Even Zombies Have Fandoms

Chapter 86

“Are you guys okay?”

Kyungho hurriedly asked the two people who had entered and were leaning against the wall, looking exhausted.

“Yeah.”

“Mm-hmm, thanks to you we survived. Thank you both.”

Seokjae nodded briefly while wiping moisture from his face, and Muyoung, embarrassed by their concern, answered in a small voice.

“Phew…”

“Ah, I’m sorry. I’ll get down now.”

When Muyoung felt Seokjae’s rough breathing through their touching bodies, he quickly moved away from his embrace.

“What’s that about.”

Even though his body temperature was low, the areas where their bodies had overlapped retained more warmth than other parts exposed to rain. Because of this, Seokjae could clearly feel Muyoung’s absence. He frowned in displeasure, having lost his “pet zombie” after relaxing his guard for a moment.

“I’ll move on my own from now on. The emergency is over—”

“It’s still thundering.”

“I’m really fine with that now. I’m completely normal! I’m sorry for being a burden.”

Muyoung sensed disapproval in Seokjae’s gaze piercing his cheeks, but pretended not to notice and responded with all his might. No matter what, he couldn’t continue being carried around unable to do anything.

“T-that’s right. I should apologize to the other two as well.”

Feeling that continuing this conversation might weaken his resolve, Muyoung quickly turned to the two who were looking out the window.

“I’m sorry for just being in the way today. From now on, I’ll do my part properly.”

“Come on, what are you saying? This is why we stick together.”

“That’s right. You don’t need to apologize.”

As they exchanged their usual conversation, the two also plopped down on the landing floor, seemingly finally relaxing completely.

“Haah… what a relief. We really survived, right?”

Junwoo, who had been groaning, rubbed his face vigorously with both hands before speaking. His voice was relieved. However… despite not being very loud, the echo characteristic of empty spaces made his voice reverberate beyond the stairs.

“…”

Seokjae, who had been staring at Muyoung avoiding him to chat with the other two, immediately held his breath and surveyed the surroundings. Though they were inside the building, he hadn’t forgotten that it was not much different from being outside.

Seeing Seokjae suddenly staring into the distance without blinking, the three turned their heads to follow his gaze. At that moment, a flash of lightning from the sky briefly illuminated the surroundings before disappearing.

Whoosh- Drip, drip…

After the loud thunder rumbled throughout the school. The only sound filling the space after the reverberations faded was the noise reduced by the windows.

Judging there was no immediate danger nearby, Seokjae quickly stood up and said:

“Let’s stay as quiet as possible, just in case.”

The three people who had firmly believed his statement that “we won’t encounter anyone in the school” looked puzzled. Junwoo whispered with a noticeably lower voice:

“Why? All the zombies should be outside now…”

“There’s still a possibility that a few might remain inside.”

Looking at the school that emanated an even more eerie atmosphere on this rainy night, Seokjae revealed the truth he had deliberately concealed. And recalling how the zombies had simultaneously turned their heads precisely in their direction despite the thunder being louder than the noise from the bushes, he warned:

“Even if that’s not the case, they might come back inside if they hear us, so there’s no harm in being careful.”

He had figured out that there were sounds the creatures didn’t respond to. However, he didn’t know if they had the intelligence to distinguish between types of sounds rather than just volume levels and prioritize accordingly.

It was bad news for Seokjae, who had thought that the noise of fighting a few zombies wouldn’t exceed the thundering and pouring rain.

‘They might have instinctively reacted to the sound of their own kind, but either way, they’ve become more like dogs.’

He had thought they would only need to deal with zombies remaining in the school during their stay, but now they had to be wary of those outside as well.

‘If they swarm into the school, we’ll have no way to escape…’

It would be best to avoid causing a commotion. The safest option would be to hide somewhere until the zombies that had gathered due to the recent disturbance dispersed again, and then find another route out instead of the way they came.

After finishing his thoughts, Seokjae pointed with his chin toward the stairs leading upward and said:

“Let’s rest after we get somewhere with a door at least.”

Though they had just narrowly escaped death, it wasn’t time to rest yet.

Seokjae looked up at the floor above, leaving behind the three who were getting up despite their tired faces, following his words without complaint.

