Chapter 34. Client

Chapter 34. Client

Tap, tap, tap.

In the alleyway in front of the officetel building.

Three men stood side by side, tossing small pebbles at a 4th-floor window.

Each floor had seven windows, so they were aiming for the three central ones. The survivor was supposedly somewhere in the middle of the building, so their aim should be roughly correct.

Shhhk.

Soon, one of the windows slid open.

A woman, appearing to be in her early to mid-forties, peered out, looking utterly haggard. Her hair was disheveled as if she’d just woken up, and her eyes were squinting. It was still early evening; had she been taking a nap?

Manager Lee pulled out water and an Energy Bar from the Camping Trolley and showed them to the woman, asking for the Door Lock code.

The woman gave him the code and warned them to be careful, as there were Zombies in the hallway. She wasn’t sure about other floors, but she was certain there were Zombies on the 4th floor.

They had gained her cooperation more easily than expected. He’d thought she would be wary of outsiders, but the moment he showed her food, she immediately gave up the password.

Watching Manager Lee’s conversation with the woman on the 4th floor, he realized something new: even quiet conversations were surprisingly clear. He had unconsciously kept his voice low all this time, but with no city noise, even a soft human voice carried quite well. He made a mental note of this.

As their conversation ended, the surrounding silence felt strangely unfamiliar.

“Can the four of you go up? You’ll need to deal with the Zombies in the hallway and talk to any other survivors in the building.”

“Yes, the Zombies are scattered, so we can handle them. But aren’t you coming with us, Teacher?”

“If it’s alright, I’ll check the rooms on the 2nd floor first. Then, you four go up, and we’ll meet back here once you’re done, how about that?”

Seonyoung stayed in the Parking Lot with the two Camping Trolleys, Manager Lee’s group headed up to the 4th floor via the stairs, and he decided to check the houses on the 2nd floor by climbing the wall.

Manager Lee’s group soon entered the building, and he stood in the alleyway, gauging the height of the 2nd-floor windows. Since the 1st floor was the Parking Lot, the windows seemed to be over 3 meters high.

Along the exterior wall beneath each floor’s windows, there was a protruding horizontal ledge, seemingly marking the floor divisions. He glanced at Seonyoung, who was looking around, searching for a way to climb up from outside, then simply jumped from where he stood.

He wanted to measure his vertical jump record, but he suspected it might end up in the Guinness Book. He didn’t know the exact height, but even with a light jump, he could grab the protruding ledge on the wall with both hands. Based on their Apartment building, this was roughly the height of the 3rd floor.

He pulled himself up with force, using the momentum to fully ascend. There were also gas pipes and cages for outdoor units on the wall, providing stable footholds.

“Whoa, Oppa, when did you get up there? How?”

“I just jumped.”

“Amazing…”

Leaving a slightly dumbfounded Seonyoung behind, he started checking the rooms from the very last window at the corner of the building where he had jumped. The room at the end of the building seemed to be a Boiler Room. It was a small space, about one pyeong, with three boilers installed on the wall and a single delivery box on the floor.

He carefully moved along the wall to the next window, which was covered by blinds. It was a window that pushed outwards, and he could see it was locked, so he moved to the next one. This time, he could see inside: a living room and kitchen, likely part of the same apartment as the previous room. It seemed to be a two-room apartment. He could see the Apartment Entrance on the opposite side of the window he was peering through, and there was a sofa and TV in the living room.

The woman on the 4th floor had opened a sliding window, and this one was also a sliding window. Seeing that the lock was open, he slid the window open and stepped inside.

After opening the window and entering, he saw two doors to his left. One seemed to be the room with the blinds, and the other looked like a Restroom. He opened and checked all the doors, but there were no Zombies or people. To go out into the hallway, he silenced the Door Lock and opened the door. He peeked out slightly and, seeing no Zombies, propped the door open with a stopper and returned to the living room.

Looking around as he passed, it seemed like a man had lived alone here. There was a bicycle in what appeared to be the living room, and the other room was a bedroom with clothes hanging on one side. He had secured one fully furnished two-room apartment. To move to the next apartment, he exited through the living room window again. Going through windows instead of proper doors made him feel like a petty thief.

Using this “petty thief” strategy, he checked all the apartments up to the 5th floor and even the Rooftop. For apartments with locked windows, he broke them with his elbow. In one apartment, a Zombie burst out, having heard the sound of the window shattering. Startled, he dodged to the side, and the Zombie, unable to stop, fell straight out the window. Thanks to that, Seonyoung, who was below, screamed in surprise, then created a Shield over the fallen Zombie to pin it down, and finished it off by crushing its skull.

In another apartment, naked male and female Zombies emerged from the bedroom. It seemed the woman had turned and infected the man, because the female Zombie’s mouth was bloody, and the male Zombie’s genitals were half… Ugh, this was too gruesome; he needed to erase it from his memory. When people turn into Zombies, they usually lose consciousness and collapse for about 10 minutes. Why would the man’s point of attack have been his genitals? Ah, he told himself to erase it from his memory, yet here he was, making useless conjectures again. He really needed to stop thinking about it. Whatever the reason, whatever the process, it didn’t matter. He had simply dealt with two Zombies.

