Even Zombies Have Fandoms

Chapter 22

Muyoung, with an angry face, pushed through the zombies and sat down in a corner, roughly opening the bag.

“Gasp. It’s a first aid kit.”

Inside was a white first aid kit with a red cross drawn on it. Muyoung’s eyes sparkled. He couldn’t open it with his blood-stained hands to see what was inside, but judging by its weight, he could expect it to contain various items.

“Yes! I hit the jackpot.”

To obtain medical supplies, which are harder to find than food. Although he had the absurd experience of being betrayed by a human while being a zombie, he hadn’t been hurt or felt any pain, and he had ended up getting a first aid kit, so it was a gain.

Especially thinking about giving this to Seokjae, he could quickly brush off the hardship he had just experienced.

Chuckling happily, Muyoung had to spit out the blood that had flowed into his mouth again, which he hadn’t managed to wipe away.

* * *

The three people who had unfailingly entered the marked building were organizing the food they had found today. Kyungho, who was softly humming a tune, spoke to Junwoo beside him.

“Isn’t it really comfortable these days?”

“What is?”

“We haven’t encountered zombies many times. We’re not short on food. We find a place to rest every day.”

“Definitely. It’s become incredibly comfortable since we met our benefactor.”

“I wonder if our benefactor cleared all the ones on the streets too?”

Muyoung was now being called a benefactor by the two. And these days, the two had become interested in uncovering the benefactor’s identity and threw out various speculations whenever they had the chance.

“If that’s true, they must be an incredibly strong person, right? I wonder if they’re as big as Seokjae hyung?”

“The paper they use looks very cute and dainty. It could be a woman.”

“That could just be their preference. Also, it might not be their own, but something they found somewhere.”

Seokjae, who had already finished organizing, was leaning against the wall next to the window. He was listening to their conversation with one ear and letting it go out the other while looking outside through the gap in the curtain. While doing so, he noticed some people approaching the building and said,

“Guys.”

“Yes?”

“Yes, hyung.”

Seokjae made a shushing sound as if telling them to be quiet.

Thunk.

A moment of silence fell, and the uninvited guests who had walked up to the building broke that silence.

Thunk, thunk thunk-

The sound of shaking the front door continued for a few seconds, accompanied by the presence of at least two people, and then a voice filled with dissatisfaction was faintly heard through the window.

“What’s this? It’s locked.”

“What? Did you try to open it properly? It was definitely open until just now.”

Kyungho and Junwoo froze. It was the first time other groups had come to where they were staying, and they couldn’t show any reaction with their tensed faces.

“Damn. Did someone else get in first? The paper that was stuck there is gone too.”

“Then what do we do? Just leave?”

“Leave? No way. We found this place first, you know? We should drive them out.”

Listening to the conversation, it was clear these weren’t people who would quietly leave if asked. Having made his judgment, Seokjae slowly stood up, holding his bag.

Junwoo whispered urgently.

“Hyung, where are you going?”

“They’re bad guys. It’ll be dangerous if they get inside.”

They were in a second-floor room, making it easy to check outside through the window. Carefully looking through the gap again, they could clearly see the entrance diagonally below. Three men with uniformly unpleasant appearances were lingering in front of it, talking.

‘Baseball bat… wooden stick…’

Seokjae scanned the weapons in their hands and closely observed the one guy who wasn’t holding anything. He couldn’t know what might be hidden in the pocket where his hand was.

‘It would be cleaner to strike first.’

Seokjae gestured for the two to follow him, and they went down to the first floor together. Thanks to all the windows being covered with curtains and junk, the situation inside the house couldn’t be guessed from outside. Seokjae picked up a fire extinguisher placed in a corner of the first floor with one hand and whispered.

“Lock the door right after I go out.”

“What?”

“I said lock the window right away. I’ll come back here when it’s all over, so check that it’s me before opening.”

“Let us come with you. There are several of them out there…”

“The ones outside are people.”

Looking at the two who seemed displeased, Seokjae took out the extendable baton he had brought from the police station and gripped it in his other hand.

