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Day 3 of the zombie outbreak.

Avoiding the police, I headed into the mountains, realizing painfully that I needed to survive in the city.

“…”

I sat blankly inside the shabby shelter I had built with branches and banners. The frame was clumsily constructed with long branches, and I had cut up banners warning about forest fires to cover it, then topped it with dirt and leaves.

In other words, it was a shelter that an ordinary person wouldn’t last a few days in.

“To the city… No, for now, the mountains are the best option.”

I muttered while scratching my head, then quickly wiped the oil from my hands on the banner laid out on the floor.

Even though the current situation wasn’t great, I had to hold out in the mountains until the zombie apocalypse fully erupted and the police were incapacitated.

Things weren’t looking good in many ways.

I couldn’t prepare properly. My identity was a problem when it came to building a proper shelter and stockpiling supplies. My phone calls and card records could be traced by the police, so I had to avoid leaving any traces.

At least I had the luggage I managed to bring from yesterday’s adventure.

Rustle-

“Let’s have a chocolate bar for breakfast.”

I rummaged through my duffel bag and pulled out a chocolate bar, unwrapping it and popping it into my mouth. It was sweet. As the sugar hit my brain, I felt a bit better.

Crunch, crunch—the sound of nuts in the chocolate bar being chewed.

I carefully checked the supplies I had brought.

After escaping from the detention center yesterday, I risked going back home to grab some essentials. My duffel bag was stuffed to the brim with clothes, a few bottles of water, and chocolates and cereal I had stockpiled for snacking while writing scenarios.

There were also tools like scissors, a hammer, and a kitchen knife.

Suddenly, my appetite vanished.

“This is way too lacking.”

The equipment I had was pitiful for surviving a zombie apocalypse.

I turned my head and looked at the entrance of the shelter. When I moved the tarp letting in sunlight, I could see the city below.

A city packed with concrete buildings.

Eventually, I would have to go down there.

I tapped my knee with my finger, reviewing the scenario I had drafted overnight.

‘Zombie apocalypse. The city.’

If logistics stopped, the city’s resources would slowly dry up, but there would still be enough to sustain people for years.

Like primitive humans roaming the fields hunting beasts, I would have to roam the city, fighting off zombies and scavenging for food in convenience stores, supermarkets, and other people’s homes. Not just zombies, but people would also become survival competitors.

I clenched my fist.

“I need to get combat equipment first.”

With strength, I could always get food. I needed the strength to kill both people and zombies.

Weapons like slingshots, crossbows, machetes, or axes, protective gear like helmets and rider suits. I also needed tools to break into locked doors. I remember seeing a news article about using a stun gun to open electronic locks.

‘Wait, this is…’

I suddenly let out a hollow laugh. I thought of the kind of characters you see in zombie movies, and I realized I was one of them.

“A pillager.”

No matter how I thought about it, my mindset was that of a criminal, but there was no helping it. It wasn’t that I was strange. In an apocalypse, everyone would become like this.

Primitive humans competing for their lives in a concrete jungle.

Once I set my character, various scenes came to mind. I wrote a scenario in my head.

How to survive as a pillager in a zombie apocalypse. Dark and gloomy imaginations kept surfacing endlessly. How to harm people. Inspiration seemed to surge.

I suddenly sighed in regret.

“Ah! If only I had thought like this when writing scenarios!”

***

Time wasn’t moving.

I had brought an old phone without a USIM card, but there was no way I could get Wi-Fi in the mountains. There was also nothing to pass the time with.

Out of boredom, I swung the hammer and kitchen knife around, but it felt like time was stretching endlessly. The sun seemed nailed to the sky.

Hesitating, I quietly stepped out of the shelter.

Crouching in the small shelter had stiffened all my joints, and they felt like they were about to break.

Carefully stepping out, I let out a gasp.

“Flowers are blooming.”

It was the season when spring was approaching. Flowers were starting to bloom all over the mountains. While the era of humans was about to end, nameless flowers were bursting with yellow and white buds.

Even on the brown ground covered with fallen leaves and dirt, green grass was sprouting.

I quietly looked down at the grass.

Can I eat it?

“…No. I can’t.”

I couldn’t go to the hospital, so I shouldn’t risk eating something strange and getting sick. I kicked at the grass with my toe, not sure if it was a weed or edible.

Suddenly, I felt a pang of regret.

‘If only I had the skills, living in the mountains wouldn’t be so bad.’

The steep, rugged, and uneven terrain of the mountains was perfect for blocking zombies. It would also be good for setting traps.

But I didn’t have the skills to survive. If I stayed in the mountains, I would probably starve to death. I couldn’t even tell which plants were edible, and mushrooms were a no-go.

And then there was the bathroom issue. If the apocalypse came, the city would be the same, but…

I rubbed my aching stomach and returned to the shelter.

***

Day 5 of the zombie outbreak.

I ran out of water. I had finished all the bottled water I brought. I stared blankly at the empty PET bottle. Maybe it was because the shelter was bathed in the light of the sunset, but my face was reflected on the plastic surface.

I looked haggard and dirty. My nose was numb, so I couldn’t tell, but I probably smelled terrible. I had never gone this long without washing. My head itched, my body felt sticky, and I was going crazy.