After checking the last apartment, he used the building’s stairs for the first time to descend to the 1st floor. Seonyoung was perched on the hood of a car parked in a corner of the Parking Lot, and Manager Lee’s group and the woman from the 4th floor were standing together by the Camping Trolleys parked on the road.

“No one got bitten, right?”

“No, we’re all fine. You worked hard, Teacher. Did you really check everything so quickly?”

“Yes, there weren’t many Zombies, so it ended quickly. Seonyoung and I caught seven. How many did you catch in the hallway?”

“We caught a total of five. They were gathered on the 4th and 5th floors, but there were no major issues.”

A total of twelve. Director Kim had said it wasn’t accurate, so it seemed there were some limitations to their ability to track Zombies. Well, even with some error, it was still a good reconnaissance Ability, and either way, the building was safely cleared.

Evening had passed, so he wanted to say goodbye to them and return quickly. The woman from the 4th floor seemed uneasy being outside, clinging close to Director Kim and constantly looking around. Her face was pale and her complexion poor; she must have had a difficult time. Not that anyone was having an easy time these days…

Perhaps Manager Lee had told her about him, as she bowed her head and greeted him when their eyes met.

“Well, the building is cleared, so we’ll be going now. Oh, all the Apartment Entrance doors up to the 5th floor are open.”

“Teacher. Aren’t you coming back?”

“I’ll still be passing by. For now, everyone must be tired, so hurry up and get ready to rest.”

“Understood then. Thank you again. Could you perhaps give us your number before you go?”

“Yes, and ‘Teacher’ sounds a bit… Just call me by my name, Manager Lee.”

He gave Manager Lee his Cell Phone number and returned to the Apartment with Seonyoung. He’d told Manager Lee that “Teacher” was uncomfortable and to call him by his name, but Manager Lee insisted he couldn’t do that to his savior and kept calling him “Teacher.” It was quite burdensome, especially coming from someone older than him.

The Camping Trolley, which had been making anxious noises the entire way, thankfully didn’t break down midway and served its shuttle purpose safely. Upon arriving at the Apartment, he pressed the Elevator button for the first time. He sent Seonyoung up first, then loaded the Camping Trolley into the Elevator, pressed the 5th floor, and took the stairs himself.

“You’re back, Oppa?”

“Welcome back!”

“Oh, Gayoung, everything alright? Just leave that for now, let’s eat dinner first.”

“Yes, come in quickly. Unnie called earlier, so I prepared it in advance.”

He led the two women, who were busy unloading the items they had farmed from the Camping Trolley, into the house. He’d organize later; it was time to eat. The sun was already setting, and what felt like an unusually long day was finally coming to an end. Since the world changed, each day felt incredibly long.

“Unnie, is that true?”

“It is! I thought I was watching a Spider-Man movie. Oppa probably climbs walls faster than we can take the stairs.”

“Hehe. Show me your fingers, Mister. Is something going to come out?”

They ate dinner to the backdrop of Seonyoung and Gayoung’s endless chatter. Whenever Seonyoung went out, she always told Gayoung what had happened that day. And Gayoung was an excellent, highly reactive listener. Sometimes he felt his soul might escape, but it was still a healing time.

Over dinner, they decided what to do at night. Usually, they would each rest, but tonight seemed like it would be a bit busy. Just a moment ago, he’d thought the day was ending and felt a slight thrill… It seemed that no matter how good his physical stamina was, mental fatigue was unavoidable.

Seonyoung and Gayoung would organize the farmed supplies, while he would move the Zombie Corpses he had dealt with during the day. Gayoung had thought about it, but there was no place to bury them, and the only thing she could think of was the Recycling Area. In the future, if they dealt with the remaining Zombies in the Apartment, more corpses would keep appearing. They couldn’t cremate them all, and no suitable method still came to mind, so for now, he decided to move them to the Recycling Area as Gayoung suggested.

Also, if they kept farming, even using the neighboring apartment as a storage room might not be enough space. Even he and Seonyoung, who had done the farming, didn’t fully know what they had. At least Gayoung had done a good job of cataloging, so if they needed anything, they could just ask her.

After dinner, he smoked a cigarette, letting his thoughts wander. He had told himself not to, yet worries kept surfacing haphazardly. He recalled past events, and imagined future ones.

Buzz, buzz.

He opened his Cell Phone, which was on vibrate, and saw a message. The name “Client” appeared on the screen. He unlocked it and read the message: a thank you and a note that they had finally gotten a good night’s sleep. It had been busy and tough, but it also felt like a rewarding day… He wasn’t sure. Manager Lee had been told to call him by his name, but even in the message, he still called him “Teacher” to the very end. Surely, he hadn’t saved his contact as “Teacher,” had he?