The Silent Bridge
"Haa... haa...... hnnngh......"
The moment I flopped onto the ground, a sharp pain shot through my lower back. After hours spent hunched over the bicycle, it was only natural. There hadn't been a single chance to get off, either. We'd pedal for ten or fifteen minutes, stop to assess the situation, swing the Beopbong at any zombies that got too close, then repeat the whole process.
"Back hurting?"
"Yeah."
"Rest, then."
"......What's with you? Why are you being so nice all of a sudden?"
"Want me to be nice with my fists instead?"
"No, I was just saying."
The stone floor was cold, so my sweat cooled quickly. Noh Changhun wandered around checking the cart, shaking and prodding various parts. Then, as if he'd been waiting for the right moment, he spoke.
"We're a proper community of fate now. We should look after each other's physical condition."
"I always thought it was strange how you only talk like a jerk but actually take care of people properly when it matters. Ah! And speak nicely for once!"
"If I spoke nicely, you'd start plotting my murder again."
"I-I would not!"
Honestly, that hit way too close to home, but I played dumb anyway. Well... it wasn't like I never considered it. At least while I held the upper hand. A stable situation where neither of us could afford to discard the other was better than the current unstable balance. Right now, the initiative was entirely in Noh Changhun's hands. Without me, he'd only be inconvenienced. Without him, I'd be one step away from having to seriously consider suicide. Wait. Now that I thought about it, the whole "seizing the initiative" thing had never been realistic to begin with.
"................................."
"Idiot."
"Why are you cursing at me this time?!"
"You made that face because you were thinking something weird and realized you couldn't actually do it. Let's go."
".........What? We only rested for ten minutes."
"So?"
"......Damn it."
From a distance came the telltale groans of zombies approaching. If we weren't planning to spend the entire day here, moving now was the right call. Not getting bitten was one thing, but my body was still exhausted. We'd probably have to keep stopping and starting like this the whole way. And soon we'd have to cross the river, where zombies were bound to be active too. In the end, it meant I'd have to keep pedaling.
"......................................"
"What."
"Nothing. Just push. Let's go."
If he were desperately fighting while pushing, I wouldn't be able to complain. But because the guy was ridiculously strong, every encounter ended in a single hit. I'd seen dozens of regular zombies and variants alike go "grrr" only to have their heads explode and drop dead. It made me feel like I was the only one struggling while he coasted. Of course, I knew he was working hard in his own way, but knowing that intellectually didn't change how it felt. He claimed his stability was lower than mine, but that didn't stop me from feeling envious.
"After we pass Meister High, we'll cross the bridge."
"Got it."
"Then we'll follow the riverbank."
"Hold on, the riverbank?"
"There aren't any Toad-types like you're thinking. Those would be near the airport side of the river."
"Didn't you say there are zombies in the water too?"
"We'll be going fast enough to break through. The bloated ones in the water are slow anyway."
"Ah......"
"We'll keep going until we see the village hall, then head there."
"For supplies?"
"Yeah."
When I started pedaling slowly, the cart lurched forward. With Noh Changhun pushing from behind, we began to move. I kept increasing my speed while scanning the surroundings. No zombies seemed to be blocking the road ahead. As for the ones behind us, I'd been told to ignore them, so I just needed to keep going forward.
"Gangdong-dong is right next to Gimhae Airport."
"The neighborhood's actually called Gangdong-dong? Who names a place that? Next you'll tell me there's an Eomjun-dong."
"There's an Eomgong-dong too."
"Where the hell is that? This is ridiculous."
"It's where my university is."
"Truly a meaningful name. Don't you think?"
"Stop messing around and pedal faster."
"Why? Earlier you said not to go too fast."
"Behind us."
"Ah."
The zombies must have decided we'd invaded their territory. A much larger group was gathering this time. The goal was to get out of this area before they could attack. Either way, if we wanted to escape, I had to pedal harder. But no matter how hard I pushed, the speed didn't increase the way I wanted. After all, it was like trying to tow a small car with a bicycle. Still, it got easier whenever Noh Changhun pushed from behind.
"Hey, is it really okay to just leave them? I don't know if we should just run like this."
"Generals and Operators focus on defending their own territory. Most leader entities are like that."
"So once we leave the area, we're safe. I get that, but......"
"It's only been a month. There aren't any variants that handle communication yet."
"Meaning they'll fight each other?"
"Yeah."
