Infected - Chapter 10



Only Noblemtl

Episode 9

Kwaaak! Kkueek!

The infected screamed and surged into the building.

However, the number of people flocking only increased, and there was no significant change.

There was no incident of people rushing into the building and climbing up the stairs, or of strange crying being heard from the floor below.

The patience of the two people who had been hiding with great tension began to slowly wear thin.

“What is going on?”

Finance looked out the window with an annoyed voice.

Outside, it was no different than before.

The infected continued to flock in and it was still noisy.

“Let’s go and see for ourselves. We can easily check it from between the stairs.”

After pushing the refrigerator away, I went out into the hallway.

‘I wonder if there is some structure blocking access on the second or third floor?’

For example, the impact of the explosion could have caused the ceiling of the lower floors to collapse.

The two walked slowly up the stairs to see for themselves.

The hallway was as silent as a mouse.

It was this quiet even when finances dropped the handle.

As I had experienced before, I couldn’t help but feel uneasy, thinking that I might be infected again at any moment.

At that moment, Jaejae looked back with a start.

A piece of paper was rolling away, blown by the wind.

Jae-jae sighed in surprise and wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead.

You had to be sensitive to react immediately when they showed up.

The two looked around cautiously.

The windows in the hallway were almost all broken.

I thought maybe the guys who heard the explosion jumped down the debris.

It was a very possible story.

Otherwise, there’s no way those guys who were running around the hallways so noisily would have disappeared.

Even the iron door leading to the stairs was closed.

The two of them reached the landing and looked down through the gap between the handrails.

The first floor was filled with more infected people than before, swarming like bugs.

But something was strange.

“Why are you doing that?”

Finance frowned.

The infected people who had been pushed all the way to the elevator were rolling around, tangled up in front of the stairs.

I didn’t even think about climbing the stairs, as if there was an invisible wall.

“no way…….”

“why?”

Jae-jae asked Beom-sik, who was tilting his head.

“I don’t think those guys know how to use stairs?”

“Oh, that seems to be the case. At the very least, only instinct remains, and no intelligence at all?”

“Maybe so.”

As the finance said, the infected people didn’t know how to climb stairs.

Despite the constant push from outside, no one thought of stepping onto the stairs.

Then, when someone tripped and fell, other guys would step on them and get up.

I felt like I would eventually reach the rooftop if I kept falling, stepping, and climbing up.

“I don’t think it’s dangerous right now.”

“Right now, that’s it… If we leave it like that, it’ll get to here someday.”

What Finance was concerned about was time.

Not only do I not know how long I will stay here, I also do not know when I will have to leave.

We had to figure out some way to distract their minds.

Even if we do attempt to escape later, it would be better if there were fewer of them.

Beomsik asked.

“Do you have a plan?”

Finance strokes the lower jaw.

“First, let’s go to the restaurant and fill our stomachs first. After eating and resting for a bit, the sun will rise. Until then, it’s a priority to get some rest. Sleep or do something.”

“I’m going to sleep well.”

Beomsik followed behind, grumbling.

But as Jaegyeong was entering the restaurant, he stopped.

Because of that, Beomsik, who was following them, stumbled and fell.

Finance was silently staring into the restaurant.

Beomsik glanced in the direction Jaejae was looking, bewildered, but it was too dark to see anything.

“…What are you doing?”

Beom-sik, who had pushed aside his finances and entered the restaurant in frustration, came face to face with the figure of a person standing in the kitchen.

Not only Jae-jae, but also Beom-sik knew who he was at a glance.

The man standing in the kitchen was the middle-aged man the two had witnessed from the rooftop.

The red hat he had been wearing had been thrown away, and his messy white curly hair was sparkling in the light streaming in from outside the building.

“Are you human?”

A low, deep voice echoed through the quiet kitchen.

It was a small but resonant voice, as if a singer was singing.

“As you can see, so far.”

