Episode 5

“No… ah, run… kuh!”

Even amidst the horror, Sienna was telling her brother Noah to flee.

“Grrr… ack!”

The zombie’s ravenous growls mixed with Sienna’s pained moans. Her head fell limp, her neck twisting at an unnatural angle as her limbs bent grotesquely. Then, a familiar, monstrous sound escaped her lips—the same sound he’d heard from the zombie. Sienna’s eyes clouded over, and she began to emit an animalistic growl as she staggered toward Noah. Staring at the nightmare unfolding before him, Noah’s eyes widened, his feet rooted to the spot.

“Noah Valencia! Get a hold of yourself!”

It was the same voice from his dream—the voice that had saved him. Noah turned his head toward the sound, and there he saw Calyps, covered in blood, as though he had already fought his way through a horde.

“Kai…”

“Snap out of it!”

With a firm pull, Calyps yanked Noah toward him, then, without hesitation, raised his gun and pointed it at the zombie’s forehead.

Bang—! The shot rang out, and the male zombie collapsed. Calyps’s gaze then fell upon Sienna, who was now shambling closer, her once-clear blue eyes filled with a disturbing mix of pain and desperation.

“No… rrrk… ah… grrk!”

With a rasping, clawing voice, Sienna reached out for Noah, her fingers curling in his direction.

“No! Stay back!”

“Graaaargh!”

“Srrrk… Noah… grrk!”

The garden had descended into chaos, zombies filling the grounds as they wailed and stumbled forward. Amidst the mayhem, Calyps remained unfazed, his calm gaze never leaving Sienna as she drew closer.

“Is it already too late?”

He had seen others transform just like this, becoming ravenous creatures after being bitten. Although the situation was still a confusing blur, Calyps knew for certain that Sienna had become one of them. Without a moment’s hesitation, he aimed at her forehead.

“N… Noah… run… kuhh!”

Despite the agony, Sienna’s thoughts lingered on her brother, her voice hoarse and barely audible. If the surroundings had been quieter, or if Noah hadn’t been there to protect, maybe Calyps would have noticed something different. Unlike the others, Sienna still seemed capable of speech. Her gaze wasn’t entirely vacant, her eyes retaining the same blue hue they’d always had, unlike the usual dullness of the zombies.

But Calyps, still new to the sight of these creatures, was too preoccupied to notice these differences. He saw only another zombie.

Bang—! Another gunshot rang out, jolting Noah back to reality.

“No! Nooo!”

He cried out, horrified, as he watched Sienna’s body fall to the ground. He’d forgotten the danger of being surrounded by zombies, and the fact that these creatures were drawn to sound. The sight before him was too much to bear.

‘No… no!’

Noah sank to the ground, repeatedly muttering the word, despair washing over him. Calyps, observing him from behind, clicked his tongue. It looked as if Noah was devastated by his sister’s death, a breakdown over her loss. But Noah’s grief wasn’t rooted in the emotion Calyps assumed.

‘No, this can’t be happening!’

Losing Sienna to the zombie virus might have been tolerable. But for her to die after transforming was a fate he couldn’t accept. Sienna Valencia was the only salvation in this world, the sole character across the series confirmed to possess the antibodies to the zombie virus. Stunned, Noah stared blankly at her lifeless form.

‘…No hope, no future, not a damn thing left.’

The reality sank in slowly, leaving Noah in a daze, grappling with the bleak realization that he was now trapped in an apocalyptic world without any chance of salvation.

“It couldn’t be helped.”

Calyp’s voice was steady, devoid of any hint of remorse, as though killing his own fiancée meant nothing to him. But Noah, drowning in despair, heard nothing.

“Get it together, Noah Valencia.”

The garden was already crawling with zombies. To remain still was to invite death. Though the zombies were preoccupied with other victims, Calyps knew it was only a matter of time before they turned their attention toward him and Noah. He needed to move before the numbers grew even larger.

“If we don’t move now, you’ll end up like them.”

‘Who doesn’t know that? Just be quiet and let me think.’

It was a tragedy for Noah, but Calyps, unaware of the significance, kept urging him to move. Meanwhile, Noah, who understood the gravity of the situation, frowned in irritation. What now? His plan for survival had included Sienna. With her gone, he needed a backup plan—fast.

‘A second plan, a second plan… damn it! There isn’t one, is there?’

By the end of Season 3, Sienna was the only confirmed carrier of the virus’s antibodies. No, wait… toward the end of Season 3, there had been hints that someone else, similar to Sienna, might exist. If he remembered correctly, that location was…

His palms grew damp with tension. Wiping his hands on his pants, Noah pondered his options.

