a rough trip. But I couldn't just ignore the unease gnawing at me. It wasn't because of the kindergartener I'd killed at the stationery store yesterday. Honestly, no one would blame me if I pretended not to see her. But my conscience was stabbing me hard. If I saw her dead body while moving later, I knew I wouldn't be able to handle it.

"Yeji."

"Yes, miss?"

"Next time, I'll teach you the right way to get in."

"Huh?"

Lee Yeji tilted her head. I explained slowly. I'd barred all the doors in this building. If you try to pull them open, they make noise. So don't rattle the doors next time. Instead, there's a passage between the buildings. If you open the emergency exit on that empty lot side, you'll reach the PC Bang. From there, you can safely go back and forth between the convenience store and the stationery store.

After saying that, I looked her in the eyes and smiled.

"Understand?"

Lee Yeji nodded. Then she hesitated, holding one pack of ramen in each hand. She clearly wanted to take more, but her hands were full. Honestly, not being greedy was the smarter choice. Greed only led to tragedy. Still, today I wanted to help her be a little greedy. So it was probably best to leave through the same door she'd come in. And then head to her house as quickly and quietly as possible.

"Don't walk in front, Yeji."

"Huh?"

"Stay behind me no matter what. That way you can run away easier, right?"

"What about you, miss.....?"

"Pfft, I'm tough. I don't get hurt easily. Got it?"

"Okay......."

Lee Yeji's eyes darted around anxiously. But I really was fine. It'd hurt like hell, sure, but I wouldn't die. And getting hurt physically was better than losing my mind. If I hadn't met Yeji, maybe things would be different—but now that I had, there was no choice. If I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠let her die, the guilt would crush me. So for my own sake, I had to get her home safely.

After securing the bar again, I decided to use my less fucked-up left arm as a shield and stepped forward.

"........................."

"Stay right behind me. If anything happens, hide."

"Okay."

There were almost no people left in the shopping area. That was obvious. But it was strange how few zombies there were too. I knew they'd climbed to the higher floors during the early days to hunt survivors. Still, after more than two weeks, I figured some should've come back down by now. And as if my bad feeling had been right, the zombies standing blankly by the utility pole spotted me and started running.

"Yeji, hide behind me."

".......Yes!"

There were three zombies. Not a small number, but not overwhelming either. I smashed the head of the first one charging mindlessly with my baton, then drove my knee up to counter the second one's tackle. I crushed its skull and finished it off, but I couldn't stop the last one from biting my left arm. Still, it was okay. I'd been bitten so many times that I could endure this level of pain.

With a horizontal swing of the baton, the last zombie's head exploded, and the fight was over.

Lee Yeji had her face buried in my back, trembling quietly.

"It's okay, Yeji. I'll protect you no matter what. Let's go."

"Yes......"

My left arm throbbed, but for some reason I felt good. My mind was clear and I felt proud. It was probably because I'd followed my conscience.

We crossed through the shopping area during lunchtime. Thankfully, not many zombies appeared, and there were no variants. I'd gotten used to dealing with normal zombies by now, so I could take down a few more with just a couple extra bites. Eventually we reached the entrance to the apartment complex.

"................."

"What's wrong, Yeji?"

"Your left arm, miss......."

"Pfft, it's fine. I'm not gonna die. Anyway, where's your house?"

"Over there. We need to go left... but can we check the right side first?"

"Why?"

"Dad's playing tag over there."

"Ah."

Words swirled in my mouth. I'll go check and tell you. Let's get home safely first. I didn't know what to say in this situation. If we went over there and she saw that it really was her dad... what would happen to Yeji?

In the end, the only thing I could say was this.

"Yeah, I'll go check. You wait at home where it's safe."

"Okay... I should tell Mom... ask if it's okay to let you in."

"Is your mom home?"

"Yes. When Dad gets tired and comes back, Mom takes over the tag game from the other side. She just has to hit the gong, she said."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Luckily, there weren't any zombies at all on the way to Yeji's house. But I couldn't feel happy about it. Not when Yeji kept proudly talking about how good her dad was at playing tag. Being chased by that many zombies... the chances of him still being alive were slim. Still, I walked her all the way home, determined to get her there safely.

Before long, Yeji started shouting loudly and banging on the window.

"You live on the first floor?"

"Yes. Mom has trouble with her legs, so we had no choice."

"That's why she said you didn't have to come inside?"

"Yeah. Mom! The ladder! The ladder!"

The window opened, and a woman in her early thirties in a wheelchair lowered a ladder. Yeji tossed the ramen up to her mom, then climbed the ladder with an excited grin. I followed halfway up, then bowed my head to greet her—only to see the woman, who had no legs below the knees, frantically signing with her hands in surprise.

Yeji, full of excitement, started praising me to her mom. I couldn't take it anymore. I practically threw Yeji's bag down and said,

"Yeji. I'll go get your dad. You said he was playing tag where?"

"To the right of the entrance we just passed. There's a really big playground there."

"Good. See you later."

I forced a bright smile. Then I scrambled down the ladder like I was running away and sprinted toward the apartment complex entrance ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I'd seen earlier.