RE: Survival - Chapter 6

Like a speedboat slicing through water, the zombies crumbled in response to the man’s movements.

The man advanced briefly, then swiftly stepped back, luring the zombies toward him.

“What are you doing? Do you want to die? Get down here and fight!”

Even as he spoke, the man smashed the head of a nearby zombie.

He stepped back again, making sure never to get surrounded. With precise movements, he continued to knock the zombies to the ground.

As the number of zombies rapidly dwindled, Gun snapped back to his senses.

“We need to get down. We have to save Hyuk!”

His companions hesitated. Without waiting for them, Gun drove his weapon into the heads of the zombies still reaching toward them. A short-haired woman followed closely behind him—the same woman who had been scolding them earlier.

She figured that staying close to Gun was a better chance of survival than staying above. She clung right behind him.

By the time Gun and Hyuk had dealt with a few zombies, the mysterious man finished off the last of them and retrieved his arrows.

Despite the recent battle, the man looked remarkably clean. Though some blood had splattered on him, his clothes and shoes were immaculate, as if he were out on a leisurely outing. Clearly, he wasn’t some aimless wanderer. At his waist were two knives, and a crossbow hung from his back.

After retrieving all his arrows, the man quickly climbed back onto the display shelf where he had stood earlier and began firing at the approaching zombies from a distance. Each arrow found its mark, and the zombies fell one by one with impressive precision.

Though they had cleared the zombies nearby, many still roamed the area. Without hesitation, the man took the lead.

“This way.”

He guided them toward a nursing room on the first floor.

Once inside, the group collectively exhaled, relieved to have found a safe space.

“Thank you for helping us. I’m Kang Gun,” Gun said earnestly, expressing his gratitude.

The man, who had been staring at him, gave a nod in response.

Gun found the man’s expression puzzling. Though they had never met before, the man’s face showed a strange sense of familiarity and joy.

“I’m Yohan. Now, that man over there—take off his clothes,” Yohan said, pointing toward Hyuk.

* * *

Yohan’s first destination after six months of seclusion had been this mart, all in order to meet Kang Gun.

This particular store, located in Jung-dong, was where Yohan had set up camp during his third attempt at survival in his previous timeline.

Before his arrival, the camp had been led by Kang Gun, a strong and noble figure. After the outbreak, Gun had established the camp at the mart and managed to maintain it until the first zombie wave hit. He was considered an A-rank survivor.

Though Gun’s abilities earned him the A-rank title, Yohan always found him to be the kind of person who might perish at any moment due to his stubborn nature. Gun was the type to always help the weak and risk his life to save even a single companion.

It had always been like that—both the first time they met and the last.

Yohan’s mind flashed back to his final memory of Gun.

A zombie wave. Screams. The spreading horde.

[Yohan!]

Gun, being torn apart by the zombies.

[Live. You have to survive. You, of all people, must live!]

The zombies clung to Gun’s body like a rising tide, dragging him down.

[Don’t look back. Just live. Live on.]

Gun had shoved Yohan away without hesitation.

The word “friend,” which Gun had called him in that final moment, had felt both familiar and strangely foreign to Yohan.

Yohan had liked Gun. Gun, who always cared for others, was the opposite of Yohan, who prioritized his own safety above all else.

That was why Yohan had come here first. Partly to repay the debt of having survived, and partly because Gun was the most trustworthy ally he could think of. No matter how much he tried to recall, there was no one else he could rely on as much as Gun.

And then there was Gun’s younger brother, Kang Hyuk.

Yohan meticulously checked Hyuk’s body for injuries. Remarkably, there were none. It was nothing short of a miracle. To have been tossed among so many zombies for several minutes and remain unscathed was unbelievable.

In the original timeline, Hyuk was supposed to have died today. This was another moment when Yohan’s knowledge of the future diverged from reality.

When Yohan had first met Gun in his previous life, Gun had been a man broken by the loss of his younger brother.

About four months before Yohan joined the camp, the survivors at the mart, running low on supplies, had attempted to clear a path to the loading dock on the third floor.

During that initial attempt, Hyuk had been dragged off by a tall zombie. Severely injured, he had drawn the zombies away to give the others time to escape. While Gun and the others had made a desperate dash for the emergency exit, they lost their remaining comrades to the zombies crowding the exit, and only Gun had made it back to the camp.

This was the story Gun had told Yohan when they first met.

But things were different now. For one, the group composition had changed—Yohan didn’t recall hearing about a female survivor during that first attempt in his previous timeline. And secondly, the timing was off.

Yohan had intended to arrive earlier to avoid such a close call. But the group had set out for the loading dock much sooner than expected.

‘Should I consider this luck?’

In the original timeline, these events had taken place seven to eight months after the apocalypse began. If Yohan had arrived even a little later, the past might have repeated itself.

“Are you okay?”

Gun carefully inspected Hyuk, his hands checking for injuries. Only after confirming that his brother was unharmed did a wave of relief wash over his face.

The memory of Gun shedding tears while killing a zombified Hyuk still haunted Yohan vividly.

‘Consider the debt I owe you paid with your brother’s life.’

The burden Yohan had carried deep in his heart felt lighter. A sense of freedom settled over him.

After ensuring that Hyuk wasn’t infected, Yohan gave him a couple of reassuring pats on the shoulder.

“It’s good to meet you, Hyuk.”

Yohan’s genuine happiness slipped into his words without him realizing it. Though Hyuk seemed momentarily puzzled, he soon broke into a bright smile—just as Yohan had remembered him to be, cheerful and sociable.

