Chapter 14 – In the Flock, One (1)

In a flock of sheep, one (1)

Chii-iik-! Chii-iik-!

There was a loud sound of tape ripped from a book and fastening it to the wrist.

“Because it’s you, at least we trust you and send you down. Are you familiar with it?”
“Baby—don’t worry and get plenty of water. Zombies will be covered in blood, so I’ll take a shower before I go to bed.”
“Baby-!”

Took-!

Two men taping each other’s shoulders lightly while filming a youth drama.

He chewed on the energy bar again, looking at another man who looked exactly like the vice president and that big man.

“That person in the forefront is Shim Shin-han. The two people behind them are Park Woo-jin and Kim Min-joon in turn.”

These are the people who will go down together, but you should know their names, right?

A familiar voice heard again in the moment I was enjoying the nutty smell of nuts.

Ku Ye-ri, who had brought two bags from somewhere, held out the bag to us and continued.

“Take a bag for your food, too.”

Me, who stares blankly at the bag Ye-ri Ku holds out, and Koh Goh-hun, who hurriedly packs both bags.

And Gu Ye-ri, who was familiar with that scene by now, stared at us alternately with the three men who were now armed.

“Uh uh uh- so uh- are you okay?”

Chii-iik-! Chii-iik-!

The other side, who continues to wrap the tape and make the wrist guards thicker, and us chewing on energy bars in simple training clothes.

I ignored Gu Ye-ri’s doubtful eyes and looked at the vice president again.

“If something happens, come back upstairs without looking back. If you fail this time, no one will tell you-“
“Don’t worry, don’t worry, kid. I will lead you well and bring you a full bag. By the way, are you going to wind up all day today? Stop it, kids.”

Took-! Took-!

Shim Yoo-han, who had boldly passed over the vice president’s concerns, pushed Park Woo-jin and Kim Min-jun’s heads with his large hands and gave a small laugh.

Only then did the two release their hands from the tape and hurriedly picked up a monkey wrench and a small hammer.

The throat that continues to swallow dry saliva and the hands that tremble.

As I was examining the face that clearly showed how nervous I was, a pretty friendly face caught my eye.

“… Was it Sejun?”

The man who passed out instantly after being pushed by my kicks.

After entering the library, the first survivor I met was hanging around in the group of vice presidents.

“Oh, fortunately, nothing seems to have happened! Sejun-ah, Ahn Sejun!”

Gu Ye-ri, who noticed Ahn Se-joon at my muttering, waved her hand at him.

Ahn Se-joon slowly approaches us at Ye-ri Guo’s name.

As he smiled and approached Gu Ye-ri, his eyes were very complex as he secretly glanced at me once in a while.

“Yeri, was everything okay?”
“What a big deal, you were there, you idiot. I was very worried about the tax collector, but of course you come to see the tax collector first, right?”
“Of course. As usual, Se-ri and the newcomers today and the canteen-“

Took-!

As soon as I cut off their meeting and hit Ahn Se-jun on the shoulder, Ahn Se-joon looks at me with a wavering look.

I smiled softly at him and handed him an energy bar.

“… Uh- me?”

Ahn Se-joon points to himself at the energy bar he suddenly handed over and asks again.

I nodded and opened his mouth.

“Sure. What happened this morning was a misunderstanding or something—an accident, right?”
“… That, it is.”
“So, whenever we run into each other in the future, let’s not be awkward and fight with this.”

How is it?

As if emphasizing it in front of his eyes, he lightly shook the energy bar once again.

Ahn Se-joon, who was looking at the energy bar and me with a puzzled face, nodded his head very carefully.

“… Great. I was so surprised in the morning that I made a big mistake.”
“I didn’t do anything particularly well either.”

Bass Rock –

The energy bar moves smoothly from me to Ahn Se-joon’s hand.

“… Sejun!”

Ahn Se-joon, who was staring blankly at the energy bar, greeted me with a voice calling for him from the group of vice presidents and quickly ran to them.

