Hiding a House in the Apocalypse - Chapter 285



Only Krnovel

115. Happiness (4)

The village was surrounded by a crude wall made of wood, slate plywood, and doors taken from cars.

Beyond the wall, there were about 50 crude houses, but it seemed unlikely that there were many people actually living there.

As expected of an abandoned land, there are no guards at the entrance to the village.

The same goes for the watchtower where someone once climbed up and watched the net.

The wind chimes hanging below the watchtower swayed in the breeze, making a refreshing sound as if to announce our approach.

“Ambush?”

There was no way there was an ambush, but just to be sure, I asked Cheon Yeong-jae.

Cheon Yeong-jae shook his head and rolled his eyes here and there.

Together we went to the entrance, pushed open the door and entered the village.

A wanderer finally discovered us.

“who is this?”

You could tell before we even spoke that the man was in bad shape.

A body with protruding bones, a dull expression, sallow skin, and convulsive movements that repeat meaningless movements without any rest.

He is a drug addict.

“I came from Shelter 73.”

There is one stereotype about drug addicts.

Drug addicts are already completely mentally damaged and therefore incapable of thinking normally.

The addicts I’ve met are different.

Although they have characteristic appearances, most drug addicts think normally.

They are just ordinary people like us before they get addicted to drugs.

If you have a job, you do your job, and if you have a family, you spend quality time with your family and fulfill your role within the family.

In fact, they think they are normal people.

That person is the same.

As soon as he realized we were from outside, he rolled his eyes, became lost in thought, and then snickered.

“How did you come here?”

“I came through the zombie zone.”

“Oh! Zombie Zone! Over there? Monsters?!”

“I took a detour.”

“Wow, that’s really great! Did you bring the car? The car?”

He rolled his bloodshot eyes fiercely.

“I came on foot. There are no cars.”

“You don’t have a car······? I can’t go out without a car.”

“We can walk, I guess. That’s what we did.”

“No, that’s not the problem. If you don’t have a car, you can’t take it! You can’t take it!”

The man suddenly starts shivering and repeats the same words as if his intelligence has decreased.

Soon his hands began to tremble visibly and he took something out of his bosom.

It is a substance that is disgusting even to put in one’s mouth.

“Hehehe!”

Drug addicts are, in a sense, long dead people.

They think they are ordinary, but their ordinariness is nothing more than a living illusion, created only to bridge the gap between the old and new.

The man buried his nose in the paper.

I looked around, avoiding eye contact.

“······.”

They farmed drugs all over the ridge.

It’s unclear whether it was built as a refuge or if the small community that gathered here wanted to trade in drugs, but it’s pretty serious.

Perhaps this was the main source of income for Shelter 73.

Now that Korea’s once-proud medical system has completely collapsed, narcotics are the easiest painkillers to obtain.

“I’m looking for a woman named Song Moon-hee.”

The man rolled his eyes.

“Song Moon-hee?”

“Is that a familiar name?”

“Oh, I know! I know. You mean the woman who lives on the hill over there?”

Cheon Yeong-jae, who was listening from the side, joined the conversation.

“Do you have kids? Do you have kids!?”

“Oh, there was. But it died. Last winter.”

“······.”

He glanced at Cheon Yeong-jae’s face, which showed rapid emotional ups and downs, and asked the man.

“How old are you?”

“Baby. Baby. They were born last year.”

“What about the other kids? Aren’t there any older kids?”

“No. There probably wasn’t any.”

He said while looking at Cheon Yeong-jae.

“Is that so?”

Cheon Yeong-jae looked at me with a stern face and nodded.

“Hey. You guys. You said you came from outside? Huh?”

The man approached us with drool dripping from his mouth.

“Car. Did you come by car?”

“No, I came on foot.”

“Car?! No car?”

“I told you I came on foot.”

“I can’t live without a car. Without a car, it’s meaningless.”

The man muttered to himself, his hands shaking violently.

I left him and stared at the house the man was pointing at.

“What should we do?”

I asked Cheon Yeong-jae.

“Are you going to go see it?”

It’s a question asked lightly, but its weight is by no means light.

It has the weight of life.

“······.”

Cheon Yeong-jae couldn’t decide easily.

“let’s go.”

took the lead

“where?”

“Now that we’ve come this far, we should check.”

The clock shows 4 o’clock in the afternoon.

