Walking Daddy

Kim Hyeong-Jun scratched his head while he explained what Jeong Jin-Young was, and why he was like this. However, Yoon Jeong-Ho was at a loss of words even after hearing his explanation.

“He’ll be alright,” I said. “He’ll regenerate with time since his head wasn’t damaged.”

“Pardon?”

“A being with red eyes regenerates the physical damage it sustains over time. I’m not sure how long it’ll take… But don’t worry; it’s nothing life-threatening.”

Yoon Jeong-Ho looked back and forth between me and Jeong Jin-Young with a doubtful expression. It seemed like Jeong Jin-Young had never sustained such physical damage before. To me, he seemed like he hadn’t had to do any dirty work growing up, or perhaps he’d had a sheltered upbringing.

Of course, this was all pure speculation. Deep down, I knew they had probably tried their best to survive each day. However, to those of us who had survived Seoul, they were nothing more than weak herbivores.

“What the hell are we doing here?!” someone suddenly yelled out from behind me.

It was none other than Tommy.

Tommy glared at us and continued to speak in a raised voice.

“How many times have I told you that we have to get to the research center? We have absolutely no time to waste!”

“Tommy, there are survivors here too. We’ll go after we check on their safety.”

“This isn’t the time to act like some superhero when we don’t even know what’s happening at the Brain Research Institute.”

“Then you can go right now,” I said calmly.

Tommy seemed taken aback. His mouth was open, but not a single word came out.

“Pardon?” he finally managed.

“We’ll get going after we check on the survivors. Like I said, if you’re in a hurry, you can take the Russian soldiers and go on first.”

Tommy closed his mouth and stayed silent.

I was not going to let anyone give me orders. The Survivor Rally Organization considered problems by listening to everyone’s opinions and making plans accordingly. If they didn’t like the way things were run, they could bugger off.

I sighed and walked toward Tommy and outlined the situation with a serious expression.

“The reason we came all the way to Daegu with you is because there was a high chance that this place still maintained the trappings of civilization. The vaccine—or whatever you’re talking about—is none of my business.”

“How… How could you say that, despite knowing that the vaccine is the future of mankind?”

“Stop talking about the future when you can’t even predict what’s going to happen today. To me, the survivors here are more important than you folks going on about this vaccine.”

“...”

Tommy clenched his fists, his lips trembling. It seemed like he was angry, but he couldn’t think of anything to refute my argument. And whether he liked it or not, I could tell that Tommy knew that he and his people couldn’t do anything without us. He probably also knew that they had no right to give us orders, and that we had no obligation to cooperate with them.

And since we had already saved them once, we had even less reason to feel responsible for them.

Tommy clicked his tongue and went back to Alyosha and the Russian commander. I let out a deep sigh and made my way back to the leaders. I looked over at Yoon Jeong-Ho.

“Is there no zombie threat around here?” I asked him. “It’s suspiciously quiet around here. Do you mind sharing with us where the zombies are gathered?”

“I’m not sure if you are aware, but the Geumho River is south of Daegu Airport. A bunch of zombies are gathered to the south of Geumho River. There are fewer zombies on the northern bank of the river, where we are.”

"Then is it safe to assume that this part of town is perfectly safe?”

“The threat is minimal. If you take a right, you’ll get to Ansim Station, and past that, you’ll see Gyeongsan. There are plenty of zombies in Chilgok, Dalseong, and Gyeongsan. The zombies probably came through there.”

I rubbed my chin silently and looked around at the leaders. It seemed like no one was familiar with Daegu’s geography. I scratched my head as well, since I was in the same boat. I asked Yoon Jeong-Ho for a favor.

“This is all great, but… If you don’t mind, do you happen to have a map of Daegu, or do you know how to get one?”

“There should be one in the subway station. Ayanggyo Station is the closest station from here, but it’ll be dangerous since it’s south of Geumho River. We can go to Dongchon Station instead, even though it’s a bit of a walk from here.”

“Alright, let’s go. Lead the way, please, if you don’t mind.”

“You want to leave right now?”

“I want to take care of them while we’re at it.”

Yoon Jeong-Ho’s face grew troubled.

“It’s dangerous to go out at this time… It’s too deep into the night. Let’s go tomorrow.”

