Even Zombies Have Fandoms

Chapter 80

“Ah, we’ve arrived.”

“It’s fortunate we made it before the rain started.”

“Kids, be quiet.”

Seokjae signaled them to lower their voices and calmly surveyed the surroundings.

A large road connected to the coastal road cut through the middle of the street, and nowhere among the cluttered pathways strewn with abandoned vehicles and overturned panels could zombies be seen. The eerily quiet atmosphere was similar to the place they had departed from.

However, unlike the area filled with tourist-oriented commercial buildings, this place seemed closer to where residents lived their daily lives, with a noticeable difference in the cluster of more dilapidated buildings.

“Let’s move for now.”

After quickly scanning the area, Seokjae determined there was no immediate threat and decided to gradually advance into the inner city to find a place to shelter from the rain.

Maneuvering their bicycles at a pace similar to walking, they looked around in all directions for a suitable building to stay in.

At that moment, when only the faint sound of waves and the friction of bicycle wheels against asphalt could be heard in the silence so profound that even the slightest breath was audible, Junwoo frowned slightly and said:

“This place is… a bit complicated.”

Although his statement lacked a subject or explanation, no one asked for clarification. This was because everyone was thinking the same thing.

The place they arrived at after crossing the coastal road. They thought the only difference was in the degree of building deterioration, but as they penetrated deeper, additional differences emerged. Cracked or broken windows and stores left abandoned with cars crashed into them.

In fact, such sights were common, but this place had another peculiarity.

Crack-

A small, dull yet sharp noise echoed from somewhere, but the three people, except for the culprit, merely glanced at the ground rather than the source of the sound before losing interest. It was a sound they had heard several times since arriving here.

“Gasp.”

Kyungho flinched upon seeing a car with a large scratch caused by a bicycle, then pretended not to notice and pedaled away from the scene. This being the fourth escape, his hesitation was brief.

Carefully moving forward while avoiding the cars crashed and tangled here and there, he muttered:

“This… I won’t get a call from the police station later asking for compensation after tracking the black box, right?”

“No, that won’t happen. But let’s be careful since there might be zombies inside or under the cars.”

“Are you really that stupid…?”

Muyoung responded with a smile, finding Kyungho’s worry cute, while Junwoo looked at his friend with an expression of exasperation. Then, quickly glancing around, he tilted his head.

“But there really are a lot of cars here, strangely enough.”

As Junwoo said, there were particularly many abandoned vehicles on the roads and pathways. It seemed odd for a straight road with few connected alleys that wouldn’t have caused traffic jams. It was a peculiar scene, as if the cars had been lined up.

“The condition of the buildings is also poor, but in contrast, we don’t see any zombies. Instead…”

Junwoo, who seemed to have a talent for deduction, continued muttering but trailed off as he recalled scenes they had encountered several times on their way.

Concerned by his reaction, Muyoung glanced back while leading the way and saw Junwoo with a face struggling to hold back nausea. Guessing what he might have recalled, Muyoung spoke to divert his attention.

“Hmm… Well, it’s good that there are no zombies, but the problem is we can’t find a suitable building to enter.”

This was the reason they hadn’t entered any buildings so far. Every single one looked as if it had been attacked by zombies at least once, with no building having an intact exterior.

‘It’s difficult to check what’s on the upper floors of buildings from a distance, so I’d like to avoid them if possible… Unless they let me go up alone to check.’

Of course, knowing that Seokjae wouldn’t allow such a thing, Muyoung just quietly swallowed a sigh. Although he had spoken to divert Junwoo’s attention, the increasingly darkening sky looked like it could start raining at any moment, causing him to genuinely worry. He was so concerned that he unconsciously let out a groan.

“Y-yeah… We should quickly find somewhere- ugh.”

As Junwoo replied with a slightly pale face and looked ahead, his bicycle suddenly jolted, causing him to lift slightly off the seat before sitting back down.

And then…

Squish.

A sound that would instinctively repulse any human came from below.

