# 08.
“Oh, we could leave through there, lure them away from outside, and the rest can close the front gate. That would be safer.”
After hearing the two people talking, I peeked out to check outside.
Two thick glass doors were wide open. Fortunately, there were no zombies in the lobby, but there were some wandering on the street, which could be dangerous if we weren’t careful.
“Follow me carefully and quietly.”
Cha Heegeon said, looking at us, then moved first.
We turned in a line and went down the stairs. It got darker as we descended to the basement, so I held onto the railing and carefully made my way down until we reached a door.
When Cha Heegeon turned the doorknob to open it, a creaking sound echoed. Even at the small sound, I flinched and my heart pounded fiercely. We had no way of knowing how many zombies might be in the parking lot.
With the feeling that something could jump out at any moment, my palm became soaked with sweat as I gripped the bat handle.
Since it was a parking lot, sound seemed to travel farther, making Cha Heegeon even more cautious. He paused briefly before opening the door again.
Gong Junhee held the fully opened door and let us out one by one. I followed quickly behind them while scanning the surroundings.
“Grrrk.”
“Kuk.”
“Grrrrrk.”
We all stopped in our tracks while heading toward the parking lot entrance.
Right there, zombies were hunched over with their heads together, noisily eating something. All around them was a mess of decomposed intestines and pools of blood.
“Scatter.”
Cha Heegeon, who had been watching the zombies distracted by the corpse, commanded quietly.
I had frozen at the sight of them directly eating humans for the first time, but seeing everyone else scatter immediately, I followed behind Cha Heegeon. Being so scared, I naturally followed the strongest one and hid with him between parked cars.
“Um, excuse me.”
I had moved by instinct, but I was curious about his thoughts since he’d suddenly told us to scatter, so I called to him carefully. Cha Heegeon, who had been watching their movements, looked at me.
“What’s the next plan?”
“We’ll deal with them as quietly as possible and then leave.”
“Aren’t we taking a car?”
“What do you think would happen if we started an engine here?”
I let out a small sigh at Cha Heegeon’s calm question. Thinking about it, if we made noise, zombies might follow the sound and surround the car.
“Don’t get bitten by being careless. Stay alert.”
“Yes.”
For some reason, his stern tone was reassuring. It felt as if his words meant I would be safe if I just followed him well. Even if it was just my imagination, it was comforting at that moment.
“Come behind me.”
Cha Heegeon spoke quietly as he saw me nodding in agreement.
Following his order, I moved positions, then Cha Heegeon thumped the floor with the bat he was holding. The zombies that had been focused on eating stopped moving.
After checking the reactions of the silhouettes barely visible through the car windows, I looked at Cha Heegeon while catching my breath.
He was looking at Gong Junhee, who was hiding between the cars opposite us while watching the zombies’ movements. It seemed he was in a position where he could see the zombies better than we could.
Thump.
Cha Heegeon hit the floor once more.
“Kyaak, kak.”
“Grrrr.”
The zombies reacted to the heavy sound.
Then Gong Junhee lowered himself further and raised his hand. He extended his index and middle fingers, then pointed them toward us. It seemed like he was telling us that two zombies were coming our way.
“Grrrr…”
Just as the presence of the shuffling zombies approached very close, Cha Heegeon moved. He launched his body forward and pushed the two zombies over.
Then Gong Junhee, who had been watching, joined in and they each took on one zombie. Cha Heegeon grabbed the zombie’s head and twisted it without making a sound, breaking its neck, while Gong Junhee shoved the blunt end of his bat into the zombie’s open mouth to block it, then crushed its head with his foot.
“Kyaak!”
“Kyaaak!”
More zombies came running belatedly. But before they could encounter the zombies, the others who had been hiding between parked cars rushed out at once and attacked their heads.
The impact was so great that each time they swung their bats, a loud sound echoed.
“Grrrr.”
After the attack ended and the surroundings became quiet, a zombie limped into the parking lot entrance. At its presence, everyone hid again to assess the situation.
The zombie, slowly descending from a hill-like high ground, soon started wandering aimlessly before seeing a corpse right in front of it. It knelt down and put its face close to it. Then came the sound of crunching and munching.
“Let’s go.”
Cha Heegeon said quietly and began to move. When he moved first, those who had been hiding followed behind him. I also followed Cha Heegeon’s lead, watching for cues.
The zombie, which had been busy eating while claiming the corpse for itself, was hit in the head by Cha Heegeon’s powerfully swung bat at the front and collapsed.
Cha Heegeon’s bat came down repeatedly on the zombie, which was lying face down in a pool of blood and trembling.
“Phew…”
After confirming the zombie wasn’t moving at all, Cha Heegeon exhaled deeply, then stood at the front again and walked. We moved in a single line behind him. And as we went up the hill-like incline, bright sunlight shone in, unlike the dark underground parking lot.
