Walking Daddy

Pitter, patter.

It was pouring cats and dogs as I emerged outside.

The sky was as dark as it could be, and visibility was limited to just one mile because of the pouring rain.

I wondered if I would be able to tell the survivors and zombies apart in this terrible weather. I gritted my teeth and gave orders to my underlings.

'First company to fourth company, follow me.”

GRRR!!!

All the underlings that were guarding Gwangjang-dong started running toward me at once. I ordered my mutants to defend the shelter.

Very soon, my two thousand underlings formed up, and I made my way to Sinnae-dong.

I passed through Guui-dong to get to Junggok-dong, then on through Junggok-dong to get to Myeonmok-dong. My physical capabilities were well beyond that of humans, and fifteen kilometers felt like nothing at all. Running at full speed, I was able to get to Myeonmok-dong in twenty minutes.

I couldn't tell if the thick fog around me was mist, or just the steam coming off my body. In contrast to the cold air around me, my body was all worked up.

I wandered the ominous streets, looking for survivors. I couldn’t see and smell much because of the pouring rain. The sound of the rain was so loud that it would even cover the sound of people screaming.

There were no survivors on the streets. Judging from the lack of zombies as well, it seemed like a zombie wave had been triggered, and they had all been drawn to the medical center.

I imagined the map in my head and made my way north along Yongmasan-daero.

I needed to take a look at the Seoul Medical Center with my own eyes and come up with a plan on the fly.

I passed an LPG gas station on my left and kept going, and quickly saw Seoul Medical Center in the distance.

Grrr… Gaaa…

I heard zombies howling through the heavy rain. I squinted and looked at the medical center. I saw a mass of zombies gathered at the entrance, howling away.

‘But where are the survivors?’

My blue eyes flashed as I focused on the buildings. I tried to use my eyesight to pick out any traces of human movement.

It seemed like there were only zombies on the first floor and in the surrounding area. However, I saw some lights flickering on the fifth floor.

‘Lights?’

There had to be survivors.

I wondered if they had lit candles.

I could tell that there were survivors trapped in there, waiting for a rescue team that would never make it.

I flashed a tight smile, knowing that I had come to the right place. I walked toward the building.

Just then, I heard a dull thud come from the inside of the building. That sound… It didn’t sound like an ordinary zombie.

The fact that the surrounding zombies weren’t colored red meant that there weren’t any members of the Family around. That meant that it had to be a mutant—or several mutants—from the streets.

I considered if a stage-one mutant could make this sort of sound.

I knew it was impossible.

The sound I just heard was the sound of something smashing through a wall of the building. That meant that there was a stage-two mutant here.

I swallowed and gave an order to my underlings.

‘First to fourth company, gather up and get rid of the zombies on the first floor.’

GRRR!!!

My two thousand underlings let out throat-rending howls as they surged toward the hospital in a rolling wave. The ground rumbled, and a green wave smashed through the fragile, delicate breakwater.

After observing the majestic scene unfolding in front of me for a moment, I looked at the roof of the medical center.

It was about twelve stories high. With my current physical abilities, I could make it to the top in one leap.

I bent my knees and put all my strength into my jump, keeping my eyes fixed on the rooftop.

Whoosh!

Defying the force of gravity trying to pull me down, I made it to the rooftop in one smooth motion, savoring the sound of the wind rushing past me. In contrast to my prediction, the rooftop was empty.

There were no survivors or zombies to be found.

I wondered if the survivors were unable to get out onto the rooftop somehow. I looked around and saw a thick iron door in one of the corners. It was the door leading into the building.

I increased the circulation of my blood to enhance the muscles in my arm. I grabbed the iron door, took in a deep breath, and pulled.

The solid iron door pulled free of its hinges with a screech of tearing metal. I took a step inside and stopped, unsure how to react.

Dozens of survivors were standing right in front of me, where the iron door had just been, staring at me in astonishment. I looked back at them in surprise.

“AHHH!!!”

