EPZ 11

Chapter: 11

Zombies repeat what they did when they were alive.

Jigu learned that fact after watching them all through the long, boring winter.

She learned many other things too.

For example, on days when icy winds cut into the skin, zombies moved more slowly. Almost as if they could feel the cold.

In reality, it was probably just their half-broken joints freezing up. Even so, she couldn’t help hoping.

Maybe… just maybe… they were still living beings.

“Look, Emily. It’s your dad. Can you recognize him?”

“Kiiik! Kyaaak!”

At Jigu’s words, Emily thrashed around wildly. She was a very small child, and she was tightly tied to the fence with rope, so she wasn’t much of a threat. But the one on the other side was different.

“Kraaah! Gkh!”

Rattle, rattle!

As the man with half his scalp peeled away jerked his body, the wooden swing in the garden shook loudly.

Even though he was firmly tied to the heavy wooden swing, his movements were dangerous enough—just like his balloon-swollen belly.

“Hm. Is this my fault? Am I getting in the way of a family reunion?”

Jigu scratched her cheek awkwardly as she watched the two, who kept snapping at her without even trying to look at each other.

Mac Dowellson, and Emily Dowellson.

She had met Mac Dowellson—Emily’s father from next door who used to knock on the fence every morning before school—at a small factory on the outskirts a few days ago.

Finding out he was Emily’s father had been pure coincidence.

Jigu’s hobby was guessing who the zombies wandering around Little Rock used to be. Mac happened to have a wallet with a family photo inside.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMILY

Behind the smiling family in the photo, flashy alphabet balloons were stuck to the wall. It was probably the child’s birthday.

And the blonde little girl who looked like the star of the party—her face was very familiar.

That was when Jigu finally learned the next-door girl’s name.

“Then… I’ll disappear for a bit.”

After looking back and forth between the father and daughter, who shared nothing but bright blonde hair, Jigu waved her hand loosely.

She pretended to enter the Dowellson house, then hid behind a large flowerpot on the first-floor balcony.

She planned to watch them from there.

Zombies repeat what they did when they were alive.

She didn’t know if it was what they loved most, or what they were doing right before they were infected. She had never met a living person before.

Still, sometimes a question came to her.

If that was the case… didn’t they still have their memories?

She knew it was a pointless hope. But Jigu was desperate.

She felt like she would suffocate from the terrible loneliness.

If she could find even a trace of humanity in zombies, maybe she could endure this hellish world somehow.

“Hhrr… hrr……”

When Jigu hid behind the balcony corner, Mac and Emily’s struggling gradually calmed.

After some time passed, Emily wandered around the fence as usual. Mac also began moving toward the fence, as if going to work.

Then their shoulders bumped lightly.

Mac and Emily froze.

Their cloudy eyes reflected each other.

Thump. Thump.

Jigu felt her heart pounding hard. They stood there blankly, staring at each other, as if trying to recognize who stood before them.

Mac tilted his head, as if examining her, then stretched out his dangling arm.

At the end of it was Emily. His daughter.

‘…Is he… recognizing her…?’

His filthy, pale finger tapped Emily’s cheek.

Watching this, Jigu’s shoulders stiffened with tension.

Does he recognize her?

The zombies wandering the streets were indifferent to one another. But Mac and Emily were family.

Maybe they were different.

She felt sweat soak into her tightly clenched fist.

But the fist slowly, helplessly loosened.

“Krrr… hrr……”

The pale hand slid past Emily’s cheek and began rattling the fence lock.

Neither Mac nor Emily looked at each other anymore. They were just repeating what they had done when alive.

‘No. That can’t be it. If I just watch a little longer… I’m sure they looked like they recognized each other.’

That tiny hope came crashing down as overwhelming despair.

Jigu bit her lip hard and took a deep breath.

It was too early to be disappointed. There was plenty of time. So—

Crack.

A dangerous sound echoed under her feet.

Before she could move, her right leg sank straight through the rotten wooden floor.

“Ugh—!”

Sharp pain shot through her leg, and warm liquid ran down below her knee. The rotten floor had collapsed, and sharp wooden splinters had torn into her flesh.

Jigu clenched her teeth and swallowed a groan.

But Mac had already heard.

“Kraaah!”

With a burst of strength, the wooden swing blocking him toppled over with a crash.

Nothing stood in his way now.

Mac charged forward, his swollen belly wobbling, and lunged at Jigu.

“Aah!”

“Krrr!”

She struggled desperately to pull her leg free, but only felt unbearable pain.

Gritting her teeth, Jigu braced both arms against Mac’s shoulders.

There was no way she could withstand the strength of a man who had lost his mind.

“Ugh…!”

Over her shaking arms, Mac’s wide-open mouth drew closer.

Inside the dark, rotting mouth were decayed teeth and unidentifiable filth.

And tangled between the teeth—golden strands.

Hair.

“You…”

Jigu’s trembling black eyes shifted toward Emily, tied in the garden.

More precisely, toward the left side of her head, where white bone was exposed.

“You… did you eat Emily? Are you the one who did this to her?”

Rage and sorrow surged up together.

She couldn’t take her eyes off the golden hair tangled in Mac’s mouth.

Why was she so angry?

Because Mac had turned Emily into a zombie?

Or because her last thread of hope had completely shattered?

Clinging to false hope only to be disappointed was foolish. Jigu knew that well.

Zombies were just zombies.

But she couldn’t endure the piercing loneliness.

So she leaned on those corpses—greeting them like neighbors, calling their names, and being disappointed again.

Like an idiot.

Knowing full well she was cutting into herself.

Jigu clenched her teeth and stared into empty space.

A translucent, ash-gray inventory window appeared.

[Loaded Automatic Pistol ×3]

She felt the heavy metal fill her hand.

Jigu shoved the muzzle straight into Mac’s snapping mouth and pulled the trigger without hesitation.

Bang!

The close-range shot made her ears feel as if they were underwater.

Beeeeee—

Through the sharp ringing, she saw Emily still struggling.

For a moment, it almost looked like she was grieving her father’s death.

But Emily’s eyes reflected nothing.

They were only ash-gray.

“…You’re just a walking corpse too.”

Jigu murmured blankly and aimed the gun at Emily.

Zombies are just zombies.

The freezing winter wind slashed across her fingers gripping the gun. Her frozen hands trembled.

Beeee— Beeee—

The ringing grew louder, tearing at her ears. Her head throbbed like it was about to burst.

Unable to endure the pain, Jigu squeezed her eyes shut and let out a sob.

Beeee— Beeee—

Stop. Please stop…

“…Ji—! Ji…! Jigu! Damn it, wake up!”

“Hah!”

A strong grip shook her shoulders. Jigu gasped and snapped her eyes open.

Through her wet vision, she saw dull ash-gray eyes, like something burned and left behind.

By reflex, Jigu grabbed for a pistol in her inventory—then froze.

Reflected in those clear, glass-like gray eyes was a woman’s face streaked with tears.

Her own face.

Warm liquid dripped from the man’s forehead onto her cheek.

She blinked blankly as the man gently wiped her cheek, his face full of concern.

Different.

Everything was different from them.

The clearly shining gray eyes, the red blood running down his forehead, the slightly rough touch of his fingers, the warmth.

Everything.

“Caliph…”

As she whispered his name, worried eyes met hers at once.

Ah. A living person.