As we drove into the city, darkened traffic lights and vehicles abandoned on the main roads came into view.

A ghost town devoid of human presence.

The eerie landscape sent shivers down my spine.

For a brief moment, we had laughed and chatted, forgetting the truth—that the world we once knew no longer existed.

Amidst the scattered garbage and leaflets strewn across the roadside, we could make out unmoving human figures.

Dozens of discarded corpses.

Even without an explanation, it was clear what must have happened here.

Seol Yeo-won, sitting in the passenger seat, swallowed hard and pressed her lips tightly together.

From the back seat, Choi Hyun gazed at the horrific scene outside with a troubled expression.

Neither seemed to know how to react to the grim reality they were witnessing.

I felt the same way, even as I held the steering wheel.

Up until now, I thought we had seen hell—but what we experienced was only the tip of the iceberg.

Because our school was perched on the mountainside, we had unknowingly been sheltered.

Beyond the school gates, the world was nothing short of a living hell.

Hundreds of crows pecked away at the corpses.

Choi Hyun studied the bodies strewn across the road and murmured quietly.

“They’re not zombie corpses.”

Seol Yeo-won, sitting next to him, nodded in agreement and added, “They’re probably people bitten by zombies. It looks like others shot them in the head before they could turn.”

Thud—grind—thud.

The steel plate attached to the front of the vehicle pushed aside the corpses, but those that couldn’t be cleared were crushed under the tires, creating unpleasant noises.

The sound of bones shattering and the squelching sensation reached my fingertips through the steering wheel, sending chills down my spine.

The cries of crows and the buzzing of cicadas mixed into a jarring cacophony.

Inside the car, the air was heavy with silence, weighed down by the horrifying sight outside.

Crackle—crackle—

“-Ah, can you hear me?”

Jeon Wan-soo’s voice came through the radio.

“Go ahead.”

-This is strange. There aren’t any cars blocking the main road. It looks like everyone left for somewhere else.

Just as Wan-soo said, there were no vehicles obstructing the road.

Perhaps the survivors here had dealt with the bitten individuals and then fled to another location.

How long had we been driving along the road?

A large supermarket came into view on the right-hand side.

“Yeo-won, radio the front. Ask if we should stop to check the supermarket or keep going.”

Seol Yeo-won nodded and relayed the message.

The bus ahead came to a stop, and we took a moment to discuss the plan.

After a brief discussion, Jung Jin-woo’s response came through.

-Let’s check it out.

It was a unanimous decision—when it came to food supplies, it was always better to secure as much as possible.

Without any objections, we parked the vehicles in the supermarket’s lot and cautiously opened the doors to step out.

Caw—caw.

Buzz—buzz—buzz.

The harsh cries of crows and the piercing hum of cicadas filled the air.

The noise made it difficult to detect the presence of zombies.

Gripping a hunting knife in my hand, I scanned the surroundings, but there were no signs of zombies or survivors.

The city was littered with corpses and heaps of trash, a testament to the chaos that had unfolded.

It was clear that the survivors had neither the time nor the resources to bury the dead—they had all moved on.

There were three major residential areas nearby: the one-room apartment complex where we currently stood, the apartment complex beyond the small stream, and the large apartment district across the Geumho River.

The large apartment district across the river was too far to consider for now, but if the survivors had abandoned the one-room apartments, it was likely they had moved to the complex across the stream.

That apartment complex also happened to be where Jeon Wan-soo and Choi Hyun’s family homes were located.

The rest of the group soon joined us after parking their vehicles.

Everyone moved cautiously, keeping their bodies low as they scanned the area.

In the unfamiliar terrain shrouded by mist, the tension was palpable.

Jung Jin-woo surveyed the area before speaking in a low voice.

“When we go into the supermarket, only grab canned food, snacks, ramen, and drinks. Get in and out quickly.”

“Wait, everyone else stay outside. Hyun and Yeo-won, come with me.”

