Walking Daddy

The hand warmers were essential for the survivors to keep their body temperature up. I ran around nonstop, checking inside every convenience store I saw. Since the chaos had erupted in the middle of the summer, the stores weren’t stocked with many items that could provide protection against the cold. It was difficult to find a large quantity of hand warmers, and there weren’t many items that could shelter the survivors against the howling wind.

As I ran around looking for convenience stores, I saw a store that made me stop in my tracks.

It was a small store that specialized in wedding dresses, and next to it was a store selling bedding.

I was in luck.

I hadn’t been thinking about any other forms of protection against the cold, as I had my mind focused on hand warmers. I could provide the survivors with fresh, clean covers if I went through the bedding store. Not only that, but they would be able to protect themselves against the biting wind as well.

A small smile spread across my face, and I called to my underlings through my mind.

‘Third and fourth company, come at once.\'

While my underlings made their way to me, I went into the bedding store to look for which items would be useful to us.

Most of the covers were thin, to be used during the summer. However, the thin covers would be better than nothing, and the survivors could wrap themselves in multiple layers to warm themselves.

I went into the storeroom in the back of the store to see what other inventory they had. When I moved the dusty plastic wrapping away, I saw many thick covers stacked on top of each other.

Thank goodness.

It seemed they’d had a lot of inventory left over from the previous winter.

As soon as my underlings arrived, I pointed to the covers in the store and ordered,

‘All of you, carry as many of these as you can.’

GRRR!!!

My underlings cried out furiously and quickly grabbed as many of the covers as they could. The more blankets and covers they hauled onto their arms and shoulders, the better I felt about the situation.

While my underlings were busy in the bedding store, I went into the dress store next door. There were some items commonly used by wedding planners strewn about. A large rack of dresses had fallen over, and the wedding dresses were lying in a pile on the floor.

All the white dresses were covered in footprints, smudges, and dirt.

Wedding dresses that used to make people’s hearts flutter were now useless items that served no purpose. I smacked my lips bitterly and searched every nook and cranny of the store. As I looked around, I saw a booth that was commonly used to take wedding photos.

Grrr…. Krrr…

I heard a zombie growling on the other side of the curtains. I gulped and carefully opened the curtains.

A woman in a clean, white wedding dress was sitting there, staring at the wall and growling.

Instead of the beautiful, happy woman that she’d dreamed she’d become, she had become a zombie, a being with no soul. One side of her dress was torn up, and her flesh hung from her bones in ribbons on that side.

I let out a sigh and walked toward her.

She turned around to look at me as though she’d heard me breathing. She saw my clear blue eyes and immediately dropped her gaze to the floor. As I looked at her, I clenched my fists.

“I hope you meet good people and have a happy life in your next life…”

I furrowed my brow and punched the zombie in the face.

Her dark red blood flowed down, drenching the clean, white wedding dress. With that, she left this world and went to one in which she wouldn’t have to wait an eternity for the wedding she would never be able to have.

I took a deep breath and left the booth through the curtains. I saw five different wedding dresses on the wall opposite me. I wiped my bloodied hands on my pants, then took one of the wedding dresses with me and left the wedding store.

The cold, eerie wind welcomed me back as I emerged back out onto the streets again.

I felt the cold wind blowing against me, clearing away the tension that had built up in me. While I’d been hunting through the wedding store for a wedding dress, my underlings had finished packing up everything from the bedding store.

I looked at my underlings.

‘Let’s go back home.’

* * *

When we approached the fountain in Children\'s Grand Park, I saw the survivors all huddled up like penguins, trying to share their bodily warmth. Seeing them in this state, I immediately issued orders to my underlings.

\'Put the covers down in front of the fountain.\'

Grrr...

My underlings walked toward the fountain in unison. The survivors’ faces brightened when they saw the thick blankets.

“So-Yeon’s dad!”

Lee Jeong-Uk was calling me.

I turned around and saw him coming up to me, pulling a large suitcase. I had no clue where he had gotten it from. He looked around to make sure nobody was around before speaking.

“Where did you get that?”

“There was a wedding store next to the bedding shop.”

“Why didn’t you bring it secretly? Go ahead and put it in here already. I bet you’re a party pooper huh?”

“...”

Silently, I put the wedding dress I’d brought back with me into the large suitcase. Lee Jeong-Uk wore a wide grin, as though he was the one who was about to get married.

“I bet Jeong-Hyuk and Da-Hye are both going to be so surprised when they see this.”