Although he knew he shouldn’t, Junwoo looked down as if entranced and saw a single arm covered in countless footprints. It seemed to have been decomposing for a long time, with the part crushed by the bicycle wheel completely flattened and nearly half severed.

“Urgh!”

Junwoo jumped off his bicycle as if throwing it away to distance himself from the rotting body part. He turned around, grabbed his knees, and bent over to vomit what he had been holding back.

“Junwoo!”

Kyungho quickly approached Junwoo and rubbed his back while constantly surveying the surroundings.

“I-I’m sorry. Because of me… Let’s go quickly.”

After a moment, seeming to have calmed down, Junwoo apologized with a face as pale as Muyoung’s. His expression clearly showed that he thought, ‘To waste time just because of weak stomach,’ so Muyoung shook his head.

“No, it’s okay. Don’t worry about it.”

The horrific corpses they encountered upon entering this strange city, in such poor condition that it was difficult to distinguish whether they were dead bodies or zombies. Seeing them once could be traumatic enough, but having witnessed them several times in short intervals, it seemed Junwoo had finally burst after holding it in.

‘Honestly, in that situation, he should be praised for not screaming.’

Seokjae seemed to share the same thought, maintaining a calm expression. Showing no signs of blame, he glanced at the two abandoned bicycles and said:

“Since we’ve gotten off the bicycles, let’s just leave them behind and go.”

“What? Is that okay?”

Kyungho asked in surprise at the suggestion of abandoning the means of transport they had stubbornly ridden, thinking it would be useful when zombies appeared.

“Yes. Looking at it now, the cars are getting more densely packed ahead, so it’ll be faster to just walk. If I had known the road would get increasingly messy, we would have abandoned them from the start.”

After firmly explaining, Seokjae took out a weapon from his bag and held it in his free hand, then nodded forward as if urging them on. The three followed him, obediently leaving their bicycles behind on the street without any objection.

‘There’s not a single usable building.’

Their pace certainly quickened after abandoning the bicycles. However, they still couldn’t find a suitable place that could protect them for the night.

The dark clouds that were once distant now completely covered the sky above them. Seokjae inwardly clicked his tongue.

‘Tsk. It might be faster to make a place safe rather than finding a safe place.’

It would be better to randomly choose any building and clean it out. Just as he had reached this conclusion and was about to pick one of the entrances lined up before him, tightening his grip on the machete…

Flash.

A bright light flashed and disappeared as if a camera flash had gone off. Before they could react to that, a massive boom resonated, making it feel as if the ground had shaken.

Bang! Boom!! Rumble—!!

The noise was so loud that it not only made their eardrums ring but also echoed. Seokjae frowned and thought:

‘It seems to have struck closer than I expected. At this rate, we might die from being struck by lightning rather than being bitten by zombies.’

Given that the thunder was loud enough to be heard at this volume, it meant that lightning had struck nearby, so his statement wasn’t entirely baseless.

Moreover, they say misfortunes never come singly.

Plop.

As the unpleasant dampness hit his nose bridge and trickled down, Seokjae let out a bitter laugh. Was this a joke? He was just about to enter anywhere, and yet the rain couldn’t wait that brief moment and started pouring down.

Just as he was about to inform the three of his plan while glaring at the sky with irritation…

“H-hyung! What’s wrong?”

“Hyung, are you okay?”

A commotion erupted from behind.

The moment he realized Muyoung was the cause, Seokjae frantically turned around to find him, feeling as if his heart had turned cold.

“Ugh.”

And right behind him, he saw Muyoung crouched on the ground, covering his ears and contorting his face in pain. Seokjae immediately slid down in front of him, his knee hitting the ground, to check his condition.

“Muyoung, Kang Muyoung. What’s wrong with you?”

Although Seokjae asked anxiously, Muyoung didn’t seem to register his voice at all. He kept his eyes tightly shut and covered his ears even more firmly. Experiencing pain for the first time in so long, he simply couldn’t regain his senses.