Infected - Chapter 518



Only Noblemtl

Side story episode 5

The next morning.

As soon as Gaon opened his eyes, he felt extreme pain.

It was because of the accident the day before.

There was no place that didn’t hurt from my neck to my waist, and my legs felt heavy as if a weight was hanging from them.

Not only did he have an accident, but he also had to move that heavy furniture nonstop, so it was natural that he would be in pain.

Seonwoo, lying on the bed across from me, was still in a deep sleep.

“eww…….”

Gaon gritted his teeth and stood up.

If nothing was broken, I had to force myself to move and loosen up my stiff body.

I took out the bookshelf and walked down the hallway.

The scenery outside the window and the cold wind blowing in.

Only then did I come to my senses and open my eyes to reality.

Knock knock.

I touched the water bottle and saw that there wasn’t much water left.

Drinking water was a more urgent matter than eating right away.

The problem is that there is no one anywhere in the ruined city.

There must have been a lot of water somewhere downstairs, but drinking it would be suicidal.

The conclusion was that I had to wander outside.

Gaon opened the window and stuck his head outside.

The city center was completely dead, except for the occasional animal wandering in the distance.

What should I do?

Even if I close my eyes and think about it, nothing comes to mind.

At that time, after thinking about it for a long time.

The voice of Zhang Liming, whom I had forgotten, echoed in my head.

When there is no way to solve it, do what you can.

These were just the words I needed in this situation.

If Beomsik and Jinna were Gaon’s guardians, Jang Liming was closer to his teacher.

A teacher who tried to teach how to survive rather than how to live.

Thanks to this, Gaon grew up strong like someone who grew up in a harsh environment, even in a greenhouse.

And that’s not all.

The adults Gaon has seen have always shown through their actions first.

5 years ago.

Chinese government officials, Zhang Liming, and their party who left for China.

When the group returned after two full years, they were much stronger than before.

The situation in China was so messy that it couldn’t even be compared to the Korean Peninsula.

But they survived and eventually achieved their goal.

So Gaon had to do it too.

And I had to prove it.

That their sacrifices and dedication were not in vain.

That they can stand up on their own without the help of adults.

While she was deep in thought.

Seonwoo got up from his seat and approached me with his heavy body.

“Oh, my back hurts. Are you okay?”

“It’s bearable.”

Seonwoo looked at the scenery outside the window and sighed deeply.

“What do we do now… … .”

“I have to get out. From here.”

“Just like that?”

“Let’s start with the overturned car. If it can be driven again, we can go right back.”

“What if it doesn’t work?”

“From then on, we have to find people. Those humans yesterday, they wouldn’t have lured us here for no reason.”

“I don’t think people would live in a place like this. How about continuing north?”

Gaon shook his head.

“It’s dangerous. I’d try anything if it was safe, but you saw the dogs last night. There’s no way that a crisis like this can happen only once. And with the two cars moving around so noisily, you never know when something might show up. Let’s go down and check the cars first, and think about it. The important thing right now is not to get home, but to survive.”

“okay.”

“and…….”

“and?”

“Sorry.”

“what?”

“I didn’t listen to you and did whatever I wanted, and that’s how it ended up like this. I should have just done something about it and gone back… … .”

Seonwoo burst out laughing.

“Hey, if you start nitpicking like that, you were born in the wrong. I only tried to stop you verbally, I didn’t actively try to stop the car.”

“Still, what I did wrong was wrong.”

“Hey, Kim Ga-on. Don’t make me a coward. At some point, I agreed with you. It doesn’t make sense to say that you were wrong just because the results weren’t good. And we’re still alive. This isn’t the end.”

Seonwoo recalled the chase from last night.

I kept saying that I had to stop, but somewhere in my heart, I felt a strange curiosity.

Even though they are at the end, aren’t the two of them still teenagers?

It was still an age where I was more swayed by my emotions than by rational judgment.

Seonwoo spoke soothingly.

“Honestly, I don’t think this is too bad. When will we ever get to experience something like this? It’ll definitely be a good memory.”