When Cha Heegeon reached the parking lot entrance, he raised his hand to signal us to wait. Every gesture he made as he checked the surroundings made me more nervous.
Unable to breathe comfortably, I stood still, when Cha Heegeon moved forward alone and carefully checked the surroundings. Then he signaled with his hand for us to come. We all rushed out after him.
The zombies that had seemed to be swarming when viewed from the office window had gone somewhere, making the street relatively quiet.
Since they moved slowly and leisurely, it seemed like we could avoid their eyes fairly well if we didn’t make loud noises.
After confirming the zombies wandering with their backs to us, I was about to look ahead when suddenly Kim Yuho, who was right in front of me, pulled me. My wrist was grabbed and I was helplessly dragged, suddenly finding myself hidden.
“Grrrr.”
I heard a quiet zombie sound. Pulled into a commercial building following Cha Heegeon and Kim Yuho, I pressed my lips tightly.
“Kuk, grrrr…”
As the sound got closer and closer, we stepped back. Judging by how quiet it still was, the others who had been behind me seemed to have hidden well on their own.
“What should we do?”
Kim Yuho whispered, keeping his voice as low as possible.
“There’s a bathroom this way. Let’s hide for a moment.”
At Cha Heegeon’s words from the innermost position, we quickly moved while staring straight ahead.
Cha Heegeon, who entered the bathroom first, checked inside by opening each stall of the men’s bathroom. I, who came in last and closed the door, heaved a sigh.
“What about the rest of the hyungs?”
I asked while wiping my sweaty palms on my pants.
“We’ll wait a bit longer, but if it doesn’t work out, we’ll have to go on our own.”
Saying that, Cha Heegeon reopened the door I had closed when I came in. He opened it carefully to avoid making a sound and checked the corridor.
Already exhausted from using all my nerves, I just sat down on the floor and watched Cha Heegeon as he assessed the situation.
After some time passed, Cha Heegeon, who had been watching with his gaze fixed on the direction we had come from, spoke.
“Let’s move first before the sun goes down.”
“Sh-shouldn’t we try contacting them just in case? The hyungs have phones, right?”
“I left my phone behind. Kim Yuho, what about you?”
At my words, Cha Heegeon asked Kim Yuho.
“I also… left it behind. I thought we’d only need our bodies, so I didn’t bring it.”
After hearing Kim Yuho’s words too, I felt completely deflated.
“Then we have no choice. Let’s go out for now.”
“You mean just go out like this?”
I was startled by Cha Heegeon’s resolute decision, as if he wasn’t burdened by the situation of having to leave with just us. Seeing how tense I was, he let out a chuckle as if he found it ridiculous. It was embarrassing to see his weak smile, as if I had overreacted, but I couldn’t help it. Wouldn’t anyone be scared in this situation?
“If we go through this corridor to the back of the building, there’s a convenience store and a pharmacy.”
My body, which had been curled up passively, perked up at the explanation he added as if trying to comfort me.
“Is it really close by? You mean the pharmacy isn’t far from here, right?”
“Yes, it’s in the building facing this one. There’s a clinic right above it.”
While I wasn’t thrilled about the idea of going just by ourselves, I was relieved to hear that at least the pharmacy was nearby.
While we’re there, I need to stock up on as many Omega suppressants as possible. Having learned about zombie weaknesses and survival methods through firsthand experience, I formulated a plan in my head step by step.
“Let’s go.”
Cha Heegeon said as he opened the bathroom door. Getting up from my seat, I walked behind Kim Yuho with his sturdy build. We walked down a fairly long corridor and reached the back of the building.
“I’ll go first and signal, then follow me.”
“Yes.”
Just before leaving the building, Cha Heegeon, who had spoken to Kim Yuho, moved without hesitation. He ran quickly and hid between cars parked in front of the building, then looked both ways.
After confirming there was no danger, Cha Heegeon soon signaled for Kim Yuho to come. Though he looked slow because of his muscular body, Kim Yuho was faster than I expected. In the blink of an eye, he was right next to Cha Heegeon.
Seeing this, I prepared to run by putting one foot forward, ready to dash as soon as I received the signal.
But then Cha Heegeon exchanged glances with Kim Yuho, and just as he looked at me, his expression hardened and he shouted.
“Kang Jihong, behind you!”
Startled by the sudden urgent shout, I turned around and saw a zombie approaching with quick steps.
“Kyaaak!”
Just then, a zombie’s scream was heard from outside too. It seemed like Cha Heegeon had drawn the zombies’ attention by shouting. They ran in the opposite direction to avoid the zombies rushing over in a group instead of coming to me.
There weren’t enough zombies for the two of them to handle at once. Seeing this, I rushed at the zombie that had quickly approached me.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
