A Bet, a Bridge, and a Very Bad Morning
I ended up inside a zombie apocalypse novel. Noh Changhun and I pushed forward with everything we had. We really, really tried to break through. But even after hours of that absolute bullshit with the zombies, we barely made any progress. At this rate, it would’ve been easier to just wipe out every single zombie in Gangdong-dong. That pretty much said it all.
“This is fucking exhausting.”
That sentence kept crawling up my throat and dying there over and over. According to Noh Changhun’s plan, we needed to break through much faster. The more time we lost, the worse our position became. We had to reach Ulman Bridge, take down the General or the Officer or whatever the hell it was, and get to the airport. Only then could we actually catch our breath. In a situation like this, even trying to rest properly was impossible. We had to keep moving before the zombies surrounded the building. And if we got hurt, we’d patch ourselves up just enough and then slink away like criminals.
“Hey! Changhun!”
“What.”
“I can’t live like this. Let’s find another way.”
“I was thinking the same thing.”
“Good. Tell me. If we put our heads together, something’s bound to come out.”
Noh Changhun shut his mouth for a moment. Then came a long silence, like he was carefully picking the right words to express his thoughts. Part of me wanted to snap at him to stop acting like a mute who’d swallowed honey, but I held back. He probably needed time to organize his ideas before anything coherent came out.
“Let’s move at night too.”
“What kind of crazy bullshit is that, you lunatic!”
“No, Yeji. Think about it. If we don’t get to Ulman Bridge fast, we’re screwed anyway.”
“I know we’re screwed, you son of a bitch, but you want to move at night too?”
“Yeah.”
My neck stiffened and heat rushed to my head. This guy knew better than anyone how dangerous the night was. And he was seriously suggesting we move after dark? Even setting aside the pain and danger, if he didn’t have a damn good reason, I was ready to punch him.
“With your radar, it should be doable, right?”
“.....................”
When I stared at him like he’d lost his mind, Noh Changhun started making excuses. Honestly, with that ability couldn’t we just avoid everything? Wasn’t it a high-performance radar? Stuff like that. But I’d used it myself. It wasn’t that kind of power. It didn’t say “there’s something ahead, better dodge.” It was more like, “There’s a dangerous bastard right in front of you. Get ready to get your ass kicked.” Exactly that feeling.
So I just sighed deeply, completely out of answers, until Noh Changhun spoke again.
“Why.”
“Well… it lets me know danger in advance. It’s not the kind that helps me avoid it, you know?”
“Still.”
“Still? What the hell do you mean, still…”
“We have to use it anyway. Can’t you use it in that way at all?”
“I’d have to test it to know for sure, but… yeah. I can’t.”
It was the kind of ability that was ridiculously hard to test. At least that bastard Noh Changhun could punch the air to pump out adrenaline. I had to suppress a variant strong enough to actually kill me. And it had to be alive. The radar didn’t react to dead zombies, and it didn’t react if they were weakened below my level either.
“Ugh, forget it. Let’s just grind harder during the day even if it’s dangerous.”
“But then we won’t make it in time. I’m telling you, we should move at night too.”
“Then you do it properly. You keep wasting stamina. You think you can actually fight like that?”
“You’re the one wasting stamina and still acting tough during the day.”
“You wanna fight?”
His voice turned vicious in an instant. But it didn’t escalate into an actual brawl. We’d just fought a few minutes ago, and both of us were too hungry and tired to keep going. So in the end, we acted like nothing happened and pulled food out of the cart to eat.
“We still need to break through today no matter what.”
“Break through?”
“Yeah.”
“Sounds like some game. You know, like clearing a path with maple leaves or whatever.”
“You fucking tryhard.”
For a second I got angry and almost clenched my fist, but I stopped myself. I was holding food. Cream bread, at that. Wasting food out of anger was unacceptable. Especially in a situation like this. Still, I felt the need to correct his perception of me, so I spoke gently.
“I’m a fashion tryhard. I even got my public service exemption based on weight.”
“You know most people who call themselves fashion tryhards are actually hardcore ones, right?”
“Fuck off.”
“I’m kidding, I’m kidding.”
Noh Changhun laughed slyly. I knew he’d meant every word and was just covering his ass. It pissed me off, but there was nothing to gain from fighting right now. So I kept my mouth shut and pretended I didn’t know anything. Definitely not because I thought I’d lose.
“Hey.”
“What.”
“Wanna make a bet?”
“Huh?”
A bet out of nowhere. I had no idea why he was suddenly saying this, but it wasn’t a bad idea. I could already guess what the wager would be.
“Whether we can reach the bridge by the end of today or not. How about that?”
“Wow, you’re quick on the uptake.”
“What, did you think I just walk around carrying a club like an idiot all the time?”
“Yeah.”
“Whatever. Loser has to be the winner’s chair. I’m betting we can’t make it.”
“I’m betting we can. You’re not planning to sabotage me, are you?”
I shook my head. Was I crazy? Why would I sabotage him? We were in the same boat. Literally sharing the same fate. I had no intention of dragging him down with me like an idiot. Even after I explained that, Noh Changhun still looked suspicious, his expression turning weird. But it quickly disappeared, so I let it go. If he’d kept making that face, I really would’ve gotten mad.
“Hey, Changhun.”
“What.”
