Chapter 89 - The Girl Wants to Be M*rdered

〈 Chapter 89 〉 888. Chapter of the Zombie and the Girl (1) * * * ** Crunch, crunch. Human-like figures were devouring others that looked just like them. "Damn it─! Hwa-min, Yeon-ah! Everyone, just run and don't look back!!" "What the heck, Jung-eun!? A moment ago, there was nothing around here! Why suddenly, are they swarming like that!?" "How would I know──!? Grab a stick or something, and run instead of wasting time thinking!" Red, white, yellow, and then back to red. No matter where you looked, the world was filled with crusty fat chunks and blood-stained handprints. "What are these things! They're multiplying!? Did they gather every creature around here!?" "W-What do we do now, Senior Jung-eun?! The path we came from is completely blocked...!!" "Damn....damn....!!" Corpses resting in peace break the laws of nature and roam the streets. As if hell from religious tales had descended upon reality, but even that expression couldn't capture the horror of this dreadful space. At the brink of being devoured by those maggot-infested creatures, in the moment of dire peril. ─Tap, tap! "──Come in here, sisters!" "".....?!"" It was like a scene from a movie. A small hand gestures us over through the crack of a gate that had been firmly shut just moments ago. "Heehee~ Sisters. Come on, quickly!" "──A young girl?" We met a little girl. Whether it was the resonance bridge effect that found me while I was just excited, or something else, I can't be sure now. Everything I saw, from her hair to her eyes, was brilliantly white, with a beauty and mystique that could have made me mistake her for a fairy in a dream. My heart thumped within my chest. Standing idly on the street, forgetting even the closing approach of the zombie horde. "....Pretty." I caught myself murmuring those words. This is the meticulous record of everything surrounding 18-year-old Lee Hwa-min during the apocalypse, and the 42 days spent with the all-white girl. Unforgettable, should never be forgotten. The precious 42 days of journaling to me. ** ** That day, to put it plainly, was just another ordinary day. I was more concerned with which college I would be attending over the next two years than what I would become in several years. More worried about the pop quizzes during class next week than the regular tests coming up in a few months. More preoccupied with what I would eat at the school cafeteria today than finishing homework due at the academy tomorrow afternoon. A day fitting perfectly with the word, 'normal.' '────Aaaahhhh!!" Piercing through the air, the scream of perhaps someone I knew, though unnamed. The world seemed to rush to the end as if everything prior had been a lie within a heartbeat. Every thought, worry, or concern I had up until today was swept away like a sandcastle in a tide, leaving no trace of its existence behind. All its meaning lost. It made me realize that reality could sometimes be more deceitful than a lie. All the knowledge and experiences we dedicated almost half of our lives to acquiring through formal education held no relevance in the face of the calamity that struck us. What remained for us was a mere coincidence—the company of a friend standing beside me, a club junior a year younger, and a heavy backpack stuffed with recklessly grabbed convenience store food during our escape. ─Bang! 'Guys! Stuff everything you see in your bags!' '....Senior Jung-eun? Senior Hwa-min? Are we allowed to just take this?' 'Just do it! I'll pay later or sell a kidney if I have to—just grab everything you can!' 'Hmm... If things go south, we can blame Jung-eun..... Yeon-ah, let's just take what we can.' '─You damn bastard!?' The only reason we held onto that food was due to Jung-eun, who, although a bit crude, was the toughest among us. At the time, when the events were just unfolding, we lacked the sense of reality we possess now, and the moral compass we had was still intact for Yeon-ah and me. We hesitated, unable to act quickly. But perhaps Jung-eun was different. Thanks to her insistence on assuming responsibility for any future issues, urging us to dump out our schoolbooks for cans and shelf-stable instant food, we began stuffing things we had always wanted to eat. Following that, we followed Yeon-ah's suggestion to move into a shopping complex with multiple exits for better observation and unpredictable situations, allowing us to catch our breath. Looking back now, it was a brilliant choice. Despite her age, Yeon-ah proved why she was top of her class. And so, after a series of arduous choices, on that first day, we found ourselves huddled on the top floor of the shopping center, eagerly waiting for rescuers to quell the chaos. We spent our time throwing out silly comments like, 'You're our hero, Jung-eun!' each time she suggested getting food. 'Honestly, I've been waiting for a friend like you.' '....I've trusted Senior Jung-eun from the start.' 'You damn bastards! Are you even human?' The curses hurled back at us in response were oddly comforting, enough to momentarily forget the dire circumstances. Maybe, deep down, we all tried to laugh and bring up trivial matters just for that brief respite. ─Screech! 'Eun-ji..! Why, why are you doing this!! Please, stop...! Aaaaahhhhh─!!!!' '■■■■■■──!' To erase from our minds the horrific sight of once friendly companions who suddenly turned savage, tearing each other apart. 'Mom...!? Mom, what's going on! What's that noise next to you!!' 'M-My parents...they're not answering the phone...' '.........' To brush away the dark imaginations and predictions haunting our minds about the unreachable family members. "Haha." ['S-Save me...! Please, help me!!'] "──Hahahahaha!" Even as red-rimmed eyes screamed and pleaded for help from down below as they were seized by countless zombies. We kept talking, and talking, and we had to keep on talking. We screamed until our voices gave out and laughed until we couldn't cry anymore, looking at each other's faces to avoid dealing with the surroundings. Because we firmly believed that soon, everything would be resolved. We thought a short sentence at the bottom of the news would conclude everything, and we'd return to our routine lives. But. '....Why? Why isn't anyone coming?' 'S-Senior... the building... it's on fire.' What spread before Jung-eun, my friend, Yeon-ah, a junior a year younger, and me, was a grim reality. Fewer visible survivors over time and the increase in zombie hordes, and the growing number of smoke pillars from burning buildings in the distance. Yes. Half a month had passed since the incident, yet the situation continued spiraling into further chaos rather than subsiding. As time flew, more than half of our prepared food supply dwindled, and we realized that instead of hoping for rescue, we had to worry about the food we needed to eat starting next week. We agreed to leave our safe haven at the shopping complex to move to a large supermarket where food was likely stocked. Our actions were underpinned by the hope of meeting other groups of survivors who surely had the same thought as us, or perhaps encountering our unreachable parents there. Even if it was a futile hope. We meticulously observed the zombies from the rooftop out of boredom, understanding their rough location, numbers, and behavior patterns. Then, over the course of two days, we secured weapons and gear to pave our way and embarked on that journey. However. Contrary to what we observed from the window, stepping outside revealed countless zombies, reminiscent of waves. Thus, I... No, we... ─Tap. "──met you." "Oww... you must've had a tough time, sisters." "...Haha." As I sat embracing the child leaning against me, listening to my story, I paused to sip water to soothe my slightly parched throat. The tepid yet clean water in a clinking clear glass bottle. Swallowing echoes as I drank bottled water after a long while, yet—why did it taste so bitter and salty, disagreeable to my palate? Yes. "It must've been really tough." "......Ha...ha...." "─It’s okay now. Everything’s okay, sister." Indeed, my tears flowed without my knowing. ** * * *