Destruction — Chapter 28

When he lifted his chin the way Woobeom told him to, the man reached toward him. As the fingers brushed the back of his neck, Saejin glanced down and saw that his collar was crooked. Woobeom was adjusting his raincoat, and from his touch drifted a faint scent of skin lotion. Trying to sniff discreetly, Saejin suddenly swallowed dryly. Maybe it was just the smell he liked… but wherever the man’s fingers brushed, a prickly warmth kept rising.

“Oh… did I button it wrong?”

Embarrassed, he scratched his cheek and gave a short bow in thanks.

“Which way.”

Standing beside him, Woobeom gave him a small shove on the back, telling him to lead. Encouraged all over again, Saejin gestured for him to follow and headed down the steep path. Stepping on jutting rocks to steady himself, he slowly made his way down until the flat ground appeared again. It was the familiar path he had walked earlier.

It’ll be embarrassing if it turns out it wasn’t a monster.

Continuing downward, the thought made him bite the inside of his cheek. He’d dragged Woobeom out here, put him in a raincoat, and handed him a club, if there was no monster, the disappointment would be real. Watching Saejin’s shoulders sag more and more with each step, Woobeom muttered under his breath.

“I was planning to check down here anyway.”

“…Really?”

“Yeah.”

It wasn’t a lie. He had intended to patrol this area eventually, but there were still many unscouted sections, so it had been low on the list. With just that single sentence, Saejin perked right up again.

“It was around here.”

When they reached the fence, Saejin tapped his stiff thighs and steadied his breathing. Climbing the mountain twice in one day had drained him.

While Saejin caught his breath, Woobeom studied the surroundings and took a deep inhale. The foul smell that had come with the strong wind earlier was nowhere to be found.

“Doesn’t look like anything came over.”

He slowly scanned the wire fence. If a monster had tried to climb it, there would’ve been remnants from its rotting skin. But the tightly woven fence was spotless, and aside from their own footprints, the ground showed nothing unusual.

If it wasn’t inside, they needed to check outside. Woobeom stepped on the fence a few times and effortlessly climbed to the top. Sitting astride the fence, he reached down to Saejin.

“Grab my hand.”

“You’re not going to fall backward trying to pull me up, right?”

The fence was narrow, barely wide enough for Woobeom himself to sit. Trying to support a full-grown adult like Saejin could make him fall. Worried he’d cause Woobeom to slip, Saejin hesitated. Woobeom wiggled his fingers once more. Stop babbling and grab it already.

It wasn’t that Saejin doubted him, but reaching out still made him hesitate. After staring at that big open palm for a long time, he finally grabbed it. Warmth spread instantly through his hand.

Being pulled up felt like being hooked on a fishing line. His pupils widened as his viewpoint rose sharply. Clinging to the fence, he squirmed until he found space to sit on the narrow top.

“…This is crazy. How are you this strong?”

His palm still tingled from the force Woobeom had used. Not bothering to respond, Woobeom immediately jumped down to the other side. There were some leaves on the ground, but not enough to cushion the landing. With the earth frozen, the impact was sharper than expected. He’d definitely need to help Saejin down.

“Come on. Jump.”

“I’m not a kid…”

“Don’t be difficult.”

He had been planning to jump on his own, until Woobeom opened his arms to catch him. Being treated like someone who always needed to be held was odd, but turning down the man’s help felt pointless. Clinging to the fence like a cicada, Saejin lowered himself slowly. Woobeom lifted him off carefully, making sure the shock didn’t hit his abdomen.

…This is such a weird feeling.

Every layer of protection and attention he received from Woobeom made his chest tingle again. Wanting to shake off the awkward mood, he quickly looked around.

“Stay right behind me.”

“Yes!”

Picking up the club he’d set down, Woobeom called to Saejin, who was turning his head in all directions.

“The smell came with a strong wind. We might need to go down quite a bit.”

Monsters didn’t stay in one place, they kept moving toward sound, so it was hard to know where they’d gone. Following behind Woobeom, Saejin searched frantically for any trace of them.

“This is…”

Spotting something, Woobeom motioned for him to stop. Following his gaze, Saejin saw chunks of flesh and streaks of blood smeared on a tree trunk. Monsters, with their melted eyes, wandered blindly and often slammed into things. The mess must have come from that. There must have been several of them, the scattered flesh and stench were overwhelming.

“How did the number of monsters increase so suddenly…?”

It made no sense. Woobeom seemed to agree, because his expression looked just as uneasy. The farther down they went, the stronger the stench became. Saejin regretted not bringing a mask; the smell was so foul he pinched his nose shut.

“You should go back to the villa…, no. Forget it.”

Woobeom started to send him back, thinking it was too dangerous, but canceled the words immediately. They were already far from the villa, sending Saejin alone now might put him at even greater risk. Keeping him close was safer.

A strong gust of wind blew. Saejin had to hold down his hair and lower his head as it whipped into his eyes. The air was thick with the overwhelming stench of corpses.

Ssshhk, ssshhk.

Soon, dragging footsteps echoed from every direction. The two kept moving downward while holding their breath.

Are all those… monster footsteps?

The lower they went, the louder the sounds became. Clinging to Woobeom’s sleeve like it was his lifeline, Saejin stuck close to him. Twice he slipped on the muddy ground, but Woobeom caught him each time, stopping him from falling.

