It’s been 20 years since the first zombie outbreak.

The government and military have long since ceased their function. A/Z, an armed group formed by survivors to defend themselves and their families, is the de facto police force of the present day.

Team A’s primary mission is to exterminate zombies and reclaim lost land, but when they aren’t on a mission, they spend their days in the control tower shooting zombies approaching the safety zone.

At 4 P.M., a member of the team looked down from the three-story control tower and spotted something, prompting them to raise their eyebrows.

“Hey, here he comes again. He’s always here around this time.”

There was a faint hint of amusement in his voice. The other officer looked out the window with a weak smile.

“It’s only four. Is he coming from the park?”

There was a large park near the control tower, and at this time of day, an elderly zombie walking his dog passed by. There were a few outliers who, despite being infected and unconscious, went about their daily routines as they had always done, but like the other zombies, had little intelligence and moved like clockwork.

The old man’s gait was as slow as a snail’s, even though the virus would give their host an explosion of strength. The old man’s muscles and bones were already at the end of their life, though.

Knowing this, the little dog that walked with him matched the old man’s gait, taking half a step at a time. Every now and then, when he found a piece of human flesh on the ground, the god would scoop it up and eat it, and bring the larger pieces to the old man.

The fur around the dog’s mouth was covered in blood, a sign of how the two had survived so far. The old man, smelling the blood, ate the flesh with his teeth and patted the dog on the head. The dog’s tail happily wagged, whether it realized it or not, as it did so out of habit and instinct.

Despite the horrific sight of a dog and the old man eating human flesh, the men’s faces remained as if they had seen something heartfelt. If going for a walk was the most important thing in the old man’s life, even if he was losing his intelligence, it was predictable.

“On duty officers, what are you doing?”

The sudden voice made both men’s shoulders jump as they looked down. They jerked their heads around to find Yuyeon standing there with an expressionless face.

She was the team leader of A/Z’s Korean A team. With uncharacteristically impassive eyes, the men’s immediate supervisor traveled to where they were staring and back to them again.

“I thought you were supposed to report any zombies to the higher-ups and shoot to kill.”

The high-pitched voice froze the air around them. Yuyeon clicked her tongue as she glanced at the recruits, frozen at the sight of their stern boss.

“Kill him.”

She crossed her arms with the short command. At the order to kill, the throats of the two officers rose and fell in unison, and they spoke at the same time.

“Excuse me, sir…”

“That zombie…”

They seemed to have something to say. Yuyeon gave a short nod, giving them permission to speak.

“The host is already senile and doesn’t have the strength to run. I’ve been watching him for days, but he hasn’t hunted or shown any aggression. He comes here at the same time every day, so it must be a special species.”

“He may be a zombie, but that’s also just a dog. If it’s not harming anyone, we don’t have to kill it…”

The rambling officers glanced at her and snapped their mouths shut. A cold voice responded to their reports.

“It’s been long enough for you to know they come at the same time every day, but you haven’t reported anything?”

False reporting, or no reporting in this instance, was a clear violation; the new officer wouldn’t have the nerve to do it, so it had to be someone else in charge. Yuyeon firmly pressed her finger against the name “Heo Ryung” at the top of the report.

“Kill him. Right now.”

“Hah, but… for that host…”

“The bloodstain on the old man’s mouth means he ate human flesh. That’s all zombies can eat.”

“But that’s not from hunting…”

“It was a child who bit my family. A child who hadn’t finished growing his teeth, who hadn’t stopped weaning…”

Yuyeon looked down for a moment as if reminiscing, then took a step closer.

“Still, can you be sure that he has no aggression whatsoever? If that old man one day hunts humans, can you be confident in telling his bereaved family that he wasn’t aggressive ‘back then?’… Can you be responsible if the virus spreads from him to the inside of these walls?”

The men’s mouths clamped shut under her continuous pressure.

“Your job is to carry out orders from above without error. The rules of A/Z have been established through events that have claimed countless lives before and any exceptions will inevitably lead to gaps, gaps that grow into holes, and holes that will undermine everything we’ve stood for in an instant. Do you want that moment to come when you kill your family, coworkers, and friends with your own hands? Or do you want that moment to come when you become a zombie and kill them?”

“…”

“Now, let me ask again, is it a zombie you’re protecting or the people?”

“… Uh, yes. People.”

The men nodded their heads and answered with shaky voices.

“Understood. Kill him, now.”

“Yes sir.”

The men looked up at the short order and moved in unison, but even as they clung to their sniper rifles in pairs, there was no sound of gunfire. Their fingers on the triggers twitched as if to indicate their hesitation, or perhaps the leader’s stinging reprimand had paralyzed them.