“You have to return alive to make good memories.”

With those words, the two of them stared blankly into the quiet city center.

*???*???*

There was no one on the street.

The wild dogs that had threatened the two men the night before were nowhere to be seen, nor were any signs of human presence.

“One, two, three!”

thud!

The van that had flipped over on its side righted itself upright with a groan.

Seonwoo quickly gets into the driver’s seat and starts the car.

Papapapat!

But the dashboard didn’t move at all, only the sound of sparks flying continued.

“Just wait.”

Gaon, who was standing in front, barely managed to open the crumpled bonnet.

The impact of the accident was greater than expected.

It was pushed deep into the bonnet, beyond the headlights.

I looked at the spot where the car had been overturned overnight.

A round, discolored spot.

There were traces of various oils flowing out overnight.

Gaon, holding onto the bonnet, muttered as he watched Seonwoo approaching.

“… It won’t work.”

“Yeah, there’s no way things could be resolved that easily. It’s just a blessing that nothing broke. Let’s think positively.”

Seonwoo seemed to be concerned about Gaon’s apology, so he smiled as if nothing had happened.

Then he stretched and looked around.

“Okay, so where should we go now… … .”

“Let’s go in the direction where the car disappeared.”

“It’s the east.”

“If nothing comes out after moving around for half a day, let’s think about it again then. What do you think?”

“Well, I’ll go if you tell me to go.”

“good.”

Gaon, who had come to a conclusion, grabbed Seonwoo’s arm and crossed the road.

Two people chose the main street instead of the narrow alley.

The reason was to identify threats in advance.

If you walk along the sidewalk instead of in the middle of the road, you can quickly hide behind a building.

The two of them didn’t forget to search the building as they moved.

Water can be sustained even by drinking from rivers, but food was different.

Now, I don’t know how much longer I will be wandering around.

Food storage was essential and of utmost importance.

But no matter where I looked, I couldn’t find any trace of the canned food, let alone the food having been eaten.

Gaon, who came down from the multi-generational house, tilts his head.

“… It’s strange.”

“Yeah. It’s so clean.”

“It’s amazing that you’ve cleaned up this area so thoroughly… … .”

Seonwoo nodded and agreed.

“There must be people not far away.”

It wasn’t just food.

It was difficult to find even simple necessities that were unopened.

It was easy to guess that there would be a group of people nearby.

Or maybe it was floating around here a long time ago.

That there is nothing to eat.

This was a more serious problem than I thought.

In the worst case scenario, we had to hunt wild animals.

But it was virtually impossible for two people who only had pistols as long-range weapons.

It makes even less sense to chase after it with both feet.

Gaon walked forward with a dark face.

Anyway, time was passing, and if night came without any results, there would be nothing to eat starting tomorrow.

The only silver lining is that there are still many buildings that haven’t been searched yet.

At that time, I was walking with heavy steps, with various thoughts in my mind.

Gaon, who was walking side by side, suddenly grabbed Seonwoo’s shoulder and hid in an alley.

“what’s the matter?”

“fizzle.”

Then he pointed to a convenience store where the sign was half-fallen off.

They were wild dogs.

But as I was hurriedly crossing the road, it felt like I was being chased by someone.

Woof woof!

A pack of wild dogs passes the convenience store building and disappears into the distance.

“Huh? It’s a person.”

As soon as Seonwoo finished speaking, people started crossing the road.

A question mark appeared in Gaon’s eyes as he looked at them.

At first I thought they were hunting wild dogs.

But all three people crossing the road were looking behind them, not ahead.

“Are you chasing wild dogs?”

“No. I’m being chased.”

“Really? You keep looking back.”

As expected.

Before the three people disappeared.

A crowd of more than twenty people poured into the street.

The chase was brutal.

Although there was no particular conversation taking place, there was an indescribable tension between the pursuers and the runaways.

Seonwoo asked.

“What are you going to do?”

“What do you think?”

“Wouldn’t it be better to go? We need help right now.”