“We’re about halfway there now, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Good. We’ve rested enough. Let’s get moving.”
“Since when are you so motivated?”
“Because whether I win the bet or not, we still have to go!”
“True enough.”
I rubbed the wound that had already healed and wiped the sticky fluids off my body with a tissue. Then I climbed onto the bicycle, waited for Noh Changhun, and started pedaling. Soon the cart began moving slowly behind us. I really hoped this time we could go without any trouble.
But of course, trouble found us. We’d only been moving for about ten minutes when zombies came running from far away. At this point it was better to just get off and fight together.
“It’s a Cannon Quad,” Noh Changhun said, then dashed forward without another word. This time he seemed to have the hang of it. His movements as he blocked the Cannon Quad looked pretty decent. Seeing that, I couldn’t just stand still either. There weren’t that many of them, and it didn’t look like he could handle them all quickly by himself. So I got off the bike and reached behind me. The familiar weight filled my hand, and I immediately swung it forward.
“Grrraaah!”
A Runner died instantly from the blow and collapsed. Then came a familiar shriek. It was a Lurker. Even before, Lurkers had never been a match for me, and now they were even less of a threat.
“Got… you.”
Knowing it was aiming for my stomach made it even easier to deal with. I kicked the staggering Lurker whose head had been smashed and sent it flying into the other zombies, then reset my stance. I smoothly swung at the head of a nearby zombie like returning a ball, then used Beopbong to guard my stomach. I gripped the shaking handle tightly, grinned, and swung the staff again. I kicked away the Boxer that fell with a “that wasn’t supposed to happen” look on its face and scanned the area.
Noh Changhun had already half-destroyed the Cannon Quad and was fighting the remaining zombies.
“Hey! Let’s just get off and push!”
“What?”
“Get off! Push! The cart!”
Looking at the situation, it didn’t seem like we’d be able to travel far on the bike. In that case, it was better to hold onto each side and push together. Struggling with the bicycle would be worse. Huh, I even had the leisure to think like this in the middle of a fight now.
“Grrraa?!”
“Haha, too bad!”
“Look at that crazy bitch getting all excited.”
Noh Changhun used the cart as a stepping stone and landed a dropkick on a Boxer. Its upper body caved in completely. It flailed for a moment before its neck was crushed under his foot. I looked around, figuring we’d pretty much cleaned up, and sure enough, nothing was left. Yeah, fights should always be on this scale. The time we crossed the bridge at the beginning was the weird one. They probably let their guard down after spotting us and tried to wipe us out all at once.
“Ultimate Lee Yeji victory! No, overwhelming victory!”
“Good for you.”
“Hey, even if it’s like this, I need to manage my mentality somehow.”
“Sure.”
Noh Changhun pretended to clean out his ear like he didn’t want to hear it. I knew that bastard was secretly muttering under his breath while acting like that. I could hear him chuckling lightly every time he knocked something down with a big hit. But there was no need to point it out, so I just put Beopbong back in my bag and grabbed the cart. When I signaled to hurry up, Noh Changhun lifted the bicycle onto the cart and took the other side.
“In the city, let’s move like this. We should only use that damn bicycle when we can go for long stretches.”
“That sounds better.”
“By the way, looks like I won the bet.”
“Huh?”
“Look at the time. Each fight eats up about twenty minutes. Think we can still make it today?”
I smirked. Noh Changhun just said “just wait and see” shortly. But he was right. I’d thought we wouldn’t arrive today, but for some strange reason the zombie attacks decreased dramatically. They became so rare that we could even clear out an entire building and pick whichever room we wanted.
Still, I wasn’t happy. Getting through today and entering a café on the second floor with a terrace was fine and all… but the loser of the bet had to be the winner’s chair. At this rate, I was inevitably going to be the chair.
Just in case, I pretended not to know and continued cleaning the inside. There was no reaction.
“.............................”
“Why are you staring?”
“There’s a reason… so I’m staring, obviously?”
“Ah, the bet?”
“Yeah. The bet.”
Noh Changhun grinned.
“Forget it. Don’t waste your stamina. We’ll need it later.”
“Really? Lucky me.”
“Good for you.”
“I don’t know about that.”
We bickered while finishing the cleaning, then I looked out at the bridge visible from the terrace. Ulman Bridge could no longer really be called a bridge. It had become a demonic landscape overgrown with all kinds of plants and crawling with zombies. I stared at it curiously for a moment, then locked the terrace door and went to sleep.
But when I woke up, something felt off. It sounded like something was thumping against the walls.
“Ah.”
All sleepiness vanished in an instant. No wonder—the building was surrounded by zombies. The terrace door was covered in sticky green fluid and wouldn’t open. The walls kept booming as something pounded on them nonstop. Noh Changhun was already up and stretching. He gestured for me to hand him one of the poles nearby. I tossed him what looked like a mop handle.
“It’s an Officer.”
“Officer? How do you know?”
“If it were a General, the door would’ve already been smashed.”
“Ah.”
“On three. I’ll open the door. One… two…”
“W-wait!”
“Three!”
He struck whatever was on the other side of the door with the end of the pole, and the door flew open instantly. Noh Changhun threw the pole like a spear and followed up with a punch. I stood there dazed for a second before grabbing Beopbong and running after him. Because the café wall had collapsed, and from inside poured out Toads and Cannon Quads.