Destruction — Chapter 12
by Brie“Don’t wander too far.”
With so many cars, it was impossible to check each one thoroughly. Every intersection was like a ticking bomb, so they had to move fast. They split the lanes, maintaining a distance of no more than thirty paces to be able to help each other quickly if needed.
If the driver’s seat was open or the window down, it was easy to spot keys. Otherwise, they had to check directly. One car had tinted windows, and when Saejin opened the door, he found a rotting corpse strapped into the seat. But no key. Maybe there had been a passenger.
“…Damn it!”
Frustrated, Saejin covered his nose to block the stench leaking through his mask and moved on to the next car—a sedan with a crushed hood from hitting the guardrail. Praying he’d finally get lucky, he leaned in to check. But again, the windows were tinted.
‘This door won’t open either…’
He tugged the handle, but it only rattled. Two possibilities: either the driver had transformed mid-ride and the car still held the body and keys, or they’d abandoned it knowing it was totaled. Smashing the window would solve it, but with monsters nearby, making noise wasn’t an option.
‘If it won’t start, it’s probably empty anyway.’
He sighed and started to move on—but then a cold sensation crawled up his spine. Something was behind him. A monster had gotten close without him noticing.
Stay calm. His hands went cold, his gut twisted in fear, but Saejin didn’t breathe out. One wrong breath and the creature would be on him. The raincoat protected him from direct contact, but the sheer terror of it still had him frozen.
He pressed his stomach against the car, trying to inch past without touching the thing. But the monster let out a growl like a wild animal, as if it had sensed his movement.
“Grrrrr…”
‘Y-you bastard! You didn’t leave me… right? You didn’t run off and leave me, did you?’
A wave of sorrow and betrayal hit him. His lips wobbled, and his face crumpled, ready to cry. Every instinct screamed at him to bolt, screaming. Blinking rapidly, he fought back the tears.
And then—
“Duck!”
A firm voice called out from behind. Flattening himself against the car, Saejin crouched hard.
“Hiyaaah!”
With a roar, Woobeom swung a bat—who knows where he’d picked it up—and slammed it into the monster’s head. Rotten blood sprayed across the sedan, and putrid fluid splattered Saejin’s back. It was disgusting, horrifying—but he didn’t dare lift his head. Tears spilled down his face.
“H-Hngh… I thought… huff… you left me…”
Even with its head knocked off, the monster remained upright, spraying blood. Woobeom tapped its side with the bat, and only then did it topple over. He shoved the severed head under the car so Saejin wouldn’t see, then called out gently to the boy curled up on the ground.
“You can get up now.”
Saejin slowly stood. A wet hunk of gore slid off his back and dropped to the ground. Shivering, he looked up at Woobeom, face twisted in anguish, and sniffled.
“Jeez… I really thought you betrayed me.”
“…You sure talk a lot for someone I just saved.”
Woobeom’s words were cold, but he had been a little taken aback by Saejin’s reaction. Even after the situation had passed, he was trembling like a fawn about to collapse at the slightest push. Maybe he shouldn’t have left him alone. If he’d known the kid would be this terrified over a single monster, he would’ve stayed close, even if it took more time. With a gruff warning to stop crying, Woobeom peeled off one layer of Saejin’s raincoat.
“Th-the car key… sniff… did you find it?”
Saejin glanced down at the raincoat Woobeom had removed and flinched at the sight of the blood and gore. It hadn’t touched him directly, but the thought of having that rotting sludge on his back made him want to scrub himself clean immediately.
“No. Nothing useful here.”
“Then should we keep moving?”
“Looks like it.”
Nodding, Saejin hurried to Woobeom’s side again, worried another zombie might show up.
“By the way, where did you get that?”
“Found it in a trunk.”
“Ah… What about the weapon we brought from the convenience store?”
“This one’s easier to use.”
‘He pulled a spanner from someone’s trunk and beat a monster with it the first time we met, too.’
It had only been a few hours since Saejin had suspected Woobeom might be a criminal. Now, he just seemed reliable. The guy clearly had a knack for using tools.
An hour had passed since they started searching for a usable car. Saejin’s thighs were starting to ache, and his back throbbed from constantly bending over to check inside vehicles.
“Seriously… nothing? Nothing at all?”
He’d assumed they’d find at least one or two cars with the keys still inside, but it was failure after failure. At this rate, they wouldn’t be heading for Suwon today—they’d spend days just looking for transportation. On top of that, the winter wind was numbing his body and slowing him down.
‘Should I ask to take a break?’
Saejin glanced at Woobeom, but then shook his head. Warming his hands and feet would only help for a moment—they’d have to come back out into the cold anyway. Better to push through than risk catching a chill in these fluctuating temperatures.