“If anyone else has injuries, speak up now.”

The three survivors glanced at one another and shook their heads in response to Yohan’s question. Satisfied, Yohan wiped the blood off his retrieved arrows and knives before asking another question.

“Do you live here?”

“Yes, we stay on the first and second basement levels,” Gun replied.

His lack of caution toward Yohan was evident—likely because he felt indebted for having his life saved. Yohan couldn’t help but let out a quiet laugh.

That was always the issue with Kang Gun. Soft-hearted. In his previous life, they had often clashed because of this trait. While his sense of justice was admirable, it also endangered those around him, making it something that needed to be addressed.

“How much supply do you have left?” Yohan asked.

This time, there was a brief hesitation. Perhaps Gun thought Yohan intended to steal their resources.

“First, I’d like to ask you something,” Gun said.

“Sure. Speak comfortably,” Yohan replied.

“Yohan, right? You seem to be about my age, so I’ll speak casually. Do you have a group?”

“No. I move alone,” Yohan answered without hesitation, but Gun still seemed skeptical.

“Then where have you been staying until now?”

“At home. I had plenty of food stored.”

There was a brief silence. Though Gun’s suspicions lingered, Yohan knew it wouldn’t take long for him to trust him—especially with Gun’s trusting nature.

“Then…” Gun started.

“This time, I’ll ask. Why did you come out if you still have supplies?” Yohan interjected.

“How did you…?” Gun trailed off in surprise.

Yohan shrugged. “If you didn’t have any supplies left, you wouldn’t have hesitated to answer.”

“Ha.”

“So, what’s the answer?”

“We’re not exactly comfortable. There’s a loading dock on the third-floor parking lot. Since it’s swarming with zombies, we thought there’d be plenty of supplies there, so we’ve been trying to clear a path,” Gun explained.

Yohan nodded. His guess had been spot on.

“Indeed, the loading dock has water and boxes of ramen.”

“…!”

Gun’s eyes widened in shock.

“I scoped out the entire building before I came. There are too many zombies—both in the parking lots on the second and third floors, and the emergency exits. It’s impossible to move supplies with a small group.”

“That can’t be…”

“I’ll help you clear them out,” Yohan offered.

“What?”

“Let’s wipe out all the zombies inside the mart. If you let me stay at the camp, I’ll help with the cleanup.”

Gun and his companions exchanged uneasy glances.

“That’s impossible. If we make too much noise, more zombies will just keep coming,” Gun said.

“There are only three entrances into the mart. If we block them before starting, it’ll be simple. I already shut the second exit door when I came in. We just need to block the main entrance and the parking lot entrance.”

“That’s…”

“We can discuss the details after we assess the camp,” Yohan said calmly, undeterred by their fearful gazes.

Their fear was understandable.

Even after six months of living here, the survivors were still terrified of the zombies. They had already lost three people out of the eight they started with just to reach this point. Without Yohan’s intervention, they all might have died in vain.

Now, this man was calmly suggesting they exterminate the zombies. Gun’s gaze landed on the crossbow and the two knives strapped to Yohan’s back, and he swallowed nervously.

Yohan scanned the faces of the five survivors, his eyes lingering on a woman who introduced herself as Yun Seri. She wore tight leather pants, a jacket, and had short-cropped hair, her expression calm and unflinching.

It was the first time he’d heard that name. She hadn’t been part of the original camp. The future was shifting subtly, though the general course remained unchanged.

The way Yun Seri looked at him was distinctly different from the others, causing Yohan to frown.

Her gaze was bold, unafraid, almost provocative.

Yohan didn’t look away, meeting her eyes head-on.

They locked eyes for a long moment, until Gun interrupted the silence.

“So? Are we going or not?” Yohan asked, glancing at Gun.

* * *

The camp consisted of 33 people, with a roughly equal gender ratio. Among them were 10 elderly individuals, who seemed incapable of combat, and two children.

‘That’s way too many,’ Yohan thought.

The mart’s size and sturdy structure meant it wouldn’t easily succumb to a zombie wave. But with zombies constantly pressing in, they’d eventually run out of food and die of starvation.

What puzzled Yohan was that, contrary to his expectations, their food supplies seemed relatively plentiful. At a glance, they had enough ramen, dried goods, and canned food to last at least a month or two.

Their resource management was commendable. They consumed perishable items first—refrigerated foods, then frozen items, and finally preserved goods. Surprisingly, they still had ample long-lasting items like ramen and canned food.

It didn’t seem like they were in such dire need that they had to send a small group to scavenge for supplies.

Yohan shifted his gaze to the interior map hanging on the side wall by the escalator.

The mart was divided into two basement levels and six floors. The second basement housed the food section, and the first basement held household goods. The ground floor featured electronics, cosmetics, and miscellaneous stores. Floors two through six were dedicated to parking. The loading dock was located on the third-floor parking lot.

The layout was rather peculiar. Although the first and second basement levels were connected, access to the parking areas required traveling up to the ground floor and crossing to the opposite side, either via the emergency exit or the escalator. Ultimately, one couldn’t exit or ascend to higher floors without passing through the first floor, where zombies constantly roamed.

It seemed like they were trapped, but in reality, the structure was optimized for defending a stronghold. One of the two entrances into the mart had already been blocked with a large number of furniture pieces.

Yohan asked Gun why they had blocked off the escalator.

“When the zombies first attacked the mart, the survivors were trapped on the first basement level, in the household goods section,” Gun explained.

The zombie outbreak had started on the ground floor.