“…Huh?”
“Just in case.”
Right now they were just hitting zombies and knocking them out, but there might come a time when that wouldn’t be enough. Or they might be threatened by something that wasn’t a zombie. Recalling a zombie movie he’d once seen, Taewoong took out a knife from the sterilizer.
He offered the knife to the stunned and frozen Yeoul, then said “Wait a moment,” and got an apron from another sterilizer.
“I’ll take responsibility.”
He wrapped the sharp knife in the apron and handed it over. Yeoul’s eyes widened, and before he knew it, he accepted it with both hands.
Taewoong took out knives and Yeoul wrapped them in aprons. That’s how they collected all the knives.
“Hey, hey! Stop! Wait!”
As Yeoul was getting up, hugging the apron heavy with knives to his chest, Hyunwoo’s startled voice came from behind. Taewoong and Yeoul looked back.
Beef, thinly sliced pork belly, spicy stir-fried pork meat, rice, large cans of tuna and ham, eggs, fish cakes, cream soup powder, frozen dumplings, curry powder, frankfurters, chicken nuggets, cheese, and more. The counter was filled with food from who-knows-where. Not to mention large ice boxes, cardboard boxes, and bags piled up on one side. Their mouths fell open.
“We took too much! How are we going to carry all this?!”
Hyunwoo, holding a large bottle of cooking oil with both hands, was aghast. At his cry, everyone who had been enthusiastically raiding the kitchen stopped and came over.
“…We’re going to need a cart for this.”
They didn’t know when they’d be able to come to the cafeteria again. So they grabbed everything they could, but ended up taking too much! Taewoong swallowed dryly at the pile of food ingredients, and Yeoul made a small groan.
Cart… something mobile like a cart… Habitually grabbing his head with both hands and searching his memory, he suddenly widened his eyes with an “Ah!”
“There was a handcart in the security office!”
He remembered that behind the security office, there were plywood handcarts and wheelbarrows used for various jobs! When Yeoul exclaimed happily, Taewoong brightened and said “Oh!”
“Yes! We can bring that!”
“Hey! Right. We need to take water too, so that’s it.”
They’d found a way to easily move the food they’d gathered. While everyone was excitedly saying “wow,” Taewoong said “Um” and grabbed Yeoul’s arm.
“We were going to the security office anyway. Should we go while the others are gathering things?”
To turn off the emergency alarm, they needed to go to the teachers’ office or the security office. The teachers’ office was closer, but it was full of zombies when they’d briefly looked. Plus, they didn’t know where the device to turn off the alarm was located. The risk was high, so they had planned to go to the security office.
Taewoong looked at Yeoul as if asking what he thought. Yeoul nodded vigorously.
“Yes. Let’s do that.”
It’s sc-scary, but it’s a chance to be alone with Taewoong that won’t come again! Pushing his fear aside and quickly accepting, Taewoong said “Okay!” and pulled Hyunwoo and Jian over.
“Yeoul and I will go to the security office, so Jian, you check the food, and Hyunwoo, keep watch for zombies.”
“Zombies, okay!”
“Um… wait a minute.”
Yeoul, who had been listening to Taewoong, quietly interrupted and raised one hand.
“Um… how about letting Jian keep watch for zombies?”
No sooner had he carefully offered his opinion than all eyes turned to him. Yeoul hunched his shoulders at the sudden attention. Taewoong thought for a moment and looked at Jian.
“Right. You do it.”
Jian narrowed his brow. Then he looked at Yeoul again and nodded.
Since they were just making a quick trip to the security office, there was no need to pack. Taewoong grabbed a vacuum cleaner stick, and Yeoul took a mop handle, and that completed their preparations.
“We’re going. Guard well.”
“Good luck!”
“Don’t take any detours and come straight back!”
“Fighting!”
Yeoul, who had secretly hidden the knives in his backpack, quietly unlocked the back door. Taewoong took a deep breath and slowly opened the back door. After seeing zombies wandering around soaking wet and growling, he gently pushed aside a zombie blocking the way with his vacuum stick. The zombie made a choking sound and staggered back.
As he was about to step forward, suddenly, Yeoul tapped him on the back. Stepping back, he silently mouthed “What?”
“…W-wait. I just thought of something.”
Yeoul took out a dirty phone from his pocket. Then after touching the unlocked phone a few times, he looked at Taewoong.
