Walking Daddy

Kim Hyeong-Jun assumed that the zombies on the first floor were their underlings, and the underlings of the zombies he had taken out earlier. He tried to formulate a plan.

‘Since they’re all together, there’s no need to delay things.’

This was exactly what Kim Hyeong-Jun had hoped for. He’d thought about sending some of his underlings over to Jeju Airport in case any of the gang members were there. However, judging by the fact that they were still arguing over Jeju Airport, it seemed like the gang members hadn’t made a move yet.

Fortunately, none of those inside had blue eyes, so even if they did attack at the same time, Kim Hyeong-Jun had no fear of getting hurt.

‘Mood-Swinger, eliminate everything on the first floor. Stage-one mutants, head to the second floor.’

KIAAA!

As soon as he gave orders, his underlings marched inside, letting loose throat-rending cries. The moment the enemies heard his underlings’ cries, they all started to panic. Instead of going in with his underlings, Kim Hyeong-Jun stayed outside and tracked the movement of the enemy leaders with his eyes. He knew that they would try to find an escape route once his underlings wrecked the first and second floors.

Kim Hyeong-Jun was waiting to take advantage of that moment.

Bang!!

“Arnold!!”

Mood-Swinger smashed the front door and went inside. Shards of glass scattered all over the place, and the zombies at the entrance were beaten so badly that their faces were no longer recognizable. Glowing red zombies tried to threaten Mood-Swinger, letting loose grotesque cries of their own. But to Mood-Swinger, they were nothing but rascals making death cries, rascals that did not yet know what their fate was going to be.

Mood-Swinger’s expression was a blend of mischief and excitement. It looked as if he couldn’t wait to enjoy the zombie feast that he’d been missing out on for a long time. Steam rose from his body, and he started massacring the zombies around him.

“What… What are you all doing?! Stop that thing this instant!”

“What… What is that thing, hyung-nim?”

“How the fuck am I supposed to know? Get rid of it already!”

“Let’s… Let’s go upstairs first!”

KIAAA!!!

The moment the officers tried to head up to the second floor, zombie corpses rolled down the escalator. The stage-one mutants were using their long limbs to sweep away the zombies on the second floor like dust. As the officers watched their underlings rolling down, they became frantic. They didn’t know how to react to this unexpected ambush. The only thing they could do was watch as their main base was turned upside down.

They were on the losing side of a one-sided battle before they knew it. At this rate, it was only a matter of time before they fell.

The leader of the Northwest Gang looked around desperately, his eyes wide open like a meerkat’s, as though his mind had gone blank. He noticed that every time Mood-Swinger took a step, five or six of their zombies were horribly disfigured and thrown out of the supermarket. The mutant zombie’s speed was incredible, and it seemed like it was a heavily armored vehicle making its way through the supermarket at full speed.

The leader realized that his zombies were nothing but a swarm of mosquitoes in their attempts to attack Mood-Swinger. He finally realized that they had no chance of winning, and used his underlings as sacrifices as he ran for the back door. Kim Hyeong-Jun quickly made his way to the back door when he saw the enemy leaders trying to escape.

Rattle!

As the iron door swung open, three zombies with red eyes dashed out like bullets.

“What was that monster? Were they the ones on the plane?”

“We… We’re not sure ourselves. We’ve never seen anything like it.”

“Then who piloted the plane? Are you trying to say that those monsters piloted the plane? Do you even think that makes any sense?”

The leader was clearly dumbfounded by what he had just seen. Frustrated that he did not have the slightest clue on what was happening, he tugged at his hair as he tried his best to understand the situation. One of the other red-eyed zombies spoke up.

“For… for… for now hyung-nim, where… where do you think… think we should go?” he stuttered.

“How in the world should I know?”

“Shouldn’t we go to Seogwipo and let Senior Hyung-nim know about this?”

“Is there any guarantee that senior hyung-num is in Seogwipo? How are we supposed to know where he is when he hasn’t shown himself for the past fifteen days?”

Kim Hyeong-Jun crept out of the darkness as he listened in on their conversation. He called out to them in a confident, arrogant voice, with both of his hands in his pockets.

“Hey, thugs.”

The leader of the Northwest Gang looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun in surprise. However, it did not take him long to recognize who he was, and he gritted his teeth.

“It’s you, isn’t it? You’re the one that brought all those monsters.”

"Bingo. Greetings, my Jeju Island friends.”

Unlike the enemy leader, who was clearly nervous, Kim Hyeong-Jun was as laid-back as he could be. He spoke with a satisfied smile.

“Gang-Cheol! You take care of him!” ordered the enemy leader.

“Yes, hyung-nim!”

With a battle cry, the zombie with red eyes on the left leaped toward Kim Hyeong-Jun. Kim Hyeong-Jun locked his gaze on this man named Gang-Cheol. With a flash of his blue eyes, he swept his right foot out at him. His leg drew a diagonal arc as it rose from the ground and smashed Gang-Cheol in the face. With the sound of a watermelon being smashed into pieces, Gang-Cheol collapsed to the ground helplessly.

Within a couple of seconds, Gang-Cheol was down. The leader of the Northwest Gang blinked rapidly, his mouth open wide in surprise. He hadn’t even seen Kim Hyeong-Jun’s leg come up. He couldn’t keep up with Kim Hyeong-Jun’s speed.

Kim Hyeong-Jun took his hands out of his pockets with a smirk.

