Red Dot - 41

Taeju, with wide-open eyes, awkwardly chuckled and raised his hand.

“Come on, don’t joke. How could half of Korea turn into this in just two days… Seriously, it’s ridiculous.”

The reactions of the other survivors were not much different. They didn’t know about the early closure of Inhansi, and even if they did, they thought it would only have expanded to one or two areas at most.

However, even when everyone waved it off as a joke and raised their hands, the face of the rescue team member was too serious.

“Earlier, you mentioned Je Yoo Trading, right? Do you know where Je Yoo Trading is located?”

“That’s in Dae-su… during the rescue operation.”

Taeju mumbled, swallowing dry saliva.

The location of Je Yoo Trading was in the middle of Dae-su, a whopping 180 km away from Inhansi. Considering the numerous districts they had to pass through between the two areas, it was implausible that zombies hadn’t touched all those places and were exclusively ravaging Dae-su.

Realizing this fact, Taeju fell into contemplation. As other survivors also began to grasp the reality, some started trembling, while others sobbed, calling out the names of their family members within that range.

The rescue team member, who had been looking at the survivors with sympathetic eyes, stared at the burning sunset outside the window with a complicated feeling.

The helicopter soon arrived at the shelter.

As people descended one by one from the helicopter, the rescue team member who helped them cautiously noticed that something was off.

“Why is it so quiet even though the helicopter has arrived?”

The people on the helicopter must have seen that they had arrived at the shelter. Nevertheless, no one came out strangely. Usually, to quickly transfer the rescued survivors, they would be on standby.

When everyone had disembarked from the helicopter,

Finally, people in the helicopter revealed themselves at the helipad. The rescue team member, who had intended to greet them first with joy, hesitated and stopped.

Five men in their 30s and 40s, with menacing expressions, approached, each holding a gun. They cruelly fired a few shots in front of the rescue team members and others, preventing them from doing anything.

“Ah!”

“P-please spare us!”

People crouched, each covering their heads. Everyone trembled, wondering what had suddenly happened.

The approaching men bombarded them with common phrases often seen in movies, chuckling. Some even criticized the survivors as if they were judging them.

“You came right on time. Anyway, it’s amazing, really amazing.”

One of the men holding a gun marveled, nodding his head. He scanned the people with his eyes, then aimed his gun at one of the rescue team members. Suddenly facing the pointed gun, the rescue team member gulped in fear.

“Is this all the rescued personnel? The three men in black clothes and the male nurse?”

“Yes, yes?”

“Weren’t you supposed to bring all of them?”

As the man growled, the rescue team member, with a tense face, calmly replied.

“As for the three men in black clothes… I don’t know. One was seen, but he stayed there… As for the male nurse, I heard he was there, but he disappeared…”

Even as he spoke, he continued to be puzzled.

Who could these people possibly be?

The man who asked the question twisted his face into a fierce expression.

“What? So, none of them are here? What happened? Hey, search the helicopter first!”

Two men among the group answered him respectfully and began searching the helicopter. Surprisingly meticulous as they scrutinized every nook and cranny, they came out frowning.

“Nothing!”

“Did those guys who were working on it steal it? But how could they run away with so many organs?”

The man cursed harshly. The survivors and rescue team members remained trembling, not understanding their conversation.

At that moment, a soft voice cut in, “Oh? Totally different people have come?”

A robust man who seemed to have just entered his thirties lifted his round glasses while scanning the people with an awkward smile.

With eyes that seemed to say, ‘This shouldn’t be happening,’ the man observed the situation, not needing a separate conversation to understand what was going on.

“The plan seemed fine, but if it’s turned upside down like this…”

His eyes caught something.

With a bright face, the man raised his right hand.

“By any chance, does anyone here know Kang Joon-sung?”

While everyone was crouched down, Taeju unconsciously raised his head. The snake-like eyes behind the round glasses immediately spotted him.

“Uncle, do you know Kang Joon-sung?”

Taeju, feeling a bit cornered, had to reluctantly answer, ‘Yes,’ while looking at the barrels of guns pointed at him. But finding himself the only one answering felt somewhat unfair, so he quietly whispered to the surrounding survivors.