A woman amongst the survivors let out a wail. She seemed to be in a state of panic. Her eyes were full of fear and despair.

Taken aback by the sudden situation, I raised both of my arms and waved violently, trying to gesture to her that I wasn’t there to hurt them.

“ARGH!!!”

A young boy charged out of the crowd of survivors, wielding a hatchet. He seemed like he was in his mid-to-late teens, about the same age as Kang Ji-Suk.

Humans wielding weapons were way too slow for me.

I wasn’t an ordinary being. I had the dynamic visual acuity to track down monsters that could run a hundred meters in five seconds.

I grabbed the hatchet that was arcing toward me and brought the boy under control. The survivors on the stairs either screamed or sighed.

A couple of male students—who seemed to be friends of the boy—screamed and came rushing toward me.

I wondered if the thought that their friend would die had crossed their mind. Their eyes were full of hatred and anger. It seemed like they were no longer thinking straight.

I gritted my teeth.

"Enough!!!" I yelled.

My loud voice cut through the constant drumming of rain and thunder. My blue eyes flashed, and the boys gasped. Their expressions grew confused.

I took a breath and let it out.

“Are you survivors from the medical center shelter?” I asked.

No one answered my question. They were looking at me in bewilderment, their mouths opening and closing like goldfish.

After a moment, a woman—who seemed to be in her mid-to-late thirties and was dressed in business attire—moved forward and spoke up.

“Who are you?”

I wasn’t sure what to say.

The Survivor Rally Organization?

I wasn’t sure if they would even believe me.

I smacked my lips.

“I heard the broadcast,” I said instead.

“...!”

The survivors sitting on the stairs flinched the moment I mentioned the broadcast I had heard on the radio earlier. The survivors began to whisper amongst themselves. The woman in business attire spoke up once again.

“When you say broadcast… What broadcast did you hear?"

“I heard a broadcast warning people not to come to Sinnae-dong, and that it was no longer safe.”

“And why did you come despite that?”

“Because I’m the rescue team you’ve been waiting for.”

I blurted out the words rescue team unconsciously. The survivors on the stairs began to mumble again. The woman in business attire tilted her head.

"Are you… Are you a person?” she asked.

“My body looks like a zombie’s… But my heart is human.” 𝚋𝚎𝚍𝚗𝚘𝚟ｅｌ.ｃ𝚘𝚖

I frowned and let go of the male student that I was restraining. He dropped the hatchet he had been holding and crawled backward. His expression—full of fear—broke my heart.

No matter how well-intentioned I was, I was only a zombie to them.

It was about time for me to get used to such treatment… But it always left me uneasy, and it was something that I found difficult to accept.

I slicked back my wet hair.

“Are all of the survivors here?” I asked.

“Oh, no. There are more below.”

The woman in business attire seemed to be their leader. She was speaking to me on behalf of the rest of them. I looked at the woman.

"What is your name?"

"Yes? Oh… It’s… Kim Jin-Ju.”

“I’m Lee Hyun-Deok. Are the survivors downstairs holding off the zombies?”

“Yes.”

“Lead me to them.”

As I strode between the survivors, they all made way for me. They were all trembling and holding their breath, terror on their faces and their eyes engulfed in fear.

Kim Jin-Ju swallowed.

“How can I trust that you’re the rescue team?” she asked.

"If I wasn't the rescue team, you'd all be dead."

“...”

I realized that I’d phrased it harshly, but this was the most appropriate answer in the current situation. Kim Jin-Ju took a deep breath before she spoke again.

“Follow me, then. Everyone else, please wait here.”

With that, she hurried down the stairs. I followed her as I gave the survivors a quick once over. There were about twenty survivors. Most of them were seniors over sixty and students in their teens.

As I followed Kim Jin-Ju down the stairs, the screams and roars coming from the fifth floor began to grow clearer and louder.

After a moment, I heard men shouting.

"Stand back!! We have to give up the fifth floor.”

Thud!!

The sound of a wall collapsing echoed through the stairwell, and the musty smell of cement tickled my nose.