“Can you… drive the zombies to the opposite side?”
“Nothing I can’t do.”
At Taewoong’s calm response, Yeoul swallowed dryly and held out the phone he had just taken out.
“After you gather as many zombies as possible, I’ll… make a phone call. To the other side… don’t run too fast… I’ll call for about a minute. Throw the phone toward the back mountain to get rid of the zombies and come back.”
They weren’t completely leaving yet. They would go to the security office by the school gate to get the cart and return to the cafeteria, then load their supplies onto the cart and go to the dorm. They couldn’t just roughly clear the zombies in front of the back door. At Yeoul’s tense suggestion, Taewoong accepted the phone with a stern face. Soon he exhaled deeply.
“I’ll try to gather them as much as possible with the whistle.”
“Y-yes.”
Yeoul silently clenched both hands in encouragement. Taewoong grinned and then patted Yeoul’s head. Soon he dashed forward and blew the whistle.
Whiriririk!!
“Kakak!!”
“Kakakga!!”
“Krururuk!!”
At the noisy whistle sound, all the zombies—from those in front of the back door to those on the path leading to the playground—howled in unison. Soon, like the rats from the Pied Piper of Hamelin, the zombies followed Taewoong as he ran.
The whistle blew a few more times. Yeoul, watching the situation while listening to the increasingly distant whistle, closed the back door and went out to the now-empty front area.
The zombies had moved some distance away. He called the number he had memorized earlier.
♩♬♩♪♬
A default ringtone sounded from far away. At the same time, the zombies howled loudly.
One minute from now. Taewoong had to return within one minute! Though he certainly trusted Taewoong, he waited anxiously, when he vaguely saw something suddenly rise above the zombies. Soon something sparkled in the sunlight. The ringtone quickly faded away.
Phew, the phone was thrown! Quickly, quickly, he muttered to himself while stomping his feet, when he saw Taewoong running beyond the zombies. He jumped up and down with both arms raised.
“Taewoong…!”
Taewoong was rapidly approaching. Just as he called his name with a bright smile of joy, he was suddenly embraced.
“…It feels like scoring a dramatic goal in extra time.”
Taewoong muttered that he was crazy as he buried his face in Yeoul’s shoulder and hugged him tightly.
The zombies were slower than Taewoong. He was confident he wouldn’t get caught if he ran at full speed, and the zombies’ outstretched hands didn’t even come close to touching him, but strangely, he felt a little afraid. Then, seeing Yeoul welcoming him enthusiastically, he felt a surge of adrenaline and couldn’t contain his joy.
He embraced the warm Yeoul fully and sighed deeply in relief several times. His heart found its rhythm again. Taewoong released Yeoul.
“I almost took off my uniform, wha? Are you okay?!”
Unable to contain his joy, he almost took off his shirt like a soccer uniform. He was smiling as he spoke to Yeoul, but Yeoul made a swooning sound and went limp. Taewoong panicked and awkwardly embraced Yeoul, who looked like he might collapse. Yeoul closed his eyes and raised his limp hand to hold his head.
“…Y-yeah.”
Taewoong had run up and hugged him just like the male lead in a foreign romance movie who couldn’t contain his joy at meeting his long-separated lover. Having been embraced by Taewoong without mental preparation, he almost fainted!
H-how could this happen to me! My head is spinning so much I might get a nosebleed! He lowered his hand from his head and touched his nose, thinking “no way.”
Thankfully, he wasn’t shamefully bleeding from his nose. With relief, he opened his closed eyes.
“Are you really okay?”
“…Mom.”
Taewoong’s handsome face is right in front of him. The merciless facial attack made Yeoul dizzy again. Yeoul squeezed his eyes shut thinking about his unreachable mom, then opened them. Seeing Taewoong’s face still there, he shook his head vigorously as if shaking off an evil spirit.
“…I-I’m fine. Yeah. I’m fine.”
They needed to get to the security office quickly. Yeoul tried to act fine while struggling to hold onto his wandering mind.
Yeoul showed his tightly clenched fists as if to prove he was really okay. Taewoong glanced at his small, fair hands that seemed barely half the size of his own, then grabbed one of his fists.
“Be careful with your hands.”
He firmly held the puppy-like soft fist, then stepped forward. Behind him, Yeoul silently screamed and trembled with the hand that had just been held.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