Even though monster remains on trees and soil couldn’t infect them, they were separated from the body long ago, the slimy, thick texture was disgusting enough to make Saejin want to gag just by looking at it. Knowing he wouldn’t get infected didn’t ease the psychological revulsion.

— Look over there.

Saejin tapped Woobeom and mouthed the words. The source of the powerful stench finally appeared. There were easily several dozen monsters.

Fighting them was impossible. Even if they managed a clean kill before the monsters shrieked, the sound of swinging the club alone would draw attention. Surrounded by this many, they wouldn’t survive.

Woobeom seemed to reach the same conclusion and chose to avoid them instead of killing them. Figuring out why the monsters had gathered here was more important.

It was nearly impossible to walk without stepping on fallen branches. Even so, they raised their heels as much as they could to minimize noise.

“Hoo…”

Once the monsters disappeared from sight, Saejin beat his chest and gulped down the fresh air. He had almost passed out from the stench before they even finished climbing down. Seeing his struggle, Woobeom comforted him, saying they only had a bit more to go.

As he said, after a few dozen steps, a road came into view. Parked on it was a truck with speakers mounted on top, and the engine was still running. Someone had to be nearby. The two hid behind a large tree and watched.

Soon they heard voices. Their guess had been right, someone was there. But the atmosphere was strange. At first the raised voices sounded like arguing, but as they listened, the situation became clearer. It wasn’t a fight. Someone was being beaten. Hard.

They wanted to look more closely, but exposing their position meant suicide.

— …Release the monsters, survive… infection…

— Those bastards… kill them all…

Release monsters? Survive? Infection? Kill them all?

Luckily the men were shouting so loudly that fragments of the conversation carried all the way to their hiding spot. With no strong wind to scatter the sound, they could make out some of the words. Judging by the pieces, those men were the ones who had lured the monsters here. The truck’s speakers must have been used to draw them in.

— Aagh!

After more screaming back and forth, someone began shrieking repeatedly. The man yelling “kill them” over and over sent chills down their skin. A wave of fear and disgust washed over Saejin. The cries sounded like the death screams of an animal caught in a trap. He wanted to cover his ears, but he couldn’t. This was definitely not a monster’s growl, it was the voice of a living human.

“Don’t listen.”

Woobeom pulled the trembling Saejin close and covered his ears with both hands, murmuring low. The warmth of his palms wrapped around Saejin, and the shaking slowly eased.

— Releasing the monsters from the city into the mountains? Who gave you the right?

— There are survivors trapped in their homes with no food. We need to get rid of the monsters in the city if people are going to survive!

— You think we wanted to get infected? Why do only we have to become monsters!

Unlike Saejin, who couldn’t hear a thing, every word of the shouting dug clearly into Woobeom’s ears. His narrowed eyes grew still, and a sharp coldness settled over his face.

How long will he keep holding me like this?
Realizing his cheeks were burning, Saejin pressed under his eyes with the back of his hand. His skin should have been chilled by the wind, but it felt like it was on fire.

Then it happened.

A gunshot cracked through the air, and Saejin’s heart shrank violently. Even with his ears covered, the sound was deafening. As the commotion following the shot died down, Woobeom’s hands fell away.

While Saejin flinched and panicked, Woobeom remained expressionless, studying the scene by the road. The truck that had only been idling suddenly revved loudly. The wheels screeched as if the driver stomped on the gas. When Woobeom stepped out from behind the tree, Saejin hurried after him.

What greeted them was horrific.

The gunshot had indeed been fired at a person. Near where the truck had been parked lay four bodies. One was clearly killed by the bullet. The rest looked like they’d been beaten to death with blunt weapons.

It was obvious the culprit was the one who drove away in the truck. Approaching a scene with fresh corpses wasn’t easy, but somehow Saejin managed. He took a deep breath before he dared look.

While Saejin gathered himself, Woobeom walked straight to the bodies. He picked up something lying beside them.

“Hyung?”

Approaching him cautiously, Saejin asked what he was doing. Woobeom was using trash from the ground to lower the corpses’ eyelids. The dead men’s corneas weren’t blackened. He checked the others as well, but there were no exceptions.

Were the infected and non-infected fighting each other?

After putting the pieces together, Woobeom stared quietly down at the body at his feet. Blood was still leaking from the bullet hole in the man’s brow. Whoever killed these uninfected people was likely a deserter, a police officer, or a civilian who had gotten hold of firearms illegally.

Those killed by blunt weapons were gruesome enough. But the body with the bullet…
The mess spilling out of the back of his skull was so grotesque that Saejin had to cover his mouth to keep from gagging.

“What… what kind of situation is this…?”

Unlike Woobeom, Saejin hadn’t heard the earlier conversation and couldn’t understand what had happened. He rubbed his dry face, overwhelmed. The shouting, the truck leaving, the murder, nothing about it was normal.

“Looks like survivors were trying to release monsters into the mountain.”

It sounded like some kind of survival group had already formed. All the dead men wore the same color uniform, which backed up the assumption.

“Did you hear something?”

Saejin had caught bits and pieces of conversation before Woobeom covered his ears, something about releasing monsters. But it was too fragmented to make sense, and Woobeom’s confident tone made it clear he’d heard much more.

Saejin was about to ask him to explain when he suddenly froze. Something inside the dead man’s clothes made his chest look unnaturally bulged.