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Fear and despair were written on their faces, but I couldn’t say anything to them.

‘Everything is alright now. I got all the bad guys. You can come on out now.’

It was better for Lee Jeong-Uk to say such words instead of me. In their eyes, I was nothing more than a zombie. I closed the break room door and walked outside.

As I made my way out of the supermarket, I saw five heads on the ground. The five heads blinked, their mouths opening and closing like goldfish.

The gang members had been turned into the same things as us. No—their plight was worse. They couldn’t kill themselves even if they wanted to, as they didn’t have any arms or legs. They were both dead and alive. I commanded my underlings to pull out all of their teeth while I watched.

My underlings did so without hesitation.

I ordered them to hang the five heads at the entrance to the supermarket. My underlings executed my order in unison. The finished masterpiece was shocking even to me. It was a clear warning to others that they should avoid this place, as there were psychopaths inside. No living being wouldn’t dare set foot in the supermarket after seeing such a display.

I looked at my remaining underlings. I had lost two—I now had twenty-six, down from twenty-eight. It took two underlings to take care of five people. Among the twenty-six, two of them had each lost an arm. They must’ve lost them while breaking through the barricade.

This would not have happened if we had taken action during the night. It was such a pity to see them like this. Their bodies were mostly intact, and they were pretty useful.

I told my underlings to stand guard.

‘Don’t let anyone get close. It doesn’t matter if they’re zombies or living creatures.’

They growled in acknowledgment, and I headed back to my apartment. I was aware that none of this would have happened if we had attacked during the night. It was a pity for fresh recruits to be wasted like this. They could have done more if their bodies had remained intact.

The zombies had had their fill of fresh meat. They growled at me again. I gave them a slight nod, then made my way back to my apartment.

My original objective had been to obtain supplies from the supermarket, but I couldn’t stop thinking of the survivors left in the break room. The boy who had confronted the gangsters to save his older sister was in critical condition. He needed to be treated right away.

One of the boys was suffering from malnutrition, and the the other woman and the boy had suffered severe mental trauma. They were probably questioning why they were alive right now. I knew they had to be feeling betrayed by mankind. I couldn’t imagine the hatred they harbored toward mankind. They deserved another chance to start anew.

Perhaps I was thinking too much, but I was able to see the world we were living in through their eyes. I knew my body wasn’t in the most ideal condition, but I wanted to give them some hope. I wanted to let them know that even someone like me was holding on, and hadn’t yet given up hope.

Sigh…

I didn’t want to think about any of that anymore. All I wanted right then was to see So-Yeon.

* * *

When I returned empty-handed, Lee Jeong-Uk and his comrades greeted me with nervous looks. I could feel their wariness underneath their scared faces.

‘Perhap they think that I broke our agreement because I didn’t bring any food back.’

I took out the drawing pad, hoping to relieve their anxiety. I wrote a few individual words to explain what had happened a few minutes ago.

- Supermarket. Survivors.

Lee Jeong-Uk read them, then arched his eyebrow and asked, “There were survivors at the supermarket?”

I nodded in agreement.

Lee Jeong-Uk contemplated this for a while, rubbing his chin. A moment later, his expression grew slightly bitter. “So, you want to bring them here?”

I nodded again in agreement.

Lee Jeong-Uk thought about this for a while. He stared into my face for a long time, and eventually chuckled. “With that face of yours?”

“….”

“You want me to go with you, right?”

I nodded. Lee Jeong-Uk had figured out what I wanted right away. Almost instantly, Lee Jeong-Hyuk called Lee Jeong-Uk to him, a worried expression on his face. “Hyung.”

“What?”

“I’m against the idea of you going alone.”

“Why, cause you think he’ll eat me or something?”

The younger man didn’t reply. Jeong-Uk must have hit the nail right on the head.

Lee Jeong-Hyuk said nothing, but gave me a quick glance. Then Lee Jeong-Uk shrugged and continued on.

“One hour. If I don’t come back, follow your gut.”

“What? My gut?”

“That’s up for you to decide.”

Lee Jeong-Uk shooed his brother away, then made preparations to go out. I wondered if his urge stemmed from boredom, since all he did was sit around all day. Then again, perhaps he wanted to see the survivors for himself. Lee Jeong-Hyuk and Choi Da-Hye stared at Lee Jeong-Uk’s back, their eyes full of fear.

Lee Jeong-Uk took out his knife, and told the two of them to not worry. He acted as though he was ready to stab me the moment I tried anything funny.

We were still in the process of building up mutual trust. The chances of him stabbing me were slim to none, and since I wasn’t lying, there was no need for him to carry a knife. An hour was more than enough, as the supermarket was only five minutes away.

After he was done, Lee Jeong-Uk met my eyes and asked, “So, we got ourselves a deal?”

I nodded approvingly.

* * *

It wasn’t easy bringing Lee Jeong-Uk with me for the five-minute journey to the supermarket. As soon as he stepped out, the zombies fixed their gazes on us. They must’ve sensed his living flesh.

I had no choice but to bring along six of my underlings that were guarding the entrance to the apartment complex. I made them escort Lee Jeong-Uk. His face was a picture of dissatisfaction, but he followed along without saying a word. He knew that it was for his own benefit.

Zombies gathered around after picking up Lee Jeong-Uk’s smell, but all of them swayed their heads side to side, as though sensing that something wasn’t right. The strange mingling of the odors of dead and living flesh seemed to confuse them. They couldn’t quite comprehend this weird combination of smells.

