(Side Story) Zombie: The End.
(Side Story) Zombie: The End.
Kwak In-gu cut down the swarming zombies with no time to spare a thought for the fact that he'd been bitten.
As if he'd already given up, Kwak In-gu's movements were utterly unrestrained, and he rampaged as though determined to take as many zombies with him as he could before he turned.
"".....""
Time passed, and when Kwak In-gu collapsed, the soldiers who'd brought him to the innermost position gathered around.
"You idiots... once I turn I'm gonna be a Goliath at minimum, you know that? Kyahahaha!"
Kwak In-gu's skin began to flush red-hot.
Out of respect, the soldier who'd brought him in spoke quietly.
"Please be quiet, sir."
All around, bitten soldiers leaned against the walls.
"Hah... hah... Now I understand why you're a legend..."
"Kuhaha, yeah? That's a damn shame... if Ga-in had been here, we could've held twice as many..."
"Weren't you the stronger one, sir?"
"Hah... really? Is that how they talk about me? Well... makes sense. None of you ever saw Ga-in in a proper melee."
The soldier wearing a sergeant first class insignia looked at Kwak In-gu and smiled.
"I think I'm about to turn... I can feel it."
Having apparently saved one last round, the sergeant first class drew his pistol.
"Yeah... same here."
Just then, bursting through the gaps in the corpses and descending from the floor above, a small child drenched in blood came tearing through, grinding zombies apart as she emerged.
Her silver blade catching the light, Ga-in sprinted forward leaving only brilliant afterimages in her wake.
And they all watched that sight.
"Fucking magnificent entrance, my kid..."
Soaked in blood and indistinguishable by scent to the zombies, Ga-in sliced through them at terrifying speed, racing straight to Kwak In-gu and throwing herself into his arms.
"Mister!!!"
Ga-in checked Kwak In-gu's condition, pulled a vial of green liquid from her pocket, and jabbed it into him.
The soldiers watched the scene...
"".....""
The reaction of the man wearing the sergeant first class insignia was ominous.
"Ha... fuck... so in the end, you people were only thinking of yourselves..."
Ga-in felt the muzzle turning toward her and froze as if her heart had stopped.
Bang!
Ga-in had been knocked flat, and the bullet was lodged in Kwak In-gu's left shoulder.
"M... mister...?"
"Give a guy... a little warning before you shoot, fuck... hurts like... hell..."
Ga-in's pupils began to shake violently, and following behind her, soldiers arrived at the entrance and cleared the surrounding area.
"Mister!!!"
Kwak In-gu collapsed in front of Ga-in. The soldiers could not bring themselves to kill the sergeant-first-class-turned-zombie, so Yoo Min-seong put a bullet through his head instead.
Ga-in's shaking pupils dissolved into tears.
"Mister!"
Kim Ji-seong reached a hand toward Ga-in, then felt the killing intent and withdrew it.
If he'd gotten any closer, his hand would've been split vertically—Kim Ji-seong broke into a cold sweat at the thought.
But Ga-in simply buried herself in Kwak In-gu's arms and cried.
Yoo Min-seong and Kim Ji-seong lifted Kwak In-gu and began moving him to the upper floor, while the soldiers swiftly brought the situation under control.
When Kwak In-gu opened his eyes, he realized he was on the rooftop, in the shade.
He felt a sharp pain in his left arm and looked down to find it bandaged.
Ga-in was asleep, using Kwak In-gu's right arm as a pillow.
"Kinda hard to move like this... Ga-in."
Ga-in's eyes opened and she looked up at Kwak In-gu.
"Mister!"
The moment Kwak In-gu—the man she thought of like her own father—opened his eyes, Ga-in threw herself at him.
"Agh! The wound's opening up!!!"
But Ga-in clung to Kwak In-gu anyway.
They had used the vaccine on the bitten survivors, leaving only a single vial.
Because Ga-in had selfishly used that final dose on Kwak In-gu, the soldiers around them looked at her coldly.
Ga-in tensed under their gazes and burrowed deeper into Kwak In-gu's arms.
Kwak In-gu held Ga-in and looked over at Im Jeong-hyeok.
"How'd it go?"
"The wave is over."
"Hoo... so it's done?"
Im Jeong-hyeok gazed at the vehicles approaching in the distance.
Vehicles drawing aggro to lure the zombies inside the building out... Most of the stockpiled ammunition seemed to be spent—they were firing pistols now.
Im Jeong-hyeok looked at the soldiers grieving their fallen comrades.
"I'm sorry for being so incompetent..."
""No, sir!""
"No... I was incompetent. I lacked resolve. I was far too lacking to command you all."
""No, sir!!!!""
Im Jeong-hyeok spoke as he looked at each of them in turn.
"The sacrifices were... far too great... far too... if it rained, all we had to do was take cover... and because of my poor judgment..."
At that moment, a soldier wearing a sergeant's insignia spoke.
"My mother is surviving in the Dongducheon shelter."
"....."