Finance answered with open arms.

“Good to see you. I thought there would be no survivors since all the lights were out, but I heard voices so I sneaked in, so please understand. It’s not your home anyway.”

“That old man is not ordinary.”

Beomsik stepped in and poured cold water on the friendly atmosphere.

Is it because of those words?

The man standing in the darkness appeared under the dim light.

Compared to Jae-jae and Beom-sik, he was very short, but anyone who saw him had a stocky physique and a face that showed the traces of a rough life.

In addition, the white beard that covered half of his face, dark eyebrows, and thick double eyelids made him look more like a Westerner than an Asian.

There must have been someone of mixed blood in the family.

Or maybe you have lived abroad for a long time.

“The young man learned to speak, but not to be polite.”

Is it an illusion that I can sense a deep murderous intent in the eyes of the man who is smiling faintly?

The man walked briskly up to Beomsik’s nose.

But Beomsik didn’t respond.

Beomsik was looking the man up and down.

Unless Beomsik was mistaken, the man was no ordinary person.

He was a person you shouldn’t bump into carelessly.

People who are specialized in survival or who have experienced many different situations have a more developed ability to detect danger.

It is an instinctive ability that all living things possess, but it can also be further developed postnatally.

Just like the current norm.

“stop.”

Finances stood between the two.

Because of their enormous size, fighting or quarreling over finances was impossible.

It was as if a wall had suddenly appeared.

“It has nothing to do with you, so get out of the way. As you get older, you become sensitive to even small things. For example, a young kid acting rudely. Things like that. As you get older, you start to feel a sense of entitlement to time.”

Although the man spoke in a calm tone, Jae-jae did not back down.

‘No, why are you fighting all of a sudden?’

Finance wanted to stop them both, but the atmosphere did not calm down easily.

Jaejae, who had been scratching his forehead in annoyance, stepped in to mediate once again.

“Let’s stop, now is not the time. This kid is ill-mannered, that’s true, but now is not the time for us to fight among ourselves. Am I wrong?”

The man looked up at the finances with narrowed eyes.

Then, as if he understood, he raised both hands and stepped back.

“Yeah. Big guy, you’re right. Now is not the time for us to fight amongst ourselves. And even though I’m still in good shape, if I were to be caught by you, I might end up split in half.”

“You heard? You too, don’t be a troublemaker and sit here.”

Only then did Beomsik sit down.

Beomsik, who obediently followed Jaegye’s words, did not understand.

Why does a man react that way to something said without much thought?

Beomsik simply meant that the man was amazing for his age.

If it was a compliment, it was definitely a compliment.

No one just thinks that way.

Beomsik is someone who has never bowed his head outside of the gangster world.

I’ve lived my life saying what I want to say, and expressing what I feel without worrying about what others think.

Maybe that’s why.

Beomsik had no idea why the mood had turned sour.

It was by no means a normal way of thinking.

The man asked Beomsik, who was sitting there with a puzzled expression.

“What is your name?”

“The correct order is to introduce yourself first and then ask the other person’s name.”

Beomsik said with an indifferent expression.

It was even stranger because there was no sign of malice in his expression.

“Oh, right. My name is Kang Young-man.”

“Lee Beom-sik.”

Young-man, who confirmed Beom-sik’s name, turned his gaze to Jae-jae.

“Oh, me? I’m Jae-jeong, Han Jae-jeong.”

“It doesn’t seem like we’re friends… … .”

Young-man muttered, caressing his chin.

“Well, if you say we’re friends, we’re friends… It’s ambiguous.”

Beomsik, who was about to wave his hand to say no, hesitated at Jaeyi’s answer.

“I see. Then I guess we’ve already made our names known. I’d like to hear your plans. No, since Beomshik is going to get mad at me for asking for other people’s opinions first, I’ll tell you my plans first.”

“It’s really hard to get used to that tone of speech.”

Finances crept in.

