EPZ 27

Chapter: 27

“Whew, I can’t even remember the last time I ate this much.”

Maya licked even the tiny bits of onion left on her spoon and spoke in admiration. It truly had been a very satisfying dinner.

“Ugh, I’m so full….”

Ryan, who had clearly enjoyed the meal just as much, rubbed his round, swollen belly over his clothes and let out a loud burp.

It seemed to slip out without him realizing, because his cheeks turned red and he quickly covered his mouth. Seeing that, Jigu and Beth burst into giggles.

“Morton, thank you so much for sharing the ingredients.”

“I only brought out what was left.”

“Even so.”

Peggy playfully pinched Ryan’s puffed-up belly and thanked Morton again.

He said it was just leftovers, but they were ingredients that were not easy to find. There were many times when they could not even find drinking water, let alone food.

That was why it always hurt her to see how thin the child was, like a branch. His skin, suffering from chronic dehydration, was not only pale and swollen but often cracked badly.

Fencing Hill Shelter was always short on resources. People from all over kept flooding in after hearing that it was safe.

Every day they were exhausted from hard labor, then lay down in shabby shelters made of wooden boards and worn cloth.

Hunger, heat, and cold. A stench that stung the nose, hygiene long abandoned, conflicts and fights between people. Day after day, they lived like livestock, unable to live even a little like human beings.

But after meeting Jigu, many things had changed.

“I like it here, Mom.”

Ryan buried his face in Peggy’s arms and mumbled in a whining voice. It was something she never could have imagined before.

The child had always been quiet like an old man close to death and rarely moved. He had learned that moving meant becoming hungry.

But over the past few days, Ryan laughed out loud, played around, and ran with all his strength, as if the world had not ended.

Perhaps that was because…

Peggy’s eyes suddenly met Jigu’s. She gave a faint smile and gently brushed Ryan’s forehead.

“Yes. Mom likes it here too.”

There was no way Peggy did not understand what was hidden behind her child’s words.

‘Do we really have to go to Rangers Shelter?’

Rangers Shelter was certainly safer than any other shelter. It was a military shelter made up of armed forces. It was the kind of place people desperately wanted to enter.

But did a perfect shelter really exist? As long as Sentinels existed, there was no place that was perfectly safe. People simply tried desperately to ignore that fact. They were too busy surviving the zombies right in front of them. Hunger was a problem for later.

Life in Rangers Shelter would not be much different from Fencing Hill Shelter.

They would till barren land to grow crops or repeat simple labor, then eat dry biscuits handed out like charity and sleep inside shabby wooden boards. Then morning would come again.

‘It would just be a life of barely surviving.’

Peggy’s eyes once again followed Jigu.

A woman who had appeared before them one day like a miracle. A woman who used strange abilities no one had ever heard of. Sometimes she acted as bright and innocent as a child, yet at other times she showed sharp insight. Sometimes she even looked slightly insane.

But what mattered to Peggy was not her mysterious abilities or her somewhat broken mind.

Jigu had many things, and she was merciful. That was enough. As long as they could rely on her mercy, nothing else mattered.

“Can’t we all live here together…?”

A small, thin voice from beside Morton broke Peggy’s thoughts.

Everyone’s eyes turned to Beth standing next to Morton. Blushing as if embarrassed, Beth grabbed the hem of Morton’s clothes and lowered her head.

The relaxed air instantly grew tense.

Maybe they were all thinking the same thing. The dream of staying together on a quiet farm with few people, cultivating fields and living freely. Peggy imagined a child running through a cornfield and looked at Morton nervously.

“That is not possible.”

Morton’s answer was firm. Disappointment filled Beth’s eyes.

“W-why…?”

“Beth.”

At Morton’s stern voice filled with warning, Beth flinched and began coughing violently.

Startled, Morton gently patted her back, but the coughing showed no sign of stopping.

Caliph, who had been silently watching the child now drenched in cold sweat, turned to Morton.

“Is the child very sick?”

As soon as Caliph asked, Morton’s worried face hardened instantly.

Crack. Sparks jumped from the bonfire into the stiff air.

“…Yes. So I would rather not have any more burdens. Leave as soon as you are ready.”

Holding the still-coughing Beth in his arms, Morton stood up and gave the order.

After Morton disappeared into the farmhouse, no one spoke until the flames of the bonfire, devouring the pile of firewood, gradually died down.

Jigu, who had been quietly staring at Morton’s retreating figure as if deep in thought, finally lifted her head calmly.

“It’s raining.”

Just as she said, raindrops began to fall one by one. They were quite heavy, not like a passing shower. The dying bonfire flared up once under the rain.

“The farm owner said no. We have to leave.”

Her tone was unusually forceful. But since she always spoke English unpredictably, it did not feel especially strange.

The few scattered drops soon turned into a heavy downpour. Through the thick curtain of rain, Jigu’s gaze moved from Peggy, to Ryan, to Maya, and finally to Luke.

“You’ll come with me, right?”

Thump.

At her question, Peggy’s heart pounded violently.

Yes. Shelter or farm—such trivial places did not matter.

Only one thing mattered.

Jigu.

That woman.

The pouring rain soaked their faces and seemed to cool the heat that had built up during the day.

The heavy rain that had fallen all night cleared up as if it had never happened once morning came. Under a cloudless blue sky, the blazing sun added heat to the humid air.

“This is bad.”

Edwin wiped his sweat-soaked forehead and muttered with a troubled expression. The condition of the truck they had pulled out of the mud was worse than expected.

Psssh.

When he started the engine, a hissing sound came, and ominous smoke began to rise from the engine room.

“Cough, cough! How bad is it?”

Peggy coughed from the acrid smoke and asked, holding her dizzy head.

She had overworked her body for days without rest, and now she was sick. Fortunately, the fever had gone down quickly thanks to the medicine Jigu had given her, but her body still felt heavy and weak.

“It seems there’s a problem with the cooling hose.”

The old military truck had never been in good condition.

It had broken down many times along the way, repaired again and again, but when wet mud and farm equipment had fallen onto the hood, the cooling hose had been completely wrecked.

Looking at the dented hood and the smoking engine room, Edwin let out a deep sigh.

At least the engine had not been flooded. But without replacing the cooling hose, they could not move at all.

“Is there any way to get a cooling hose?”

Clutching at straws, Edwin asked Morton. Morton rubbed his rough face and let out a low sigh.

“There isn’t one on the farm.”

Peggy was not the only one who had developed a fever overnight. Beth, who had been coughing repeatedly, had also fallen seriously ill. Dark shadows hung under Morton’s eyes after staying up all night.

“However, if you go straight through the forest for five miles from here, you’ll see a small village. There’s a repair shop there…”

Morton’s face darkened as he continued. He thought of his friend who had run that tiny repair shop, no different from a small general store.

It was a small, remote village with fewer than a hundred people, but it had not escaped the virus.

“The village is already filled with the dead.”