Chapter 40

Tears streamed down his face, but he could barely draw breath. The words dissolved into faint murmurs before they reached Muwon. Yu-su’s face burned red. He forced out several more broken words, then collapsed like a puppet whose strings had been severed.

“Jeong Yu-su!”

Muwon caught him reflexively.

The instant Yu-su fell into his arms, Muwon felt as though he were burning.

It was like holding a sphere of living fire.

“Jeong Yu-su. Hey. Wake up. Jeong Yu-su!”

His ragged shouts echoed throughout the hall.

Click.

Only after the survivors became certain no more zombie cries were coming from outside did they begin emerging, one by one, from the kitchen, restrooms, and staff lounge. Surrounded by his people, Park Yeongil stepped forward and arranged his voice into one of deliberate sorrow.

“Is everyone safe?”

Someone in the hall stared at him in disbelief.

“Safe? You’re asking whether we’re safe right now?”

“That’s right!” another person shouted. “How dare you crawl out of there and ask whether we’re safe? Safe?”

Park Yeongil’s expression hardened. “Who are you calling someone who crawled out?”

“Shut the fuck up! Every last one of you!”

The roar burst from Muwon like the howl of a wounded beast and thundered through the restaurant.

Everyone fell silent and turned toward him.

Park Yeongil had instinctively retreated a step, but wounded pride twisted his face into a resentful scowl. “Keep your voice down, Do Muwon. I understand how you feel, but right now, we need to get the situation under control.”

Do Muwon rounded on him. “You understand how I feel, you fucking prick? What the hell do you know? Can’t you see people were holding this place together and dying for it while you hid yourself away?”

“Was there any other choice?” Park Yeongil countered.

He would have been better off keeping his mouth shut, but one of his sycophants could not resist leaping to his defense. “That’s right. Don’t you know the president is always the first to be evacuated when a crisis breaks out? A group without a leader is doomed. What matters now is that we regain control of the situation and…”

Before Do Muwon could unleash another torrent of profanity, Joo Hee-eun’s fury erupted.

“Half the people here died because of you!” she shouted. “You locked the doors and hid inside. If you’d joined forces with everyone else, it never would’ve turned into such a massacre!”

“Stay out of this, you little brat!”

“Why? Are you angry because I’m telling the truth?”

The truth struck home. The man’s face flushed scarlet, and his voice climbed several notes. “What, are you saying we should’ve all died trying to look after the injured? We could’ve hidden from the start. Why are you acting so righteous when you’re the ones who chose to get involved?”

Joo Hee-eun jabbed a finger toward him. “If that bastard hadn’t fired his gun in the first place, none of us would’ve needed to hide, so thanks a fucking lot for that!”

“The attorney was only trying to help! What gives a little thing like you the right to talk back so aggressively?”

That was when it happened.

“Hey.”

Do Muwon had not shouted. His voice was low, almost quiet, yet it carried through the entire hall and smothered every other sound. Standing at the center of everyone’s attention, his dark silhouette resembled a beast crouched within the shadows.

He did not take his eyes off Park Yeongil.

“Joo Hee-eun, look after Jeong Yu-su.”

With that, he strode forward.

The blood coating the floor had already begun to congeal, clinging to the soles of his shoes so that each step landed with a sickening squelch, squelch.

Park Yeongil faltered. “W-what are you doing? Don’t come any closer.”

While Joo Hee-eun held Jeong Yu-su upright, Sim Gorak rushed over and seized Do Muwon by the arm. “Hyung, hyung! We need to take care of Yu-su-hyung first. Do you still have the medicine you brought?”

“Manager Do.” Joo Hee-eun tightened her grip around Jeong Yu-su. “The assistant manager’s fever is dangerously high…”

A startled voice burst from the direction of the restroom.

“He has a fever?”

“Um… if he has a fever…”

Whispers rippled through the hall, clear enough for everyone to hear. Rumor had it that soldiers developed fevers before turning into zombies, and most of the people muttering now were the same ones who had safely hidden elsewhere while the others fought.

A thread of laughter drifted through the commotion.

Do Muwon stared up at the ceiling, chuckling beneath his breath. “Ha-ha… This is some fucking bullshit.”

Crunch.

He rolled his neck until it cracked, then swept his gaze across the people huddled near the door, taking them in one by one.

“You lot.” His voice hardened. “Who saved you and brought you here in the first place?”

No one answered.

“Answer me!” he roared. “When that bus overturned, who pulled you out one by one and led you all the way here, you fucking assholes?”

Click.

“Huh?”

“Are you out of your fucking mind?”

Park Yeongil had drawn a gun and leveled it at Do Muwon. A suppressor was fitted neatly to the barrel, which meant he must have concealed another firearm somewhere.

Do Muwon stepped forward, deliberately placing himself between the weapon and Joo Hee-eun and Sim Gorak, who were crouched around Jeong Yu-su. Sweat beaded across Park Yeongil’s forehead at the challenge, but he refused to retreat.

“You’re the ones acting insane,” Park Yeongil said. “If you keep shouting, every zombie nearby will come swarming here. Don’t you understand that you, Do Muwon, are putting all of us in danger?”

“Me?” Do Muwon sneered. “None of this would’ve happened if you rats hadn’t crawled into hiding, would it?”

He took another step.