"Right now, it seems like you’re the one who’s going to get married.”

I said it as a joke, but I immediately regretted my words. Lee Jeong-Uk stiffened momentarily, his face going blank. I smacked my lips and spoke up.

“I’m sorry…”

“No, no, it’s not a big deal. You’re all good.”

“...”

“Alrighty! Let’s get going. We were just about to start the campfire anyway.”

Lee Jeong-Uk smiled widely and walked toward the survivors. As I watched him go, I couldn’t help but feel even worse about how I had hurt him.

‘Out of all the jokes I could’ve made, I just had to make that one, huh?’

I wondered what had crossed his mind the moment I’d blurted out my joke.

His wife?

Or his dead daughter?

He tried to pretend that everything was alright, but I couldn’t forget the expression on his face, or the way he’d stiffened awkwardly.

I could tell by his expression that he deeply missed both of them.

I buried my face in my hands and let out a breath. I figured that, since Lee Jeong-Uk was pretending to be okay, it was not my place to ask him whether he was actually okay or not. It was best to not bring the topic up again.

I walked toward the survivors as well, maintaining the illusion that everything was perfectly okay.

A couple of nearby tents caught my eye.

I went up to Shin Ji-Hye, whom I’d rescued from Dae Hyun San Park.

“Shin Ji-Hye.”

“Hey, Uncle Hyun-Deok.”

“There aren’t that many tents around; a lot less than I thought we had. Are these all the ones we brought?”

“Oh, it just didn’t feel right that we were the only ones to sleep in tents.”

“Oh…”

She had a point. There were over three hundred people camping outside. It was obvious that there would be some complaints if only the people from Shelter Hae-Young got to sleep in tents.

I patted her on the shoulder and nodded, affirming her wise decision.

Then Shin Ji-Hye pointed to the couple of tents that had been set up.

“The tents over there were set up for the kids. It’s alright, since I already asked everyone about it and they all said it was okay.”

“You sure?”

"Yes, yes. I actually got scolded for asking. They said that putting the children in the tents first was the right thing to do, before we decided on who else got to sleep in the tents.”

“...”

I looked at the survivors around the fountain while I listened to Shin Ji-Hye. They were all staring at the campfire worriedly.

The survivors here still had some humanity left in them. They tried to do what was best for the group, even though they had to make sacrifices sometimes. This reminded me of the day I’d gone up to the platform when trying to find the daughter of the dong leader of Seongsu-dong.

The survivors had thrown stones at me, Kim Hyeong-Jun, and Park Gi-Cheol back then, and their eyes had been full of hatred. Back then, I’d been resentful toward the survivors of Shelter Silence and frustrated by their actions, but when I thought about it now, it was only right that they’d acted that way.

They had strong feelings of distrust and antipathy toward zombies, and many had lost their family overnight because of the Family and their dogs.

The survivors had needed someone to vent their anger on.

Feeling disheartened, I rubbed my neck and smacked my lips.

After a moment, Bae Jae-Hwan came up to me and bowed, then called to Shin Ji-Hye.

“Hey Ji-Hye, you have a second?”

“Huh? Yeah…”

Shin Ji-Hye bowed lightly and got up. I chuckled as I watched the two of them walk away.

It was so obvious that even the most oblivious person would be able to tell that there was something going on between the two of them. It seemed like Bae Jae-Hwan and Shin Ji-Hye had developed feelings for each other and were now in a relationship after I had rescued them from Dae Hyun San Park.

My mind drifted from this pair to the two I’d rescued from the high school, Byun Hyeok-Jin and Woo Ga-In, who were also in a relationship. I wondered if their relationship was still going strong.

I looked around, trying to find them, and saw the two of them laughing and chatting away in the back row, just like any lovers would do.

I snorted when I saw the two.

“Oh, those two lovebirds never seem to be apart from each other.”

After a moment, I heard Lee Jeong-Uk approaching me from the side. He sat right next to me, chewing on some jerky. Hwang Ji-Hye looked at us for a moment, then came and sat on the other side of me.

“It seems like everyone is having a good time.”

As I chuckled, Park Gi-Cheol, the principal, and even the white-haired elder joined us, sitting close to each other.

Before I knew it, all the older folk had gathered together.

Park Gi-Cheol offered up a hearty smile.

“I feel like I belong here, for some reason.”

“What about Hyeong-Jun?”

"He’s over there playing with his son and his wife."

I looked in the direction Park Gi-Cheol was pointing and saw Kim Hyeong-Jun holding his son in his arms while talking to his wife. They looked like any other happy family.

