Red Dot - 19

– Chapter 19 –

Bam!

The sudden sound of a door disrupted the two of them.

“Damn it!”

It was the voice of the man in his 50s who had gone out with a cigarette earlier. Instead of cursing out of anger, it seemed like he couldn’t control his emotions due to surprise and anxiety.

Junseong, sensing something unusual in the man’s voice, quickly went outside the tent.

Seeing the man who entered the shelter, Junseong couldn’t help but stiffen.

The man had his right arm stretched forward as if asking to see his arm. On his forearm, there was a clear wound that wasn’t there just moments ago. The torn flesh, where something had bitten into it, emitted a distinct smell of blood, and the sleeve was turning red halfway due to the blood spreading from the area.

The man anxiously shouted, scanning the pale faces of the people inside the shelter who had just come out of the tents.

“Quickly! Quickly, do something!”

“Ahh!”

The young pregnant woman, who was the last to come out of the tent, stared in shock and screamed.

“Infected!”

“What do you mean?”

The man, who was cursing himself as an infected, looked around at the confused people in the shelter with bewildered eyes. Jiwoo even went straight into his tent and zipped it up as soon as their eyes met.

“I’m not infected!”

Contrary to the man’s words, he was already in a bitten state. He hadn’t bitten his own forearm, and judging by the rapid congestion of the whites of his eyes, the symptoms of the zombie virus were already showing.

The man shouted, denying reality.

“I was bitten a little, just a little, by those damn zombies! If treated quickly, I won’t get infected!”

“What are you talking about? Everyone bitten is already infected!”

The girl of the same age, who was holding the young pregnant woman, shouted angrily as she slowly retreated, pulling the pregnant woman along.

“You’re an infected! If you’re infected, get out!”

“No!”

The man vehemently shook his head, denying the reality as he violently shook his body, seemingly denying the bizarre sensation of his blood gradually solidifying throughout his body and heat gathering in his eyes. It felt like his eye sockets were becoming moist, and then his vision was dyed red.

Blood tears streamed down from the man’s eyes as he vigorously denied reality.

“I’m not infected!”

Contrary to the man’s words, the abnormal phenomena on his body were clear symptoms of infection.

‘What happened?’

Junseong looked at the man, bewildered.

‘That man was perfectly fine until the moment we left the shelter. He hadn’t even fought zombies.’

In the dream, it was clear. Each time they encountered that man, he was neatly dressed, showing no signs of fighting zombies. Even after spending a long time here, there was no indication that he would turn into a zombie.

‘I did everything just like in the dream. Nothing has changed. But why…’

Crack!

The bodies of everyone in the shelter froze.

Although the sound from earlier was heard quite far away, it was undoubtedly the roar of zombies.

In other words, zombies appeared in the once-safe tunnel.

The man, with red tears flowing from his eyes, pointed at the shelter door.

“Th-the zombies broke the shattered glass and rushed in! It’s because of those bastards! I-I’m not at fault!”

The man approached Cheolho, who was closest, covered in blood like a red film, and clung to him.

“Railway official! Save me! Please cure this quickly! As a railway official, it’s your duty to protect the customers!”

“Wah!”

Overwhelmed by the sight of Cheolho’s eyes turning as red as if they were soaked in blood, Cheolho, instead of trembling legs, pushed himself back with both arms, moving backward with his buttocks and shaking uncontrollably.

Junseong bit his lip as he watched the man who was clearly infected.

It didn’t take long for Junseong to accept this situation.

‘He’s bleeding from his eyes, so he’ll die within 5 minutes.’

The problem was that if the brain remained intact after death, he would turn into a zombie in less than a minute.

That was something they had to avoid at all costs.

Junseong came out of the tent and looked at Chaeyi, who had a tense expression. His clenched fist trembled as if trying to overcome fear, and his tightly closed lower lip seemed like it might burst open to let out blood to stifle the frightened sound.

‘Not Chaeyi.’

He couldn’t let his sister die. Even in the dream, he had always protected her from death. If she died in reality, it would mean nothing.

In this place where his sister was, he would not allow a single zombie.

Ignoring the screams of the people, Junseong rushed into the tent. He quickly put on his outerwear and grabbed his backpack and machete. Hanseo, who followed, asked with a face devoid of a smile.

“What are you planning?”

“We need to lure them out.”

Hanseo blocked the entrance of the tent with his body.

“If you’re just going to lure them out, why did you bring your stuff?”

“If what that guy said is true, there will be a lot of zombies outside. The shelter may become dangerous, so we need to lure them away.”

The problem was that luring them in one direction in a long tunnel like this meant that the bait might not be able to come back here.

Whether dead or alive.

“Move.”

As Junseong tried to push Hanseo away, he frowned.