‘Even during vacation, there must be people who come to work, so there should be open doors.’

Or perhaps there were places left open by those creatures outside before they became zombies.

Worst case, they could break locks, but that would create noise, so he left it as a last resort. The reason for going upstairs was also to get further from the first floor so that any noise they made wouldn’t be heard by the creatures outside.

‘Why do I feel so uneasy?’

Seokjae climbed the stairs slowly with a troubled expression. Finding an open door in an empty school should surely be easy, but somehow he had an ominous feeling that things wouldn’t go so smoothly.

Rumble…

As if reinforcing Seokjae’s thoughts, a loud rumble of thunder struck outside. The tension that had momentarily subsided gradually intensified again with the loud thunderclap.

Meanwhile, one person was distracted by something else:

‘It’s definitely getting better.’

Muyoung tensed up immediately upon seeing the lightning. He fiddled with his ears, which still felt muffled even after entering the building. Though his body instinctively flinched at the thunder, now the unpleasant feeling was stronger than the pain.

‘If it stays at this level, I could be helpful.’

He didn’t understand why he, who couldn’t feel pain, experienced such terrible agony from thunder sounds, but what mattered now was that he could move normally. Muyoung clenched his fists, determined to make up for being a burden until now.

* * *

[2-1]

It was the first classroom they saw after climbing the stairs. The group moved from the stairwell at the end and slowly walked down the empty corridor.

There were bloodstains and scattered shoes here and there, but that was all; no doors were open. There was also a Year 2 faculty office in the middle, but its windows were translucent, making it impossible to see inside. Additionally, the door lock was engaged, so they decided to give up, judging it too risky.

“…Strange.”

“What? What is it?”

They had checked the entire third floor and were on their way up to the fourth floor. Muyoung, who was following closely behind Seokjae, asked about his muttering.

Muyoung was simply trying to secure an advantageous position to step in whenever the opportunity arose, but to Seokjae, he looked adorable, like he was dangling from his arm. Staring at him, Seokjae brushed under his pale chin teasingly and said:

“There are too few signs of tampering here.”

Muyoung flinched at the unexpected physical contact, but Seokjae continued his explanation, making Muyoung just blink with a strange expression.

“Judging by the number of zombies outside, survivors must have come in here, but there are no signs of trying to open doors. No signs of forcing entry either.”

“Now that you mention it…”

Indeed. After hearing his words, it did seem strange.

A large gathering of zombies meant there were many people. In such cases, buildings are usually in shambles. Survivors search everywhere for hiding places, and zombies chase them. Weak structures like glass doors should naturally be broken or cracked. Like the devastated stores they had seen before entering the school.

But what about the third floor they had just checked? There were bloodstains and it was messy, but the structures were intact.

‘Why?’

Though filled with questions about this unfamiliar phenomenon, they couldn’t just stand around pondering, so they diligently continued up to the fourth floor. And there they found clues to this strange scene.

After checking the fourth floor, the first to react was neither Seokjae nor Muyoung, but Junwoo.

“…Our country is too cruel to high school seniors.”

Barricades that hadn’t been visible until just before were piled up all over. They had lost their purpose, having already collapsed and covered in blood, but still.

The open classrooms with visible interiors they had been looking for existed on the fourth floor. However, all the windows facing the corridor were broken, offering no protection in case of emergency. This place was filled with desperate traces of survival efforts that hadn’t been visible on the lower floors.

“This… must have been one of those terrible schools that makes only seniors start early. I’m sure they announced evacuations, but told everyone to stay inside first. Then zombies came all the way here, and they couldn’t even escape properly…”

“…”

Starting from Class 3-10 and slowly walking backward to check each classroom, Junwoo’s voice became increasingly filled with anger. Kyungho, who remained silent, also let out a small sigh after seeing workbooks trampled and torn on the floor, and the blackboard half-erased with blood.

“Ah…”

And Muyoung, discovering doodles in a student’s workbook, finally realized the answer to the strange scene they had witnessed outside the school.

‘The owners of all those cars outside… must have been these students’ parents.’

It was a truth that couldn’t help but elicit a sigh of lamentation from him unwittingly.