<h4>Chapter 131 </h4>


    The church leader’s tragic end was met with dead silence.


    All the dogs stared at his corpse with eyes full of bewilderment. It seemed like they were incapable of processing the current situation.


    <i>‘There we go. I want you to panic.’</i>


    I wanted to shock them, make them question what was going on, and let their fear slowly eat away at their souls. Because the only thing they deserved right then was despair.


    <i>''Kill them.''</i>


    <i>GRRR!!!</i>


    The moment I gave my underlings the order, the ones that were blocking off the escape route started attacking the dogs at once.


    The third floor, which was totally silent just a moment before, was plunged into chaos.


    I strode through the chaos and headed toward the emergency exit. I was interrupted by Gwang Deok-Bae, who grabbed onto my shirt in panic.


    “Wait, boss! Why are you doing this all of a sudden? Why? Boss!”


    I wondered if he hadn’t heard what the church leader had said. Then again, there was no way he could’ve missed it.


    He was probably denying the truth, trying to convince himself that he’d heard wrongly.


    I grabbed his head.


    “Why? Why???” I asked him forcefully.


    “Yes… Yes, boss!”


    “You shouldn’t be asking that question.”


    “I’m sorry?"


    “You should know better than anyone. And now, you’re going to die because you don’t know why.”


    <i>Crush.</i>


    I crushed his skull in my grip, and warm cerebral fluid oozed between my fingers.


    I shook off the filthy blood from my hand and headed toward the rooftop without looking back.


    I couldn’t care less about these animals, but as I made my way up the stairs, doubt began to seep into my mind.


    As I carefully considered them, one question remained.


    <i>‘Why don’t I feel guilty?’</i>


    They were people, after all. They weren’t even dead.


    They all had beating hearts, knew how to think, and had feelings. But I couldn’t figure out why I felt no guilt. I couldn’t help but wonder if the incident in Gwangjang-dong had stripped thest of my humanity away.


    I let out a deep sigh, and as I did so, I figured out the reason why.


    They had already given up being human.


    If they had emotions, I wouldn’t have considered them as prey. But because they had already given up being human, I killed them the same way I killed zombies.


    I sighed and headed up toward the survivors, who were surely trembling in fear on the rooftop.


    As I walked quietly out onto the rooftop, I noticed the survivors standing in the pouring rain, doing nothing to shelter themselves from it. I wondered why they were willingly exposing themselves to the elements when they could’ve stayed inside the stairwell.


    Perhaps… perhaps they’d had enough of the zombies’ howls.


    Perhaps they were already so physically exhausted, and did not want to expose themselves to any mental suffering.


    After a moment, the man who went by the name Mr. Kim walked out from among the group of survivors.


    “What… What happened? Are all of the zombies dead?”


    Before answering him, I took a look at the survivors. They were huddled together like penguins, sharing their bodily warmth to protect themselves from the cold. Even though they were in a terrible situation, with rain pouring down on them, I could see their will to survive burning in their eyes.


    I couldn’t help but wonder how long they had been living in such conditions.


    They had probably been oppressed, pushed around, fighting for survival as the weakest beings in the food chain.


    Nevertheless, they still hung on to their will to survive.


    I let out a bitter sigh.


    “I took care of all of them. Come on in."


    Mr. Kim sighed in relief and bit his lips. His furrowed brow reflected how he felt inside.


    It wasn’t anger that fueled his expression. It was because he was thrilled by the news, and relieved that he had survived once again.


    Some of the other survivors could not hold back their emotions and burst into tears. As the anxiety gnawing at them finally drained out of their systems, they started crying.


    I scratched my forehead as I looked at the survivors.


    “It’s cold outside. Everyone, pleasee in.”


    The survivors followed Mr. Kim’s guidance and began to shuffle into the stairwell.


    Some of them moved with trembling legs. Others couldn’t stop their teeth from chattering, and some were shivering so hard that their upper bodies seemed to be caught in some sort of bizarre earthquake.


    The survivors were all trembling in their respective ways.


    But to me… This trembling was a sign that there was still humanity left within their souls.


    I looked at Mr. Kim.


    “Do you have anything that can keep your people warm?” I asked.


