Chapter 136
It was easy to guess that by now, they were probably celebrating having dealt with all their troubles at once.
But the door was already firmly shut. Seokjae never got to see their expressions with his own eyes, and perhaps that was a blessing—it allowed him to cool his head faster than the anger that had momentarily made him look away.
“……”
Of course, just because reason had returned didn’t mean his hostility had subsided. Seokjae found it terribly frustrating that he couldn’t destroy those who had stabbed him in the back without fear of the consequences. That feeling leaked out through his eyes, filled with murderous intent.
Though Seokjae emanated a murderous aura that made it seem like he might break down the doorknob and charge in at any moment…
“Tsk.”
He knew doing so would obviously put himself in danger too, so he forcibly turned his reluctant head to survey his surroundings.
The long, straight shopping arcade corridor. The sound of a corpse rolling on the floor. The sound of the steel door closing. And Seokjae’s laughter on top of it all—everything had echoed through the corridor, yet there was no sign of anyone else. This was because they had cleared this path at the beginning, as it was the route the group used to exit.
This was also why he had been able to linger by the door with such composure until now.
You might think he could just wait there until they came out, but unfortunately, since they had brains, that wasn’t such a good option. This wasn’t the first time the group had expelled someone, and each time, they had made thorough preparations to guard against retaliation.
‘They’ll probably do the same this time too.’
No, they would likely prepare even more thoroughly. Unlike previous expulsions, the target wasn’t injured, and Seokjae had the best physical abilities in the group.
In other words, if he wanted revenge, he would have to be prepared for some injuries himself.
Forget about hospitals—he’d lost his belongings and didn’t even have proper medical supplies. Plus, zombies that drooled at the mere scent of blood were swarming everywhere. Thinking rationally, the right choice would be to give up on revenge and leave this place to find a new hideout.
‘I know, just leaving is the right thing to do. I know that, but… damn.’
But the mere thought of letting this go without retaliation made his insides boil.
He would surely be unable to sleep for a while due to his anger. He knew that most of the buildings and food supplies in this area had already been looted, meaning he would have to relocate elsewhere anyway. This meant he wouldn’t have another chance for revenge.
“Haa…”
Seokjae, who had been grinding his teeth, roughly messed up his hair and sighed. Getting worked up like this wouldn’t help. He decided to accept the grim reality.
‘Better to leave before wasting more time and emotions.’
With that thought, Seokjae took a step back.
Crunch.
A pale hand was crushed under his foot. Naturally, his gaze traveled up from the hand, and their eyes met in midair. He could almost feel the desperate resentment from those bloodshot, wide-open eyes.
It was just a dead body, and yet somehow Seokjae felt overwhelmed and bit his lip. Suddenly, the corpse’s bluish lips moved.
‘Murderer!’
Shocked by this sight, Seokjae inhaled sharply and stumbled backward.
“Huk, heuk…”
With trembling hands clutching his chest and exhaling violent breaths, he looked at the corpse again with unsteady focus.
“……”
The man’s mouth was tightly closed, as if it had never moved. And indeed, it probably hadn’t. Unless it was a zombie, dead bodies don’t move.
If he had been a zombie, Seokjae wouldn’t have been expelled like this, so this man was an ordinary corpse. That meant… that he himself had gone crazy for seeing the man move.
“Shit… damn it.”
As if he had stepped on something filthy, Seokjae scraped the shoe that had touched the man’s hand against the floor repeatedly. He felt nauseous and the blood draining from his face.
Seokjae grimaced and was about to stagger away when—
“Haha!”
A faint laugh came from inside the door.
“…They’re laughing?”
Those worms were giggling inside while he was left stranded in the corridor with a corpse, trembling like a madman and seeing things. It felt like his worth had been thrown into filth.
Was it due to the extreme stress? The hallucination he thought he’d escaped came back to him. The corpse crawled across the floor, grabbed his ankle, and giggled.
‘Are you going to leave without doing anything to the ones who made you a murderer?’
‘The ones who stabbed you in the back are probably laughing at you right now. Are you going to run away with your limbs intact?’
If he had any reason left, he would have known this was all an illusion and that he needed to leave immediately to find a safe place before the sun completely set.
‘Isn’t it unfair? Hurry, make them just like me.’
But Seokjae was in a state of diminished capacity, having just accidentally killed someone. These were sufficient conditions for anger-filled, irrational behavior.
Bang! Crash!
When a 190cm man kicked down with all his might, there was enough force to seem like it would dent the steel door.
Clank! Bang! The screws holding the door in place rattled.
“Wh-what?”
“Is he kicking the door?”
“Is he crazy? If zombies come, he’ll die too!”
The laughter from inside had long since stopped due to the ominous sound and the shaking door. Nevertheless, the noise that seemed like it would break the steel door continued. Eventually, that sound reached beyond the shopping arcade corridor and attracted those with keen hearing outside the building.
Thud! Clang!
“Kyaaaak!”
After a few more kicks, a horrifying scream mixed with the sharp ringing of the steel door.
The hair on the back of his neck stood up, and survival instincts signaled him to flee, but Seokjae gritted his teeth and mechanically continued kicking the door. He truly intended to die together with them.
Crash! Clang!
“Kreuruuk.”
“Kwaak!”
Just before the door handle broke off, the sound of the shopping center’s glass breaking came first, and soon several zombies were seen rushing from the end of the corridor.
“Heuk… huk…”
Breathing roughly, Seokjae instinctively looked around. The emergency exit was already occupied by zombies, and there were only locked stores around. There was nowhere to run.
“Damn it.”
Watching the zombies chase after him, dripping flesh and blood from their mouths, regret welled up inside him. But Seokjae, out of pride, just clenched his fist and didn’t run away. Of course, he didn’t intend to die easily either.
‘I have to hear the screams of those bastards who stabbed me in the back before I go.’
Thinking he would endure tenaciously until then, he raised his leg to kick the rattling doorknob once more. Just then, when Seokjae seemed completely devoid of reason, a voice called out to him.
“Hey! Over here!”
It was a human voice. A clear voice that seemed unfamiliar with cigarettes or alcohol.
When he turned his head, eyes as gentle as the voice were staring directly at him.
“Hurry! Come over here quickly!”
‘Why is he here…?’
Looking at the person urgently waving his hand, Seokjae wondered if he was hallucinating again, but still approached him as if entranced.
When he was just a few steps away from where the person was—
“Yah!”
Perhaps his movements were too slow and frustrating? Suddenly, the person opened his round eyes even wider, made a sound that could have been either effort or aegyo, then ran out the door and grabbed Seokjae’s hand to pull him.
‘…Is that supposed to be strength?’
It seemed that his desire to live was stronger after all. Despite not having heard the screams of those people yet, Seokjae didn’t shake off the weak hand holding his and allowed himself to be led.
“This way!”
The person entered a store first, then pulled on Seokjae’s hand following behind him. With his other arm, he closed the door.
“Ungh—ha!”
Throughout the subsequent process of standing on tiptoes to lock the door, Seokjae, who somehow got caught between the door and the man, quietly looked down at the face that was furrowing its brow in concentration.
‘…So that’s what his face looks like when he’s angry.’
Click.
Just as one of Seokjae’s curiosities was satisfied, the sound of the door lock turning was heard. Only then did the person smile brightly with relief and ask.
“Whew—that was close.”
“You…”
“Are you okay?”
Thump.
It really must have been close. As soon as his words ended, a vibration strong enough to make their whole bodies resonate was felt from beyond the glass door. It seemed like a giant zombie had charged at it.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