Kim Hyeong-Jun snorted.

“Mr. Yoon Jeong-Ho, you’re talking to the most dangerous person in the world right now,” he said.

“Pardon?”

“There’s nobody stronger in this town than this ahjussi.”

The leaders smiled and nodded as Kim Hyeong-Jun pointed at me. I rubbed my neck in embarrassment, and Yoon Jeong-Ho titled his head in confusion.

“He doesn’t seem that threatening…” he muttered to himself.

“Alright, let’s stop playing around and get going. We don’t have much time.”

“Oh… Yes. If you could follow me.”

“Get on my back. That’ll be faster.”

I turned around and gestured to him to get on. Yoon Jeong-Ho looked around, his embarrassment showing on his face. The leaders gestured to him to hurry up and get on my back, smiling as though they found his actions amusing. Once Yoon Jeong-Ho got on my back, Kim Hyeong-Jun’s expression grew playful.

“Mr. Yoon Jeong-Ho, hold on tight. And uh, keep your head down. You’re going to snap your neck if you face me.”

“...”

Yoon Jeong-Ho still had confusion written all over his face. It seemed like he couldn’t tell if Kim Hyeong-Jun was joking or not. I chuckled.

“We just have to go straight over there, right?” I asked him.

"Yes. The buildings here are laid out like a maze, so it might be difficult to find your way around if you’re new here. Just follow me as I direct you…”

Gasp!

The rest of his sentence was cut short as he let out a terrified wail. I was already outside the terminal, dashing my way through the pitch-black darkness. I hopped diagonally over the rooftops, and in no time at all, we came upon the main road. As I ran through the city, I felt Yoon Jeong-Ho grabbing onto me tightly. In fact, he seemed to be holding his breath in fear.

After running for about three minutes, I saw the subway entrance that Yoon Jeong-Ho had mentioned earlier. I came to a stop and let Yoon Jeong-Ho get off. He fell to the ground right away, his entire body trembling.

“What, what the hell are you?” he said after a moment. His voice was full of fear, as though he was looking at a ghost.

"Get up. We have no time to waste.”

Yoon Jeong-Ho stumbled a couple of times as he just about managed to get to his feet. He swallowed, then asked another question.

“So in Seoul… There’s only people like you?”

“There aren’t anymore.”

“I finally understand why Seoul collapsed…”

I smacked him firmly on the back and chuckled. Yoon Jeong-Ho wet his parched lips and walked stiffly into the subway station.

After making our way through the subway station for a while, we finally laid our hands on a small map of Daegu. Yoon Jeong-Ho insisted that we should walk back to the terminal, but I forced him to get onto my back and took off at full speed back to the terminal. I did not want to face the possibility of being attacked by zombies on the way back.

“Ahhh!!!” wailed Yoon Jeong-Ho again.

* * *

The leaders who were gathered in the waiting room of the airport terminal stood around the map of Daegu and started making plans.

I wasn’t sure if it was coincidence or destiny, but the Korea Brain Research Institute was near Ansim Station, where Yoon Jeong-Ho’s people were. The Korea Brain Research Institute was in Daegu Innovation City, just north of Ansim Station.

As Tommy studied the map, his face lit up with joy.

“So we can get going tomorrow, right? We can stop by Ansim Station on the way to save the people there, and then check on the research center as well, no?”

Unlike Tommy, who was all excited, Lee Jeong-Uk didn’t seem too happy. He closed his eyes gently, considering the situation. After a while, he let out a sigh.

“What do you think, Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok?” he asked.

“There are four hundred survivors here alone. It’s impossible to move everyone over there at one go.”

“I agree. I think it’ll be wiser to have a look at the people at Ansim Station first, to see if they’re rational enough to bring over here.”

Most of the leaders seemed to agree with Lee Jeong-Uk. Hwang Ji-Hye, who had remained silent until then, spoke up.

“What are you planning to do if the survivors at Ansim Station are hostile toward us?”

“Well then, they can’t join us,” he replied calmly.

Yoon Jeong-Ho frowned.

“Are you treating us like pariahs?”

