Red Dot - 17

Chapter 17

The middle-aged man leading the group along the train tracks introduced himself as Kim Cheolho. He also said that he was one of the subway station staff. Even if he hadn’t said it, everyone would have figured it out quickly because of his uniform, which was stained with bl00d.

“I was lucky. I just happened to be checking the emergency doors of the screen doors at the time.”

When people in the subway started turning into zombies, Cheolho had just opened the emergency door of the screen doors to begin his inspection. Not long after, the platform became a bloodbath filled with screams and cries. Cheolho managed to save a few people nearby and barely shut the door, but by then, most of the people had already been bitten by zombies.

Remembering that moment, Cheolho’s face darkened.

“I don’t understand why this happened. Something like this… something like a B-grade horror movie… how could it be real…?”

His voice trembled with emotion.

Jiwoo and Soyeon, feeling his pain, silently let their tears fall. Jiwoo looked like he might start sobbing loudly if someone just gave him a little push. Chaeyi didn’t cry like them, but she also seemed overwhelmed with emotion. Instead of holding Junseong’s sleeve like usual, she grabbed his hand tightly with her trembling fingers.

Only Junseong and Hanseo remained unaffected by Cheolho’s emotions.

Junseong already knew his story anyway, and he had too much on his mind to get emotional.

‘For today, I’ll just follow him to the shelter. Then tomorrow, I need to leave around 7:20 AM… no, maybe 7:22 AM… and follow the tracks…’

He had already heard Cheolho’s story dozens of times in his dreams. Letting the words go in one ear and out the other, he focused on planning tomorrow’s schedule. Even if they started moving early in the morning, it would be tight to reach the hospital in time. On top of that, he wouldn’t be traveling alone—he had to bring Chaeyi, Jiwoo, and Soyeon along and protect them. It was going to be a tough day.

Then, he looked up at Hanseo, who was walking beside him in silence.

‘Oh yeah, this guy is here too.’

Unlike the others, Hanseo showed no signs of exhaustion. Seeing his strong stamina, Junseong bit his lip.

The biggest wildcard in the group. A strange guy.

That alone was enough to give him a headache, but there was also the possibility that Hanseo was even more dangerous and important than he seemed. Just thinking about it made Junseong feel dizzy.

“Do Hanseo.”

When Junseong called him, a small smile appeared on Hanseo’s usually expressionless face, and his cold eyes turned toward Junseong.

“You…”

“This is it.”

Before Junseong could finish his sentence, Cheolho stopped walking. A red sign reading “Shelter” was attached above a metal door on the tunnel wall.

Creak. The rusty hinges made a stiff noise as the door opened.

“Come inside.”

Cheolho gestured for the group to enter and stepped through the door. Unlike the dark tunnel, the space beyond the door was brightly lit.

Inside, the shelter was just a large open area. It was a long, rectangular space with no real facilities or rooms. A few disaster-preparedness tents were set up, and in one corner, there was a glass cabinet holding gas masks and sand for fire suppression. Some other emergency supplies were lined up next to it.

The sound of the metal door opening caught the attention of a few people inside. They unzipped their tents and peeked out at the newcomers. They were likely the ones who had evacuated with Cheolho through the screen doors.

“I’ll get some tents ready for you. Please wait a moment.”

Even though the subway station had become a zombie-infested hell, Cheolho still felt it was his duty as a station worker to take care of people and make sure they had a comfortable place to rest.

‘People like him make things feel a little safer.’

Even in his dreams, Junseong had always liked Cheolho. He had a warm, uncle-like presence and genuinely cared for others. When Junseong had told him about his repeated dreams, Cheolho hadn’t dismissed it as a joke. Instead, he had listened seriously and even comforted him, saying it must have been really hard. At the time, Cheolho’s kindness had been a great help to Junseong.

“Hey, station worker! Did you do a proper body check?!”

A loud, angry voice came from one of the tents.

A grumpy man in his 50s stormed out, looking furious as he scanned the group. He was wearing fancy gray dress pants, a belt with a well-known luxury brand logo, and a white shirt with expensive cufflinks. He definitely seemed like a high-ranking manager at a big company.

