Walking Daddy

Chapter 158

As they headed toward the passenger terminal, the commander said to Tommy, “Tommy, your decision might cost the lives of every single one of us.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The beings over there, they’re too kind.”

“Well, that’s not a bad thing, is it? And the person who was addressed as the leader was wary of us and ordered us to disarm. I don’t necessarily think that’s being too kind.”

The commander frowned.

“He only showed kindness after realizing we had a vaccine,” he muttered. “What if they’re just ruthless animals going after our vaccine? And we can’t even fight back since we’ve disarmed ourselves just like they asked us to.”

Tommy thought for a moment as he scratched his sideburns, then forced a smile.

“They knew we were stuck on the runway and came to help us. If they were going after what we have, they would’ve waited until we died.”

“Well… I’m not on board yet. A zombie that can speak? I think this is our one and only chance. Let’s attack it from behind.”

“Please, don’t be reckless.”

“If we can take down the red-eyed zombie somehow…”

The commander’s eyes were glued to the back of Do Han-Sol’s head. Do Han-Sol felt a subtle wave of killing intent and looked back. The commanding officer hurriedly averted his gaze and sighed.

Noticing that something fishy was going on, Do Han-Sol tilted his head and addressed Lee Jeong-Uk, who was next to him.

“Mr. Lee Jeong-Uk, do you think we can trust them?” he asked.

"Why?”

“They keep babbling in Russian, and it’s bothering me for some reason.”

“In my eyes, they just look like cornered people. It’s probably hard for them to accept what is happening. They came all the way to Korea, fleeing for their lives from zombies, and now they/ve just been saved by zombies.”

“Well, if you consider it from that angle, then…”

“Let's get into the details when Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok gets back. This isn’t something we can decide on our own.”

As the two were in conversation, a couple of human-shaped shadows flew across them, blocking the sun. Lee Jeong-Uk and the guards quickly snapped their K2 rifles to the ready position and looked around, but they didn’t see any zombies approaching.

‘Oh shit, above!'

Lee Jeong-Uk hurriedly raised his gun and looked up to see two men falling from the sky. He squinted, then immediately yelled out to the guards around him, “Lower your guns!”

Bang!!!

A thick cloud of dust shot up in front of Lee Jeong-Uk, and a spider web of cracks appeared on the ground. The guards were still tense, and still had their guns pointed at the two men who had fallen from the sky. Lee Jeong-Uk and Park-Gi Cheol grabbed onto the guns of the guards near them.

“Did you not hear me say lower your guns?” they yelled.

“We’re sorry!” replied the guards, their faces filled with puzzlement.

A thick palm landed on Lee Jeong-Uk’s shoulder. When he turned around, the man with blue eyes in front of him smiled gently.

“Don't be too harsh on them. It’s natural for them to be wary.”

“So-Yeon’s dad.”

Lee Hyun-Deok was back, holding a mysterious brain in his right hand. Stage-one mutants, along with Mood-Swinger and Ji-Eun, were running toward them from the far end of the runway.

* * *

There was still a large amount of food left in the passenger terminal, and the food that was not yet past their expiration date could still be eaten. Of course, the first thing that caught everyone’s eyes was the ramyeon. The survivors tore open bags of ramyeon and put the noodles in a clean pot, then added canned tuna for added flavor. They finished off by adding the eggs that the hens had laid, making themselves a luxurious pot of ramyeon.

After such a long time, the survivors could finally enjoy a hearty meal. The savory smell of ramyeon wafted through the terminal, washing away the anxiety that the survivors felt. They were also able to drink as much clean water as they wanted to, since the terminal was full of bottled water.

I sat down and listened to the sounds of everyone having a good time. It felt just like the good old days, when zombies didn’t exist. Everyone was enjoying the brief moment of freedom and comfort.

After a while, Lee Jeong-Uk came up to me.

"What are you doing here?"

I chuckled.

“It seems like everyone is having a good time,” I replied. “But… It's just that… This feels rather strange.”

“You’ll have to get used to this. Think about all the trouble you’ve been through.”

I smiled gently.

“We all made it through together, not just me.”

Lee Jeong-Uk snorted. “Well, why don’t you join the others and eat ramyeon? Oh that’s right, I forgot that you can’t have ramyeon,” he teased. “What should we do? What should we do?”

“Oh please. You’re teasing me, aren’t you?”

“Haha. How’d you know?”

Lee Jeong-Uk smirked and sat down next to me. He looked around to make sure no one else was nearby, then began to whisper.