“Noah Valencia!”

“Fine, I get it. Just stop yelling.”

Calyps’s insistent voice echoed, and Noah replied in a low tone. Though zombies lacked good eyesight, their hearing was extremely sharp. With so many people still screaming nearby, the zombies’ attention wasn’t focused on them yet. But if not for that…

‘Well, I guess I wouldn’t be dead anyway.’

Unlike Sienna, who had died unceremoniously, Calyps Ater had powerful survival instincts and battle abilities, making him difficult to kill. Still, Sienna could have survived, too, if her antibody powers had activated in time…

Noah glared at Calyps in frustration, angry over losing Sienna’s “vaccine” buff right before his eyes. When their gazes met, Noah, still unaccustomed to how absurdly handsome Calyps was, looked away first.

‘Why does he have to look that good, even now?’

Calyps, surprised at Noah’s relatively calm demeanor, narrowed his gaze as Noah looked away. Calyps, unaware of the true reason for Noah’s reaction, interpreted it as hatred toward his sister’s killer.

Noah’s reaction was certainly understandable, yet something about that look unsettled Calyps. He scoffed at himself. ‘Look at you, Calyps Ater, shaken up just because you’ve spent a few days in the capital. Get a grip.’ He forced himself to refocus, grounding himself in the screams surrounding them.

“We should move inside the fortress.”

As the story continued along its original path, Calyps suggested they head inside the fortress. Normally, the heroine would still be in shock over her sibling’s death, causing a prolonged stand-off in this very spot, but Noah didn’t react that way.

‘It’s a shame to lose the vaccine, but what’s done is done.’

Sienna’s death was tragic, but she was simply a corpse, a victim of the zombie attack. Noah gave her lifeless body one last glance before looking up at Calyps, his eyes filled with a newfound determination that made Calyps involuntarily flinch.

‘Who would have thought Noah Valencia could look at me like that?’

But Calyps’s surprise didn’t end there.

“Then, I think we should head to the kitchen,” Noah suggested calmly.

“The kitchen?”

Calyp’s expression turned puzzled as he looked at him. But Noah, focusing intently, began to explain, drawing on his memories of the drama.

“With things as chaotic as they are, securing food should be our first priority. And since the kitchen is deep within the fortress, it’s probably one of the safest spots.”

“That’s… true.”

The path to the kitchen might be difficult, but in the original storyline, Calyps had been forced to retreat to a nearby room, encumbered by the unconscious heroine, Sienna. With Sienna out of the picture, they could take advantage of the current chaos and secure the kitchen before the zombie numbers swelled.

Thinking of the plot that required them to fight their way into the kitchen later, Noah saw no reason to wait.

‘It’s a hassle to go through this without the vaccine buff, but…’

In the absence of Sienna’s protection, Noah clung to the only advantage he had—his knowledge of the story’s flow. His recent sleepless nights, haunted by visions of death and terror, had pushed him to record every plot detail in a small notebook he kept in his inner pocket, carefully written in Korean.

How much help it would be, he wasn’t sure. But for now, it was his only lifeline in a hopeless world. Gripping it tightly, Noah rose slowly, putting a few nearby stones into his pocket for makeshift weapons. His legs wobbled, whether from exhaustion or lingering terror, he wasn’t sure. Calyps, seeing his unsteady footing, quickly moved to support him.

“Ah…”

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah… I’m fine…”

‘Just… give me a bit more space.’

Noah’s heart thudded every time Calyps drew close, utterly unable to handle this unrealistically handsome face up close. Good grief. Does he not know his looks could kill? That’s criminal, you idiot.

Even in the middle of this crisis, Calyps’s face made Noah’s mind reel. It wasn’t superficiality—it was proof that Kai Harrison’s looks really were something out of this world. Calyps misunderstood Noah’s reaction, his expression hardening slightly.

“My apologies.”

“What?”

“I dared to lay my hands on you. Even in these circumstances, a commoner like me should not presume to touch a noble’s body.”

“What are you even talking about… Anyway, do you have any spare guns?”

The zombie outbreak had begun within the fortress, and by now, it was likely swarming with the undead rather than living humans. After days of sleep-deprived nightmares, Noah hadn’t been able to gather any real weaponry. So, as if expecting Calyps to be prepared, he held out his hand confidently.

“There is one… but do you know how to use it?”

With all the pride of an eight-year army reservist from South Korea, Private Choi Noah gave Calyps a look that said he couldn’t believe what he’d just heard.