Please Shoot Me - 24

“Sunbae.”

A dark, echoing voice lifted Yuyeon from the blood landscape. When she opened her eyes, she saw golden eyes filling her vision. The eyes of a killer, more beast than man. The eyes of a host devoid of emotion and driven solely by appetite. As disgust rose, his eyes narrowed in concern.

“Are you okay?”

A soothing voice slowed her thumping heartbeat. She realized she was awake, and the rest of the landscape slowly came into focus, though the sun had begun to set, and it was darker than it had been before she fell asleep. A warm hand gently ran through her sweaty hair.

“I was going to let you sleep some more, but I thought you might be having a nightmare, so I woke you up.”

“…”

“You kept moaning.”

‘I see.’

The screams in her dreams must have leaked outside. She felt a gentle hand stroke her hair and she closed her eyes with a sigh. She couldn’t remember the last time she had been touched like this. It was probably the last time he touched her. She felt an empty hole in her stomach and an overwhelming need to fill it with something. She rubbed her head against his shoulder and told him in a demanding tone.

“More.”

“…”

“Hold me more.”

She felt him pause for a moment, but soon a tiny warmth wrapped around her shoulders and continued to stroke her hair. She knew it was foolish, but she dug deeper into his arms. It was why she hasn’t fallen completely asleep since she was just the 10-year-old Seo Yuyeon. The same young girl still needed a place to lean on.

Ryung carefully breathed, like a parent trying to put a crying child back to sleep. It wasn’t until the night sweats had nearly dried that Yuyeon nudged him in the chest and rubbed her eyes.

“How long did I sleep?”

“It’s not exact, but about three hours.”

He answered as if nothing happened. He could have asked her what she was dreaming about, but he just stared at her and kept his mouth shut. Perhaps he thought she didn’t want to be reminded of the nightmare.

“Ah… Nothing happened, right?”

“Well, not much, except that I was kind of happy.”

“Happy about what?”

“I was supposed to go to a cafe with you, and we ended up coming. I’m glad to be alive again.”

Though her vision was still blurry, she could make out Ryung’s smiling face. Without realizing it, she caught the subtle scent of coffee. On a normal day, she would have pushed him away, but it was ironic that it was only after this hellish situation that she was close enough to stay in his arms.

He seemed to be enjoying himself in the midst of this horrible ordeal, and Yuyeon couldn’t help but chuckle.

“You are, indeed, unusually happy.”

“Yes, I am. What’s the use of not being happy? You should be happy while you can, don’t put it off.”

The words were bright and light, but they struck a chord, especially since they both knew happiness in life is a finite thing that can be taken away at any moment.

“Okay, enough about being happy.”

“I’m sorry, I was happy on my own.”

“No, I slept well thanks to you, too.”

“…”

Ryung lowered his eyes and awkwardly raised the corner of his mouth. He woke her up when he realized she was having a nightmare, but it was such an obvious lie that it didn’t take long for the tingling in her stomach to make her admit the truth.

“Yeah, that’s a lie, but I woke up and I was relieved to see you, and I mean that.”

He lifted his gaze, quickly judging the truth. His sharp gaze melted into softness once more.

“I was happy to have you with me, too.”

“How sweet…” Yuyeon muttered.

She couldn’t stop smiling, as if happiness had been instilled into her. She rolled her stiff shoulders and neck to loosen them, then grabbed the gun she had been holding in her sleep and stood up. Ryung followed suit.

“Let’s move as far as we can before nightfall. We’ll have to travel about half the way today to get there tomorrow.”

“Is it far?”

“I’ve never been there, but judging by the location, we should be walking for at least a day.”

Yuyeon cautiously opened the door, only to find something heavy against it.

“What is it?”

“It won’t open? I broke the doorknob earlier.”

Ryung pushed the door open for her. Something jammed in the door slid out with a thud. A honeycombed zombie corpse hung in the doorway. Ryung kicked it out of the way, making room for Yuyeon, and muttered to himself.

“That’s a kid, maybe a middle schooler?”

