🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter: 9
How much time had passed?
The dull pain that had been relentlessly pounding her body finally subsided.
Gasping for breath, Peggy groped at her empty back and slowly lifted her head. Collapsed shelves and scattered junk were tangled together, making it hard to see clearly.
“Ryan…!”
She had to find the child—right now. What if he’d been crushed under a shelf? What if he was trapped with a zombie…?
Peggy’s face turned deathly pale as she frantically clawed through the mess of debris.
“Please… please, Ryan!”
Hot tears poured down her ice-cold cheeks. Clenching her lips tight, Peggy kept digging, over and over. The thought that she might lose him struck her with sudden terror.
Then—
“Hic… hng…”
From a narrow gap beneath a tilted shelf across from her, she met a pair of clear brown eyes.
It was Ryan.
The child, trembling with fear, had both hands clamped tightly over his mouth as he struggled to hold back his sobs.
“Ryan…!”
He was alive.
An indescribable wave of joy and relief flooded through her. He must have been smart enough to hide himself to avoid the zombies.
She wanted to rush to him immediately, but a bent metal support beam from the shelf blocked her path. Peggy pressed her trembling lips together, sucked in a breath, and pushed the beam with all her strength.
Kreeeek— screeeech.
At the spine-chilling screech of metal, Ryan’s brown eyes widened in terror.
At the same moment, someone suddenly grabbed Peggy by the back of the neck.
“M—mmph!”
“Shh. Please, be quiet…!”
A damp palm pressed firmly over her mouth. Not understanding what was happening, Peggy blinked blankly—then a grotesque zombie howl rang out, followed by the child’s scream.
“Kiiieeek!”
“Aaah!”
A zombie, driven mad by the scent of blood dripping from the child’s leg, flattened itself against the floor. Its blackened, rotting hand shoved violently beneath the shelf, reaching for him.
The terrified child curled himself deeper into the corner, but there was nowhere left to run.
“Ryan!”
Peggy screamed his name and shoved Maya away with all her strength.
Hearing the commotion, the zombies began converging on their position.
‘Is this really the end?’
Maya slumped, her body drained of strength, burying her face between her knees. There was nowhere left to escape.
And then—
A pair of pitch-black eyes were watching them.
‘Won Hyesung.’
My little brother—who, simply by being born, monopolized our adoptive parents’ love. I’d always treated him coldly out of petty resentment.
Yet despite my indifference, he always followed behind me. I even hated that. But now… how I missed the warmth of that small hand that used to hold mine whenever I pushed him away.
‘He’d be nine by now.’
Just like that child.
Jigu’s gaze locked onto the small, tightly curled body. A zombie had forced its way under the shelf and seized the child’s ankle.
At that moment, Jigu’s hand moved to her waist.
And—
Bang!
A sharp gunshot tore through the air.
There was no time to think about the consequences.
“W—what the—?!”
Two men stared at Jigu in shock. She ignored them, merely blowing a casual puff of air toward the smoking muzzle.
“Nice shot.”
The zombie collapsed limply, its head pierced clean through. Normally, she missed all ten shots out of ten—but this time, luck was on her side. Or maybe she’d actually gotten better.
“Kraaagh!”
The loud gunshot echoed through the mart, and the zombies lurking around the child began looking around.
Probably searching for a new prey.
Thankfully, the mart had a logistics warehouse connected to the underground parking lot. They’d entered through there—so all they had to do was escape the same way.
The problem was the zombies.
They kept pouring in through the shattered glass doors. And with an injured child and two exhausted adults, someone had to draw the zombies’ attention until everyone else could get out safely.
And that someone—
As Jigu crookedly raised her pistol and flashed a meaningful grin, unease rippled across the two men’s faces.
“W-what are you doing? That’s creepy…”
“I’ll be the bait. Caliph and Edwin—rescue the survivors. Head to the warehouse.”
Click. Bang!
Grinning mischievously, Jigu fired another shot at the zombies. Before the two stunned men could stop her, she bolted toward the other survivors.
“…Huh?”
Or rather, she tried to.
If not for the hand gripping the back of her neck.
Kicking uselessly in midair, Jigu shot an extremely irritated glare behind her.
“Caliph. Let go.”
“Are you out of your mind?!”
“Yes. Completely sane. Hey, buddy—how about you let go nicely?”
Her flippant expression, slang-filled English, and delinquent attitude made her look like a street thug.
Even in a situation where getting isolated could mean death, she showed zero sense of urgency—enough to make one sigh in despair.
Grinding his teeth, Caliph glared at her.
“There are at least dozens of them! Damn it! What do you think you’re going to do out there?! Join them in a coffin?!”
What the hell is he saying?
Jigu blinked, rolling her eyes.
His English was way too fast—and too much. She’d barely caught half of it. All she understood was shit, fucking—wait, what?
“Caliph, did you just swear at me?”
“Damn it! Stop focusing on that!”
Oh my God. Jesus fucking goddamn please…
Watching Caliph call out to God, Jigu clicked her tongue.
Buddy. God isn’t helping anyone.
Snorting at the thought of how furious Caliph would be if he heard that, Jigu huffed.
With a weary sigh at her absurd calmness, Caliph finally set her down.
“I was planning to save them even without you stepping in. So please—stay put.”
Before Jigu could reply, he launched himself forward in a single leap, shooting toward the survivors at an inhuman speed.
In an instant, Caliph reached the collapsed shelf. He grabbed the zombie clawing at the child, yanked its leg—and crack! crushed its skull under his heel.
The wet, satisfying sound of a ripe watermelon being smashed echoed as the zombie went limp. The others that rushed him met the same fate.
Watching him obliterate zombies one after another with a single blow, Jigu’s jaw dropped.
‘Is he even human?’
Oh my God. Jesus fucking goddamn.
Yet Caliph himself felt nothing but frustration at his body—heavy and sluggish like soaked cotton.
‘Damn it. My mutation rate’s on a knife’s edge.’
The zombies roaming the mart were mostly dealt with, but more continued forcing their way in through the glass doors. Judging by the noise, there were still dozens left.
He could handle them—but the issue was the mutation rate.
His ability was regeneration. Unless his head was destroyed instantly, he would regenerate endlessly—from small cuts to complete loss of limbs.
But every time his ability activated, his mutation rate increased.
Once it passed 90%, he could no longer enter Rangers territory.
He was at 89%.
Even a small injury could be fatal. He’d promised to escort that woman to the Rangers’ shelter.
Picking up the camping axe Maya had dropped, Caliph smashed the rotting heads of the zombies squeezing through the entrance. The pile of motionless bodies temporarily clogged the doorway, buying them a brief respite.
He lifted nearby shelves and stacked them tightly in front of the entrance. For a short while, peace returned to the chaos-filled mart.
Staring at the wall of shelves now towering like a barricade, Jigu suddenly exclaimed in awe.
“Oh. Camping gear.”
A small portable stove, dry firewood, kerosene, butane gas, and even cozy little accessories full of camping vibes—beneath the fallen shelves was a literal treasure trove.
‘You grab these when you can.’
A lesson learned from surviving 444 days in the apocalypse.
As she mindlessly stuffed everything she could see into her inventory, Edwin—who had just rescued the three survivors from the shelves—approached her with a baffled expression.
“…What are you doing?”
“Farming.”
Ta-da. Magic. Cool, right?
Having decided to be shameless about her ability, Jigu stuffed a huge armful of marshmallow bags into her inventory and raised her now-empty hands high.
From somewhere nearby—not Edwin—
“Wow!”
It was Ryan.
