Walking Daddy

Kim Hyeong-Jun was in the meeting room of the hotel, anxiously awaiting my return.

The other leaders were no different.

“So, what you’re saying is that Lee Hyun-Deok ahjussi went to Sinnae-dong without saying a word to us?”

“I couldn’t stop him, since the situation was urgent. I tried as well… I tried to stop Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok. “

Lee Jeong-Uk paced back and forth, biting his nails. He paced without stopping, and his frustration at the situation was evident to everyone else in the room. Kim Hyeong-Jun addressed the other leaders, but his calm expression seemed forced.

“He left his mutants behind. I don’t think we should be this worried.”

“Well, I’m more worried because he didn’t take his mutants with him!” yelled Hwang Ji-Hye with a frown.

Lee Hyun-Deok’s presence made a big difference to the shelter’s atmosphere. His current absence was making everyone nervous.

Even though Lee Hyun-Deok denied every time, he was the center and cornerstone of the Survivor Rally Organization.

Kim Hyeong-Jun scratched his head, unsure of how to proceed.

“If something were to happen to Lee Hyun-Deok, the chain of command between him and his mutants would disappear. Since they’re acting fine, it means that Lee Hyun-Deok is safe.”

“I heard that even if the chain of command disappears, the underlings remain still for twenty-four hours. How can you be so sure if Lee Hyun-Deok is safe or not?”

“When you form an alliance with another zombie—in my case, me and Lee Hyun-Deok—we can distinguish each other’s underlings by color. His underlings look purple to me. I can tell that he’s still safe.”

Kim Hyeong-Jun’s reasoning helped to calm the other leaders down, and nobody else brought up any further objections, other than a handful of heavy sighs.

Kim Hyeong-Jun sighed along with the others. Do Han-Sol, who was across from him, stared into his eyes and sent him a telepathic message.

'Do you still want to be the leader of the Survivor Rally Organization?’

'Forget it. I'm not in the mood for jokes.'

'But I thought you said you were the leader last time?’

‘Ugh…’

Kim Hyeong-Jun sighed and shook his head. At that moment, Park Gi-Cheol, who had been sitting by the window, got up and muttered something to himself.

"Huh? What’s that?”

After a moment, he looked over at the other leaders and yelled, “Hey, everyone, look! Everyone, come over here and take a look!”

All the leaders hurried toward the window where Park Gi-Cheol was and looked at where he was pointing. Kim Hyeong-Jun got up as well and went to take a look at what was going on outside.

What he saw made his mouth fall open. The other leaders also began to mutter amongst themselves with flustered faces.

Kim Hyeong-Jun was at a loss for words, unable to make sense of what he was seeing with his own two eyes.

There was a cruise ship floating on the Han River. In fact, there were three huge cruise ships, and they were all making their way toward Gwangjang-dong.

Do Han-Sol swallowed and turned to Kim Hyeong-Jun.

“Now what?” he asked.

"Huh?"

“What do we do now?!”

“Umm…”

Kim Hyeong-Jun’s mouth was still wide open, and he had placed his right hand on his forehead. The sudden arrival of the ships had taken him aback, and this moment felt like it was stretching out into eternity.

Attack? Strengthen our guard? No… our defenses? Attack them first before they get the chance to attack us?

His mind was all over the place, and he couldn’t settle on a way forward. He didn’t even know who or what could be on those cruise ships.

Kim Hyeong-Jun couldn’t keep his anxiety in check. Lee Hyun-Deok had always been next to him when situations like these broke out. Now that Lee Hyun-Deok was absent, the Survivor Rally Organization was being shaken to its core.

"Everyone, silent!"

A loud, thunderous voice pierced through the leaders’ collective panic. The muttering stopped in an instant, and Kim Hyeong-Jun snapped back to reality as well.

When he looked behind him, he saw Lee Jeong-Uk.

Lee Jeong-Uk looked around at the other leaders’ faces before he continued.

“Everyone, let’s calm down and maintain a defensive posture in our respective positions.”

Hwang Deok-Rok spoke up, an obvious tremble in his voice.

“What if they’re the Family’s forces?”

Lee Jeong-Uk sighed.

“We’ll sink them by throwing all of the remaining grenades we have,” he replied.

“Then what if there are survivors from Gangnam on board?”

“We can’t let them disembark until So-Yeon’s dad comes. We have keep them on the cruise ships.”

After Lee Jeong-Uk was done talking, all the leaders took up their respective positions.

Kim Hyeong-Jun looked at Lee Jeong-Uk, and then looked back at what was happening in front of him.

'This is why ahjussi cares about Lee Jeong-Uk.'

The two of them were similar in many ways.

To be able to make quick judgments, along with the necessary urgency to get things done. These two talents made them leaders of this shelter.

However, the way Lee Jeong-Uk was acting made Kim Hyeong-Jun strangely uncomfortable. He was also giving instructions to Kim Hyeong-Jun and Do Han-Sol.

