Dystopia Of Night - Chapter 1 Part 3

[AM 10:42]

Yuju, who was looking at the clock displayed prominently on the black screen, looked outside again. The morning sun was rising, appearing ominously red above the faintly lit horizon.

“Yuju!”

At that moment, Sehan ran over and called out to Yuju in a loud voice. A look of urgency and nervousness crossed his distorted face. As Yuju turned to face him with a puzzled expression, the surroundings grew dark. Through the right window, she could see the bright rising sun, which was quite strange.

Creak. Thud!

Yuju stiffly lifted her neck like a rusty iron and looked up. A bumpy, tightly-packed cluster of short tentacle-like appendages covered the window frame, emitting a viscous liquid. Yuju recognized it as the legs of a peculiar creature. Its eyes, protruding like a snail, spotted her.

The tentacles extended through the open window.

Bang! A gunshot sounded as the monster’s head exploded. The tentacles, which were extending rapidly, abruptly halted. Sehan, holding a black gun, appeared, cautiously watching the creature. Without further thought, Yuju went out of the way.

“W-what is that…”

Rationally, her mind couldn’t comprehend the appearance of such an inexplicable creature. Her body froze and trembled, as if encountering a truck accelerating abruptly in front of her.

“Ha, haa.”

Trembling arms tightly embraced Yuju. Sehan wasted no time and lifted Yuju in his arms.

Holding Yuju like a child with one arm, Sehan observed the monster as he took a step back with his gun aimed at it.

“Uwaaaaakk!”

Sehan focused on the monster in front of him, but the disturbing noises continued to echo around him. Monsters resembling the ones that attacked Sehan’s car were invading the police bus. Their tentacles smashed through the windows and burrowed in. Sticky mucus dripped with human blood and flesh.

The reddened tentacles snatched several humans inside the police bus. While some people managed to escape, a few individuals in blue prisoner uniforms and one police officer were dragged away. Satisfied with their prey, the monsters soon disappeared into the forest.

The bright red sun rising in the sky shone brightly on the surviving humans.

“If you are the police, wouldn’t you have a radio? Can’t you contact anyone?”

“When will the rescue team arrive?”

“Where are we? What’s going on?”

Confused, the people desperately clung to the surviving police officer.

“Wait! Everyone be quiet. What will you do if that monster comes back because of your screaming?”

Then the police officer’s voice rang loudly, too. However, it had an effect. The people who were screaming in fear closed their mouths.

“Are you okay?”

Sehan gently lowered Yuju to the ground and asked. Her trembling legs couldn’t function properly, but Sehan’s hand supported her, preventing her from collapsing awkwardly.

“D-Did those people die?”

“…….”

“The sun is strange. The phones aren’t working… We fell for such a long time, but why is the car still intact? We were above the Han River, so how did we end up in a forest?”

What is happening? Is this a dream? Can I go back home? What about my mom? My dad?

“But this is still Seoul, right? It’s Seoul, isn’t it?”

“…….”

“When the rescue team arrives, I should contact my parents. They told me to call when I arrive…”

The phone clenched in her hand, like the last strand of hope, felt useless.

[Out of service]

Could there be an area in Seoul where there is no phone signal? Faced with the terrifying message that silenced her, Yuju’s face contorted like a child’s.

Everything felt so painfully real that she couldn’t even consider it a dream. Sehan grabbed Yuju’s cheeks with both hands as she consciously turned away from the sun, which was much redder than usual.

“Look at me.”

He gently brushed Yuju’s sweaty hair with his hand and looked into her eyes.

“I’m here. By your side, Yuju.”

“…….”

“I’ll be here with you.”

His cold, black eyes were calm and tranquil. Yuju’s eyes, which had been trembling with confusion, gradually found their focus and settled.

Yuju liked Sehan’s face like that. He was someone who made everyone want to follow him. He had a charisma that could captivate a crowd.

Yuju snapped out of her daze. She instinctively knew that if she lost focus again, she would be a burden to him.

She raised her hand and held Sehan’s hand tightly. Soon, she was able to walk on her own.

Pale-faced police officers approached them. They had visible scratches and injuries, but they both walked naturally as if they were not seriously hurt.

“Excuse me. We received a report that you were carrying a gun… Can we check it?”

It seemed like someone had witnessed Sehan using a gun.

The police officers appeared concerned and cautious about Sehan carrying a gun, but they were equally perplexed by the chaotic situation.

“I am a former athlete. I have a license.”

“What?”

Sehan took out his gun permit from his wallet. The police officers who checked the license looked skeptical.

“So, are you saying that you were carrying a firearm? You must know that it’s illegal unless stored in a designated location, right?”

“I’ll follow the legal procedures once the situation is under control. But wouldn’t it be better to have at least one more person who could use a gun right now?”

“Ah…”

“Even that monster dies when it gets shot in the head.”

Sehan turned his body to the side as if he were saying ‘if youo have eyes, look at what I did’ and they saw the lifeless body of a monster lying next to the SUV vehicle. While the police officers with guns were unable to do anything and screamed in panic, he killed one monster.

“I will keep my gun with me. It’s for the safety of others.”

“Is that gun really yours?”

A middle-aged police officer next to the young officer asked sharply with his eyes narrowing. Both officers were armed with pistols and handcuffs. It was natural since they were transporting prisoners. The deceased officer would have also had a gun, and they seemed to suspect that Sehan’s gun belonged to the deceased officer.

“Yes.”

Sehan answered without hesitation. The police officers looked suspicious, but the body of the deceased officer had disappeared, and they couldn’t confirm it since they couldn’t contact the outside world to confirm.

“What if you use the gun recklessly? It’s dangerous…”

“I won’t shoot recklessly. Not in the future either.”

It meant that he hadn’t shot recklessly earlier either.

“Well…”

The police officer’s voice grew quieter and quieter.

“Come this way for now. We’re trying to identify the victims.”

Sehan and Yuju followed the police officers slowly.

“Will it be okay?”

Yuju whispered softly. Sehan had a composed expression, but Yuju knew that the gun in his pocket wasn’t his. If he had put the pistol in his pocket when they got into the car, it would have been noticeable.

“There’s no way to check right now. In this situation, they probably want to avoid friction, so they won’t force it. And… people are dangerous, too.”

“People?”

“A few criminals who were on the bus seem to have escaped.”

Yuju tightly sealed her lips. It seemed like they were gathering people and trying to identify them because of the escaped criminals. Could the police officers not remember the faces of the criminals?

Anyway, the situation was beyond the control of just two police officers. Yuju didn’t want to have prejudice, but it was easy for someone who had committed a crime once to do it again. The thought of people wandering around this area without knowing what crime they had committed made her dizzy.

“Perhaps this place is lawless.”

It was a sentence with many implications. Sehan, with cold eyes, surveyed the gathering crowd and quietly warned.

“Don’t trust anyone.”

Sehan tightened his grip on Yuju’s hand.

***