Destruction — Chapter 11
by Brie- Survival, Destination: Suwon
Beep beep beep, beep beep beep, beep beep beep—
The alarm set for 8 a.m. blared and roused them from sleep. Shivering from the cold, Saejin fumbled around, trying to find his phone and silence the noise. The alarm finally stopped, but he continued groaning and struggling to sit up. His stubborn clinging to sleep didn’t last long, though—he’d realized he was lying on something.
He reached under his head, groping around. What he touched wasn’t soft. It was firm. And the height and shape were suspiciously familiar—like a human leg.
‘Was my leg always this thick…?’
Wait. Can someone even sleep using their own leg as a pillow? Drowsiness made his thoughts muddled. Still dazed, Saejin kept patting the thigh as he slowly opened his eyes.
“Stop touching me.”
The voice from above brought him back to reality with a jolt. Blinking in confusion, Saejin slowly sat up.
“Hmm…? Ah!”
He rubbed his eyes, trying to clear his vision—and then realized he had been using Woobeom’s thigh as a pillow. Sure, he’d fallen asleep next to the man, but he hadn’t expected to end up doing something so absurd. If there had been a hole nearby, he would’ve crawled into it headfirst.
“I-I’m so sorry.”
Worried he might’ve drooled in his sleep, Saejin frantically wiped around his mouth, face burning with embarrassment. He bowed his head over and over.
“That must’ve been uncomfortable… You should’ve woken me up…”
While Saejin fretted, asking if Woobeom’s leg had gone numb, the man stood up without answering and said he’d go find something to eat. Saejin, of course, trailed after him. They each grabbed a cup of instant noodles and a drink before returning to the table. Fortunately, the water dispenser still worked, so they were able to get hot water.
The smell of ramen soon filled the air, and with it, hunger finally hit. His stomach growled loudly.
“We’re leaving after this, right?”
“Yeah.”
“…I hope there aren’t too many monsters out there.”
He thought of how zombies in movies avoided sunlight, but reality wasn’t a movie, so he didn’t get his hopes up. Truthfully, it wasn’t the monsters they needed to be most wary of—it was people. Blind monsters could be avoided with careful maneuvering, but incubation-stage infected were malicious and would be far trickier to deal with.
While the ramen cooked, Saejin searched the virus on social media and online. Not much had changed since dawn. The government had acknowledged the virus but still hadn’t offered any concrete countermeasures, and the number of infected continued to rise by the hour.
‘What if the infected outnumber the uninfected at this rate?’
If people kept targeting others and the spread continued as it was, the difficulty of surviving would skyrocket. Saejin stirred his ramen with his chopsticks and shook his head to rid himself of such depressing thoughts.
“Should we bring some ramen and canned food with us?”
“There’s plenty of food at the villa, so just bring a little. Enough for the road.”
“Oh… so the villa really has everything, huh.”
As he slurped up a roll of noodles, Saejin imagined what the villa might look like. A grand mansion with a wooden exterior tucked away in nature. Whatever it looked like, the fact that it was a safe place from monsters and cold brought a sense of relief.
“But why did you stockpile so much? Were you always into hoarding supplies or something?”
Saejin asked lightly while eating his breakfast, half-curious and half-impressed. If Woobeom had enough to last a whole year, then that meant he’d been fully prepared before the outbreak began—which only raised more questions.
“The villa’s deep in the mountains. Really deep.”
Saejin struggled to close his gaping mouth. Apparently, even after arriving in Suwon, it would take another full hour of hiking to reach the place. After deciding to leave his gang life behind, Woobeom had wanted to live quietly, so he rushed to buy a mountain property. Since it had been an impulsive purchase, his choices were limited. Naturally, the few options available were in remote, isolated places where people rarely went.
“…Wow. You must’ve been loaded, huh.”
Owning a villa was cool enough, but to own an entire mountain? Saejin couldn’t help but be impressed by his wealth.
“To bury all the assholes who pissed me off.”
“…Huh?”
“If someone acts like a dick after I retire, I need a place to bury ‘em. I’d dump the bodies in the woods.”
“……”
Saejin suddenly lost his appetite. He poked at the ramen toppings in his bowl, silently begging for a follow-up that it had all been a joke.
“It’s a joke.”
‘Of course…!’
That made more sense. Even if Woobeom had been a gangster, he didn’t seem like the kind of guy who would casually kill people. Relieved that his instincts weren’t wrong, Saejin relaxed his stiffened shoulders.
“Who the hell would bury bodies on their own property?”
“…But you just said it was a joke.”
“Of course it was. I’ve got people to take care of that kind of thing.”
“……”
“Why aren’t you eating?”
“…I’ll be good, hyung.”