“… What? Strangely, he didn’t mix words with me, so why do you and Sejun communicate? Can we talk?”

As soon as Ahn Se-joon leaves, Ye-ri Gu shoots at her with a bewildered tone.

“Huh, I’m dumbfounded all of a sudden. Just-without a spokesperson-with a smile that doesn’t suit you-just smiles, really.”
“…”

I still listened to Gu Ye-ri’s words in one ear and silently watched as Ahn Se-joon hurriedly hid an energy bar in his pocket.

“Haha, what happened? It is an era of diversity. It’s personal preference, of course I understand.”

Match-

Quite annoyed by the misunderstanding, Gu Ye-ri clapped her hands and began to sort things out.

“Anyway! Right now, before the electricity goes off, the three of us and the two of you will go down to the first basement floor.”

Library Camp 3 and us.

A total of 5 searchers.

“Before you go down, we will drop a smartphone from the elevator on the other side to the first basement floor. I’m going to play the music very loud, so most of the zombies on the first basement floor will react, right?”

Interior stairway door through which we will enter the first basement floor.

Another elevator directly opposite the elevator next to it.

There, the gist of the plan was to use one of the many smartphones overflowing the library camp as bait to send it down.

“The basement concession stand is less than 50 steps from the interior stairway door you will be descending from, and the music blares very loudly from the elevator quite a distance away from the concession stand-“
“Naturally, the road from here to the canteen will open very comfortably.”
“Bingo! Thank you You answered me almost the first time. Should I consider this an honor?”

A sarcastic thank you.

“You don’t answer me again. Hey there, Jang Hoon. Even the spokesperson said to me—”
“But I have a question about something.”

A quiet question flowed softly, interrupting Gu Ye-ri’s words.

I closed my mouth and smiled lightly as I looked at Gu Ye-ri, who was listening to me.

“This must also be a search party organized by the library camp, right?”
“Uh- it seems like there are a lot of names that seem to have something, but what- can you think of that?”
“Then who is the leader of the search team?”

I belong to the search team as an experienced person?

Or, is Shim Yoo-han approaching us with a large body over there?

“…”

Gu Ye-ri raised her eyebrows at my question, but there was no answer.

The search team was packed very gently as if it were preparing.

No—we must have come when we are driven to a dead end and have no choice but to send the campers to the first basement floor.

A new card that can be used and discarded at any time, not by the camp members who have shared the joys and sorrows on the second floor of the library.

Strangers who can be easily sent down as if it were a fair deal, giving them plenty of space rather than fighting or kicking them out.

And 3 reliable people who can control those 2 people.

It was a well-intentioned appointment.

I smiled at Gu Ye-ri, who was quietly staring at me.

Young but wicked

It’s smarter than the Vice President who recklessly tried to eliminate the threat, but–

Shallow number trying to control 2 with 3 is too young.

“… Since we put in more people, the leader would of course be Senior Yuhan. And since we are already a community of destiny, sharing things like that is a bit meaningless-“
“Why are you whispering so much? Then the sun will fall, Yeri.”

Shim Yu-han interrupts Goo Ye-ri, who hastily joined her words.

Standing in front of the door of the inner stairway with a large body, he glanced at us as he was preparing.

“What are you doing? Are you already nervous?”

Shim Yoo-han who makes eye contact with me while spitting out flat words.

As if he was waiting for something, there was not a single piece of friendly emotion in his eyes that were already looking at me.

“Then, I’ll send the decoy smartphone down to the first basement floor. I’ll place them in front of the inner stairway door, so don’t overdo it if it’s dangerous, just go upstairs-“
“I know. You are the same nagging as Taeha, the very same nagging. Don’t worry. That’s why I told you not to vote and go down a long time ago.”
“… Don’t overdo it, senior Yuhan.”
“I understand— Woojin-ah, Minjun-ah. What are you really doing, kids? If you two do this, your brother will get very tired, you bastards.”
“Yes, yes!”