Once outside, Yuyeon saw the zombie corpse in a hoodie and swallowed a sigh. The floor was dark with dried blood.

“Does it bother you?”

“I guess, though it’s funny when I say that.”

Ryung let out a bitter laugh as though he was a deflating balloon. He thought he had gotten used to killing zombies after so many battles, but neither he nor Yuyeon had completely shaken off the guilt. He had killed countless zombies since joining the army, and among them were children, the elderly, and even pregnant women. The pity was endless, and the punishment was more than enough to send him to hell.

‘Die, die, die…’

Suddenly, Yuyeon remembered the little zombie from her nightmare, how old he was, probably around five or six. He was tiny, but it took her two full adult hands to rip him apart. The memory of her first killing, the one she tried so hard to block out, pierced her brain and gave her a pounding headache.

“Ah…”

“What’s wrong? Does your head hurt?”

Ryung approached, concerned, and touched her forehead.

“Hmmm, it feels hot, too. Is it a cold?”

“No, your body temperature is low. I don’t have a fever.”

“Well?”

“I’m just feeling a little dizzy after sitting for so long.”

The after-effects of the nightmare came out of nowhere and disrupted Yuyeon’s life. Ignoring the pounding headache, she squinted her eyes and smiled as she flicked the back of her hand across his restless forehead.

“Come on, we’re running out of time.”

“Shouldn’t you get some more rest if you’re dizzy…?”

“No, this is normal. I’m really fine now.”

Ryung made a reluctant face, but took a step back and re-holstered his gun.

“Stay behind me.”

“You’re leading again?”

“I’m supposed to be the assistant leading in the front while the leader watches the rear. What if we both get infected? You’re more sane than me.”

He added a good reason and led the way. Convinced, Yuyeon followed him without a word, occasionally glancing back. In the meantime, the search party moved on, and there was no sound of gunfire or engines. If so, it was the zombies lurking everywhere that they now had to watch out for.

The area near the safe zone was never safe, with a constant influx of zombies following the scent of humans, although the pursuing team managed to kill the ones they could see as they went about their business.

BANG!

As if on cue, the muzzle of Ryung’s rifle flowed as they exited the alley. A zombie fell, its head half blown off. Quickly checking in all directions, he signaled Yuyeon to come out when he was sure they were safe. The road was littered with fresh zombie corpses, indicating that the battle had already been fought. Apparently, their pursuers had unwittingly taken over the cleanup.

“We’re going to stick to the buildings. Turn off the road over there and go straight.”

She gave him the directions and he headed here without hesitation. They worked well together, having been on many missions together in the first three years of Ryung’s enlistment.

The street was lined with densely packed buildings, which had been bombed in the early days of the virus to exterminate the zombies, making it difficult to find intact buildings. The road was relatively clear of military traffic, but the sidewalks were cobbled together with broken cement and corpses, making walking tricky.

“Sunbae, be careful not to fall.”

Ryung kept his eyes on the road ahead, but also paid attention to Yuyeon behind him. Just then, Yuyeon, who had just killed a zombie walking out of the alley with a single shot, scolded him.

“Mind your own business.”

“I trust you.”

Ryung was walking along, taking out a few zombies, barely looking behind him, relying on the feel of the soles of his shoes to grip the ground, when something brushed against his ankle. It was w*t and warm. It was neither a zombie nor a corpse, and Yuyeon let out an involuntary yelp and flinched. At the same time, Ryung heard her questioning sound.

“Sunbae, are you okay?”

Quickly catching her when she was about to fall, Ryung prepared to aim his gun at the white object at her feet. But his shoulders drooped as he recognized the familiar furry figure squirming around them. As Yuyeon gently opened her eyes, the white dog lunged at her again.

Despite having already tripped over her feet once, the dog rubbed his face against Yuyeon’s leg as if he never learned.

“Hey, isn’t that… The one that was with Grandpa Zombie?”

“Yeah.”

She only fed him once, but he came to say hello, not realizing that these two were the ones who stole its owner.

“Stupid dog…”

She patted the dog on the head, and his ears perked up and he rolled over to show his friendliness.

Kofi