He pointed a finger at the group and shouted with curses mixed in.

“They’re covered in bl00d! How the hell can they be fine?! Aren’t they all infected?!”

“Oh, come on, sir. Didn’t you see what happens when people get bitten?”

Cheolho glanced at the group, trying to calm the man down. But the man just kept yelling.

“Of course I saw! I saw everything! When they get infected, bl00d starts pouring out of their eyes! But what about the incubation period?! What if they were bitten, and the symptoms just haven’t shown yet?!”

“They all said they weren’t bitten.”

“So, if someone gets bitten, are they supposed to just shout, ‘I got bitten!’ or what?”

The man yelled so loudly that the entire shelter echoed, making everyone in the tents turn their attention to the group. As he kept talking, their eyes filled more and more with worry.

At this rate, they were about to be kicked out of the only place where they could finally rest.

While the group felt anxious for a different reason than the people in the tents, Junseong stepped forward on their behalf.

“Then, if you check each of us one by one, and no one is bitten, will you let us stay?”

“Well, I mean…”

The man hesitated, looking reluctant but somewhat agreeing. Seeing that, Junseong asked Cheolho to check everyone.

“We don’t really need to do this, but that guy is making a big fuss for no reason.”

“No, it’s better to check for any risks in advance.”

“I appreciate you saying that… but seriously, I’m really sorry.”

Cheolho sighed deeply, looking genuinely apologetic.

The men were checked by Cheolho, and the women were examined by a woman in her 30s who was staying in the tents. Just like Hanseo had done back in the training room, each person went into the storage room, took off their clothes, and had a thorough check-up.

As expected, no one was bitten.

The man in his 50s, who seemed like he had been hoping someone would be infected, looked annoyed when he saw that everyone was fine. He grabbed his pack of cigarettes and headed toward the shelter’s door. Seeing that, Cheolho quickly ran over and grabbed his arm.

“Hey, where are you going, sir? It’s dangerous out there!”

“What, I can’t even smoke when I want?! You guys keep nagging that I can’t smoke inside!”

“That’s because there are pregnant women here…!”

“Ugh, shut up! That’s why I’m going outside to smoke!”

The man shoved Cheolho aside roughly, put a cigarette in his mouth, and slammed the door shut. From inside the tents, people muttered things like, “There he goes again,” and “Can’t he just stop already?” It was clear that no one in the shelter liked that short-tempered man.

Jiwoo, who had been glaring at the closed door, hit his chest in frustration.

“What kind of person acts like that?”

Cheolho let out a long sigh and turned to the group with an awkward smile.

“Try to understand. Even though we made it to a shelter, everyone is still in shock, and the future seems hopeless. They’re all on edge. We don’t even have food, so the rescue team better come soon…”

“What? There’s no emergency food?”

Jiwoo’s question made Cheolho scratch his cheek awkwardly.

“We thought there would be, but since this shelter wasn’t maintained properly, there’s nothing to eat. At least we still have water, so we should be able to survive for a few days.”

Getting food during a disaster was one of the most important things. Even if they had water, people would only grow more irritable if they had nothing to eat.

Junseong already knew about the situation in this shelter. That’s why he took off his backpack and opened it. When Cheolho and the rest of the group saw the bag filled with calorie bars and chocolate bars, their eyes widened in surprise.

“I stopped by a convenience store on the way here and grabbed some supplies. This should last us a few days.”

Junseong had packed the emergency food not only for himself and his group but also because he knew how bad the situation in the shelter was.

He was aware that there was nothing here except water and that the people left in the shelter would have to endure hunger for days. Since no one knew when the rescue would come, Junseong wanted to give them a little more time to hold on.

‘I already know everything, and this isn’t a dream. It’s real. How could I just ignore it?’

If this had been a dream, he might have been able to turn a blind eye. Helping these people wouldn’t do anything to solve the zombie crisis.

But this was reality. And in reality, he couldn’t just walk away.