“Well, that’s what everyone says. I run a repair shop not far away. I came here to visit a friend who opened a gun shop in front of me, and this is what happened. Well, I don’t really have a plan. If you go past this building, you’ll see the repair shop. It’s on top of a hill and surrounded by walls on all sides, so it’s the perfect place to base yourself in this situation.”

“But why are you hiding in the restaurant we’re in?”

Beomsik asked.

“I wasn’t hiding. I was thirsty and was thinking of taking a quick break. Someone I know used to work in the kitchen here.”

“How did you get up there? There are so many things moving around down there.”

He asked, recalling the infected people whose finances were in jeopardy.

Even if you had the ability to fight multiple people on your own, it was impossible to fight that many.

If you use magic, you might not know.

“Oh, that’s it? I just went to the underground parking lot and took the elevator up.”

Jae-jae and Beom-sik looked at each other with dumbfounded faces.

I always thought that elevators were the most dangerous places.

Because it only had one door and would stop running if the electricity went out, it was generally not used in disaster situations.

But, it’s so safe to get up to the 5th floor like this.

If it’s magic, then it might be magic.

After Young-man’s story ended, Jae-jae briefly explained the circumstances of how Beom-sik and I came to this point.

However, Young-man, who had been listening carefully, clapped his hands and laughed heartily.

“Oh no! I made a mistake with my life-saving benefactors! Hahaha!”

They were laughing so loudly that they had to look into the hallways to see if any of the infected could hear them.

“What are you talking about? A lifesaver.”

“Think about it. If you hadn’t taken care of those guys on the fifth floor somehow, I would have been a corpse as soon as the elevator opened. Every time it reached a new floor, it would make a noise, and they would rush at me like a pack of dogs. I guess this isn’t an ordinary fate. Thank you.”

The two people’s faces turned pale at the sudden expression of gratitude.

I didn’t know how to react.

It’s not like we actually dealt with the infected.

There was just an explosion, and the guys in the hallway just disappeared somewhere.

Beomsik asked as if something was strange.

“But if it came up after the zombies disappeared, then it came after the electricity was cut off, so how did the elevator work?”

“… Is that right?”

Finance had the same reaction.

“These days, elevators operate by replacing the emergency power even when the power goes out. Isn’t that normal in such a luxurious building?”

Young-man continued, lifting the machete covered in dried blood.

“You said finances? What are you going to do? You’re not going to stay here forever, are you?”

“There were a lot of them gathered on the first floor, so there was nothing we could do, but since the old man said he came by elevator… I guess we can just take it down.”

“After you leave? Where do you plan to go?”

“Why do we have to talk about that?”

Beomsik intervened.

It’s a face with an expression of incomprehension.

Because it seemed like I was asking too many questions in a brief moment.

“If my eyes are not mistaken, it is obvious that you have nowhere to go. No place to return to. Right?”

“No, well, I do have a house. Even though I live alone, it’s my house, so I have to go home. Don’t you? You too?”

Finance asked.

It was a look of seeking consent.

It’s just that they both look a bit like that now, but their lives weren’t so miserable that they didn’t have a home.

But Beomsik’s gaze was still directed at Yeongman.

“So what you’re saying is that you want us to help you get home safely, right? That’s why you’re trying to get the ball rolling. Why are you beating around the bush like that?”

“hmm…….”

Young-man smiled, stroking his beard.

“I took people lightly. They are not ordinary. Yes, that is true. I was just trying to convince you to come with me. You will be better off that way. If you come to your senses and think about it in a safe place, it will be better than now.”

Jae-jae and Beom-sik looked at each other’s faces.

“If the government were to come up with a rescue plan, everyone would have to join in, but there’s no place like our repair shop to do that. You guys make the decision. I have a family to protect, so the sooner I can get back, the better. Just tell me what you decide.”

After finishing speaking, Young-man went outside as if to give the two some time to talk.

Infected people