An impulsive thought crossed my mind.

‘Should I go down the mountain?’

There was a public restroom at the entrance of the hiking trail. That would be enough…

A rational argument formed in my head. The reasons why I needed to go down.

I had no water. Humans can’t survive without water. It was a matter of immediate survival. If I faced zombies in a dehydrated, weak state, it would be a big problem.

“Let’s go.”

With that, I put on a mask, pulled down my hat, and slowly got up. It was a weekday, and not many hikers came to this mountain anyway.

The chocolate bar wrappers I had scattered around crinkled under my feet. I had thrown them around at night to keep warm. It felt a bit off to leave shiny wrappers near the shelter.

Grabbing a few PET bottles to fill with tap water and hiding a hammer in my hoodie pocket, I headed down the mountain.

“…”

By the time the sky turned dark blue, I had reached the bottom.

With a suspicious expression, I cautiously approached the public restroom.

In front of the restroom was a heavily tinted camping car, with a yellow cord stretching from it to the restroom entrance. But the cord was swaying. A shadow of a person was also swaying at the entrance.

My hand instinctively went to my hoodie pocket. I gripped the hammer.

‘Is it a zombie?’

I quieted my footsteps. I stepped slowly, heel first, approaching cautiously.

Then, I saw the person.

“Whoa!”

It was a man wearing expensive-looking sportswear. He was short, struggling to plug a charger into a high socket near the restroom entrance, and then he glared at me.

The situation became clear.

An electric car. An electric thief. A shameless, immoral human trying to charge his electric car using the public restroom’s socket.

The grip on my hammer loosened. Whatever this guy was doing, I just needed to wash my hair, face, and fill my PET bottles with water.

But the electric thief looked at me with disdain and muttered as if cursing.

“What’s a homeless guy doing here?”

I wasn’t angry. He was right—I was a homeless guy. My clothes were covered in leaves and dirt.

Splash-

First, I filled the PET bottles with water. Over the sound of water, I could hear the electric thief’s sneers and the sound of him walking further into the restroom.

Bang, the toilet stall door closed.

As I finished filling the bottles and washed my hands with soap, I heard something. I turned my head. The electric thief was watching a video on his phone.

Gurgle-

I turned off the faucet and listened carefully. It was precious news from the outside world. Even though the sound was muffled, I couldn’t miss it.

– The incubation period is between 3 to 4 weeks… Transmission can occur as early as the first week…

– Over 10,000 drone-infected individuals… At least 100,000 in the incubation period… Likely more…

– Strict social distancing measures…

The faint sound made me lean closer. I frowned, concentrating.

The electric thief cursed.

“Ugh. Stop with this news. Everyone knows the situation is bad.”

The sound of him roughly tapping his phone. He must have changed the video because a different voice came through. An excited voice.

– Remember COVID? Now’s the time to buy stocks! It’s a chance to buy cheap.

I clicked my tongue softly.

The world hasn’t completely fallen apart yet. They’re still talking about stocks. It needs to collapse more.

– Don’t recommend masks or hand sanitizers. They’ve already risen enough. It’s not like they’re pharmaceutical companies. Change your mindset to make money. Go for companies making camping gear. Like axes!

At that moment, I froze. I slowly turned around. A dark glint passed through my eyes reflected in the mirror.

‘Camping gear… Now’s the time.’

There’s a camping car outside. That treasure goblin—no, the electric thief—was dressed like he was going camping.

– There’s a company I know, really, really, it’s a secret, but I’ll only tell you.

I hid my footsteps as I listened to the voice. I went outside and approached the camping car. If the door was open, I could avoid making a big scene.

I pulled the door handle. The sliding door opened smoothly. My eyes widened.

The door to the treasure trove had opened.

“…”

I held back a gasp.

The interior of the camping car was bathed in the dazzling light of a streetlamp. There was a dining table, a sofa-like seat, chairs, a microwave, and a small kitchen.

But that wasn’t important. I crouched and stepped inside.

‘What I need now is speed.’

I would take only the essentials and escape. A petty thief was just right for this situation.

I quickly looked around, choosing what to steal.

‘A bag of food. I’ll take that. What camping gear can I take? A folding chair? No. A sleeping bag? I’ll take that too. A pot?’

At that moment, something caught my eye. A wood stove? A camping stove? Whatever it was, it was a tool for burning wood. Next to it was a bundle of firewood.

And, a hand axe.

I quickly grabbed the axe. It didn’t feel stable. It wasn’t a real weapon like a hammer. A crossbow or slingshot would be more human-like weapons.

‘No, don’t think, just grab quickly!’

As I reached for the sleeping bag, a shout came from behind.

“You thief!”

I slowly turned around. The electric thief, who had come out of the restroom, was stomping towards me, his face red.

I stepped out of the camping car, axe in hand. The electric thief stopped. His aggressive momentum faded, and his eyes fixed on the axe.

I adjusted my grip on the axe. The blade faced me, and the head faced outward. The axe had a leather cover, and removing it would expose the blade. That moment of removing the cover would be a vulnerability.

It would be better to swing the axe head. Even that could injure someone.

“Uh, that.”

The electric thief trembled, clutching his phone tightly. I raised the axe and spoke.

“Drop the phone. On the ground.”

 

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