"If we'd let them pass through, every survivor there would be dead as well."
"Hasn't the vaccine... already been developed...? Major Im Jeong-hyeok, sir... I believe that with you at the helm, using this grassland as a foothold, the Republic of Korea can be fully restored. And we stopped a wave unlike anything anyone had ever seen or heard of."
Led by the sergeant, the soldiers looked around.
Zombie corpses had piled into mountains, completely burying the surrounding buildings, and here and there, the bodies of Giants were visible.
The sheer mass of zombie corpses stacked around the department store was a sight that defied description.
"...I see."
"The fault wasn't with your operation, Major. The zombies were simply too numerous... And now, shouldn't we be rescuing the children..."
"....."
Im Jeong-hyeok looked at the soldiers and saluted.
"Thank you for your hard work, and for surviving. Truly, thank you. But I'm sorry that this seems to be only the beginning..."
""No, sir!""
"As your commanding officer, I'm even sorrier that I couldn't guarantee your survival."
""No, sir!!""
"...I'm sorry to say this in such a situation, but it looks like I'll have to give orders already."
""Yes, sir!""
"Let's go rescue the children below."
""Yes, sir!!! Understood!""
They were all saluting Im Jeong-hyeok, and the moment he lowered his hand, every single one of them snapped theirs down like a blade.
Watching the scene, Kwak In-gu muttered softly enough that only Ga-in could hear.
"Look at this bullshit... what are they, cultists? Anyone watching would think this is some kind of religious sect."
"....."
Time passed, and a military vehicle arrived at the research lab in Guri.
Survivors inside the building eyed them warily.
Yoo Min-seong stepped out of the military vehicle.
"Min-seong!!!"
People rushed to embrace Yoo Min-seong...
The soldier who'd been driving, in full combat gear, was guided inside by Yoo Min-seong.
Surprised that this place was also a fully adequate survival environment, the soldier kept looking around.
When he spotted the children before him, the soldier relaxed and pulled out candy—then, to keep them from being suspicious, he closed his eyes, mixed them up, and popped one into his own mouth first.
Watching that, their wariness melted away.
Then the elevator moved, and a woman burst out.
"Se-jin!"
"Aah! What happened to your face?!"
The soldier standing beside her met the eyes of the woman called Se-jin and raised both hands to signal he wasn't an enemy.
Se-jin asked if there was anyone else and checked behind the soldier, and the soldier spoke.
"He asked me to tell you he's sorry he couldn't come in person."
"What reason could he possibly have not to come himself?!"
The answer came from Min-seong, standing nearby.
"A wave hit."
"What?"
"It was probably only part of the wave from Seoul... but it looked like it numbered in the millions of zombies."
""What?!""
"They're still cleaning it up... that's why he can't come... So for now we came ahead alone, to rescue the vaccine development team."
Se-jin looked at Yoo Min-seong and nodded.
"I need to go see for myself."
"What?"
"Why wait? Let's leave right now!"
Se-jin grabbed Yoo Min-seong and immediately climbed into the vehicle Yoo Min-seong had arrived in.
From inside the car, Se-jin stared at the staggering mountains of corpses visible all around.
"Good lord..."
An enormous number of corpses had already been cleared, but even so, the buildings were still lined with bodies in quantities so vast they remained piled high.
And in the gaps between them, soldiers were dispatching zombies that were still alive.
To Se-jin's eyes, the place was desperately short-handed.
When they entered through the collapsed building entrance, women were protesting.
"We said we'll help too!"
"I told you, you can't... If a live zombie jumps out while you're in there, I really won't be able to protect you..."
A woman pointed at Ga-in in the distance.
"That little kid's helping out right there!"
"You don't know the Kangaroo Rat?! That's her—that little kid."
"F... for real?"
"That's what I'm telling you?!"
Se-jin, who'd been skeptical up to now, could only nod as she watched the scene.
Seeing how they tried to protect the weaker members—how they were protecting them to the point of frustration even when the place was so clearly understaffed—Se-jin fell silent.
Se-jin went straight to Im Jeong-hyeok and heard everything that had happened from him directly.
A man broken in the act of protecting his own world.
A man who couldn't simply be called kind... That was Se-jin's assessment of Im Jeong-hyeok.
In the process of splitting the group heading to Dongducheon, the Field Mice were left out—all except Ji-seong and Min-ji.
They were excluded to prevent the worst-case scenario: the soldiers grew wary whenever they saw Ga-in, and she froze in terror whenever she noticed their guarded looks.
Passing through the checkpoint with his party, Im Jeong-hyeok had a long conversation with the survivors from the MS Pharmaceutical Factory, and as if they'd each made a momentous decision, they shook hands.
Afterward, a scene showed the vaccine factory being brought online, confirming the mass production of the vaccine.
The screen darkened, and the film seemed to be ending.
10 years later...
Wearing the same protective gear Yoo Min-seong had once worn, a woman presumed to be Ga-in was chewing gum.
Pwoo... pop.