Park Gi-Cheol clicked his tongue.

“There’s no way I can join them. I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life.”

“You can hang out with us.”

“Hahaha. Of course, of course.”

Park Gi-Cheol roared out a joyful laugh, and the principal and the elder contributed their own silly jokes, lightening the mood and creating a jovial atmosphere.

“It’s such a pity that there’s no soju right now.”

Everyone nodded and felt slightly disappointed. It was the perfect time to have some soju.

“Daddy, what’s soju?”

So-Yeon walked up to me, yawning. It seemed like she’d been sleeping in the tent, but had woken up.

I smiled broadly at her.

“So-Yeon sweetie, what are you doing up? You can’t sleep?”

“Yeah… It’s hot inside.”

It was a relief to hear that it was warm inside. It seemed like the thick covers were truly proving themselves.

So-Yeon sat on my lap and rubbed her eyes, claiming my lap as her territory. Everyone smiled warmly when they saw So-Yeon. Park Gi-Cheol barked out a laugh.

“Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok, I think So-Yeon is waiting for something. Perhaps a lullaby?”

“I’m not good at singing.”

Hwang Ji-Hye, who was on the other side, smirked.

“What do you mean you’re not good? Just go ahead and pick a song.” I smacked my lips in embarrassment.

I looked down at So-Yeon, nestled in my lap. She smiled silently and buried her face in my arms. I smiled and started singing slowly.

“Twinkle, twinkle, little star…”

The crackling campfire, the people sitting around, and So-Yeon sleeping soundly in my arms. Although it was chilly, my heart was as warm as it could be. I figured that this small embarrassment would one day become a good memory down the road.

I stroked So-Yeon\'s small back and sang a lullaby in a quiet voice. Before I was even done, So-Yeon had fallen asleep. The sound of her breathing and her heartbeat, which I could feel through my fingertips, gave me a sense of relief and comfort.

I smiled gently and stood up, with So-Yeon cradled in my arms.

“I’ll be back after putting So-Yeon back in the tent.”

The others all smiled and nodded.

As I opened the tent, a warm breeze welcomed me. The children were in deep sleep, and the covers were all over the place. It seemed the children had kicked them away because they were too hot.

I laid So-Yeon down in an empty spot and tucked the children in again. As I looked at the children who were trying to sleep, I said something I wouldn’t have normally said.

“Stay strong and healthy. Don’t get sick.”

I smiled and went back out.

Just as I was about to rejoin the others, I spotted a man urgently running from the front gate.

The man had glowing red eyes that were flashing in the darkness.

It was Do Han-Sol, coming back from patrol.

The moment he saw me, he yelled, “Zombies incoming!!!”

As his voice echoed through the park, the people gathered near the fountain all looked at me at once. The people I’d just been talking to got up right away, their expressions growing stiff.

I looked at them.

“Gather those who have wandered away and bring them to the fountain.”

Lee Jeong-Uk quickly left to find Bae Jae-Hwan and Byun Hyeok-Jin. Hwang Ji-Hye, Park Gi-Cheol, the principal, and the elder quickly gathered the other survivors closer to the campfire.

A moment later, Kim Hyeong-Jun appeared. He asked Do Han-Sol how many zombies there were.

"I don\'t know. I couldn’t get an exact number because it was too dark. But I didn’t see an end to them.”

I clenched my fists after hearing his answer.

“Well, we have no other choice but to kill all of them.”

“But there’s a slight problem.”

“Problem?”

Do Han-Sol furrowed his brow at my question.

"There are mutants mixed in with the regular zombies.”

“Mutants? How many are we talking about?”

“I couldn’t get a number because it was too dark.”

“Too dark to figure out how many there are? Then are you saying that they’re not part of the gang?”

“Yes, I believe so. I didn’t see any red beings.”

I put my hand on my forehead and let out a deep breath.

This was the first time we’d encountered mutants in zombie waves.

I looked at Do Han-Sol and Kim Hyeong-Jun.

“Han-Sol, you’re in charge of the forest section, while Hyeong-Jun takes charge of the pathway that leads to the back entrance. I’ll take up a position at the front entrance. And get your underlings to surround the survivors.”

“Got it.”

“Yes, roger that.”

We all went our separate ways and rearranged our underlings.

I focused my mind, trying to keep calm.

‘I can’t lose anyone, absolutely anyone today.’

My blue eyes flared in the pitch-black darkness. With my senses heightened, I walked toward the front entrance.