It’s summer, so the sun sets late, but once darkness falls, the danger of zombies increases twice as much.

The point is that there is no harm in hurrying.

No, maybe it was just my desire to get away from the disgusting air that hung in this village of the living dead.

One by one, people begin to emerge from the collapsing building.

Although they all show clear signs of malnutrition and have the general appearance of an addict, at least they are aware of what is happening.

Meanwhile, Cheon Yeong-jae rolled his eyes fiercely and showed his anxious feelings without any filter.

I went to the house in question.

Like other houses, it is a house made of slate, wood, and miscellaneous metalwork.

Between the gaps, insulating materials such as industrial waste vinyl were hanging out, looking ugly, like protruding intestines.

The door was firmly closed.

I knocked on the door.

Soon the small board at the top of the door opened like a sliding door, revealing the eyes of a middle-aged man.

“who is this?”

It’s a tone that makes the listener feel bad.

It’s not something that you’ll get used to overnight.

You can see Cheon Yeong-jae’s face distorted.

“Looking for Song Moon-hee.”

“Who are you? Huh? Who are you?”

It should have just ended.

“What the hell kind of bastards are you talking about? Get out of here right now!?”

This is no longer the naive world of before the war.

It was natural for Cheon Yeong-jae to pass in front of me.

bang!

He slammed the door open violently.

The man shouted and threatened, but Cheon Yeong-jae’s merciless hand struck the man’s cheek and dragged him away.

puck!

A merciless kick struck the man’s head and stomach.

He held a gun and stood guard around the area.

A few people poked their heads out of the house, but no one paid any attention.

“Ahhhh!”

Leaving the man alone, Cheon Yeong-jae went inside the house and came out.

He shook his head at me.

It looks like there’s no one there.

“Where did Moonhee go?”

Cheon Yeong-jae crouched down in front of the man and asked.

As the man groaned, Cheon Yeong-jae grabbed his hair and dragged him to the ground, heading toward the door.

After positioning the man’s face in the closing part of the door, Cheon Yeong-jae asked again.

“Answer quickly.”

He slammed the door shut roughly.

bang!

The door slammed into the man’s head.

“Answer me!”

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Blood spurted out and the man’s body flinched every time the door slammed shut.

“Cheon Yeong-jae.”

At that point, Cheon Yeong-jae’s name was called.

He stared at me with his face still filled with excitement.

“There’s no need to kill.”

“I’m trying to fix my bald head.”

Cheon Yeong-jae looked beyond the building with his gun in his hand.

There is someone approaching.

“uh?”

A murderous look appeared in Cheon Yeong-jae’s eyes.

A muscular man in his early 30s appeared around the corner.

A stylish tattoo stands out on his neck, probably done before the war.

As soon as Cheon Yeong-jae saw him, he pointed his gun at him and smiled brightly.

“This kid.”

I know who this man is.

This is Yoon Seongjae.

Lynched Cheon Yeong-jae and took Song Moon-hee away from him.

He is unarmed.

There were two men with us, but they only had clubs, and when they saw us with guns, they hid their clubs or put them on the ground.

Cheon Yeong-jae had a chance to examine the man’s face before he hit him in the face with the buttstock.

It’s fine.

Unlike other people I’ve seen here, I don’t see any ill effects of drugs.

puck!

Cheon Yeong-jae knocked him down with one blow and aimed his gun at him.

“Have you come to die?”

“······.”

The man said nothing.

A fatalistic resignation was seen on his face as he avoided Cheon Yeong-jae’s glaring gaze.

Cheon Yeong-jae put down his gun and took out another weapon from his waistband.

Srrrrung–

It is a curved sword without a blade sheath called a kukri.

Although it is not an official weapon, it was once popular among hunters.

It is easy to manage and has strong cutting power.

“Where is Moonhee?”

Cheon Yeong-jae asked, holding up the cool blade.

The man seemed unwilling to answer.

Cheon Yeong-jae sighed and approached the man.

“Cheon Yeong-jae.”

“why?”

“Is this guy Yoon Seongjae?”

“Oh. This kid chased me. He tried to cut my Achilles tendon.”

“good.”

He instructed Cheon Yeong-jae to step back.

He showed strong dissatisfaction with my instructions, but I ignored him and stood in front of Yoon Sungjae, looking down at him.

The resigned eyes stared at me for a moment before looking back at the ground.