“You all know Joon-sung, right?”

“Who is he?”

“Was it the young guy who wasn’t on the helicopter earlier?”

“I only know he’s Mr. Kang…”

Taeju raised his voice in frustration.

“No, how can you all be so indifferent?! Do you know how important Joon-sung is…!”

“Oh.”

The man who had been listening to Taeju’s conversation with the survivors chuckled behind his glasses.

“Uncle, do you happen to know Joon-sung better than others? Like, more than the rest here?”

Taeju could only stay silent, glancing nervously. The man seemed to find his answer unnecessary, chuckling to himself.

“I see. So my plan went off course. Well, well.”

The man didn’t seem to mind that a considerable amount of fresh organs that should have been delivered through this helicopter had disappeared. Instead, he laughed so hard that his shoulders shook.

After wiping away his laughter, he scrutinized the survivors and the rescue team members. Gesturing towards Taeju, he ordered the others.

“Bring only this man. The rest, put them in the operating room.”

“Aren’t these two young guys and this man the only ones in decent condition? Even if they’re young, if their condition is bad, you wouldn’t want them, right?”

One man pointed at the young couple and Taeju. The man with glasses said it didn’t matter for this time and uttered a terrifying remark that they could sell the extracted organs even at a lower price.

Following the orders of the man with glasses, the people were divided into two groups. Four of the armed men, excluding Taeju, threatened the survivors and rescue team members, leading them away. The remaining man aimed his gun at Taeju’s face.

“Ah, agh!”

Taeju covered his head with both hands and squeezed his eyes shut.

“Don’t shoot, kid. Move quickly. You go over there.”

The man gestured, and there was already a man with glasses walking ahead. Oblivious to English, Taeju followed behind the man with glasses, who had a confident stride.

As Taeju was trailing behind the man with glasses, he suddenly turned around, causing Taeju’s heart to skip a beat.

“Uncle, when did you meet Joon-sung? Was it the first day? Or today at the hospital?”

Taeju froze at the man’s words, just staring blankly. The man, seemingly excited, continued with an enraptured face.

“No, you’re not. If you were the one who wasn’t on the second-day evacuation team, you must have been taken there by Joon-sung, right? And unexpectedly, you’re quite gutsy and smart, aren’t you? The kid looks delicate, but he doesn’t cry easily. But when he does, he looks so beautiful that I want to kill him again…”

The man who had been babbling non-stop turned to look over his shoulder at the frozen Taeju and chuckled.

“I have a lot of things I want to hear, so you better talk hard. If you don’t have any substance, you’ll end up flipped over and thrown away like those guys over there.”

Due to the eerie words from the man, an even more chilling and terrifying statement reached Junseong’s ears.

“When we meet again this time, we should cut off your limbs first.”

Junseong, trembling, stared at the man’s back. The man’s face, glimpsed for a moment, was filled with excitement.

“You won’t be able to escape anymore.”

Late at night on the second day.

The seventh floor of Inhan Hospital was engulfed in an eerie silence.

‘So quiet…’

Junseong lay on the bed, turning his head to gaze at the door of the ward. Despite turning off all the lights early to fall asleep, the form of the door was distinctly visible, perhaps because he had become accustomed to the darkness.

‘It feels too empty, thinking that we’re the only ones on this spacious floor.’

Even if they didn’t become close while exchanging stories and getting to know each other, the six of them, including Taeju, seemed to leave a considerable void when Taeju disappeared. Unlike motels, only the distinctive scent of hospital disinfectant lingered, giving it an even more desolate feeling.

As he stared at the ward door with his blurry eyes, a voice echoed from the adjacent bed.

“Can’t sleep?”

Hanseo followed the voice in the darkness to look at the side. Though everything else was hard to distinguish in the darkness, Hanseo’s clear and sharp jawline stood out. His gaze, observing him, was also discernible.

“Can’t sleep because of the anesthesia earlier. I guess that’s why.”

After making a plausible excuse for not being able to sleep, Hanseo sat up.

“Want me to help you sleep?”