As he pulled his mask down to catch his breath, Saejin’s eyes caught a nearby digital billboard. He gasped at the breaking news and immediately started coughing.
“Cough, cough!”
Feeling unjustly judged by Woobeom’s unimpressed glance, Saejin pointed at the billboard in protest.
The headline across the giant screen read: “Nationwide Road Closures.” The government was planning to shut down all roads to prevent unchecked movement of incubation-stage infected. It was a decision that would trap survivors and sabotage their chances.
“They’ve lost their minds!”
After saying nothing for so long, the government finally acted—and what they chose was sheer lunacy. The news ticker went on to say that armed soldiers would be stationed at gates along major roads, and anyone approaching—infected or not—was to be shot on sight. They had 24 hours until this order was implemented.
“Everything’s going to shit.”
Even if they gave up on finding a car and went on foot, they might arrive in Suwon only to find the roads closed. That would be a stupid, senseless death. Was it time to give up on reaching the villa? No better ideas came to mind.
Then, just as the air grew heavy, someone emerged from a nearby building and began walking toward them. The man looked nothing like a typical survivor—he wasn’t carrying a weapon, nor was he bundled up for protection.
That could only mean one thing: he didn’t need to protect himself—a sign he was an “incubation-stage infected.”
Woobeom immediately pulled Saejin behind him and gave a warning gesture to the man not to come any closer. But the man ignored it and stepped forward, narrowing his eyes as if trying to confirm something. Like he was trying to match a face to a memory.
“…Yoon Saejin?”
“…Huh?”
“It’s you, Saejin, isn’t it?”
The familiar voice made Saejin peek out from behind Woobeom. As soon as the man saw his face, he smiled warmly and came closer. When Woobeom asked if they knew each other, Saejin, looking stunned and blinking in disbelief, gave a small nod.
“Director? Wait… what are you doing here?”
The man was the director of the orphanage where Saejin had grown up. Saejin started walking toward him as if in a trance, but Woobeom quickly grabbed his wrist.
“Director or not, check if he’s infected first.”
“Oh, right, my head’s all over the place. I was just so happy to see you… Here, is this enough?”
The director said he understood the caution and pulled down his lower eyelids to show the whites of his eyes. They were bloodshot from fatigue, but the veins were still clear. As soon as Woobeom let go, Saejin ran into the man’s arms.
“It’s been how many years? Have you been well?”
“As well as I could. I can’t believe I ran into you here…”
“What are you doing all the way here from Osan?”
It was lucky there weren’t any monsters nearby—Saejin’s chatter was totally unguarded. Woobeom watched from behind, fiddling with his lip. For some reason, he was reminded of cigarettes.
‘…Why does that guy look familiar?’
Oddly, the man’s face stuck in his mind in a vague, hazy way. Woobeom couldn’t think of any reason why a former gangster like him would have crossed paths with a director of an orphanage, which only made it more unsettling. He studied the man closely, but all he got was a nagging, uneasy feeling in his gut.
Since the orphanage was in Osan, there wasn’t much reason for the director to be in Gangnam. In response to Saejin’s question, the man folded his arms and gave a sheepish look.
“I came to scout locations for a field trip for the kids. Ended up stuck here when things went bad…”
He said he’d been getting ready to leave as soon as possible, worrying about the children left behind. With everything so chaotic, being away for too long would have left them confused and frightened.
“It’s not safe to talk out here. Why don’t we go inside for now?”
The director pointed to the building he had come from and offered Saejin a place to rest. Saejin was tempted—he’d wanted a break anyway—but smiled awkwardly and shook his head.
“We’ve got something we need to do.”
“Something you need to do?”
“We were looking for a car…”
He couldn’t bring himself to say they were wandering around trying to steal one. Scratching his cheek in embarrassment, Saejin trailed off. The director raised an eyebrow.
“And where are you planning to go?”
“Oh, I’m heading to Suwon with my hyung.”
Saejin pointed to Woobeom and gave the director a brief rundown.
“If that’s the case… you can come with us, no problem.”
“…Huh?”
“We’re passing through Suwon anyway, so we could drop you off.”
“Really? You’d let us ride with you?”
It felt like a beam of light had cut through the darkness ahead. Saejin lit up with joy, and the director smiled softly.
“Of course. Why wouldn’t we?”
“Ah, but when you say ‘we’… are you with others?”
“They’ll be fine with it, I’m sure.”
With a reassuring tone, the director told Saejin not to worry, and Saejin responded by saying he’d be right back. He needed to let Woobeom know and get his agreement first. Riding the director’s car to Suwon wasn’t something he could decide on his own.