Please Shoot Me - 26

As the dog got closer, they could make out the details of the shape. Crimson blood oozed from the severed end of the arm, leaving a trail of blood splatter in the dog’s path. The fingers were white and slender, and the nails had clear nail polish that shone through the blood.

Even after the zombie outbreak, many people were still living outside the safe zone. Most of them were more isolated than alive; they were just unable to be rescued. Some would be rescued if they stumbled upon an A/Z crew, but most would be bitten, infected, or killed.

The dog, who had walked straight and untouched, lunged in front of Ryung and dropped the arm. The toe in his boot was crushed by the weight of another human.

He stared down at the arm in disbelief. The skin was fresh, with no signs of decay, and the blood was still l*quid. Judging by its condition, the human probably just died. Yuyeon was suddenly reminded of the scene in which the dog sniffed a corpse, and a shiver ran down her spine at the thought of the dog checking its decaying prey.

The dog sat down in front of Ryung, stared up at him, and opened its blood-soaked mouth to pant. It must have had a hard time walking after biting something its own size. They couldn’t tell if the dog was thanking them for the water, or if it was still in the habit of feeding its zombified master, but now it seemed to want praise. Just as his master had done.

But Ryung’s gaze did not stay on the dog, but the corpse at his feet. He was motionless, as if time had stopped. Sensing something wasn’t right, Yuyeon took a step forward. At that moment, Ryung’s brow creased and his breathing became ragged.

“Hey Ryung…”

The golden eyes that answered her call looked into Yuyeon’s her own. The corners of his eyes twitched, a dizzying tangle of thirst, fear, and embarrassment He spat out a short, choppy breath, his hands clamped over his face, covering his mouth and nose as he stumbled backward, shaking his head. When he walked away without picking up the food, the dog snatched the arm back and placed it at Ryung’s feet once more. Ryung’s back hit a closed shop door and he stopped. With nowhere to run, he kicked at the arm with his foot and shouted.

“Get away!”

The arm he kicked rolled away and fell back down the street. The dog jumped back at the loud noise, then laid on the ground in front of the arm in the distance. This time, as if it understood the rejection, it didn’t come back, but instead began to tear at the flesh of the finger. It was a bizarre sight, the tearing of human flesh, but it was natural to the dog, accustomed to it. It wasn’t gross; it was a survival tactic the dog had learned to use in the changing world.

Ryung slid down to the ground. As Yuyeon approached, he reached out and gestured for her to stop.

“Wait a minute…”

With that, he muttered, taking a long, deep breath in and out. Somehow, Yuyeon could tell he was enduring something. She looked back at the dog nibbling on the fingers, and stood still at his request. She knew instinctively that what Ryung felt was hunger.

“Tell me when it’s okay.”

“Hah… I’m sorry…”

“You don’t have anything to apologize for. You’re the one in pain.”

Yuyeon listened to his breathing as she dragged her shoe on the ground. Ryung stared off into the distance for a while, gulping down his own saliva. Yuyeon kept her eyes peeled in all directions, firing at the occasional zombie until Ryung calmed down. After what seemed like an eternity, when Ryung felt his breathing return to normal, he jumped up.

“Okay, now let’s go.”

Ryung said cheerfully, life nothing happened. She wanted to ask him if he was sure he was okay, but she kept her mouth shut. There were so many things she wanted to ask, but there was no time to talk about them.

Before she knew it, the red sun was ebbing away, and the world was plunging into darkness. Wasting time on the unexpected event had derailed their plans. Being outside at night with no streetlights was suicidal. To make matters worse, a zombie standing at the intersection saw them and came running. Ryung sensed it and raised his gun, but Yuyeon quickly grabbed the muzzle.

“There’s no point in shooting now. Save your bullets. We’ll have to use them tomorrow.”

“But…”

Yuyeon tugged on his sleeve, staring at the approaching zombie. Most of the roadside shops had their shutters down and would take a long time for them to open. Yuyeon hurriedly headed for a store with a door. No door meant no protection from zombies, but it was better than being in the middle of the street.