“Do Han-Sol, place your underlings around the hotel and check the borders of Achasan. Kim Hyeong-Jun, you’re coming with me.”

“Got it!”

“All right…”

In contrast to Do Han-Sol’s energetic reply, Kim Hyeong-Jun answered rather quietly.

Kim Hyeong-Jun had never been vocal about it, but he still dwelled on the fact that he wasn’t the leader of the Survivor Rally Organization.

When the zombie apocalypse broke out, he was the one who had been saving people from the beginning. He was the one who filled the clueless Lee Hyun-Deok in on everything and made him the man he was. His younger brother had also come up with the name Survivor Rally Organization, and he was the one who kept the legacy going so that the organization wouldn’t fade away.

Kim Hyeong-Jun… He harbored a deep desire to be acknowledged by others.

Until now, he had kept his feelings to himself, convincing himself that that was not what he wanted, that he was fine with how things were. That he did not want a title.

However, Lee Hyun-Deok's absence reminded him once again where he stood within this group.

A being treated less than the leaders.

A being that just followed orders.

An uneasy feeling began to gnaw at Kim Hyeong-Jun.

He wondered if playing second fiddle to the protagonist was supposed to be like this. Or perhaps, he wasn’t even that.

Kim Hyeong-Jun headed toward the dock with a frown on his face.

* * *

Kim Hyeong-Jun's underlings, along with Mood-Swinger, gathered at Gangnaru in Gwangjang-dong. Behind his underlings, the guards of the Survivor Rally Organization had raised their K2 rifles, pointing them toward the cruise ships.

As the cruise ships got closer to the docks, Lee Jeong-Uk asked Kim Hyeong-Jun a question.

“Are there any zombies that look red?”

“I don’t think there are any members of the Family on board.”

Kim Hyeong-Jun squinted as he scanned the decks of the cruise ships. He didn’t see any zombies that were colored red. Every now and then, he saw human-looking silhouettes every now through the windows. He squinted even more, trying to figure out what these human silhouettes were, and finally came to a definite conclusion.

“There are people on board. Survivors.”

Lee Jeong-Uk, Hwang Ji-Hye, and Hwang Deok-Rok stiffened as they heard what Kim Hyeong-Jun had said.

If they were people on board, that meant they were survivors from Gangnam.

Lee Jeong-Uk looked over at Hwang Ji-Hye.

“Didn’t you say that the survivors of Gangnam were holding off the gang members rather handily?”

“That’s what they told me. I’m certain. But…”

“Well… As of now, it seems like they’ve abandoned Gangnam.”

“...”

Hwang Ji-Hye remained silent.

After a moment, Hwang Deok-Rok, who was next to Hwang Ji-Hye, tilted his head and spoke up.

“Could it be that the supplies we got last time…”

“What about the supplies?”

Hwang Ji-Hye looked over at Hwang Deok-Rok, her eyes filled with anxiety. Hwang Deok-Rok offered her an uncertain smile.

“Perhaps the supplies were like some kind of… bribe, to ask for a favor.”

“Bribe? Favor?”

“They might have been pretending that everything was okay on their side, while in reality, nothing was. They could have been planning to escape Gangnam from the moment they sent us those supplies…”

Hwang Ji-Hye frowned and glared at Hwang Deok-Rok.

“Are you telling me to believe that nonsense?”

It seemed like he was uttering nonsense without providing any facts to back up his theory.

Lee Jeong-Uk, who was next to him, calmed Hwang Ji-Hye down.

“I don’t think what he’s saying is out of this world.”

“Lee Jeong-Uk!”

“The survivors in Gangnam have always turned away survivors from Gangbuk. But even though their situation has changed and they’re now coming over to Gangbuk, there’s no reason for us to accept them, is there?”

“But shouldn’t we repay them for all the supplies we’ve gotten from them all this while…?”

“That only applies to Shelter Silence.”

“...”

Hwang Ji-Hye couldn’t rebut that statement. Lee Jeong-Uk quietly rubbed his chin before continuing.

“Maybe they needed to find a reason. A reason to make it such that we Gangbuk survivors have to accept the survivors of Gangnam.”

“So are you saying that they sent all of their remaining supplies to us?”

“Can you think of any other reason why they would do so?”

“...”

Hwang Ji-Hye swallowed, then clicked her tongue vigorously and looked away from Lee Jeong-Uk.

She knew that their actions had been suspicious. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to realize this.

However, she couldn’t wrap her head around the fact that they had been providing her with supplies all this while, yet still lied to her about what was happening to them. They had even sent Kwak Dong-Won to help them out by providing the expertise required to make solar panels…

Hwang Ji-Hye’s eyes went wide.

“Kwak Dong-Won,” she muttered to herself.

Lee Jeong-Uk raised his eyebrows and looked at her.

“What about Kwak Dong-Won?”

