Antisocial Chapter 27

Chapter 27. Human

The distance from Jamsil to the crematorium was longer than the distance from their home to Jamsil.

Do-kyung placed the three corpses, wrapped in plastic, into the crematorium and activated the furnace. The crematorium emitted flames reaching 1000°C, burning the bodies in an instant.

Do-kyung didn’t feel anything about the funeral process of scraping up the remaining bones.

However, it seemed to bring great comfort to Bo-yeon, as she stopped crying, though she hadn’t yet regained her composure.

“Thank you… Really, thank you…”

Bo-yeon understood how difficult it would have been to safely retrieve her family’s bodies in this situation. If Do-kyung hadn’t helped, her family would have continued to wander the world as monsters or turned into skeletons, never to be found by anyone.

If there had been a big commotion at the apartment, Hae-in’s room could have been breached, and the tragedy of her aunt and uncle devouring their daughter might have occurred.

There is a saying that funerals are for the living, not the dead. Even if this was just for self-satisfaction, Bo-yeon could not have just left the bodies of her family like that.

‘Wouldn’t it be easier to act cute and be loved when I look at you?’

Despite his harsh words, it was true that he had helped.

Even if he had just buried them in the ground, she would have been grateful. But since he had cremated them, and now she didn’t have to worry about them being eaten by other zombies, saying thank you several times still felt like it wasn’t enough.

He was a bad person, but Bo-yeon still had a hard time hating him. She hugged the white porcelain urn containing the ashes and nodded.

“I’ll check the rest tomorrow.”

Bo-yeon’s face turned pale.

“Umm… Are you very tired? On the way….”

It had been over five months since the zombies appeared. Although she knew that the probability of her family being in danger with just a day’s delay was extremely slim, Bo-yeon couldn’t help but feel anxious.

Also, she had to pass Jamsil to go home anyway. Bo-yeon insisted, her face pale and on the verge of collapsing. It wasn’t something she did with a clear mind.

“You’re going to walk around with that?”

Do-kyung gestured toward the porcelain urn Bo-yeon was holding tightly. Her thin fingers were cold and numb.

“Ah…”

Bo-yeon nodded slowly, perhaps realizing that she should move the remains to a safer place.

After returning home, Bo-yeon buried the urn with the ashes in one corner of the yard.

***

The next day, Bo-yeon and Do-kyung visited Jamsil again. There were no major problems until they arrived at the apartment where Bo-yeon’s other uncle lived.

When they reached the entrance to the apartment, Do-kyung suddenly looked up. His sharp eyes captured the figure. The man standing on the terrace on the upper floor didn’t stagger like a zombie—he moved naturally.

He was human. And he had a gun. The red laser point touched Do-kyung’s cheek.

Bo-yeon, who was next to him, saw it too. A laser?

The speed at which a person blinks is about 150 milliseconds, meaning it takes about 0.15 seconds to blink once.

It felt like a fleeting moment. In fact, it was faster than the speed at which the other person could pull the trigger.

Do-kyung reacted with incredible speed. He pressed the back of Bo-yeon’s neck, who was staring at the laser point flickering on his face, frozen and speechless. Then he lowered her body behind the car.

Pew! A bullet hole remained on the floor where they had been standing just a moment ago. 

It was a close call. Bo-yeon’s hands trembled at the thought that if they were slower, one of them would have died.

Did he use the gun…? Who? Why?

While Bo-yeon, who couldn’t see properly, was flustered, Do-kyung started responding without delay.

Bang! Kuung! Thud! Dangdangdangdangdang!

The human figure fell onto the parked car with a loud thud. Blood burst out. Immediately after, the car’s warning sound blared loudly.

“Fuck! The sniper was hit!”

“If you don’t want to die, shoot!”

“Kill the guy with the gun first!”

The apartment entrance became noisy and gunshots rained down.

“Why, why are they shooting?”

“You should ask them. I’m acting in self-defense.”

Do-kyung raised the corners of his mouth, as if he found her words amusing.

“……”

Live ammunition was being exchanged, yet he seemed unfazed. Was he in his right mind? It felt as though he was enjoying the game alone.

With the sound of gunfire ringing out from the other side, he extended his gun, preparing to counterattack. His impressive profile was matched by an eerie smile that sent a chill down Bo-yeon’s spine.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

“…Kok!”

A scream pierced the air briefly. Bo-yeon, lying underneath the car, saw a person’s head burst through a crack in the floor.

She had seen zombies’ heads explode countless times, but this was the first time she witnessed it happen to a person. It didn’t look much different.

