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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Xrecker
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I shrugged.
“Well, I’m not a doctor. How would I know? Her face is pretty messed up, though.”
The middle-aged woman hung her head and began to rock back and forth. Her body language screamed guilt.
Her eyebrows were furrowed, and the corners of her mouth drooped.
She seemed incredibly distraught. She must have been one of the ones who’d begged for food. She seemed timid; she had probably gotten swept up in the frenzy.
…Tsk.
She wasn’t talking, and I wasn’t a psychiatrist. I’d check YouTube and see what was happening in the world.
“…Are they… are they dead…?”
…This was crazy.
“You feel bad? Then go downstairs and apologize.”
I looked her up and down, my gaze sharp. It was hard not to be annoyed. Seeing someone so passive made me feel frustrated, like I had indigestion.
What did she expect me to do?
Did she think everything would magically work out if she just sat there, head bowed, rocking back and forth?
Should I have just left her there to kill herself? Damn it.
Her behavior was infuriating. I set my phone down.
“What do you want to do? Kill yourself? Then I’ll take you outside. This is a place for people who want to live. There are ferocious things out there trying to bite people; we don’t have the time or resources to take care of someone who wants to die. Got it?”
I lit another cigarette.
“I brought you here because I thought you were the only sane one in that group, not to comfort you or counsel you.”
This was so frustrating. I stood up, opened the door, and said, “If you’re going to kill yourself, do it outside. Not in my room. I don’t want to clean up the mess.”
Slam.
I closed the door. Just try and kill yourself in my room.
Just looking at her made my stomach churn. This woman was alone, without her husband. I wouldn’t be surprised if her passivity had driven him away. And she wouldn’t even communicate. Damn it.
Ah, the sunshine felt good. It lifted my spirits.
“Hoo—”
The cigarette smoke was pleasant. The streets were quiet. No sign of that survivor group.
I’d relax for a bit, clear out another house, and then move the inline skaters there.
…Wait a minute.
I looked up and gazed at the street in the distance. Beyond the low-rise, single-family homes, across the eight-lane road, stood taller buildings. The street stretched towards the right. And there, a building so tall it dwarfed the ones behind it—the hypermarket.
The first and second floors were the supermarket itself. The third floor was probably offices, maybe also used for storage.
They wouldn’t need the entire floor for offices. Which meant supplies were piled high on the first, second, and third floors. Not just food, but also appliances, toiletries, clothes, bedding, tools, and hardware.
A survivalist’s dream. And it was at least ten stories tall.
…This… wasn’t bad.
“Hmm…”
A survivalist’s dream.
And a tall building. I could utilize the resources on each floor…
And, more importantly…
This survivalist’s dream… this empty building… I was the only one who could claim it. No one else could even get close. One step outside, and they’d become prey for the massive horde of human beasts—or join them. No one alive could approach this building.
Except me.
I took a long drag of my cigarette and exhaled slowly.
“…Not bad.”
I needed to call a meeting. Clearing out a house and splitting the group into two made it difficult to protect them if that other group attacked. And if a horde of human beasts appeared on this street, being separated meant they were on their own once they ran out of food. So, using it as a temporary shelter for a few days was the best option.
The hypermarket.
The hypermarket was the answer.
…Good.
I smiled, pleased with my idea, when I heard someone behind me.
It was the middle-aged woman. She was standing there, head bowed.
“Are you leaving?” she asked.
“…Before I go… I want to… apologize to them…”
…Hmm. Had she been outside for a while? Oh, come to think of it, I was getting hungry. It must be lunchtime. It seemed like she had been doing some thinking.
“Okay, let’s go downstairs.”
We went downstairs, and I knocked on Soo-hyun’s door. Jung Eun-seo opened it.
“Yes… oh, Sung-hoon.”
She glanced at the middle-aged woman standing next to me, head bowed, and ignored her. She must have been upset. I peeked inside; I could see six legs lying on the floor. I could also hear moans of pain.
“How are they doing?”
Jung Eun-seo sighed heavily.
“They’re badly injured. Lacerations near their eyes, bruises all over their bodies… Do you know how to stitch wounds?”
…Ugh.
I shook my head.
Then, the middle-aged woman spoke, lifting her head.
“…I…”
…Huh?
Could she treat their injuries?
Jung Eun-seo looked at the woman, her gaze cold. “How can I trust you? After… after we worked so hard… going around…” Her voice choked with emotion, and she stopped speaking.
The middle-aged woman bowed her head. “…I’m sorry.”
“No, there’s nothing to be sorry for. Just so you know, I won’t be helping you with anything anymore.”
…Hmm.
Jung Eun-seo was furious. The middle-aged woman was apologizing, even though she wasn’t the one who had attacked them. And I didn’t care.
I asked the woman, “Can you stitch a laceration near the eye?”
