Chapter 1 Part 2

“Ugh…! Cough…!” 

Just before my breath was about to be cut off, a large amount of air was forced into my lungs, causing a rough cough to erupt. As the raw groans escaped, breaking the silence of the serene cafe, I could feel the surrounding gazes converging on me. However, I didn’t have the energy to pay attention to such things. I still felt the taste of blood inside my throat, so I ran my hand over it, but there was no wound or even a trace of blood. Something was off. Feeling a sense of unease, I quickly got up from my seat and rummaged through my pocket to retrieve my cellphone. 

19:21… 

The vivid violet-colored cellphone displayed the numbers 19:21. It was confusing. 

What’s going on? Finally regaining my senses, I looked around and realized that I was still in the cafe from earlier. However, the people who had been screaming in fear were now sitting peacefully, drinking their coffee. There were occasional uncomfortable glances directed at me, but that was all. Was it a dream? It didn’t make sense. How could a person devour another person? It was like something out of a zombie movie… 

But I couldn’t continue the accident any further. Without thinking, I looked outside the cafe window, and just before the shutter completely closed, I saw it. It seemed like a distant cityscape through the tightly closed metal bars.

Feeling anxious, I looked around the cafe and saw a woman with her head slammed onto the table, continuously pouring out blood. The bewildered people surrounded her, forming a familiar scene that made me feel like I was losing my mind. Was this the same thing happening again? Would I be attacked and torn apart by that part-time worker’s teeth again? 

The first thought that came to mind was that maybe this was a punishment for committing suicide. No, perhaps this was hell itself… Unorganized thoughts flooded my mind in a chaotic manner. 

When I made the decision to end my own life, I thought I had resolved to go to hell. But it seemed that wasn’t the case. I couldn’t bear to experience that cruel sensation of flesh being torn apart once again. Fear quickly took hold of my brain. I had no idea how to resolve the current situation. 

“…Huh? My phone’s not working?”  

Once again, someone repeated the same words. As soon as I heard those words, doubt turned into certainty, and my gaze shifted towards the back door of the cafe. However, at the entrance of the narrow passage leading to the back door, there was a woman lying on the ground, vomiting blood. It was to the extent that I had to push her aside to pass through. The face of the woman who was tearing apart flesh came to mind, and I couldn’t move my body anymore. While I was in confusion, the situation escalated urgently. At the exact same timing as before, the same person repeated the same words. 

“…Ma’am, are you okay?” 

I quickly ran into the bathroom, capturing the sight of the woman attacking the part-time worker. As soon as I pressed the hook on the lever handle, screams erupted from the other side of the door. The sound of suppressed beasts, the sound of falling, and the sound of pleading for help made my breathing quicken. What should I do? Should I go out and try to save at least one person? But how could I possibly fight and defeat such a monster? I didn’t even have anything that could serve as a weapon. In fact, I wasn’t even sure if this was reality. 

Bang-bang-bang! 

At that moment, the desperate sound of someone urgently knocking on the bathroom door reached my ears, causing my heart to sink. 

“…Please, help me! Open the door… Ahh…!” 

But the screams were soon swept away by a dull sound. No more voices could be heard, but the desperate voice pleading for help echoed in my mind. Despite knowing that I shouldn’t open the door, the thought that the owner of the voice might still be alive lingered in my mind, and my hand reached for the lever handle. However, even I needed courage to open the door. The hand holding the doorknob was trembling like a bamboo in the wind. 

Yes, just open it for a moment to confirm if they’re dead or alive. If they’re alive, quickly pull them inside, and if they’re already dead… With that thought in mind, I cautiously opened the door, keeping a defensive stance and observing the situation outside. And what I saw in front of me was an unbelievable sight. Stunned, I stood there for a while, staring blankly at the chaotic cafe. Eventually, I closed the door again and sat down on the floor, completely overwhelmed.

…I couldn’t understand why the situation had turned out like this. Just moments ago, most of the people who were perfectly fine had turned into monsters, attacking others like murderers. There was no trace of any emotions on the faces of those whose expressions had disappeared. They were perfectly fine just a little while ago… 

…Come to think of it, even the part-time worker was fine at first. But then he was bitten by a woman… and suddenly, he turned into a beast and tore into my neck. Could it be that if you get bitten, you undergo the same transformation? The empty eyes of the part-time worker, who had attacked me with a lost expression, came to mind, sending shivers down my spine. I didn’t even know if it was spreading through bodily fluids. 

…It’s like… zombies. 

Zombies… of all things. It’s unbelievable to think that the only word that came to mind to describe the people who were practically corpses, tearing into each other like animals, was “zombies.” The sound of dragging, the thud of something colliding, the sound of suppressed beastly breathing… they all reached my ears from beyond the door, but suddenly, the screams stopped. If my thoughts were correct, it meant that everyone in the cafe had either turned into monsters or died. I checked my phone and it was 19:36. It had only been 15 minutes since it all started.

What should I do now? If I just wait quietly, will the rescue team come to help? No, it seemed highly likely that even the police or firefighters would lose their minds to the zombies rather than coming to rescue. Moreover, just before the situation escalated, someone mentioned that their phone was dead. Anxiously, I touched the phone and tried to turn on the screen, but neither the internet nor emergency calls went through. In short, it was hard to think positively that someone had made a report. 

Sitting on the narrow and dirty bathroom floor, I racked my brains, but no solution came to mind to remedy the situation. With nothing else to do, I fiddled with the phone, and my gaze fell on the photo of a man on the background screen. 

As unfamiliar as the phone itself, the man in the photo was equally unfamiliar. His youthful face, which seemed to be in his early twenties, had a very striking appearance. I briefly thought he might be a celebrity, but quickly dismissed the idea. The important thing in the current situation was not the man on the phone’s background screen. The real question was why someone else’s phone was in my pocket in the first place. 

No, more than that, I couldn’t understand why someone who was about to die had to come back to life and endure such hardships. My damn life, which never went as planned, was even uncomfortable in death. Thinking that far, I finally realized that the current situation was indeed strange. 

Of course, the crazy situation of zombies appearing in South Korea out of nowhere was beyond bizarre, but that wasn’t the reason.

…I had no memory at all. Why did I think of my own life as a life that was screwed up, why did I commit suicide in the first place, and even what my name was. Nothing came to mind, as if there was a fog in my head.