“Do you want to die?”

Hanseo’s voice sounded dark.

“Zombies will come after us, no matter if their legs are broken or their bodies torn apart, and they’ll chase us at a terrifying speed.”

“That’s true.”

“But what about you?”

“….”

“As soon as you get tired, you’ll be eaten. It’s different from when you jumped into the subway. It’s different now.”

“I know.”

Junseong already knew what Hanseo wanted to say.

In the dream, when they jumped into the subway, they could use landmarks such as corners, stairs, and turnstiles to their advantage, and they could change direction. That’s why even if the zombies were fast, they couldn’t catch up with them.

But the subway tunnel with tracks was different.

Straight ahead.

If they could only go straight in the same direction, it wouldn’t be long before they were caught by the zombies and torn apart.

Everyone knew, but sometimes you had to do it.

“Still, I’m going.”

“Kang Junseong.”

“I’ll go, but I’m not going to die.”

Although he was uneasy because he had never tried this route in his dream, there was still a way to survive by luring the zombies.

Hanseo, who had been staring intently at Junseong, asked.

“Are you sure there’s a way not to die?”

“Yeah.”

After hearing Junseong’s answer, Hanseo’s mouth curled up.

“In that case, I’ll go with you.”

“No.”

Junseong rejected him outright.

But Hanseo didn’t act like he had heard anything.

Originally, the baggage was just a wooden stick. Hanseo, wearing only his outerwear, opened the entrance of the tent for him.

“If you’re not coming with me, I’ll think you’re going to die on purpose.”

“Are you a child? Are you throwing a tantrum?”

“Is there a rule that only children can throw tantrums?”

Junseong hesitated for a moment as he looked at Hanseo, but the man bitten by a zombie was showing even worse symptoms of infection, so there was no time.

‘Anyway, I can’t lure them out alone.’

Even if he got bitten by an infected person who hadn’t turned into a zombie yet, it would only hurt and not infect him. However, this was only discovered after some time had passed. For others, a person bitten was already the same as a zombie, so they would naturally think they would get infected if bitten.

Therefore, even if they decide to pull the man out together, no one would step forward. Especially since they could hear the sounds of zombies outside.

Junseong looked at Hanseo, who wore a relaxed expression as if he were ready to depart at any moment.

“I might cause a ruckus. I could get bitten, too, to be honest.”

“The way he looks, it seems likely.”

The man’s face, already twisted grotesquely, appeared even more sinister, as if he were already a zombie.

“As long as they’re not completely turned into zombies, getting bitten won’t lead to infection. So, even if he causes a commotion, we need to pull him out while he’s still alive.”

“What if he’s lying?”

Hanseo seemed not to have known about this. Given that only half a day had passed since the zombie virus had spread, it was understandable that not many people were aware of this fact.

“Believe it or not, it’s up to you. If you can’t trust me, leave now.”

“I believe you.”

Hanseo responded casually, as if saying, “What’s so difficult about that?” It was such a straightforward answer that Junseong found himself thinking he should confirm the response once again.

“But wouldn’t it be more comfortable to just kill him?”

It was a light-hearted remark with a tone suggesting that it would be easier.

Junseong understood that when Hanseo said, ‘kill him,’ he meant killing the man who had completely turned into a zombie.

“We can’t leave zombie corpses inside the shelter, especially with a pregnant woman here.”

Chaeyi, who had been standing a little way off from the tent, looked at Junseong. She seemed perplexed, wearing a coat and carrying a backpack, and her eyes were filled with confusion.

Amidst the chaos inside the shelter caused by the man, Junseong still needed to relay the message to his sister. Holding Chaeyi and Soyeon’s hands tightly, he approached the frozen Chaeyi.

“Oppa, where are you going?”

“Let me explain briefly because I can’t explain in detail.”

“Oppa…”

“If I don’t come back within an hour, absolutely do not go outside. Wait here. We have to endure for a week, so save as much food as possible.”

“A week? What are you talking about, Oppa?”

“If a week passes, a chubby bald man will come looking for us. Ask him to take you with him when he passes by.”

“Bald man? Who is he? Take us where?”

“We’ll go to the hospital we were planning to go to. I’ll go in that direction too.”

“We should go together. What are you talking about!”

Feeling frustrated, Chaeyi raised her voice. Seeing her anxious expression, Junseong looked at her apologetically.

He couldn’t explain in detail due to the urgent situation. The man’s condition suggested that he didn’t have much time left in his human state.

“See you later.”

Whether that “later” would be an hour later or a week later is uncertain.

Junseong gently patted Chaeyi and Soyeon’s heads one by one, signaling to Hanseo.

Soon, Junseong and Hanseo positioned themselves in front of the man, whose eyeballs were completely covered in blood.