“No, that’s not what I meant. The survivors here have been through thick and thin together, and in the process, they’ve built trust and faith toward one another. If it seems like the survivors at Ansim station aren’t able to get along with the survivors here, it’d be best for both parties if we did not join up together.”

“Well, we’ve gone through our own ups and downs. I find your statement pretty insulting.”

“Like I said, that’s not what I meant. I’m just saying that we’ve had different experiences, and we each have our own way of living.”

“Exactly. So you think you’re the heroes here, while we’re the burden that you’ll be taking care of.”

It was obvious that the two of them were already on different pages. I massaged my temples gently and let out a sigh. One group was wailing at the top of their lungs that they needed to get to this lab, while another group was getting triggered by the fact that they felt like they were being looked down upon.

I knew that if we took in all their opinions, though, it would be difficult to maintain the system that we’d established for running the Survivor Rally Organization. Even though the organization had held firm against the impacts of external factors, allowing these two factions to have it their way could jeopardize the whole organization.

Things began to turn sour as Lee Jeong-Uk and Yoon Jeong-Ho grew more heated. Yoon Jeong-Ho got up from his seat and started pointing his finger at Lee Jeong-Uk. Their quarrel escalated, and I couldn’t hold it in any longer.

"Everyone stop!!!" I yelled, furrowing my brow.

I shouted so loud that the windows shook. All eyes in the meeting room turned toward me. I let out a deep breath and spoke up.

“Mr. Yoon Jeong-Ho.”

“Yes…”

“We’re not ignoring you. But you have to follow our process.”

“What do you mean ‘your process’? You came here out of the blue and…”

“Out of the blue?” I repeated, frowning.

Yoon Jeong-Ho swallowed and looked away. I let out a bitter sigh.

“We tried approaching you like gentlemen a couple of times. It seems like you don’t remember that you shot at us out of the blue.”

“Min-Jeong lost a friend a couple of days ago to some zombies. It’s only natural that she would act that way…”

“I’m telling you, that’s not natural,” I cut him off, letting my eyes widen.

Yoon Jeong-Ho gasped and looked around at the leaders who were gathered in the room. All of the leaders were looking at him with serious expressions. Overwhelmed by the atmosphere, he bit his lip and sat down.

After everyone calmed down a little, I let out another sigh, then continued on.

“We fought zombies before we got to Daegu. And we’ve all survived until now because we stood back-to-back through adversity, without losing our senses.”

“...”

“Do you really think we’ll just welcome you folks if one of you is trigger-happy just because she lost a friend?”

“...”

“All the survivors here have their own stories and are trying their best to put them in the past. There’s not a single person here who hasn\'t gone through their own trials and tribulations. Our focus as a group is to keep our individual emotions in check while cooperating with the others to make it through together.”

Yoon Jeong-Ho didn’t say a word. He was taking in all that I had to say. Even the leaders of the Survivor Rally Organization and Tommy from Russia were concentrating on what I had to say. I looked around the room.

“If you can’t control your emotions, you cannot join us,” I continued. “If you’re going to let your emotions control you, then I’d ask you to leave right now.”

I delivered the last sentence in as firm a tone as I could. Tommy and Yoon Jeong-Ho let their heads sag without saying a word. I furrowed my brow at them.

“Don’t whine if you’re going to ask for help. We don’t have the time to listen to your whining.”

Quickly, Tommy figured out what he had done wrong and spoke up.

“My apologies.”

Unlike Tommy, though, Yoon Jeong-Ho remained silent, his fists still shaking as if he was still angry at something. I took in his agitated appearance and raised my eyebrows at him.

“And you, Mr. Yoon Jeong-Ho, do you have anything to say?” I asked.

“Why did you come to Daegu…?”

“Pardon?”

“You came here out of the blue and started telling us to do this and that. You don’t think that’s funny? And it’s not like we didn’t cooperate. Well, in fact, we’ve never asked for help in the first place.”

“...”

“Jin-Young got hurt because of you guys. I provided you with a map since you said you needed one, and told you where the research center is because you said you didn’t know where it was. So what?”

His eyes were bloodshot, and welled up with tears. At that moment, I understood where he was coming from. I realized that I’d only been looking at things my way. I didn’t consider what Yoon Jeong-Ho and his people wanted.

I just assumed that they would want our help.