They must have gotten used to the old man after watching him for a few days. They were afraid to take away the dog’s only family.

Yuyeon looked at their pale faces. They were new and their feet were barely wet. Obviously, they hadn’t received much experience with killing. With a deep sigh, she grabbed the two hesitant men by the hem of their clothes and pulled them out.

“Go out, I’ll do it.”

Yuyeon deftly gripped the gun and held her breath. The scope reflected a walking dog with only its owner to look up at, and she quickly shifted the target and aimed for the old man’s head.

The agitation in her mind soon became a tremor in her body. If her hand trembles, the bullet will miss. The bullet that misses will one day hit someone she cares about.

‘Making exceptions creates gaps.’

Her heart stopped pounding as she realized she had made the right choice. As she calmly squeezes the trigger, a loud gunshot rings out directly behind her, shattering the old man’s head. His headless body fell to the ground as slow as his gait. The dog started barking in the air, startled by the sudden gunfire.

“I thought you didn’t like off-duty shooting.”

She tore her eyes away from the scope at the sound of the voice. As it turned out, it was Ryung who fired the shot, an ace sniper on the A team who was as good at shooting as he was beautiful. Despite firing from far behind, his bullet pierced the target’s head with precision. His marksmanship was flawless.

“What are you doing here?”

He approached, his gun rattling. The heavy rifle felt as light as a pistol in his hands.

It wasn’t until she looked up that she saw a plaster-white face high above her. He was stern-looking, with some pretty features that didn’t quite fit his large frame. Just when she thought the white, sharp features were carved out of a giant ice cube, they melted away.

“You’re off-duty today! You should have let me know you were coming so I could have greeted you! Did you come to see me? I was hoping to see you, too. It worked out well.”

The low voice poured from between his curled lips. His boisterous personality didn’t quite match his appearance. Yuyeon causally opened her arms and threw the report against his chest as he approached. Ryung took a few steps back as if it was a familiar scene.

“Who taught you to falsify reports? I trained you and I never taught you wrong.”

He cradled the report in his chest and glanced out the window. Yuyeon could see his head spinning.

“Oh, really?”

He pointed to the two other officers’ chests as they stood behind him, the grin never leaving his face.

“No, those guys falsified the report.”

“… Yeah, wait, what?”

“I said you have to write about everything, no matter how small. Even an old man and his dog out for a walk are no exception. If there is an exception, there is a gap, and that gap becomes a hole for a zombie to slip through, and then the whole thing falls apart.”

The familiar line made Yuyeon realize how long Ryung had been watching. The rookies’ smirks faded at their boss’s deferral of responsibility.

“Sir, I’m sorry…” Ryung stammered, gesturing with his hand so both the other men would bow at the same time. There wasn’t a hint of sincerity or remorse in his voice. “I scolded them. They’re good, so don’t be rough.”

“You’re the one who was hired to teach them right. Where the hell have you been during your shift?”

Wiping the smile off his face in an instant, Ryung scratched the back of his head, looking uncomfortable. It seemed like he was hiding something.

“Hah… I didn’t want to talk about this with you.”

His eyes roamed the room as he spoke. The longer he stalled, the more Yuyeon’s curiosity grew.

She wondered what he was hiding… he isn’t usually the one to hide emotions.

“I’ve been feeling a little under the weather lately, so I’ve been stationed in the restroom.”

“… The toilet?”

“Yes, I’m shitting so much I’m almost dehydrated.”

Yuyeon was silent this time at the unexpected confession. Now she realized why his skin was paler than usual.

“Oh… It’s diarrhea.”

The more she nodded in understanding, the more Ryung’s expression turned sour. Soon after though, he smirked as usual and lowered his head.

“Anyway, I’ll make sure this doesn’t happen in the future, so please forgive me this time.”

He replied while lifting his head up, causing his hair to flip behind his head. Ryung’s hand picked up a small strand of Yuyeon’s hair and looked at her face with a sticky gaze.

“Actually, I was going to ask you earlier, but… your hair. You cut it a little, didn’t you? About 5 centimeters?”

“Don’t be silly. Just rewrite your report and submit it.”

Yuyeon used that as an excuse to leave and turned away.

“You’re coming for a drink later, right?”

Ryung followed her to the door of the control tower. When he didn’t get a response, he called out in an expectant tone.

“I’ll wait!”

In the fifth year of his unrequited love for Yuyeon, a little disregard was not enough to break him.

love this novel but updates probs won’t be consistent since i translate when i feel like it hahaha

Kofi