    “We have some nkets. There’s a heater… But since there’s no electricity, we can’t really say that we have one.”


    “Go and grab all the nkets you have. And please light all the candles as well.”


    “Got it.”


    I was worried that the survivors would suffer from hypothermia.


    They’d been standing in the pouring rain in such cold weather, and there was no doubt that dozens of them were going to catch a cold. It was probably a good idea if none of them fell asleep.


    I knew that they were all exhausted, but the best thing they could do was stay awake, since their body temperature was bound to drop if they fell asleep. With their immune systems already so weak, they would surely catch a cold if they went to sleep.


    I had no more time to waste.


    For me, So-Yeon was my number one priority.


    I felt pity for the survivors… But the moment the rain stopped, I wanted to leave for Gwangjang-dong.


    When Mr. Kim went down the stairs, I called out to Kim Jin-Ju, who was across from me.


    “Is there any food here?”


    Kim Jin-Ju silently shook her head silently.


    I wondered if they didn’t have enough food. They had to recover their stamina somehow…


    “We have some hard biscuits…”


    Kim Jin-Ju trailed off with a hopeless sigh. Her expression was terribly downcast. I assumed that the dogs were still on her mind.


    “In that case, please make some porridge with the biscuits. It won''t taste good, but for now, getting warm is priority.”


    “Got it.”


    “One other thing, Kim Jin-Ju.”


    She gave me a tired, nk look.


    I wondered if her eyes were like that because of the miserable reality she was facing.


    Or perhaps it was because she didn’t trust me. I couldn’t figure out why her eyes were so nk.


    I wet my lips, then spoke.


    “The animals you mentioned… All of them died.”


    Her eyes went wide.


    “Did you kill them?” she stammered out.


    “...”


    I hesitated, unable to answer her immediately.


    I wasn’t sure if telling her that I’d killed them with my own hands was the right thing to do.


    Kim Jin-Ju hadbeled the dogs on the third floor as animals. She probably felt only hatred and spite toward them.


    In order to help her let go of all this hatred and spite, I knew I had to give her the answer she wanted. I figured that she would let her guard down only if I told her that I hadn’t killed them with my own hands.


    I brushed a hand through my hair to avoid eye contact with her as I spoke.


    “They were bitten to death by zombies. They were so mangled that I couldn’t even recognize that they were people. They died painfully, while totally aware.”


    As I offered up the lie about how the dogs had died, her eyes began to tremble.


    She bit her lower lip, and her breathing began to grow heavy. Soon after, tears started to roll down her cheeks.


    I could tell just how much suffering she’d had to endure up to this point. It was as though a dam inside her had burst, and all her emotions were flooding out.


    The tears flowed out freely, telling the story of her suffering.


    Kim Jin-Ju sat helplessly on the ground and cried for a long time. As she cried, she mumbled one phrase over and over.


    “Thank you, thank you, Lord.”


    I questioned myself before if a person’s death could bring someone else joy. I thought it was arrogant for me to judge what was right or wrong.


    At that moment, I realized that all of the choices I’d made so far were not wrong.


    The words of the people I saved showed me what was right and wrong.


    * * *


    As dawn broke, the survivors warmed their bodies by eating the soup made from biscuits. As they did so, the stronger men went around to collect medicine and other supplies from the medical center.


    There were former doctors and nurses among the seniors who were in their sixties and older. Mr. Kim was also a doctor.


    Apparently, Kim Jin-Ju had stopped by the medical center to see Mr. Kim, and ended up being trapped because of the zombie outbreak.


    “Thank you for saving us. I know it’ste… But my name is Kim Seok-Won.”


    “Lee Hyun-Deok.”


    Mr. Kim’s name was Kim Seok-Won.


    After some brief introductions, I was able to learn about what had happened.


    After the zombie apocalypse broke out, the survivors here began to broadcast on the radio, hoping to gather other survivors.


    The survivors here tried their best to survive, working together to deal with the zombie threat. However, about a month ago or so, the dogs infiltrated the shelter, and it all went downhill from there.


    At first, they were suspicious of the dogs, but once the dogs started using force, the original survivors could do nothing about it. Some of the survivors were even hurt in the process.