He didn’t know what Woobeom’s definition of “acting like a dick” was, but he definitely wasn’t going to test it. Wiping the cold sweat from his brow, Saejin buried his face in his ramen and pretended to know nothing. Slurp, slurp. The only sounds in the silence were hurried bites and noodles being wolfed down.
Extra raincoats, tape, utility knives, masks, gloves—anything useful in the convenience store was stuffed into their bags. For food, they chose bread that wouldn’t expire soon and didn’t require hot water or a microwave.
“I’m all ready!”
Saejin approached Woobeom, who was in the middle of putting on another raincoat. He was choosing a weapon, eventually picking up a metal rod with a sharply broken end—probably a part from a collapsed display shelf.
“You should wear one more layer too.”
“Why?”
Saejin let Woobeom help him put on the second raincoat without resistance, but still asked. Woobeom silently finished dressing him and tossed him a pair of gloves.
“We can’t keep wasting time peeling off and reapplying tape. We need to save every second we can.”
“I thought the monsters outside stayed calm as long as we don’t make noise? So then… Ah.”
That’s when Saejin realized why Woobeom was gearing up and layering up. Monsters could be avoided by keeping quiet, but if they ran into an incubation-stage infected who picked a fight, ignoring them wouldn’t be so easy. If it came to a physical struggle, blood might be spilled—hence, the extra protection. With two layers of raincoat, they could just peel off the outer one in a hurry.
“Should I bring a weapon too?”
“Just carry it.”
“What if someone starts a fight? Still just carry it?”
“Unless it’s a real threat, don’t use it.”
Woobeom handed him a hammer, saying he’d already picked one out for him.
“I’ll take the hits.”
It made sense strategically for Woobeom, who could handle himself, to take the lead. But the thought of relying on him the entire way to Suwon made Saejin feel guilty. His face immediately gave away that emotion—his eyebrows drooped—and Woobeom, seeing right through him, flicked him on the forehead.
“If you swing wrong, blood’s gonna go everywhere. You think you can handle that?”
“…No. I’ll stick as close to you as possible.”
“Good. That’s all I needed to hear.”
Even using a weapon had its technique. As expected of a former gangster. Saejin looked up at the rising shutter with faint admiration. The real survival began now.
On their way downtown in search of an abandoned car, they encountered only three or four monsters. It helped that they’d sprinted through areas without any monsters to save time. As they pushed forward nonstop, their breathing grew heavier—especially with masks on.
“We have to turn onto that road up ahead.”
If Woobeom was the muscle, Saejin was the navigator. His knowledge of Gangnam’s layout allowed them to move efficiently. But the closer they got to the city center, the more monsters and corpses they saw. Some had been run over, their heads separated from their bodies, while others were infected who’d been killed mid-transformation.
The number of monsters increased, and naturally, their pace slowed. Moving too hastily and making noise could get them killed. As they walked cautiously, a police station came into view. Though it was likely pointless, Saejin still glanced over, just in case—only to be met with a horrifying sight.
‘…What the hell. That’s just cruel.’
Two zombified officers wandered aimlessly, eyes glazed. One lay twitching on the floor, seemingly in the throes of seizure. That one looked like it had been attacked. The skin on its face had been peeled off, deliberately, like someone had tortured it for fun. No one would flay a face like that unless they were enjoying it.
The grotesque sight made Saejin gag. Shutting his eyes tightly, he reached out and grabbed Woobeom’s arm, grounding himself with the man’s warmth. Woobeom, having also seen the state of the cops, narrowed his eyes in discomfort.
“Looks like we’ve got a real psycho nearby.”
“…Why do you say that?”
Breathing heavily, Saejin moved close and asked softly.
“The holsters are empty. Someone took the guns.”
“If that’s true… then this city’s totally screwed.”
The world was already falling apart—but to this extent? As they continued forward with heavy hearts, signs of human life reappeared. Some people stayed hidden inside, while others cautiously peeked out to check their surroundings.
“We’re here.”
After squeezing through a narrow alley between buildings, they arrived on a wide road. A giant digital billboard hanging from a high-rise was broadcasting the news. Saejin tilted his head to get a look, but quickly turned away. Now that there were people nearby, he couldn’t afford to zone out.
He scanned the shambling monsters around them, checking for infected using the chaos as cover to approach. But they weren’t the only ones on edge. Other survivors, out in search of supplies, all moved low and quiet, as if not to attract suspicion. No one trusted anyone else.
“Do you think the infected are mostly heading for the shelters? This is downtown, but there’s barely anyone here.”
Saejin peered into the windows of abandoned cars, looking for keys. But of course, it wasn’t easy.
“Hard to say.”
Woobeom gave Saejin’s shoulder a firm tap, warning him to stay alert, then headed across the road. He vaulted the thigh-high guardrail effortlessly and added a warning.