“When… When did Kwak Dong-Won come over from Gangnam?”

“After the fight in Gwangjang-dong .”

“And at that time, the gang members had seized control of the western part of Gangnam, right?”

"Yes."

Hwang Ji-Hye massaged her temples and let out a deep sigh. She’d finally put together all the pieces that had been scattered around in her mind.

“Kwak Dong-Won… He knew about everything from the beginning.”

“Pardon?”

“He knew that the people from Gangnam were coming over to Gangbuk. He was sent here as a forerunner.”

Hwang Ji-Hye frowned and bit her lip.

The survivors in Gangnam didn’t care where the survivors in Gangbuk went. But, the fact that they had handed over Kwak Dong-Won, someone with vast practical expertise… It could only mean that they had the intention to make this place their second shelter.

She couldn’t believe that she hadn’t foreseen this. She gritted her teeth at her own stupidity. She realized that she had been too naive.

She’d been viewing the survivors of Gangnam through rose-tinted glasses because they had been providing her with supplies, even when the survivors of Gangnam were suspicious of everything the survivors of Gangbuk did. After all, they hadn’t even accepted a single survivor.

Lee Jeong-Uk sneered as he realized the situation that they were in.

“These bastards… Do they think we’re fucking stupid?”

Soon, the cruise ships docked. Lee Jeong-Uk moved forward, readying his K2 rifle.

"Come out!" he shouted.

A man in a military uniform appeared on the second deck of the cruise ship.

He seemed to be in his late forties. There was a rank insignia on his shoulder identifying him as a major. The man stared at Lee Jeong-Uk.

“Who’s the leader here?” he asked in a deep voice.

“That’s none of your business. What the hell are you? Are you cosplaying as a soldier or what?”

“...”

The man looked at Lee Jeong-Uk rather worriedly, then sighed.

“I’ll come down, and then we can talk. We should have this discussion somewhere else…”

“You can continue speaking from up there. Because we have no intention of accepting soldiers.”

The man on the ship pointed to the first deck.

“Do you think the people here are soldiers?”

Lee Jeong-Uk lowered his gaze slightly and saw a crowd of people through the windows on the first floor.

There were women, children, the elderly and the injured. Every single one of them looked fearful, and they all seemed terribly weak.

Lee Jeong-Uk felt a second of guilt for the way he was treating them, but then he frowned and pointed his gun at the second floor again.

“We cannot let anyone disembark until our leader gets back.”

“So you’re saying that you came forward even though you’re not the leader?”

“We’re not like you guys. We avoid dictatorship at all costs. In fact, we have two leaders here.”

“Then at least get rid of the monsters in front of us. Threatening us won’t get you anything.”

Kim Hyeong-Jun, who had been listening to the two of them conversing, was infuriated by the man’s words. He strode closer to Lee Jeong-Uk and pointed at the man in his forties.

“I’ll kill you first when you get off that boat.”

“Can’t you see the faces of the survivors?”

“Can’t you see mine?”

"Blue eyes… You’re a monster too.”

Kim Hyeong-Jun crouched, glaring at the arrogant, condescending little man with his blue eyes. He seemed about to jump onto the cruise ship at any moment.

When he saw Kim Hyeong-Jun’s reaction, Lee Jeong-Uk remembered what Lee Hyun-Deok had told him.

‘I like everything about Hyung-Jun… But sometimes, he acts before considering the consequences.’

He hurriedly hit Kim Hyeong-Jun’s hamstrings with the butt of his rifle to prevent the worst-case scenario from happening. Kim Hyeong-Jun stumbled at the unexpected attack, and immediately glared at Lee Jeong-Uk as though he couldn’t believe what absurdity had just happened.

“Lee Jeong-Uk… Are you nuts?"

“Calm down. Are you going to kill a person in front of everyone?”

“So it’s okay for you to give me shit in front of everyone?”

The feelings that he’d been suppressing, as well as the major calling him a monster, had driven Kim Hyeong-Jun over the edge. Lee Jeong-Uk seemed to hesitate for a second, then he frowned.

“Are you going to attack me too?” he asked.

“If you wish.”

The two stared at each other. Hwang Ji-Hye, who had been watching the two of them getting all worked up, hurriedly ran over to the two of them to intervene.

“What are you two doing right now?” 𝐛𝐞𝗱𝗻𝐨𝐯𝗲𝗹.𝐜𝐨𝐦

There was anger on her face as well, as she could not understand why the two of them were acting in this manner.

When he saw Hwang Ji-Hye's face, Kim Hyeong-Jun tilted his head and asked a question.

“If I attack Lee Jeong-Uk… Whose side will you be on? Huh, Hwang Ji-Hye?”

"Pardon? Kim Hyeong-Jun, you should calm down. You’re… You’re not thinking straight right now.”

“...”

The words ‘not thinking straight’ made his eyebrows twitch.