No wonder they'd been acting so recklessly. If all we had to do was leave the area, that made sense. It had barely been a month, and as he'd said, those kinds of variants hadn't appeared yet. The combat-capable ones came first. Then the ones that traded raw power for intelligence. Finally, the variants that handled specialized roles. I really regretted holing up in that officetel for the first two weeks. Maybe things would've gone better if I'd gone out and fought earlier. More importantly, now that my sweat had dried, I was freezing. Since I wasn't fighting, my body heat wasn't rising either. And with the wind hitting me while I pedaled, a cough was inevitable.
"Achoo!"
"Hey!"
"It was just one cough!"
"I told you to take care of yourself! You're not alone in that body!"
"Am I pregnant or something? Why do you keep saying I'm not alone? I can just start taking care of myself now."
"..............................."
My conscience twinged, but I kept a straight face. He'd been nagging me for days not to go around in light clothes and to use a proper blanket at night. He'd also told me to stop relying on fighting to generate body heat. Ignoring all that was apparently coming back to bite me. Still, it wasn't like I was freezing or actually sick. He must have known that too, which was why he stayed quiet. If I'd started sniffling or caught an actual cold, he probably would've smacked me and force-fed me some kind of tonic. Speaking of which, "tonic" sounded weirdly suggestive.
"Y-you're thinking something weird again, you idiot."
"I am not!"
"What did I say to do if something happens to your body?"
"You said you'd handle the route while I focus on combat if anything comes up. Don't you remember?"
"Haa......"
Something pale flew past up ahead. It was a rock Noh Changhun had thrown. A zombie that had been waiting by the roadside collapsed after getting hit. It had probably been looking for a chance to block our path. I'd assumed it was just stunned, but its head was completely smashed in. I decided I should stop complaining so much. I could've been the one with my skull caved in.
"Tell me if anything feels wrong. Especially if the endorphins kick in."
"Yeah, yeah. You're not my mom, so stop nagging."
"You never show me anything reliable, so of course I'm going to nag!"
"Grraaagh!?"
A second rock flew. The zombie that had been perched on a car let out a final scream before dying. Noh Changhun must have decided no more zombies were coming, because he started frantically pushing the cart while grumbling about me nonstop. I wanted to argue back, but everything he said was true, which only made me more annoyed. I'll get him back later when I find a weakness, I thought as I kept pedaling.
Fortunately, we didn't have to stop again. We just maintained our speed and kept moving forward. The road was clear enough that I could adjust direction as needed. After nearly an hour of steady pedaling, a bridge came into view. It looked like a four-lane road.
"Hey, Changhun."
"Yeah."
"Is that bridge based on reality?"
"No, I just glossed over anything that didn't seem important in the novel."
"You bastard, not that! I'm asking if there's enough space for us to cross!"
"Ah."
"Don't just 'ah' me!"
The worst part about him was that whenever he tried to act cool, something inconvenient always popped up at the worst possible moment. Same with the successor setting last time, and now this bridge. If there was no way across, we'd have to change the entire plan. I was starting to worry when, thankfully, a path appeared. It was Gangdong Bridge or something like that, and there was a sidewalk along the edge. It was wide enough to pull the cart through, and nothing was visible in the distance. If anything went wrong, Noh Changhun and I could probably move the cart onto the road together.
"But why is it so quiet?"
Noh Changhun nodded. The bridge was eerily silent. There were abandoned cars, but no signs of zombies despite there definitely being some around. It felt ominous. It didn't seem like survivors had passed through......
"Plants! There are bullet marks too!"
When I pointed frantically at one of the cars, Noh Changhun spoke as if he'd just remembered.
"I memorized this route because it's the path Captain Han Daewi took. That's why I remembered it. If the military already swept through here, it should be even safer."
That was good news, so I kept pedaling. Then an uneasy thought occurred to me.
"Hey, Changhun."
"What?"
"What if the Baron had appeared earlier?"
"What?"
"What if Captain Han Daewi failed to join up with us?"
"..................."
"What if he couldn't recruit the soldiers and never became a proper survivor group leader?"
"You're asking whether Busan would've become even more chaotic."
"Yeah. I have a bad feeling about this."
"Well, in that case...... we could just have three kids and live on a deserted island."
"You bastard!"
From his tone, it was clearly a joke. He probably thought the chances of Captain Han Daewi failing to join were low. Even so, making that kind of joke pissed me off. If I hadn't been pedaling, I would've hit him. Not being able to do so was genuinely frustrating.