After a heartfelt, trembling heart, the two superstars follow closely, and Koh Ji-hoon and I standing behind them.

And the library camp people watching us in a long semicircle as if to send us off.

“I sent down my smartphone!”

The Vice President’s roaring cry from the elevator on the other side seemed to be controlling the situation.

Shim Yoo-han nodded at that cry and opened the door to the interior stairway where the bookshelf had been removed for a while.

Awesome profit!

The inner stairway door opened carefully with a beeping sound.

I entered the inner staircase last and slowly closed the door.

“… It’s a lot quieter than I thought.”

Interior stairs where no noise can be heard except for doors opening and closing.

One of them whispered in a low voice with an uneasy expression on his face.

“Ugh, Woojin-ah, Woojin-ah—why would a zombie bastard say there’s nothing to eat here on the inside stairs? Would you?”

Took-!

Shim Yoo-han, who pushed the head of Park Woo-jin, who let out an uneasy sound, began to climb up the way he had descended.

Shim Yoo-han stares at me with burning eyes as she climbs the stairs.

“Hey there. Didn’t you close the second floor door properly like an idiot?”

Damn, it sucks to have to check every single one of these things.

Thud-!

Shim Yoo-han, who walks up the stairs, throws out a very intentional shoulder bread.

Shim Yoo-han, who was slightly pushed back with a faint impact, growled at me with a frown.

“Move.”

Sim Yoo-han, looking at me slowly opening the way, checks the door on the second floor, which must have been closed, and goes down the stairs again.

“… Brother, are you really okay with this?”
“Bastard, you need to catch these bastards in the pasture before they start fucking from below.”

The conversation between Shim Yu-han and the two keuts next to him clearly resonates in my ears.

“Fuck, Ji has anger dysregulation, what is it? What if you have anger management disorder? I don’t know Taeha like Hogu, but I can’t help it.”
“Still… That bastard really has a bit of an odd eye color—”
“Baby. The hawk is medicine for those sub-team leaders. I heard that you have to be hit with a thrush to come to your senses after being fooled by the world.”

I followed them while vividly watching the front conversation that I did not know if the person in question heard it or deliberately asked to hear it.

I turned my head and slathered my two bags on before I knew it, staring quietly at Koh Koo and the closed second-floor door behind me.

And even those library camp members who are going down without hesitation.

Central Library 2nd to 1st floor.

And from the first floor to our destination, the first basement floor.

Shim Yoo-han ran up the stairs at a high speed without fear.

It was a very lucky situation to me, but Shim Yu-han, whether he knew it or not, looked at us slowly following us, clicked his tongue, and put his hand on the handle on the 1st basement floor.

“From now on, don’t even breathe. In particular, if you have a seizure just because you saw a zombie baby, you throw it away.”

At first glance, it was a warning to Koh Goh-hun and me, but rather, Shim Yu-han’s next to him took a deep breath as if they were more frightened.

Shim Yoo-han, who had been glaring at me until the end, growled slightly.

“Okay. Better to be a laughing idiot than a crying idiot.”

Awesome profit!

At the end of Shim Yu-han’s whisper, the door on the first basement floor opened very carefully.

[♩~ ♪~ ♬]

Through the cracks in the slightly opened door, the clear source of the song resonates.

“Kieh!”

And even the roar of the zombies that go crazy with that singing voice.

“Hee-ik-!”

As soon as they hear it, the two of them start shaking their legs at the unique zombie scream that causes goosebumps all over the body.

Poo-!

Shim Yuhan, who hurriedly put their heads together, frowned and chinned her in front.

“Eh eh eh!”

The roar of zombies that seemed quite distant and the quiet corridor that looked like an open interior stairway door.

Starting with Sim Yu-han, the search crew, who came out of the inner stairway door and leaned against the wall, entered the first basement floor.

Computers for information retrieval and copying are placed at regular intervals on a round table, and large sofas are placed for rest.

Copiers and photocopying rooms lined up around the wall-mounted TV that always played English news.

And the destination kiosk waiting for us across from the photocopying room.

