Red Dot - 54

Day 4 –
An old villa crumbling into ruins.

From the entrance to the top floor, the entire place was filled with moaning zombies wandering aimlessly. Body parts that had once belonged to humans were scattered like cookie crumbs, resembling a child’s careless spill. The worn interior walls, seemingly untouched by paint for several years, bore various bloodstains as if someone had painted vibrant murals in red.

On the fourth-floor corridor of the villa, at the end of the hallway in room 405, was where the sole survivor, Hwang Gyeong-oh, was hiding.

Thud, thud.

The sound of teeth crushing something echoed throughout the room.

Gyeong-oh, who was crunching the remains of instant ramen, soon looked down into the empty bag with a puzzled expression.

“I’ve finished it all…”

It seemed like he hadn’t eaten much, but now there was nothing left but powder sauce. Considering he had consumed it over two days, seeing the bottom of the bag was expected.

He sighed, took off his headphones, held the empty bag, and got up from his seat. Going to the living room and heading to the sink, he habitually opened the faucet where water should come out and pressed his lips against it.

However, drip, drip. Only two measly drops of water came out.

“Ah… Water’s cut off, right.”

With a disappointed expression, he opened the refrigerator. Taking out a bottled water, he checked the remaining amount. The 2L water bottle only had about the height of a finger’s worth of water left. It would barely be enough for two sips.

With the bottle against his lips, he took only half a sip.

“I should’ve just eaten it without the sauce.”

He regretted adding the sauce, as the uncooked instant ramen noodles alone had no flavor, making him unnecessarily use more water to compensate for the saltiness of the sauce.

Gyeong-oh, with a sense of regret, put the almost empty water bottle back in the refrigerator.

Four days ago.

Until the world turned into hell, he didn’t have a care in the world. Rather, it was fascinating and fun that what he had only imagined became reality.

So there really are zombies in the world.

It wasn’t some whimsical nonsense like ghosts.

If he had known it would be like this, he would have played the zombie game his friend had recommended last time with more enthusiasm.

It was just a light thought.

He didn’t have to go to work, didn’t have to worry about being scolded by a boss at work. His parents and older brother were running a store in the countryside, so there was no way such a sudden invasion would reach them. So, there was no worry about the safety of his family. Since he had no intention of leaving the house unless he had to go to work, there would be no need to open and close the door until rescue came. That’s what he thought.

However, there was a problem.

The only things left in the house were two instant rice packs, one instant ramen, uneaten side dishes and a pack of muk (fermented soybean) sent by his mom from the countryside, and half a bottle of 2L bottled water.

With just this, it was obvious he wouldn’t last more than a few days.

After confirming the remaining food in the house, he became gloomy.

If he had known this would happen, he would have stocked up on emergency rations!

Gyeong-oh, who had decided to think more optimistically, believed that by saving a little bit of this scarce food, he could endure until the rescue team arrived.

Overseas zombie films and dramas often portrayed extreme situations, relying on protagonists to survive without rescue or showcasing brutal violence for the audience’s interest. Believing that it would be easier to navigate than places like the United States, where large landmasses made swift rescue activities difficult, Korea thought it would be okay.

Just avoid outdoor activities, as the disaster message suggested.

Those who endure in safe places will eventually survive.

Despite thinking so, there was still no news of rescue on this fourth day.

Since the second day, Gyeong-oh had sent his “drone” outside twice a day, but there was no sign of rescue; only zombies were visible. Whether it was the police station or the fire station, everything was filled with zombies. Even if he happened to find a survivor, they were quickly devoured by zombies.

The more reconnaissance he did, the more he realized that the world had truly become hell.

Recalling the situations his “drone” had witnessed so far, Gyeong-oh felt nauseous as if he could vomit at any moment. His chest tightened, and an overwhelming sense of anxiety gradually invaded him.

“Ugh… Huk…!”

Suddenly, due to extreme anxiety, his chest tightened, and symptoms of difficulty breathing followed.