When I entered the fifth floor through the emergency exit, I saw about fifteen men blocking the long hallway.

They were fighting zombies.

They were poorly armed and none of them seemed to have firearms. Almost at once, a zombie pushed one of the men to the ground.

“Mr. Kim!!”

All the men who were retreating ran back toward Mr. Kim. The man named Mr. Kim shoved the zombie away with the back in his hand.

“Just go!!!” he yelled. “They're going to get you!!!”

“Shut up and get up already!”

Thud!!!

The moment the men lifted Mr. Kim up, a portion of the wall behind them came down in a thick cloud of dust. I frowned and stared at the hole.

I saw a human figure through the cloud of dust.

.

Its appearance was human, but it was a stage-two mutant with a grotesquely large right arm.

‘Arm… wrest… ling…”

The stage-two mutant approached the men, spinning its massive arm. My blue eyes flashed and I began to circulate my blood more quickly as I watched it move.

“Grrr…!”

Steam leaked out of my mouth. Kim Jin-Ju, who was next to me, went wide-eyed.

“What, what are you?” she asked.

“Step back.”

“...!”

Kim Jin-Ju gasped and went back into the emergency stairwell. I crouched down and channeled strength into my lower body.

My thighs and calf muscles grew larger, almost to the point of bursting. I took in a deep breath and flew toward the mutant.

Crack!

I pushed off the ground like a sprinter pushing off their starting blocks, leaving two deep cracks in the ground and sending debris flying.

The windows on each side of the hallway shook violently, and a sonic boom echoed along the hallway.

I got up close to the mutant’s back and shattered its scapula.

Crush!

Its upper body folded as the skin on its back tore and its ribs were crushed. The mutant went flying out of the window right in front of it, without even time to cry a death cry.

The men who had been fighting looked at me blankly, their mouths puffed out like a goldfish’s.

“What, what… You.”

"Get up. It’ll be back soon.”

I had no intention of merely sending it flying out of the window. I had to damage it enough, then crack its skull to finish it off.

It was lucky that it had flown out of the window. It would be able to regenerate its broken bones by eating the zombies outside.

For a moment, I considered whether or not to follow it outside and finish it off.

But I knew better than to do that. I had yet to fully grasp what was going on.

There were still many variables that I wasn’t sure about, such as how many stage-two mutants remained, and how many survivors were still making their way up.

I could kill zombies anytime I wanted, but I could not take my own sweet time when it came to saving the survivors. I looked toward the emergency exit.

“Kim Jin-Ju!!!” I shouted.

Kim Jin-Ju poked her head out into the hallway, then ran toward Mr. Kim.

"Hey!"

“Jin-Ju!”

Kim Jin-Ju hugged Mr. Kim and wept. It seemed like the two of them were siblings.

Mr. Kim soon came back to his senses and looked at me.

“Who are you? The monster that was just here... Is it dead?”

“No, it’s not dead. It’ll come back up again. Let’s get to the rooftop before it does.”

Mr. Kim stared at my face.

"You… You’re a person, right?” he said in a serious tone.

“I’m whatever you think I am. There’s no time to explain.”

Mr. Kim swallowed and got up. I accompanied the fifteen men toward the emergency exit and escorted them up. As I made our way up, I looked over at Kim Jin-Ju.

“Are there more survivors?” I asked.

"Pardon?"

“I asked if there are any more survivors.”

“Uh… No.”

It seemed like she wasn’t being honest with me. I could tell that she was lying from the way she avoided my gaze.

I furrowed my brow.

“I’ll ask you again. Are there more survivors?”

“They don’t need to be saved.”

“That’s up to me to decide.”

When I frowned at her, Kim Jin-Ju bit her lower lip. Her expression grew bitter and complicated.

It seemed like they’d had their share of complications. However, I couldn’t come to a conclusion without hearing from the other side.

Since I showed no signs of backing down, Kim Jin-Ju suppressed the rage in her heart and spoke up.

“If you want to save animals, then go look for them. I’ll have nothing to do with them.”