She walked through the formal entrance, which was just a door frame, and down the stairs to the basement. Being underground, it was pitch black. Ryung immediately turned on his tactical light to illuminate the stare, but his concern was palpable.

“Are we really staying here?”

“We can’t help it. Everywhere else is shuttered. It’ll be another day before we can find one unlocked.”

“Hah… Yeah…”

Ryung glanced behind them, then nudged Yuyeon toward the doorway.

“I’ll organize downstairs, so you shoot anyone that follows. The entrance is narrow, so it shouldn’t be too much.”

“You’re going down by yourself?”

“It won’t take long.”

He ran down all the stairs and disappeared into the darkness. Inside, Yuyeon heard him fire off a few gunshots. She sniffed the air and pulled the trigger on the zombies that charged toward them. It wasn’t difficult, just as he said, as she only had to take out the ones she could see inside the narrow opening. If something appears, shoot. Moving like a machine, Yuyeon pointed the gun at a bundle of pure white fur that appeared from a low position, stopping just short of pulling the trigger.

The dog licked its red tongue and cocked its head as if to ask what they were doing there. Yuyeon exhaled in relief with a silent sweep of her hand across her chest. At that moment, she heard Ryung’s voice behind her.

“Sunbae, I’m done cleaning up. Please come down.”

“Coming.”

Yuyeon stared at the dog one last time before turning away. The dust glinting in the light was immediately sucked into her nose and mouth. The stench of blood and stale odor, which she could smell even before entering, was viscous. The zombies had been living for so long that their body odor was unbearable.

When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she saw a long hallway behind a small checkout counter. The ceiling was covered in cobwebs and dust, and the floor was strewn with rat feces and insect carcasses. The neglected basement was predictably the worst in terms of ventilation and sanitation.

Yuyeon moved past a few zombie corpses to the checkout area. There were stalls and a refrigerator, bags of instant noodles and snacks on the shelves covered in dust, as well as water and canned drinks lined up in the turned-off refrigerator. All of them had been there for at least 10 to 20 years. In the middle of it all, Yuyeon found a bag of her favorite snacks from her childhood. The familiar label peeking through the dust was a welcomed sight.

“You can’t eat those,” Ryung added, making her wonder if he saw the twinkle in her eyes.

“I know. Who do you think I am? You?”

“We can’t drink anything either, unless it’s in a glass bottle…”

“I know, I know.”

Yuyeon carefully looked around the room in the light. CDs lined the walls. She thought this was just a hallway, but it must be some sort of DVD room.

Yuyeon went straight to the counter and searched for anything useful. She opened a drawer and found a bunch of ballpoint pens and tools. As she rummaged through them, she heard something coming down the stairs. Ryung, who had been shining the light into Yuyeon’s line of sight, fixed his gun toward the direction of the noise.

“The gunshots are bringing them in, or maybe it’s your smell. I’ll just barricade the door first since there is nothing to stop them…”

His words trailed off as he scanned their surroundings. There really was nothing to stop the zombies, but then there was a sudden thud, followed by the sound of a heavy object falling. Zombies must have rolled down the stairs. They were clunky in their movements, falling straight down stairs and getting up with no problems as long as they didn’t crack their heads open. The zombies came down fast and unexpectedly, breaking their first line of defense, but that was okay. They just needed to create a second line of defense.

Yuyeon tugged on Ryung’s hand as he pointed the gun at the stairs.

“What are you doing?”

“There’s nothing else to stop them. Did you check the rooms?”

“Yeah, for now.”

“Good.”

She opened the first door and pushed Ryung into the room. The zombie that has descended the stairs spotted their movements and assumed an aggressive stance. It seemed to be delighted with finding its prey. Between the zombie’s legs was the dog, wagging its tail once it spotted Yuyeon.

Yuyeon went into the room and was about to close the door when she gave a short whistle. As if recognizing her call, the dog slipped through the crack in the door. The zombie that came running with the dog stuck its face out at her from the other side of the door and tried to attack. Yuyeon hastily slammed the door shut, and the gruesome face was cut off beyond the door. After slamming and locking the door behind her, Yuyeon slumped down and muttered.

“Let’s just stay here for now.”

Kofi