These panic attacks, which sporadically occurred when he was mentally uneasy, had become more frequent since he started working with the worst boss in the company earlier this year. Normally, if he went under the desk or turned over a blanket when he felt like this, he would disappear without a hitch in a few minutes. However, the problem was that it affected other parts of his body as well.

“Huk, Heok, Huk… Huk!”

Gyeong-oh urgently rushed into the room and rummaged through the desk. He finally grabbed something that fit in his hand while fumbling through the messy desk cluttered with various items. He cradled the item preciously and quickly went under the desk, hunching his body.

Shhh, Color-

The sound of Gyeong-oh’s inhalation became louder. Although it wasn’t noticeable under normal circumstances, when he felt tightness in his chest and had to breathe deeply, it always turned out like this due to panic disorder.

He urgently put the asthma inhaler, about the size of his palm, meant for asthma patients, into his mouth. Pressing the upper part of the inhaler where the medicine was stored, he inhaled for five seconds. The medicine inside the inhaler sprayed towards his throat. He held his breath for about 10 seconds and then exhaled. Finally, his breath returned, and the tightness in his chest eased a bit.

After using the inhaler two more times to regain respiratory stability, Gyeong-oh soon wore a dark expression. When he took out the medicine bottle from the inhaler, there was hardly any medicine left.

Gyeong-oh, who had asthma since childhood, had worsened with panic disorder, and now, it had become so severe that he couldn’t even go to work without it.

Without the inhaler, he couldn’t overcome this state when asthma attacks occurred. Despite having plenty of water and abundant food, if he struggled with difficulty breathing, it could lead to a serious situation.

“I must find something today, no matter what. Whether it’s a rescue team or asking for help from a survivor, I have to do something.”

For Gyeong-oh, who had become more strongly inclined towards the thought of dying, there was no room for leisure anymore.

Gyeong-oh took out his beloved drone, which he had modified to make almost no noise for reconnaissance due to the zombie situation. It was a white square drone with four propellers, and somehow, it was covered in scratches and bloodstains.

Although it was almost destroyed by zombies yesterday, he was fortunate that it had come back. Hopefully, this time, the drone could avoid zombies during reconnaissance and survive to meet someone normal.

Holding his “drone” and controller, which he had personally modified to make almost no noise, Gyeong-oh went to the balcony. Looking around outside, the zombies were still bustling, and their screams could be heard from afar.

Within the visible range identifiable with the naked eye, there were still no survivors.

Gyeong-oh, hoping for success this time, raised the drone.

The drone, with its four propellers working hard, moved powerfully in response to Gyeong-oh’s instructions on the small screen of the controller.

Originally, there would have been considerable noise from the propellers, but since he had modified it in advance to avoid attracting zombies, it was now as quiet as an expensive low-noise drone.

As the drone began to fly further away, Gyeong-oh checked the scene illuminated by the front camera on the small screen of the controller, his face tense.

“Please, meet someone today. Please…”

Internally praying, he controlled the drone earnestly. Even though only zombies were visible as he went further, he still held onto a glimmer of hope. Just as he was turning the head of the drone in a different direction from yesterday.

‘Huh? What’s that?’

Gyeong-oh saw a group of people standing still on a cloud bridge coming towards his villa. With a heart full of anticipation, Gyeong-oh gradually brought the drone closer to them and soon displayed a hopeful expression.

“Huh, people! Survivors!”

There were four people, including a young man and woman. Among them, there was even a girl wearing a high school uniform.

Feeling relieved and delighted that he had finally encountered living people, Gyeong-oh increased the speed and approached them.

Then, one of them in the middle unfolded a piece of paper. He was a young man with a slim and gentle appearance, wearing bandages suspiciously on his right hand.

“I hope he hasn’t been bitten.”

If so, the others wouldn’t be so casually standing there.

Suppressing his anxious thoughts, Gyeong-oh slowly approached them, checking the contents written on the paper.