It was a fairly large store with a small cafeteria next to it.

“Good. I don’t see a single one.”

Shim Yoo-han whispers after carefully checking that the zombies are invisible.

“Let’s go to the store quickly and grab some food.”
“Yes, brother.”
“For a moment.”

Shim Yu-han, who was about to enter the wide open canteen in a hurry, frowned at my restraint.

“You’re just going to go into the store like this?”
“Then, what the fuck, shall we check attendance and go in?”
“When the song might stop, I don’t know where there might be zombies that aren’t attracted to aggro.”
“So hurry up and grab your food and take it out, you motherfucker. Shut up and follow me.”
“If that’s the case, you won’t be able to get all the food over there, right?”
“Fuck the kid-!”

Shim Yoo-han, who was swearing quite loudly, as if he had patience with my continuing rant.

Shim Yoo-han lowered her voice again and whispered like a snake.

“So what do we do? Are you going to get food and play a battle royale with the zombies? If you want to go crazy, go crazy alone, you stupid bastard.”
“If it’s like this, we won’t be able to take out all the food in the canteen over there today, and the electricity will be cut off after today, so the view will be further blocked.”

I raised my head and looked at the fluorescent lights shining brightly.

“So it will make it harder to get food from the canteen?”
“Ha-“

Shim Yoo-han sighs deeply and quickly grabs my collar.

As if he was holding back his anger to the limit, the sound of gnashing his teeth leaked out.

“You can think about that after the food we took out today runs out. During that time, the rescue team might come. And since we take care of those worries, just shut up and follow us.”
“… Nope?”
“This fucking bastard, has another seizure.”

Took-!

I lightly untied his collar and chinned the bathroom located right behind him.

“I think we need to talk a little bit.”
“Her-! Talk? It’s good-.”

Sharp eyes that seemed to have waited rather with a light laugh.

Behind me as I walk to the men’s bathroom, I hear the urgent voices of the two men belatedly trying to stop Sim Yoo-han.

[♩~ ♪~]

As soon as I opened the men’s bathroom door, familiar classical music welcomed me.

As if there was no aftermath of the zombie apocalypse, this place welcomed me as usual without any problems.

Rather, feeling awkward about the bloody wallpaper, I searched for zombies that might be hiding.

Thud-! Thud-!

While checking the toilets one by one, pretending to be a person came along.

In the end, the two jjeori, who were brought in without stopping Shim Yu-han, and Go Jang-hoon, who came in last and stood in front of the bathroom door.

Seriously – I’m definitely not a kid who’s going to die anywhere.

“Bastard— split again.”

Shim Yoo-han widened her eyes as if she didn’t like the way I smiled.

Thud deuk- thud deuk-

“So what are you talking about? Don’t you think it’s fucking ridiculous-“

Aww-!

As if to show off, Shim Yu-han, who had loosened his neck from side to side and laughed, swayed.

Before I knew it in front of him, I wiggled the iron pipe I had moved to his left hand and retrieved his right hand that I had pierced.

“This, you fucking bastard!”

Aww-!

His face, half embarrassed and half angry, staggered to the side once more.

Aww-!

Every time Sim Yu-han slapped his cheek, his staggering body slowly moved towards the bathroom wall.

Aww-!

Even in the midst of this, the body of the guy who managed to balance without collapsing eventually collapsed with a slight swing from the bathroom wall.

Udang-tang – Sim Yoo-han stumbles and falls on the floor.

This time, he used his legs, not his hands.

Poo-!

Kicking right into Shim Yu-han’s stomach.

“Knock-! Knock-!”

As soon as Sim Yuhan got a kick stuck in his stomach, he instinctively crouched down.

The right foot relentlessly strikes Shim Yu-han’s stomach, who is curled up like a slug.

Pooh-!

“Knock-! Fuck it!”

A grotesque noise, more like a drum being ripped apart than something beating.

Shim Yu-han’s body, which had barely let out the sound of gasping for breath, began to tremble and convulse.