“I think we should be the ones to help… … .”

In fact, Gaon wanted to go in the direction they appeared.

It was out of anticipation that somewhere along that road there might be a moving vehicle.

After all, there is no such thing as unconditional help in this world.

Rather than getting involved with people for no reason, I thought I would steal someone else’s car when I had the chance.

But, like Seonwoo said, I couldn’t just ignore it and pass it by.

I don’t know if it was curiosity or what, but it really bothered me that three people were being chased by over twenty people.

The problem is that I have no idea about their situation.

If the one being chased is at fault, then it doesn’t matter, but if it’s the other way around, then it’s like going into the tiger’s mouth.

Gaon, who was worried, eventually decided to cross the road.

“Okay, let’s go for now.”

The two quickly crossed the road and leaned against the convenience store building.

When I peeked my head out, I saw the backs of countless people running along the street.

After that, I hid and observed them every time I passed a few buildings.

After chasing him for three more blocks.

Gaon’s ears perked up at the bloody sound of bone clashing against bone.

The sound, mixed with profanity, was coming from the alley right in front.

“Let’s go smoothly.”

“… I won’t go. Not until I die.”

“Then, you may as well die here. We may have to cut off one of your arms to get what we want.”

“Please leave us alone! We didn’t do anything wrong! Why can’t we just leave on our own?”

“Let me ask you the opposite. Why do you want to leave?”

“Because there’s nothing I can do as I please. I have no freedom!”

“Do you know what the outside world is like? You’d give up everything else just to get that?”

“Hey, don’t talk to me. We won’t be able to communicate anyway. If I get caught, I’ll die anyway. Let’s end it here.”

“Would you like that? Fine. Kill them both except that girl. I’ll take that bitch back.”

From the looks of the situation, it seemed like they were chasing those who escaped from the group.

Seonwoo, who was eavesdropping on the conversation from around the corner above India, nods at Gaon.

Shouldn’t I help?

Gaon already had his hand on the dagger.

More than anything, the thought that I would die if I was caught hit me hard.

When I just listened to the conversation, it didn’t seem like there was anything wrong with it.

It was absurd that he had to die just for escaping.

As I peeked my head out, I could see the two sides facing off at a glance.

First of all, no one was carrying a firearm.

Swords, sickles, axes, etc.

The majority of weapons were close combat weapons that could kill a person with one blow.

Moreover, the number exceeded twenty.

It would be suicidal to take on them alone.

Of course, that was the case when compared to ordinary people.

The moment Gaon, who had made up his mind, pulled out his dagger.

puck!

Someone passed by India and fell to the ground with a dull thud.

Gaon met the eyes of the fallen woman.

Maybe around my age.

As soon as I saw her burst lip and blood-stained face, an inexplicable anger welled up in me.

The woman was momentarily surprised to see the two people.

The chin of the man who was running behind turned roughly.

It was a straight kick towards the sky.

Snap!

A man who was hit straight overturned his whites and fell down helplessly.

Gaon quickly turned the corner and stood blocking the alley.

Then he pointed the sharp tip of his dagger at the men.

“next.”

Was it too sudden an appearance?

The men who had been threatening the other two just looked on with blank expressions.

“Next, come out.”

Before answering, they looked around Gaon.

It seemed like he was trying to see if I knew the face.

The moment you confirm that it is a stranger.

The same thought occurred to the men.

Women, and young women.

At a time when there was already a shortage of women, Gaon’s appearance was an opportunity rather than a threat.

If only I could take you.

A dark-faced man smiled, revealing yellow teeth.

“Hey, what day is it today?”

“Oh. It’s Monday.”

The man blinked for a moment, then laughed heartily.

“Oh, I was wondering what you were talking about… … .”

“Come on. Stop talking.”

“Are you trying to fight us alone right now? Seriously?”

“Oh, you talk a lot.”

Gaon rubbed his ear with an annoyed expression as if he was annoyed.

The man’s face suddenly distorted when he saw that sight.

“Is this crazy… … .”

Infected people