I nodded and offered my hand for a handshake. The man stared at my hand, let out a dry cough, then shook it. “It’s Lee Jeong-Uk.”

He said his name, but I couldn’t say mine. Noting my silence, he smacked his lips and asked, “What is your name?”

I wrote it down on the drawing pad letter by letter.

- Lee Hyun-Deok

He smirked. “Your name sure doesn’t match your appearance right now.” He smiled nervously, then continued, “All right then, it’s a done deal.”

I nodded at him with a grin, revealing my teeth. He looked at them with particular interest.

“What happened to your teeth?”

He knew that he couldn’t get an answer from me. I assumed he was speaking out of amusement. Lee Jeong-Hyuk and Choi Da-Hye came over to check on them as well. After observing them for a while, Da-Hye came up with the most idealistic scenario.

“Do you think he got rid of his own teeth so that he wouldn't bite other people?”

Clearly that hadn’t been my intention, but her words were more than enough to touch the hearts of the survivors. Lee Jeong-Hyuk bit his lips, then carefully reached his hand out and patted me on the back. His face was a jumble of emotions.

Is he trying to console me? Or is he showing me pity?

His expression could not be described in words.

Lee Jeong-Uk seemed at a loss for words as well, biting his lips, his face remaining impassive. Choi Da-Hye began to tear up, perhaps touched by what had just transpired.

She paused for a moment, then said in a trembling voice, “I understand how much you love your daughter, and what kind of person you are…”

She wiped away her tears, leaving her sentence unfinished. She took a deep breath, then continued, “Your daughter… We’ll take good care of her.”

She lowered her head, then carefully reached out to hold my hand. I nodded to reassure her. Having observed us for a while, So-Yeon came running to me from the living room. She must have sensed that things had turned out well. I smiled and patted her. The survivors’ expressions grew even more anguished.

I had no reason to bring up the truth. This was a nice way to frame things. I was also touched by their actions, and I felt a desire to protect these emotional human beings.

Lee Jeong-Hyuk and Choi Da-Hye collapsed to the floor, sighing with relief. The state of my teeth had left them feeling more assured. We had come to an agreement. With that, the strange cohabitation of the living and the dead began.

* * *

The next day, we left unit 504 for unit 505. Now that our group had grown, we needed a living room, along with a room that had a proper window.

Some of ‘them’ had the ability to smell. Individuals released odor, and with more people in the same place, the smells would be stronger. This increased the probability of attracting ‘their’ attention.

Thankfully, unit 505 was quiet. I could see traces of hastily-packed belongings, as if the people who had lived there previously had gone into refuge right as this whole mess had unfolded. I settled our group into the unit and prepared to head out. I wanted to procure some daily necessities for the group before sunset.

I was planning to go to the high school after sunset. If there were survivors at the high school, they could be a threat to me. It was better for me to go there at night, when my physical capabilities were enhanced, so that I would be able to better defend myself if the need arose.

I trusted the Lee Brothers and Choi Da-Hye to ensure So-Yeon’s safety. I headed toward the front door with groceries bags in each hand. Lee Jeong-Uk followed me and asked,

“What should we be doing?”

I stared at So-Yeon, not saying a word. I hadn’t realized how close she and Choi Da-Hye had gotten. The two of them were having fun drawing together. We both looked at them, and Lee Jeong-Uk’s expression changed. He seemed to read my mind.

I nodded without saying a word. Their responsibility was clear. It was to protect So-Yeon. They didn’t need to do anything else, since I was going to take care of everything else.

I stepped outside, groceries bags in hand. As I got to the first floor, I saw my 32 underlings blocking the entrance.

‘Make way.’

My underlings cleared a path, moving to both sides like the Parting of the Red Sea. After giving them the same command as the day before, I stepped outside alone. I was beginning to trust these underlings, especially after the way they had delivered Lee Jeong-Uk and the others to me. The green underlings were no longer driven by their instinct to kill. They had become creatures that followed my every command. They were extremely useful minions.

As I walked, I noticed a familiar face. It was the woman with one leg. Upon closer inspection, I realized that her spine was broken.

‘Is this why she couldn’t move?’

She used to stare at me every time I looked out the window. As I studied her, a thought ran through my mind. ‘This woman… I should kill her.’

This creature, who could see, was a potential danger since we made the move from unit 504 to unit 505. She hadn’t been a threat while So-Yeon had been sheltering within the master bedroom of unit 504, but now that the group had grown, and there was a large window in the living room of unit 505, it wouldn’t be a surprise if this woman were to notice us.

I could turn her into one of my underlings, but there was no reason to have an immobile underling. I found a big rock next to the flower bed. I stood in front of her, holding the rock. The woman stared at me with her soulless eyes.

‘This woman… What is she thinking? Does she know that she’s completely done for? Or, more importantly, is she even capable of thinking?’

I shut my eyes and struck her head as hard as I could.

Crack!

It sounded like a watermelon being split into half. An unpleasant vibration traveled up from the tips of my fingers all the way up my arms and through my whole body. A wave of nausea overcame me, and my upper body shook. I couldn’t believe I was feeling nauseous despite my lack of functioning organs.

