Red Dot - 99

The first day of the zombie outbreak.

Junseong and Hanseo, who had left the shelter to lure zombies onto the subway tracks, ended up sleeping at a motel.

At that time, Hanseo left Junseong, who had fallen deeply asleep, and ‘cleaned’ the inside of the motel. After thoroughly washing off the blood that had drenched her body, she headed outside.

The reason was the rope marks left on Junseong’s arm.

When they escaped through the window in the university’s assistant office, Junseong wrapped a rope connected to his younger brother and his friends around his arm to hold them safely. After repeating this several times, clear marks had formed on his arm.

“It’s bothersome.”

Perhaps it was because Junseong was more to her liking than she had thought.

She found the rope marks on his white skin, made by the juniors, very displeasing.

After leaving the motel and entering the subway, Hanseo walked steadily among the zombies that were gradually avoiding her and recalled the faces of the juniors.

“The younger sibling’s name was Kang Chaeyi.”

The faces of the other two juniors were honestly hazy. Even though they might have their own thoughts, to Hanseo, they were simply two buzzing flies, making it natural that she couldn’t clearly recall their faces.

But Kang Chaeyi was different.

Kang Chaeyi was the one who made Junseong jump into the dangerous zombies. She was a ‘family’ member who fit into the boundaries Junseong had due to that relationship.

Even someone like Hanseo, who doesn’t remember other people’s faces and names, couldn’t help but engrave Kang Chaeyi in her memory because of Junseong.

‘The easiest thing would be to get rid of her directly, but it’s not good to leave any traces of myself.’

Junseong, who had experienced the current situation countless times through dreams and was mapping out the best routes, had to walk a safety route for Kang Chaeyi, a person who was ‘absolutely necessary to protect,’ even without realizing it. It would be the same this time.

If anything happened to Kang Chaeyi, Junseong would delve obsessively into the reasons, process, and results of her deviation from the safety route. If he learned that she was directly involved, there was a high chance that she would be pushed out of the boundary instead.

“That won’t do.”

Having developed considerable interest in Junseong’s boundaries, she couldn’t welcome being pushed out under any circumstances, even if she might delve deeper.

So, she had no intention of touching Kang Chaeyi ‘for a while.’ Depending on the situation, she might cleverly set up the board to clean within the boundaries, but not for now. She would not act recklessly until she learned more about Junseong and delved deep into his inner self.

Of course, that was only in reference to ‘Kang Chaeyi.’

The other two flies were definitely bothersome. They seemed neither helpful to Junseong nor capable of any useful abilities. All they could do was whine and complain or tremble and shiver in fear.

Useless burdens.

According to Junseong’s plan, they would join Kang Chaeyi.

“Parasites are unnecessary.”

Junseong, due to his younger sibling’s friends, would always try to save them, but she couldn’t allow such inefficient and unreasonable actions. If even a scratch appeared on Junseong’s body because of them, she had no confidence in restraining her impulses.

So, she had intended to separate them from Kang Chaeyi, who was connected to Junseong, as early as possible, but there was already a guest.

“The smell of blood.”

As she neared the shelter through the zombies on the tracks, a distinctly different smell of blood began to emanate. It was not a muddy, dusty blood smell but a very stimulating and vivid one.

Around that time, she saw a bright light coming from afar. The light was coming from the shelter, which, under normal circumstances, should not be open.

Considering the distance, even if the shelter’s door was wide open, a smell like this would require a considerable amount of blood to spread so early.

Depending on the method of killing and the amount of bleeding, it seemed certain that at least five or six people had died with substantial blood loss.

“What happened?”

Even though she knew zombies were roaming the tracks, the shelter had an open entrance without caution.

The fresh smell of blood was overwhelming.

Instead of worrying about the people inside the shelter, Hanseo quickened her pace with an interested expression.

The scene inside the shelter was truly devastating.

The indoor chaos, clear bloodstains everywhere, and the bodies huddled together, each stabbed in vital points, made the shelter look like a small-scale hell, almost like a death game.

Approaching the pile of bodies with a calm face, Hanseo stole a glance at the still-flowing blood with her fingertips. When she lightly rubbed it, it spread smoothly without any irritation.

“The smell must be strong.”

Given the ongoing bleeding and the coagulated state of the blood that had gushed out, it was clear that the murders had happened not long ago. It was estimated to be around 30 minutes or so.

The one who killed them was a human, not a zombie, and someone who used a knife very well. The precise fatal stabbings without hesitation indicated that the person had sufficient ‘murder experience’ like herself.

Looking at the bodies, some had been struck in places other than vital points. The station staff managing the shelter had their leg tendons severed, and a man had his spine damaged in the lower back. This could be seen as measures to prevent severe resistance or escape, or as a way to use them as sacrifices to make others behave.

Regardless, all the dozen or so humans here were killed by the same ‘human.’

Hanseo glanced at Soyeon, who was covered in blood from her crown to her chin and neck. Next to her was Yang Jiwoo, who had died without even a scream after being pierced through the neck.

“I don’t like that someone else handled them first.”

It felt somewhat like having prey taken away.

But that was only momentary.

Hanseo soon noticed that Kang Chaeyi was not among the bodies.

After taking her eyes off the corpses, Hanseo looked around the chaotic surroundings and approached a slightly bent tent. It looked as if someone had kicked it, bending one of its supports, but it didn’t seem like someone had deliberately rummaged through the partially zipped interior.

Hanseo opened the tent shared by Kang Chaeyi and Soyeon. Inside, there was a bag from the assistant office that Soyeon had packed, a calorie bar left by Junseong, a half-finished bottle of water, and a can of coffee from the assistant office.

It was clearly just one person’s meal and personal items. There were no personal belongings or outerwear that seemed to belong to Kang Chaeyi.

If someone had dragged Kang Chaeyi away, her belongings should have remained.

If a meticulous person had searched for her items, they wouldn’t have left such essential supplies like food behind during a zombie outbreak. Moreover, it seemed unlikely that Kang Chaeyi would have had the time to pack her things while the shelter’s occupants were being killed.

It felt unnatural no matter how she thought about it.

Did Kang Chaeyi pack her things and leave on her own? When? During the attack? If so, was she with the attackers?

“That doesn’t seem likely.”

While pondering this far-fetched theory, Hanseo had already reached for Soyeon’s bag. She thought there might be a clue about Kang Chaeyi. Since Soyeon was the one closest to her and shared the tent with her.

When she overturned Soyeon’s bag, a few supplies like towels and tissues provided by the shelter spilled out. As expected, it seemed to contain only her own items, one of each.

In the midst of this, there was a note tucked inside. When unfolded, it had ‘Shelter Supplies List’ printed on the outside and hurriedly scribbled writing inside. It seemed the cover of a document listing the shelter’s supplies had been repurposed to write the letter.

Upon reading the contents, Hanseo finally understood why Chaeyi was missing.

“I know you’ll scold me, but I couldn’t just stay still.”

“If I return to the shelter and you’re not here, meet me at the hospital you mentioned before.”

“I’ll head there too while looking for you.”

“If you die before we meet, I won’t forgive you, you jerk.”

There were two small tear stains near the ‘you jerk’ part, as if she had cried while writing.

A small smile formed at the corner of Hanseo’s mouth.

“She’s definitely his sister.”

The tone is the same.