“It looks like you haven’t touched the medicine. Did I see it correctly?”

The man glanced at me and nodded silently.

“Why did you show yourself?”

He looked at Cheon Yeong-jae and asked.

“You could have predicted that you would die if you came out, right?”

This isn’t just a story for men.

This is a story I also want to tell to Cheon Yeong-jae, who lost his composure due to excessive emotions.

Cheon Yeong-jae’s breathing has changed.

Also, I feel the strength in my hand holding the kukri slowly loosening.

I continued the interrogation with a sense of slight hope.

“Is it for Song Moon-hee?”

“······.”

“It doesn’t matter whether you believe us or not, but at least we didn’t come here for revenge. This guy came here to see what kind of person Song Moon-hee is.”

The man who had been avoiding eye contact finally looked at me, rubbing his lips that were dripping with blood.

“Song Moon-hee. Are you alive?”

“······.”

“Answer me. So that my friend can rest easy.”

He spoke briefly and forcefully.

Only then did the man nod his head with a deep sigh.

“I’m alive.”

I looked back at Cheon Yeong-jae.

“Is that so?”

Cheon Yeong-jae doesn’t say anything.

After hearing that his ex-lover was alive, he sat there dumbfounded for a moment, then he started laughing strangely and kicked the gravel on the floor, hitting it against the wall of the neighboring cabin.

“Can you show me that woman?”

I asked Yoon Seong-jae.

Yoon Seongjae shook his head without saying anything.

“Why?”

“······.”

“It’s not me who holds your lifeline. It’s that guy.”

“······I don’t want Moon-hee to meet me.”

The man opened his mouth late.

It was a beautiful voice with deep resonance.

Looking closely at his face, he had a neat appearance and his small body and actions gave off a sense of dignity.

He nodded and stepped back from the man.

“Cheon Yeong-jae.”

From now on, it’s Cheon Yeong-jae’s turn to decide.

I stared at him blankly.

Regardless of his ability or the strength of his fighting power, he is a smart guy.

He is quick-witted and quick to judge situations.

I thought there would be no weaknesses.

However, he seemed overly vulnerable and excited about personal matters.

Everyone has weaknesses.

I don’t see it as a good weakness.

Because his weakness is related to “choice”.

“······.”

This is my final test.

Here’s hoping he makes a wise decision.

No matter how talented or excellent someone is, I don’t associate with people who can’t control their personal emotions.

It’s a shame to lose him, but I see it as a great opportunity.

These intimate weaknesses are not easily revealed in everyday life.

“What is the reason?”

Cheon Yeong-jae asked roughly.

Yoon Seongjae sighed and asked in a low voice.

“······You know?”

Cheon Yeong-jae’s eyes shook slightly.

Soon he stood there with his head down, not moving.

I can feel countless thoughts crossing my mind beyond the shadows cast over his face.

The silence did not last long, however.

“Fuck.”

Cheon Yeong-jae turned around, swearing.

He looked at me.

“Let’s go.”

With eyes slightly tearful.

I felt a faint smile creeping onto my lips, but I held myself back.

“Let’s go and have a drink. I have something good.”

“Do whatever you want.”

That was when I was trying to escape this village of living corpses with Cheon Yeong-jae.

“Are you a hunter too?”

Yoon Seong-jae finally got up and asked.

Quite a tall man.

He looks well over 190cm tall.

He nodded.

“I’m so sorry.”

Yoon Sungjae suddenly knelt down.

“I know it’s shameless, but I heard that hunters are the natural enemies of monsters.”

“······.”

“I’m really sorry, but can you kill the monster in front of me? All I’m asking for is drugs, but this is a matter of survival for us. Our vehicles can’t pass because of that monster, so we need to take our belongings to the shelter······.”

“no.”

I rejected it outright.

“There are too many zombies. There are only two of us. And there is no reason for us to risk our lives for you.”

Personally, I think it’s more effective to use polite language when refusing.

My classmate Lee Sang-hoon was really good at doing that to the point where it was disgusting.

He nodded to Cheon Yeong-jae and took another step forward.

“If you don’t help, everyone here, including me, will die. Including Moon-hee.”

It’s not my job.

but.

“······Senior Park.”

My junior looks at me.

You’re not testing me.

You are trying to rely on me.

Srrrrung-

I finally took out my axe.

The blade, still sharp as a mirror, dazzles my eyes.

“let’s go.”