“The researchers from Russia, they have a vaccine.”

“Huh? Are you sure…?”

"They only had one syringe, so I’m not a hundred percent sure if it's really a vaccine or not."

“Why did they come all the way here? Did you get to hear anything?”

The soldiers from Russia were wary of me, Kim Hyeong-Jun, and Do Han-Sol. They told us that they would never talk about what happened in Russia as long as we were around. I knew they were trying to act as though they were strong—in other words, they were arrogant—but I decided to play along with their game. I understood where they were coming from, so I always waited outside. But after Lee Jeong-Uk gathered the information from them, he came to me right away.

Lee Jeong-Uk sighed.

“It seems like there were a lot of research laboratories in the beginning, studying the viruses,” he said. “As time passed, though, they gradually started to collapse. Now, there are only three places left: Russia, Korea, and Canada.”

I nodded slowly with a grimace. Lee Jeong-Uk scratched his sideburns, then continued.

“So, yesterday, the Russian research institute was attacked by a group of zombies, and they had no choice but to flee to Korea. They said they couldn't go all the way to Canada because they were short on fuel. They came to Gimpo Airport because they needed more jet fuel; basically, they performed an emergency landing.”

“The Korean Brain Research Institute in Daegu. Do you know if it’s safe there?”

“Funny thing is, they’re not even sure themselves. They were the last institute that these researchers were in contact with, but they haven’t been able to reach them for the past couple of days.”

I rested my chin on my hands and thought about the situation. The original plan was to head to Jeju Island. But if Daegu was safe, going to Daegu would be the right choice, since it was impossible to tell at that point in time if Jeju Island was safe or not. Besides, if some vestige of civilization remained in Daegu, there was no need to go all the way to Jeju Island. However, there was one thing that bothered me… The fact that the Russians had lost contact with them.

Lee Jeong-Uk smacked his lips and sighed, then scratched his forehead.

“What do you think we should do?”

“Where are the Russians?”

“They’re eating ramyeon with the survivors.”

I quietly stroked my chin as my mind began to work. Daegu and Jeju Island… If they really had a vaccine like they claimed, it meant that the future of mankind was in our hands.

I sighed.

“Gather up the leaders, if you can,” I said. I'd like to hear everyone’s opinion on this.”

“I’ll see you at the employee lounge over there in ten minutes.”

Lee Jeong-Uk rose and left. I massaged my temples gently and sighed. I couldn't help the stress that came with this sudden development.

‘If the researchers aren’t lying about their vaccine… Perhaps I could turn back into a human again.’

This possibility… It was different from the other ones that I’d come across.

This time, it wasn’t a possibility for So-Yeon or the other survivors, but something that had a bearing solely on my future.

* * *

We sat around in a circle to have our meeting. Lee Jeong-Uk brought all the leaders up to speed with his briefing, and they began expressing their opinions.

“But there’s no guarantee that Daegu is safe,” said Hwang Ji-Hye.

All the other leaders nodded. Lee Jeong-Uk seemed to agree as well.

"You're right. However, Jeju Island isn’t guaranteed to be safe either.”

“If there are zombies on Jeju Island, all we have to do is take them out. Once we take care of all of them, we’ll be completely safe.”

“Well, we don’t even know why the zombie apocalypse broke out. We cannot guarantee that we would be completely safe under any circumstances.”

Lee Jeong-Uk’s answer carried a rather definitive tone. Hwang Ji-Hye grimaced and looked away.

I knew Lee Jeong-Uk was right. There was no way of knowing if the apocalypse had been caused by an airborne infection, or whether it was spread through a deliberate act of evil. If it was an airborne infection, that meant that the survivors had developed an immunity to it, which would’ve made it easier for the researchers to develop a vaccine.

However, the reality was that the survivors would be infected whenever they were bitten by zombies. If they had developed immunity to the virus, they should not be infected, even if they were bitten by zombies. The possibility of infection via infected droplets couldn’t be ruled out, since a survivor would turn into a zombie one hundred percent of the time if they were bitten.

I rubbed my hands over my face and spoke up.

“Everyone, we didn’t get together to have a fight. Let’s put aside the discussion of the original infection and focus on our destination.”

Hwang Deok-Rok, who had been listening to everyone silently, raised his right hand.

“I think it’s better to go to our initial destination, Jeju Island,” he said.

I looked over at Hwang Deok-Rok.

“May I ask why?”

“I find it highly suspicious that they only have one complete dose of vaccine. Think about it. They claimed that they just happened to complete this one dose of the vaccine while they were escaping their laboratory. That’s something you only see in the movies.”