Turning to Choi Hyun and Seol Yeo-won, I issued instructions, but Jin-woo grabbed my arm, narrowing his eyes.

“Why? What are you planning?”

“Let’s deal with the zombies first before moving.”

“Zombies?”

“There could be zombies inside the supermarket. It’s better to have some of us stay outside to keep watch. The noise from the crows and cicadas makes it hard to hear any approaching zombies.”

As Jin-woo hesitated, I added further explanation.

“It’s tough to handle both gathering supplies and fighting zombies at the same time. If we make some noise at the entrance, any zombies inside will come out on their own. We can kill them at the checkout area before everyone else goes in.”

“Alright. Jae-hyung, Hyun, and Yeo-won will handle it. The rest will keep watch outside.”

The group nodded in agreement and moved to their assigned positions.

Choi Hyun and Seol Yeo-won followed me into the supermarket, while the others kept watch at the front entrance.

Groooan…

As soon as we stepped inside, the sound of zombies growling greeted us.

Six? No, seven?

I couldn’t tell the exact number, but with the narrow checkout aisles, it would be easy to take them down.

I instructed Choi Hyun and Seol Yeo-won to keep an eye on our flanks, then placed my thumb and forefinger to my lips and whistled sharply.

Whistle!

Graaahh!!

The zombies inside reacted to the noise, charging toward us.

They shoved over shelves and displays, about nine of them rushing forward.

Quickly drawing my hunting knife, I jabbed it into the eye socket of the closest zombie.

I kicked the thigh of another approaching zombie, causing its knee to buckle backward and its torso to tilt forward.

Before it could regain its balance, I reversed my grip on the knife and drove it into the zombie’s temple.

Graaahh!

Just then, a zombie climbed onto a checkout counter and lunged at me.

It was too close to swing the knife.

With all my strength, I yanked the blade from the first zombie’s skull and struck the lunging zombie’s face with the hilt.

Its nose caved in, and its neck snapped backward.

But it quickly twisted its head, baring its teeth and lunging for my wrist.

As I gained experience, I started to anticipate the zombies’ movements.

Predicting its actions, I twisted my upper body and grabbed the zombie’s hair with my left hand.

At the same time, I yanked its head back and slashed its throat with the hunting knife in my right hand.

As blood spurted out like a fountain, it splattered across my face.

“Ugh!”

Instinctively, I had to shut my eyes.

Ka-hack! Haack!

In that split second, another zombie squeezed through the checkout counter.

With one eye closed, I turned my head to see its arms swinging straight for my face.

Frowning, I thrust my hunting knife forward, but the zombie extended its left arm and blocked it with its hand.

The knife stuck in its palm, but the zombie pushed forward relentlessly, forcing me to stagger back.

Thud!

“Damn it!”

My heel caught on the corpse of a fallen zombie, and I lost my balance, falling backward.

Letting my guard down in front of just four zombies—how pathetic.

As I toppled over, I instinctively grabbed the zombie’s throat with my left hand to prevent it from biting me.

Click! Clack! Clack!

Its teeth chattered incessantly as it tried to sink them into my flesh.

I struck the side of its head with my elbow to break free of the pressure.

Thud!

At that moment, I saw a blade piercing through the zombie’s skull from above.

Choi Hyun, who had just dealt with two zombies on his side, had come over to help me.

“You’re losing your edge? What’s with getting flustered over four zombies?”

His taunt made my face flush.

Not out of anger, but from the embarrassment of my own incompetence.

I felt like I’d aged ten years in that brief life-threatening moment.

Seol Yeo-won came over belatedly and scanned my body with concern.

“You okay?”

I nodded, waving my hand to indicate I was fine.

Wiping the blood from my face, I muttered, “Sorry, I let my guard down.”

Choi Hyun glanced me up and down before scoffing.

“Relax, man. I was just joking. Don’t beat yourself up over it.”