“I’ll ask for your help when you can kill zombies without any thoughts. Not now.”

The two had nothing to say. In fact, Junwoo had suffered from nightmares for days after smashing a zombie’s head, and Kyungho had also immediately vomited and struggled after pushing a zombie out the window to its death.

Although they had improved since then, they still found it difficult to kill zombies in human form. There was no use putting up a brave front in front of Seokjae, who had witnessed all of this.

“I can’t fight comfortably in front of you guys either.”

“…Okay.”

“We’re sorry, hyung.”

“No need to apologize. Just open the door properly when I come back.”

With those final words, Seokjae carefully cleared away the objects and curtains covering the window to avoid making noise and went outside. He immediately approached the entrance, leaning his back against the wall.

“Should we break down the door and go in?”

“Ah, but then it’ll be a pain to block the door.”

“Then what do you suggest? Looking at how there’s no reaction even though they must have heard our voices, it seems they have no intention of coming out.”

Thud! The bleached-haired man kicked the door in frustration. Maybe their guts had grown because there were few zombies on the streets. These people making loud noises without caution didn’t notice Seokjae approaching at all.

“Hey~ you nameless squatter. Come out before we break down the door. Then we’ll let you go.”

“He’s lying, that bastard would skin you alive.”

“Shut up for a bit, will you?”

Listening to their snickering voices, irritation clouded Seokjae’s eyes. The person he had been waiting for suddenly disappeared and didn’t return, and now these guys came to ruin the safe zone he had created with their noise pollution.

‘I’m already annoyed that there’s no response…’

It had been quite a while since he sent a note to lure him. Yet he still refused to reveal his identity beyond a certain point. Moreover, because they hadn’t experienced any dangerous situations while following the path he had prepared, there were no incidents that could narrow the distance between them.

The more time passed idly, the more impatient Seokjae became.

In the meantime, he had realized something. Whenever the three laughed and chatted together, the gaze that clung to them became even more intense. Maybe he was afraid of people but also missed them.

So thinking that stimulating loneliness might work, he started leaving notes, but there was no response at all.

‘Perhaps it would be faster if life became precarious. What would be the most natural way to get injured?’

He was now just around the corner from the entrance. Seokjae, leaning his back against the wall, rolled his eyes while thinking internally. Then he newly recognized the three men making unfunny threats while knocking on the tightly closed door.

‘There it is. The danger.’

Since he disappeared on the way back from the supermarket, he probably wasn’t watching right now. Wouldn’t it raise a big alarm for him if there was a commotion when he returned?

‘Then he wouldn’t be able to take his eyes off for a while, at least.’

Seokjae gently put aside his initial thought of dealing with them quickly because it was bothersome, and decided to make the surroundings as chaotic as possible. It was a kind of plan change.

He pulled out the safety pin of the fire extinguisher he had brought to throw, intending to use it for a different purpose. If he could blind them, they would become scared and cause an even bigger disturbance.

Just as he was about to aim the nozzle of the fire extinguisher at them with a raised corner of his mouth, the sound of someone else’s footsteps was heard running from afar. Seokjae immediately pressed his body against the wall again.

Were there more in their group?

“Hey!”

“Ah, that crazy bastard really. Should we rip out his tongue to make him quiet?”

“What’s with you? Why do you look like that? And where’s the bag?”

The man who came running while calling out loudly seemed to be part of the three men’s group. Peeking slightly, his face, clothes, and overall appearance weren’t in great shape, suggesting he might have been chased by zombies.

“Shit. I almost died.”

“Who cares if you die or not. Where’s the bag?”

“Ah.”

“Ah~? You bastard. Did you lose it?”

“It’s not that I lost it… No, I really almost died. If that stupid guy hadn’t fallen, I would’ve become zombie food for real.”

It was as expected. The man who seemed to be at the bottom of the group’s food chain had nearly been caught by zombies but apparently survived by sacrificing someone else.

Seokjae’s conscience, which was already unresponsive to this group, completely disappeared.