The woman still couldn’t look at us. She just kept her head down and said,
“…Yes. I… I used to be a nurse.”
Oh.
A nurse?
This woman was useful.
I looked at Jung Eun-seo, my expression asking, “What do you think?”
Jung Eun-seo glared at me, her expression saying, “Fuck off!”
I shook my head. Come on, give her a chance.
Jung Eun-seo also shook her head. Get lost, asshole. …We were communicating through gestures and expressions, but it was probably better to just talk.
“If you leave those wounds untreated, they might get infected. What if they lose their eyesight? This woman’s a nurse. Let’s prioritize saving lives, okay?”
Then, a woman’s voice called out from inside,
“Someone was a nurse?”
Jung Eun-seo’s face darkened. I gestured towards the middle-aged woman.
“She wasn’t even the one who attacked you. And she’s offering to help. Those people in there are in pain.”
Jung Eun-seo rolled her eyes, lifted her head, and sighed deeply. There we go.
I smiled and gently pushed the middle-aged woman towards the door.
“Go on. Take care of them.”
The woman bowed deeply to me and went inside. Jung Eun-seo glared at me, then closed the door.
And I was amused.
Oh, yes.
Sticking a bunch of people who hated each other in the same room…
This was entertaining.
I chuckled as I went upstairs. Then it hit me.
Wait.
…Did we just get a healer in our party?
A grandma nurse healer!
Hmm…
Not bad.
I continued upstairs, distracted by that thought, and the delicious aroma of food wafted from the main house. …It smelled like jjajangmyeon. I opened the door and went inside.
“Something smells good.”
It really was jjajangmyeon. Ye-eun and Soo-hyun, who were cooking in the kitchen, and So-eun, who was holding out a spoon, probably for a taste, all turned to look at me. “Oh, you’re back.” They had made a huge pot of jjajangmyeon. Well, the number of mouths to feed had doubled from seven to fourteen.
We couldn’t let Grandma starve. We all ate together—fourteen people. That was a lot of food for one meal. I grinned.
“I’m hungry.”
“It’s almost ready. Just wait a little longer,” Soo-hyun said with a smile.
Yes! Jjajangmyeon for lunch!
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After lunch, I called a meeting on the rooftop. The people on the first floor said they would be a while and asked me to wait. It would take a while to feed the baby and the injured men in Soo-hyun’s room.
I sat on the rooftop and listened to Grandma, Ye-eun, So-eun, and Soo-hyun—my fuck buddy, girlfriend… our relationship was complicated—chattering away. Grandma seemed especially happy to be outside. She must have been cooped up inside for a while, now that the TV wasn’t working.
After about an hour, Hoon, his wife, the inline skaters, and the nurse grandma all came up to the rooftop.
…Wow…
Eleven people. Fourteen, including the three injured men downstairs. Fifteen, including the baby. …That was a lot of people.
I didn’t know how I had become the leader of this group. I had just been killing things.
Anyway…
I flicked my cigarette away and smiled.
“The jjajangmyeon was delicious. Ye-eun’s a great cook. And Soo-hyun too.”
I gave Soo-hyun a thumbs-up, but she frowned at me, probably because I hadn’t mentioned her name first. She was practically my girlfriend. I chuckled and said, “I have something important to discuss.”
“What is it?” Soo-hyun asked curtly.
Was she jealous? Cute. I smiled and said,
“The supermarket is empty now. That’s why I called this meeting.”
The atmosphere changed. I hadn’t mentioned the supermarket during lunch. It had become a sensitive topic.
I continued, “We have some food stocked up at the house, but it’s not nearly enough. As you all know, we need food to survive, and toilet paper, and diapers.”
They were all listening intently. It was natural, since I was talking about survival.
I turned and pointed at the tall building in the distance.
“That hypermarket. Everything we need is there. Food, daily necessities, tools, materials… everything.”
Everyone’s gaze followed my finger. I waited for their attention to return to me before continuing, “Let’s move there.”
Their eyes widened. I heard gasps of surprise. Grandma seemed especially shocked. “Why would we abandon our home and go there, young man?”
I smiled.
“It’s for the best. Look. It’s spacious, sturdy, and has everything we need. It’s much safer and more… abundant than here.”
I looked up at the roof of the building. “…We could even grow crops up there. And collect rainwater.”
Their expressions began to change. Even Grandma’s eyes flickered with interest at the mention of farming. She might have been putting on a brave face, but she couldn’t hide the glimmer in her eyes. Farming would be much more engaging than sitting around doing nothing. Especially for Grandma.
The nurse grandma was also listening intently. She was still keeping to herself, since she was still a stranger to this group, but her eyes were fixed on me. A flicker of hope appeared on their faces.
…Good.
…I suddenly wondered… the people in front of me had a glimmer of hope in their eyes; some were even smiling faintly…
…What was the atmosphere like in other survivor groups? Probably not good. Idiots.
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