I glared at them, and they backed away, smacking their lips. Thankfully, none of them attacked. As we got to the supermarket, I saw my newest recruits still guarding the entrance. I ordered them to make way, and to keep their hands off of Lee Jeong-Uk.

Once we entered, I heard crying coming from the break room. Lee Jeong-Uk looked at me and swallowed. I gave him a slight push, encouraging him to enter.

He stayed inside for more than thirty minutes. At first, I was worried that he was taking too long, but the cries that made it out of the room reassured me. He was soothing and comforting the people inside. After a while, he finally stepped out, together with everyone who had been inside, his expression serene. He flashed an awkward smile. “Let’s get going.”

I nodded, giving commands to my underlings.

* * *

When we returned to our hideout, the survivors from the supermarket furnished us with a trove of information. They were originally from the Ttukseom area, but eventually made their way to Haengdang-dong to avoid the zombies. The people they met when they reached the city happened to be the gangsters that met their end earlier in the day.

The gangsters held them captive under the pretense of protection, and they used the husband of the woman in her thirties and the boyfriend of the woman in her twenties as bait to take over the supermarket. Once the zombies started feasting on the husband and boyfriend, the gangsters sprung into action, smashing the zombies’ heads and taking over the supermarket.

There had been more than ten gangsters in the beginning, but after their fight with the zombies, only five remained. Most shocking of all, all of this had happened just the day before. Within a day, one woman had lost her husband while the other had lost her boyfriend, and they had almost surrendered their own lives as well.

Sitting in the living room, I grew angry as I listened to the story, and a low growl escaped my throat. Lee Jeong-Uk motioned for me to keep calm, as my growl was scaring the others.

I clenched my fist to control my anger. The survivors who had just joined us looked at me with raised eyebrows. Then, the woman in her twenties pointed at me and asked a question. “That person, no that zombie….”

As the woman struggled to address me, Lee Jeong-Uk suddenly came up with a title for me. “Call him the zombie leader.”

‘What? The zombie leader? You know my name is Lee Hyun-Deok, right?’

I wasn’t sure if he was joking or not. As I glared at Lee Jeong-Uk, he patted me on the back and flashed a nervous smile. What a sick joke for him to make. The woman in front spoke up in a small voice. “Thank you for helping us today.”

I let out a sigh. There really wasn’t anything for her to be thankful about. The world had just been turned upside down. The woman in her twenties offered me the blanket she was holding onto.

“Thank you for this. I didn’t want to return it without washing it…”

She trailed off, her expression growing bitter. I wanted to say it was alright. However, since I couldn’t talk, I had no choice but to take the blanket she offered. I felt bad, hearing her apology. To be honest, the blanket wasn’t mine to begin with.

Lee Jeong-Uk smirked, commenting on my gesture. “When’d you give her a blanket? What a gentleman.”

I sighed and shook my head slowly. I didn’t want to go along with his jokes. He then offered the survivors the option of staying with us. His expression was one I hadn’t seen before. He seemed more joyous than usual.

“You’re welcome to stay with us.”

“Huh?”

The eyes of the woman in her twenties grew wide, and she looked back and forth between Lee Jeong-Uk and me. Lee Jeong-Uk then asked me for my decision. “Isn’t this what you want as well? Right, Hyun-Deok?”

I was momentarily at a loss for words.

Lee Jeong-Uk had called me by my name. I guessed he was feeling sorry for calling me the ‘zombie leader’ earlier.

I bit my lip, nodding in approval. The supermarket survivors were the kind of people So-Yeon needed to make it through in this world. People that knew how to offer gratitude, people who weren’t morally bankrupt like the gangster from earlier on.

After a moment, the woman in her thirties spoke up. “I’m really sorry, but do you happen to have anything to eat?”

Her words were barely audible, and she seemed to be having difficulty making eye contact with the rest of us. She knew that she wasn’t in the position to ask favors. Her arms were painfully thin, and her cheeks were sunken. All this, along with the dark circles around her eyes, spoke of her current condition. She probably hadn’t eaten for a couple of days.

She likely hadn’t gotten sufficient sleep because she’d had to stay alert, and all the moving around to survive had probably ruined her even more. At that moment, her gaze rested on the little boy, who couldn’t even keep his eyes open.

She wasn’t asking for food for herself. She had taken the liberty to ask for food for him. Lee Jeong-Uk nodded, looking at Choi Da-Hye. She brought their bag over and took out some canned food and chocolate bars for the survivors.

The woman’s eyes glittered as her gaze fell on the canned food, offering thanks to Choi Da-Hye as she hurriedly spooned the canned food into the boy’s mouth. My heart ached as I saw her feed the boy. There was nothing actually wrong with this scene, yet I couldn’t help but feel sad.

I got up, a grocery bag in my hand. Lee Jeong-Uk followed me and asked, “Is there anything you want me to do?”

I pointed at everyone sitting in the living room, then finally at him. ‘Take care of everyone.’

He nodded at me as if he knew exactly what I was thinking.

“Daddy!”

Tap, tap, tap.

So-Yeon ran toward me. I gave her a pat on the head and picked her up, flying her around here and there. Her final destination was in Lee Jeong-Uk’s arms. Lee Jeong-Uk took So-Yeon and bid me farewell.

I had to get food before sunset. I needed to get more food now, since there were more of us. I could have felt pressured, but I didn’t. Instead, I felt less stress. We were all still strangers, but there was something different about this group. They all had each other’s backs, and put others before themselves.

These were people So-Yeon needed in her life to make it in this world. I had to go to the high school in the evening. The sun was about to set in an hour or two. I had to hurry. I stepped outside, holding onto the grocery bags.