The suppressed gunshot cracked through the hall.

For an instant, no one moved.

Then blood began seeping from Do Muwon’s right forearm. Whether Park Yeongil had meant to shoot him cleanly or merely graze him was impossible to tell. Sim Gorak stared in horror before grabbing Do Muwon’s injured arm.

“Hyung…!” His face contorted with rage. “You people really are fucking insane!”

Park Yeongil remained unnervingly composed. “The next shot won’t miss. Make your choice. Either we examine him for bite marks, or all of you leave.”

“A choice?”

“Manager Do, please don’t.” Joo Hee-eun’s voice trembled as she supported Jeong Yu-su’s feverish body. “The assistant manager won’t survive without you right now.”

Do Muwon had been on the verge of advancing again, but those words finally stopped him. He fixed Park Yeongil with an unwavering stare, and when he spoke, his voice had become eerily calm, as though his fury from moments before had never existed.

“Cut the shit. You’re going to throw us out whether you inspect him or not.”

Park Yeongil paused, then gave a small nod. “Now that you mention it, you’re right. Even if it’s only a cold, allowing it to spread would put everyone here at risk. So yes, you will have to leave.”

A sharp, humorless laugh escaped Do Muwon.

Han Dongwoo, who had been watching while clutching his wife and child close, could no longer remain silent. “Hey! Isn’t this going too far?”

“If you intend to take their side, then get out with them!”

Where were they supposed to go in weather like this, with snow burying the streets, while dragging along a pregnant woman suffering from hemorrhaging and a little girl who had cried until she lost consciousness?

In the end, Han Dongwoo looked at Do Muwon with anguish written across his face. Several others who had fought beside them, and who had personally received Jeong Yu-su’s help, shifted uneasily as though desperate to speak. None of them did. They knew that if they protested and were expelled as well, they would die outside.

A crooked smirk tugged at Do Muwon’s lips.

You stupid bastards. You really think you can hold out in this corpse-infested hellhole with the windows shattered and the doors torn apart?

The man standing beside Park Yeongil spoke again. “Hey. Hand over the backpack.”

Do Muwon did not even spare him a glance. Instead, he looked toward Jeong Yu-su with open contempt for everyone else in the room. “You see that, Jeong Yu-su? These are the kinds of bastards you were so determined to save…”

“Shut up! Throw the backpack over here!”

“Go fuck yourself.”

Better to destroy it than hand it over to scum like them.

Do Muwon was just about to kick the backpack down when Joo Hee-eun, who had been silent until that moment, suddenly pointed toward the terrace and screamed, ‘Ah! Zombies! Over there!’ Startled, everyone instinctively turned toward the terrace. There was nothing there, only the curtains beside the open terrace door flapping in the wind, scattering snowflakes across the floor. By the time they looked back, it was already too late.

Click.

Do Muwon had chambered a round and aimed his gun directly at Park Yeongil. One corner of his mouth lifted.

“Go ahead. Test me. Let’s find out who dies with whom.”

“You crazy bastards…”

Park Yeongil finally seemed to grasp the danger and took a wary step backward. He tried to shove the man who had demanded the backpack in front of him, but the man apparently had no desire to catch a bullet on his behalf. He froze in place, offering Park Yeongil only the most halfhearted cover.

Several people beside them raised both hands.

“L-let’s not do this! Just wait a second!”

“Attorney, let them go. Once they’re gone, we can deal with everything else.”

“Everyone shut the fuck up.”

As those who had remained silent until now began chiming in one after another, Do Muwon kept his gun and gaze trained on Park Yeongil.

“Sim Gorak, support Jeong Yu-su.”

“Yes!”

Sim Gorak clenched his teeth and hauled Jeong Yu-su upright, taking as much of his weight as he could.

Do Muwon issued his second command. “Move.”

Joo Hee-eun grabbed the backpack and slipped through the ruined doorway first. Sim Gorak followed with Jeong Yu-su hanging heavily against him. Do Muwon came last, stepping backward with measured care while keeping Park Yeongil squarely within his sights.

“If any of you follow us, I’ll kill you.” His gaze sharpened. “Go ahead and find out whether I’m joking.”

With those final words, Do Muwon crossed the threshold.

Creeeeak.

Thud.

Although they had pulled the entrance shut, the earlier commotion had partially destroyed it, leaving a jagged gap between the battered panels.

The muzzle of Do Muwon’s gun slowly withdrew through that gap, and his piercing gaze receded with it until both vanished into the darkness. Even then, everyone in the hall felt as though the beast’s razor-sharp eyes remained fixed upon them.

The strange, suffocating silence lasted only a few seconds before dissolving beneath the heavy thuds of people collapsing onto the floor.

“Crazy bastard…”

“You’re right. He’s a complete fucking lunatic. I nearly had a heart attack…”

Their awkward attempts at bravado did little to dispel the frigid tension accumulating among them. At last, Park Yeongil cleared his throat with a dry cough.

“There’s no reason to shelter a beast that bites the hand feeding it.” He adjusted his clothing, forcing composure back into his expression. “Now, why don’t we begin by finding some water? Everyone, you’ve all worked hard.”

Once he finished speaking, Park Yeongil cast a fleeting glance toward the window.

Outside, four shadows were fading into the distance, their forms gradually dissolving into the heavy snowfall.

***