It wasn’t easy, ending the life of something that resembled a human being, no matter if they were undead or alive. It was an unpleasant feeling, and made me want to forsake myself. I took a deep breath as I stretched my upper body. I carried the corpse over to the flower bed to check if she was gone for good.

At that moment, I noticed something strange. I had gone straight for her skull and crushed her face flat. Her disgusting blood was splattered all over the rock. However, she had a smile on her face.

‘Is this rigor mortis? Or a hemifacial spasm?’

However, her smile was too natural to be called a spasm. She had a natural smile as if she was thanking me for killing her. I got this strange feeling of blessing her, when in fact I killed her.

‘Do they experience some kind of terminal lucidity? Are their brain cells activated right before they die? Do their lives flash before their eyes? Are they thankful for death, after killing all those humans while they were ‘alive’?’

I couldn’t be sure of anything. I spat on the floor, feeling more bothered. I headed toward the entrance to the apartment complex, grocery bags in hand. As I got to the entrance, I caught sight of the man that was always waving his arms. He had a sense of smell. His body seemed largely intact, and he looked like he was in great physical shape. Thinking that he might be useful, I pushed him as hard as I could.

The headache hit me, and he turned green. Thanks to him, I lost another tooth. Since there were now gaps between my teeth, the ones still remaining started falling out with ease. He immediately stood up, looking me straight in the eye.

‘You, follow me.’

He growled at my command. I took him to the supermarket nearest our apartment complex. I had stockpiled a couple boxes of fresh water during my last visit. It was impossible for a single person to carry all of them.

I remembered hearing that supermarkets had begun to stockpile fresh bottled water, as the number of people living alone and who preferred bottled water over water purifiers had increased. That news was extremely accurate. I couldn’t believe that there was this much water.

It was enough to last one person for more than a year. I was planning to take back as much fresh water as I could, with the help of my underling. As a backup plan, I could also convert a couple more underlings in front of the supermarket if we needed more hands.

After walking for five minutes, I finally saw the supermarket. I was surprised to see fewer creatures than I anticipated. The previous time, there had been about ten of them, but now there were only three.

‘Where’d they all go? Are they out hunting?’

I headed toward the supermarket entrance, a part of my mind still wondering what had happened to them. At that moment, I noticed something shoot past the window.

‘Wait… Something shot past?’

No zombie could run during the day. The best they could do was brisk-walk. Also, none of them could move so actively, as they preferred to remain passive. This meant the chances of them being on a hunt was slim. As I continued my train of thought, I began to develop an uneasy feeling. I stopped instinctively, and slowly took a few steps back.

There was something inside. It had discovered me, and was taking up an aggressive stance.

‘Calm down. Don’t panic.’

Sensing imminent danger, I started acting like the creatures around me. I growled on purpose and looked around. Then, I limped away, dragging myself far away from the supermarket. There was no chance of me acting like a human being, at any rate.

My bloodshot eyes and pale skin was enough to make me seem threatening to any survivors. I couldn’t let them know that I was a mutant. A sane person would grow defensive when confronted by a mutant, or take other measures. I had to make them believe that I was an ordinary zombie, just like the ones they saw on the street.

I limped away for a while. I was about fifty meters away from the supermarket when I came across a lone, abandoned building with shattered windows. I headed for the rooftop of this five-storey building. From there, I could see the entire supermarket. The supermarket was all laid out on one floor, which made it easier for me to see what was happening there.

I heard a cheerful laugh from the supermarket. I honed in on the unexpected laughter, and searched for the source of the sound. Eventually, my eyes were drawn to something squirming on the supermarket rooftop. There were two objects there that seemed to be stationary. However, they started to move rapidly, and I quickly realized that they were people. There were two people on the roof.

* * *

The two men mumbled to each other while they kept watch of their surroundings. I couldn’t hear what they were saying because of the distance. One of them seemed to be carrying some sort of club. It looked like a baseball bat. I assumed they had taken it from an indoor batting cage, as it has a strap at the end. Not knowing what to do, I swallowed, then tracked their movements.

I knew that there was more than enough food left inside the supermarket.

‘Should I ask them to talk to Lee Jeong-Uk? No, that’d be too risky, since I don’t know what kind of people they are.’

I wondered if they were nice people or crooks. I swallowed anxiously. I didn’t know what to do. These strangers had taken over the supermarket, which I essentially considered So-Yeon’s food storage.

I could take care of them easily if I called in my underlings. But what if they are nice people, like Lee Jeong-Uk and his group? What if all they were doing was trying their best to make it through this cursed world? What if they were still ethical people, living in this godforsaken world where morals and selflessness didn’t mean a thing?

Was it right at all for me to decide what was right and wrong?

I let out a sigh as I bit my nails, struggling with my uneasy feelings. I knew there was another supermarket thirty minutes away.

‘Wouldn’t it be beneficial for the both of us if I went there instead?’

After considering it for a moment, I made the decision to go to the supermarket further away.

“You bastards! Oh god!”

Just as I was about to leave, I heard a cry from the supermarket. My gaze reflexively fell on the supermarket, and I saw a woman being pulled by her hair.