Surprisingly, Bo-yeon found herself accepting the gruesome scene more calmly than expected. She was adjusting to the harsh reality, her mind growing accustomed to the brutality of the world around her.

Tingtingtingtingtingting!  The car alarm continued to blare loudly. The zombies didn’t approach this area. 

Come to think of it, there had been no zombies around the entrance from the beginning. It was strangely quiet.

Could there be someone like Do-kyung among those people? Bo-yeon was confused.

At that moment, she felt something creepy, so she looked back. A large shadow swept over her. It wasn’t one, but two. Ta-aang! A gunshot rang out nearby.

Two large men were locked in a power struggle, not knowing when it had happened. One was Do-kyung and the other was a bald, strange man. 

The man’s gun was pointed at the sky, but Do-kyung swiftly broke his hand, forcing him to drop the weapon. With a quick motion, he grabbed the man by the collar and slammed him to the ground. Crash!

The bald man beneath him tensed his arms, his face turning red as he struggled. However, Do-kyung’s grip on his collar remained unyielding. Instead of loosening, he squeezed tighter, tightening the collar around the man’s thick neck with ruthless force.

Clang. The muzzle touched a damp bald head with sweat.

“Koheok! S-stop! Don’t shoot me!”

The gun moved when the bald man shouted out loud.

“Tell everyone to come out.”

Perhaps thinking he was a useful hostage, he immediately ordered without killing him. When the bald man stayed still, he fired a shot at his thick thigh without hesitation.

“Uwaahhkk!”

Bo-yeon nearly screamed, her hands pressing tightly over her mouth to stifle the sound. Blood seeped through the man’s thick winter clothes, staining the fabric as his head reddened, like an octopus in distress. The agony from the bullet was evident, twisting his face in pain.

“Need one more?”

“Uheuk… Every, everyone, come out! You guys!”

The man screamed and screamed loudly. It was a decibel that surpassed the car alarm that is still ringing.

They must have heard it, but the entrance was quiet.

“Fuck, kurgh, fucking bastards…”

The bald man’s face also turned pale.

“Useless.”

Do-kyung’s gun barrel was pointed at the man’s head again.

“W-wait! Right now, on the first floor alone, there must be more than ten of them left! Do you think you can handle them all by yourself? I, I’ll help you!”

The man abandoned by his colleagues quickly changed his attitude and tried to betray them.

Do-kyung drove the gun into the man’s wound and hit it. Blood and screams poured out.

“Grrrkk!”

“There’s five on the first floor. Want to try again?”

Do-kyung knew exactly how many people remained on the first floor. Bo-yeon realized that he was torturing the man in retaliation for his lies.

The screams of pain made her heart race, as if it might burst from her chest.

“Koheok, urgh… that’s all, fuck…”

“Say something useful if you’re squealing like a pig.”

Do-kyung muttered dryly as he thrust the gun deep into the wound. The fabric of his pants ripped, and the thick barrel of the gun sank further into the wound.

Spinning the gun around, Do-kyung poked at the injury. The scream that followed was so horrific it made her wonder if she might die from the shock.

The sight of a human being tortured made Bo-yeon feel nauseous. It was revolting and horrifying.

Yet, even in such a life-threatening situation, she managed to keep her composure and refrain from asking about such things.

“Really! Ugh… nhnk, it’s true, hic, it’s the truth… I’ve hidden it. It’s not a lie…”

The large, fierce man was sweating profusely on this cold day, sobbing like a child.

“Head?”

“A m-mutant’s, grrk, head. Even if I keep cutting off its neck, it’s a bastard that keeps regenerating, ugh, once every two hours, kurgh, I’ll cut it again….”

“Stop panting so loudly and speak clearly.”

Even though he had done it himself, Do-kyung was genuinely disgusted by the grunting hulk. Under his tyranny, the man finally relented in desperation.

“Nhhk… If you cut off the chin, it won’t be too dangerous. Since it’s a mutant, other zombies won’t come near it… The range is limited, but if you place it on the first floor, it should be enough to block the entrance… I… hid it. If you want, I’ll give it to you…”

So, he had been carrying the mutant’s head around, using it to survive until now.

They must have been able to move around during the day, and getting water would’ve been easier. It was a survival tactic, much like Do-kyung’s. Bo-yeon couldn’t decide whether to call it humane or horrifying.

“Where are the apartment residents?”

Bo-yeon asked, gathering her wits. When the man glanced at her and hesitated, Do-kyung absentmindedly slapped his cheek.

Slap! There was a sound of flesh being torn off.

Given that he had ripped off the front door with his bare hands, even a slap wouldn’t have been ordinary. The shock must have reached his brain, as blood flowed from the man’s mouth while his head spasmed.