“So you think that their vaccine is a lie?”

"Yes. I think their intention is to head to the research center in Daegu to do additional research. Or, they’re just lying to survive.”

I nodded slowly and sighed. He made complete sense.

Park Gi-Cheol made a gesture of agreement and backed up Hwang Deok-Rok’s position.

“Now that I think about it, I’m on the same page as Mr. Hwang Deok-Rok. I think it’d be best to keep our distance from them. If we say we’re going to Jeju Island, they might follow us.”

I tilted my head in confusion.

“Then can’t we just tell them about it and see if they actually try to follow us or not?” I asked as though it wasn’t a big deal.

Park Gi-Cheol furrowed his brow.

“And what if they say they want to follow us?” he asked.

My blue eyes flashed.

“They don’t really have the choice to follow us just because they want to,” I answered.

Park Gi-Cheol quickly understood my meaning and nodded. If the researchers gave up on going to Daegu and chose to come to Jeju Island with us, I was prepared to physically stop them from doing so. The most important thing was to figure out if their goal was actually the research institute or not.

I looked at the leaders.

“I’ll tell them that we’re going to Jeju Island and observe how they react.”

“What if they ask us to accompany them down to Daegu?” asked Do Han-Sol, who was sitting across from me, while scratching his head.

“Then they’re on their own,” I answered without hesitation. “We’re the Survivor Rally Organization, not some heroes protecting Earth.”

“But if their vaccine is developed and released to the world, it’ll definitely be a benefit to us too.”

“We have over four hundred survivors with us. To take all of them to Daegu… I think that’s a rather dangerous plan.”

“Don’t you think that it’d be much safer for the researchers if just one of us—me, you, or Mr. Kim Hyeong-Jun—accompanied them?”

“Then what do you have in mind if there happens to be a black creature on Jeju Island? Having even one of us missing could put everyone’s safety in peril.”

I explained the worst-case scenario, after which Do Han-Sol stopped asking questions. Kim Hyeong-Jun, who had stayed quiet so far, spoke up.

“So, as of now, there are two important possibilities we have to discuss, right? The possibility that Daegu still has traces of civilization and the possibility of a black creature on Jeju Island. Am I correct?”

Everyone nodded at Kim Hyeong-Jun’s statement. He folded his arms.

“Then I propose an experiment.”

“What experiment?” I asked, hoping that he wasn’t thinking of some reckless plan.

“We can test whether or not the drug they have is really a vaccine. I’ll take it for the team.”

“Hyeong-Jun,” I said, slightly annoyed.

I had no clue how to deal with his overly simplistic thinking. Despite voicing my worry, Kim Hyeong-Jun shrugged and continued to speak.

“Am I wrong? I don’t think so. If they made their own vaccine, they could probably reproduce it. If I take the vaccine and revert to being a human, it would mean that their vaccine works.”

“What about your underlings? Who’s going to stop Mood-Swinger after the chain of command between you and him is severed?”

“Oh. I didn’t think of that,” Kim Hyeong-Jun said with a grimace, scratching the back of his head.

I let out a sigh and shook my head, and this time, Do Han-Sol spoke up.

“How about vaccinating one of our underlings?”

“Do you think they’ll hand over the vaccine? If it really is a vaccine, they’ll probably value it more than their lives.”

"Then… Let's do this. I’ll run over to Daegu and come back. Isn’t it just a matter of checking if there are traces of civilization there and coming back?”

“So, if there are still traces of civilization, you think we should take the survivors to Daegu?”

“Yes. But if it's a civilized place, we probably won't be able to enter.”

I recognized that, given our current circumstances, this was the surest way forward. Once Do Han-Sol was done talking, all eyes were on me and Kim Hyeong-Jun. The word ‘we’ was like the elephant in the room. I knew exactly what everyone was thinking. The word ‘we’ meant me, Kim Hyeong-Jun, and Do Han-Sol.

‘Not being able to enter…’

That meant that I could no longer see So-Yeon. I could tell that the leaders had a lot on their mind, but were trying their best to keep it to themselves. I knew they were thinking exactly what I was thinking as well.

Zombies and humans. We’d come together under the firm belief that we could be together forever, but that belief was coming to an end. I let my head sag and clenched my fists.

‘How long will Do Han-Sol take to go to Daegu and come back?’

I quickly came up with the answer. Even if he took his time, it wouldn’t even take a day.

That meant that I had less than twenty-four hours to be with So-Yeon.