    In the end, the dogs forcefully overwhelmed them and took over, making the survivors follow their orders. They were made to suffer unimaginable things, but they made it through in the end.


    The most suspicious part was that the ones who went out on patrol at night were attacked by zombies every time. The ones who returned alive were always the dogs, and those that didn’t were the original survivors of the shelter.


    <i>''Did they sell the survivors over to the Family each time they went on patrol?’</i>


    There was no need to mention this to Kim Seok-Won. Speaking about this would only renew their pain.


    I… I cooled myself down and closed my eyes.


    Kim Seok-Won’s expression grew bitter as he continued to recount his story.


    The thing that broke his heart the most… It was the fact that he had no choice but to watch the survivors who’d been drawn in by their broadcast get beaten up by the dogs.


    He told me that the guilt he felt had cost him many sleepless nights. However, the sudden zombie wave caused the dogs to let their guard down, and he had seized the opportunity to take back the radio and change the contents of the broadcast, warning others not toe.


    Kim Seok-Won''s thoughtfulness, and the fact that he’d been thinking of the safety of others in that short span of time, made me trust him.


    I was d that I’d been able to save such good people.


    I was moved by the fact that I hadn’t wasted my time, and that my efforts had been worth it.


    When I told the survivors about the shelter in Gwangjang-dong, they seemed hesitant at first. I could tell that they had a hard time trusting me since I was a zombie.


    However, Kim Seok-Won stepped up and tried to persuade the remaining survivors.


    “Instead of living like this, shouldn’t we take a leap of faith, and believe in even this small possibility?”


    His speech moved the hearts of the survivors. The survivors gathered all the remaining supplies in the medical center and decided to leave at sunrise.


    Kim Seok-Won looked out the window.


    “The sun’s starting to rise. It seems like the rain’s stopping too.”


    “The air’s pretty chilly as well… It sure did rain a lot.”


    The thunderstorm had passed, and the sky was clear.


    I looked over at the survivors.


    “Let’s go. Everyone, wake up.”


    Several grunts came from around the room. All the survivors looked tired, as they hadn’t gotten any proper sleep that night.


    Of course, if they’d fallen sound asleep and woke up with a cold, the walk over to the shelter would’ve been even harder. Even if it was hard on them, the right thing to do was to head over Gwangjang-dong before their situation got worse.


    I ordered my underlings to carry the supplies from the medical center as I lined the survivors up in front of the entrance on the first floor.


    ].


    The smell of grass tickled my nose. The ripples in the puddles left over by the storm reflected the sunlight that shone down on them.


    The filth that had covered the world had been washed away.


    It was a new morning.


    As I got my underlings into formation, Kim Seok-Won cleared his throat.


    "Um… The blue zombies here… Are they allies?” he asked.


    “Yes.”


    “They won’t suddenly attack or anything… Right?”


    “They’ve never done so before, so you don’t have to worry.”


    Kim Seok-Won nced at my underlings and back at me, his eyes full of unease


    The other survivors were no different.


    They were probably afraid.


    However, the world was different now, which meant that humans also had to change and adapt ordingly.


    Even if they didn’t fit in right away, I hoped that the survivors here would eventually grow into it and get used to life as a member of the Survivor Rally Organization.


    After a moment, Kim Jin-Ju, who was next to Kim Seok-Won, poked her head out.


    "Umm… Don’t you think the people in Gwangjang-dong would feel ufortable epting us?”


    She smiled awkwardly while scratching her nose.


    I knew that moving to a new home would be a foreign experience to them, but they had to embrace the uncertainty and fear to move forward. That was the only way they could grow stronger and reach a better future.


    I favored her with a gentle smile.


    “Everyone there will wee you, and everyone else here. You have goodwill within you; trust that it still exists elsewhere in this world.”


    Kim Jin-Ju nodded slowly and took a deep breath. It seemed like the fear in her heart had turned into excitement.


    I looked over at the forty-odd survivors.


    “Let’s move. Even if it gets tiring, please don’t give up.”


    The survivors responded with spirited voices.


    “Will do!”


    I took a deep breath, let it out, and began walking in the direction of Gwangjang-dong.