Awkwardly scratching my sideburns, I changed the topic.

“Let’s wait a bit longer before moving, just in case.”

“Got it.”

There could still be crawling zombies with severed lower halves. Those kinds of zombies moved slowly and crept along the ground, so waiting a bit before proceeding was the safer option.

After waiting for about three minutes, there were no signs of any more zombies approaching the checkout area.

Confirming the absence of movement within the supermarket, I called for the rest of the group outside.

Even though the sun was high in the sky, the supermarket interior shrouded in mist remained dim.

Passing toppled shelves, we ventured deeper into the store, but a putrid and fishy stench filled the air from seafood that had been left rotting for who knows how long.

Pinching our noses against the smell, we continued searching, only to find that any edible food had already been taken.

The only salvageable items were a few cans that Yoon Hye-ri and Kim Hee-yeon managed to find.

Disappointed with the meager haul, I turned to Jung Jin-woo and asked, “Jin-woo hyung, how much food do we have left?”

“If we ration it carefully, about a week’s worth.”

With more people to feed, our supplies were depleting noticeably faster.

I looked at Choi Hyun.

“Hyun-ah, is there another big supermarket nearby?”

“There’s one further inside the one-room apartment complex. There are convenience stores along the way too.”

Hearing this, Park Jae-woo cautiously raised his right hand.

“Speak up,” I said.

Scratching his sideburns, he replied, “We need to charge the solar panels too.”

“How much battery power do we have left?”

“About 20%. We haven’t been able to charge them for the past two days, so it’s running low.”

Hwang Deok-rok, standing beside him, chimed in.

“We can last through tonight with 20%, but tomorrow’s a toss-up.”

“How long will it take to charge if we start now?”

“With Rose’s power boost, we should be able to fully charge it.”

After hearing Deok-rok’s explanation, I nodded.

“Let’s split into teams.”

“We’re not all going together?”

Jung Jin-woo frowned, looking unconvinced.

Licking my lips, I elaborated, “Moving all 10 of us at once isn’t efficient. There don’t seem to be any zombies nearby, so let’s do what we did back at school and divide into defense and attack teams.”

The group exchanged uncertain glances between me and Jin-woo. It was natural for opinions to diverge in this situation.

Watching the exchange, Seol Yeo-won spoke up.

“Instead of just dividing into defense and attack teams, let’s organize things more systematically this time. There are more of us now.”

“How do you suggest we do that?”

“Into food supply, maintenance, defense, and search teams.”

No one opposed Seol Yeo-won’s suggestion.

Having defined roles would reduce confusion in the middle of operations.

Seeing the group agree, Jung Jin-woo stroked his chin and asked, “Why don’t you decide this time, Yeo-won?”

“Me? Are you sure?”

“Anyone have objections?”

Jung Jin-woo glanced around the group, and everyone nodded in agreement.

Jeon Wan-soo, however, grinned mischievously and said, “I’ll decide after hearing where you assign me.”

“Wan-soo, search team. No objections.”

As Wan-soo opened his mouth to protest, Choi Hyun clamped a hand over his mouth with an amused smile.

Then, Yoon Hye-ri raised her hand eagerly.

“Can Hee-yeon and I handle food supplies?”

“Of course.”

Seol Yeo-won nodded without hesitation, while Wan-soo let out a series of exaggerated sighs, shaking his head.

Ignoring him, Seol Yeo-won began assigning roles one by one.

“Hye-ri and Hee-yeon for food supplies, Jae-woo and Deok-rok for maintenance, Jin-woo oppa and Jin-young oppa for defense, and Jae-hyung, me, Wan-soo, and Hyun for combat. How does that sound?”

Everyone seemed to agree with the arrangement, except for Jeon Wan-soo, who grumbled quietly.

Seol Yeo-won turned to him with a sly smile and asked, “What’s wrong, Wan-soo?”

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