The woman blew a bubble and went back to chewing, walking along as she twirled a throwing knife with dazzling dexterity.
At a zombie approaching from ahead, she casually flicked the knife and pierced its head.
Kshhhhhh...
-"Ga-in... at least report in once in a while..."
Kwak In-gu's voice came through the radio Ga-in was carrying.
"You're only moving around a hundred meters away. Why do I have to report in to you?!"
-"Still... Daddy just wanted to hear Ga-in's voice, that's aaaall~"
"Bullshit, who's whose dad? I shouldn't have saved you back then..."
-"Ahahahah, I don't die~"
"Restoring Korea was enough. Why the hell are you making a fuss about going all the way to China too?"
-"Jeong-hyeok says earn your keep. Says his forehead still hurts."
"Ugh... same damn line every time..."
Just then, another voice came through the radio.
-"Dead ahead!!! Five Screamers spotted!!!"
"Ji-seong, you're too loud. Shut up."
-"Yes..."
-"Ahahahahah! Hahahaha."
Before Ga-in stood a Goliath and the Screamers.
"Kreeeeeeeeeek!!!!!"
"Hah..."
Sighing, Ga-in drew a Japanese sword from her back in a single crisp motion.
Shiiiiing...
"Kangaroo Rat, combat-ready."
After the movie ended, we headed to the parking lot.
Da-yeon walked along holding Lee Jin-seok's hand, then looked up at Lee Jin-seok and asked a question.
"Daddy!"
"Hmm?"
"What does 'fucking bastard' mean?"
"Pfft."
In the suddenly frigid atmosphere, only Da-yeon was beaming innocently.
I glanced nervously at Lee Jin-seok, wiped the cola I'd sprayed out of my nose and mouth, and went back to drinking my cola as if nothing had happened.
His expression having gone ice-cold, Lee Jin-seok forced a smile and picked Da-yeon up.
"It's a very bad word, sweetheart. Only bad people use it..."
"Si-yoon uses it too, though!"
"".....""
"...It was for the movie, sweetie, so she had no choice~..."
"Aha, so 'fucking bastard' is something you're not supposed to say...!"
I snorted cola out of my nose a second time, signaled that I absolutely could not keep drinking this, and handed it off to Dad.
Dad, who'd been watching Lee Jin-seok's reaction, accepted my cola wordlessly.
"It's a bad word... so if you use it, you get in trouble... Da-yeon."
"Okay."
What Da-yeon meant by "Si-yoon uses it too"...
She probably wasn't talking about Ga-in, the character I'd played in the movie.
That character never said anything like that in the film...
It was the curse I'd casually thrown at Ji-hoon plenty of times.
We saw Lee Jin-seok's expression rotting by the second and walked on in total silence.
""......""
I was looking at movie reviews on Neotube.
Because of copyright, there were only simple reviews, but the buzz around the film seemed to be overflowing.
The mere fact that Kim Ji-ho's daughter appeared in a major supporting role had generated more than enough attention.
It had been on the real-time search rankings even before the movie opened.
A lot of people who'd said they were going to see it because of me seemed to have gotten completely absorbed in the story while watching.
The scene that even appeared in the trailers—Kim Ha-neul fleeing while a tidal wave of zombies bore down from behind—looked like a clear demonstration of how much money they'd poured into it.
Of course, an insane number of people got shredded to pieces, too.
I clicked into a video marked with a spoiler warning, and a man was talking.
- "In this film, Zombie, every character has a clearly defined flaw."
The man spoke while flipping through footage from the trailer.
- "Ga-in's flaw is that she's selfish. Yoo Min-seong's flaw is that he's too kind. These frustrating qualities each make their appearance one by one."
Running through his explanation using only the trailer, the man paused at the zombie tidal wave.
- "Here, you can appreciate the current state of Korean technical prowess. This is a work by director Yoo Dae-yeon."
The man pointed at the faintly visible zombies as he spoke.
- "The in-film primer lists Runners, Screamers, Goliaths, and Giants—respectively, zombies that scream, zombies that run, zombies swollen with muscle, and zombies grown enormous with fat."
I scrolled through the video while scanning the countless comments, and one in particular caught my eye.
- So jealous of actor Song Il-seong. Definitely go see it.
└ For real, lol.
└ Why jealous?
└ Si-yoon carries him around in the second half.
└ And that includes Kim Ha-neul, who plays Yoo Min-seong, and Han Seok-hyeon, who plays Kim Ji-seong. So damn jealous...
- Si-yoon... the 10-years-later thing looks like CG, but please just grow up looking exactly like that, I beg you...
└ Pleeeease!!!
└ Seriously, if she grows up keeping those looks, she's locked in as Korea's top.
└ Not just Korea's top, the whole world would recognize her...
└ Watch it just for the final scene, seriously—when she's chewing gum and draws that sword, I kinda lost my mind.
└ I'm boarding this coin. Don't try to stop me.
I scrolled through the comments with a quiet chuckle until one of them caught my attention.