“You. We’re going to have a little talk.”

“Heeck!”

The leader of the Northwest gang ran off, not even thinking about looking back. He instinctively knew that he’d met someone he should not have met, and that he had to run for his life if he wanted to make it out alive.

Crack!

The enemy leader heard the sound of bricks shattering behind him. It seemed like his other subordinate had gone down as well. A chill went down his spine, and he held his breath as he tried even more quickly to get away. However, he soon began to slow down, as if he was wading through a swamp. The fear that had engulfed him was slowing him down. He couldn’t seem to get his legs moving; the sheer panic he was feeling seemed to have put them to sleep.

At that moment, a flash of blue appeared in front of him. "Peekaboo."

“Fuck!”

The enemy leader shrieked in fear and landed on his bottom. Kim Hyeong-Jun stared at the enemy leader as he held out his right hand.

“Come on, I’ll help you up. Grab my hand.”

“Go, go away! Go away, you fucking monster!”

“A monster calling another monster ‘monster’? What is this?”

“Hiiiiick!”

The enemy leader sprang to his feet and began running in the opposite direction. As Kim Hyeong-Jun watched him running away, he sighed.

“Geez, why are you complicating things?” he muttered.

Steam rose from his body, and he flashed toward the enemy leader, kicking him in the back. The enemy leader groaned and fell forward. But Kim Hyeong-Jun didn’t stop there. He twisted the enemy leader’s legs and placed his hands on the enemy leader’s face.

“GAAA!!!”

The enemy leader screamed at the top of his lungs and his body shook as if he had been zapped. Kim Hyeong-Jun frowned at the stinging current that was passing through his fingertips.

‘One thousand… Twelve hundred at most? Is this guy really an officer?’

The dong leaders that had been in charge of the red areas in Seoul commanded fifteen hundred underlings. Compared to the members of the Family that he had faced a couple of months ago, the officer in front of him was nothing.

Kim Hyeong-Jun slowly took his palms off him and let out a deep breath. A shiver ran through the enemy leader’s body as he stared at Kim Hyeong-Jun with eyes full of horror.

“Hey, where’s your leader?” asked Kim Hyeong-Jun.

“Par… pardon, sir?”

He had lost the air of bravado he’d had a moment ago. He was even referring to Kim Hyeong-Jun as ‘sir’ out of fear. Kim Hyeong-Jun smacked his lips and repeated his question.

“Where’s the strongest guy on Jeju Island?”

“I, I… I don’t know…”

“What?”

The enemy leader looked away, but his body kept on shaking. Kim Hyeong-Jun planted a foot on his chest and tore off his arms.

“It’s going to be your head next.”

“Please… Please spare me! Why are you doing this to me? I haven’t done anything wrong!”

“You were going to attack Jeju Airport. Am I wrong?”

“That… that was just empty words! I had no intention of actually attacking!”

Kim Hyeong-Jun tilted his head. “Where’s your boss?”

The enemy leader’s expression grew pitiful, and he began to beg for his life.

“I… I only joined them because I wanted to live. I\'m sick of this life too! I just took part because I wanted to live!”

“So, where is this person that you joined forces with?”

“Seogwipo, you can find him at Seogwipo.”

“Is Seogwipo your backyard or something? Where in Seogwipo?”

“I don’t know the exact location either. Senior hyung-nim always moves around! Besides, it’s been over fifteen days since I lost contact with him!”

Kim Hyeong-Jun scratched his forehead as he considered the zombie’s words.

‘It seems like the southwest and southeast gangs are in Seogwipo… Does that mean their boss isn\'t there?\'

Kim Hyeong-Jun snorted.

“You guys think you’re the Four Symbols or something? Like the Black Tortoise of the North, Azure Dragon of the East, Vermillion Bird of the South, and the White Tiger of the West? Are you all trying to model yourselves as the under-bosses that sit just below the final boss?”[1]

“That… That’s because Jeju City and Seogwipo City have the most zombies and people. It wasn’t intentional…”

“Okay, enough of that. Then your boss should be in the center, huh?”

"Uh… Uh… Possibly? Like I said, I don\'t know his exact location either.”

“He’s got to be at Mt. Halla. Does he think he’s some mountain god or something?” Kim Hyeong-Jun said with a smirk, mocking the boss.

The enemy leader laughed as well, pretending to play along with Kim Hyeong-Jun. He tried to get on Kim Hyeong-Jun’s good side by parroting his words in a sycophantic tone.

“Haha, right? He’s one foolish guy, thinking he’s some mountain god or something. Haha!”

"Why are you laughing?” Kim Hyeong-Jun asked with a frown.

The enemy leader quickly shut his mouth and looked away. Kim Hyeong-Jun sat on his chest and posed another question.

“Tell me all about your organization.”

"Pardon?”

“Tell me the name of the organization, the number of officers, and how strong this guy at the top is.”

The enemy leader sucked on his lower lip and gulped, then looked at Kim Hyeong-Jun slyly.

“If I tell you all of this… Will you spare me?” he asked cautiously.

“It depends.”

"Well.. If you promise to spare me, there’s nothing holding me back from telling you…”

“You know what? Just die. I’ll find another guy and ask him.”

Kim Hyeong-Jun clicked his tongue vigorously and flashed him a look of annoyance, as if he was done dealing with him. The enemy leader’s eyes went wide.

"No, no! Wait a second. I\'ll tell you! I’ll tell you!” he cried out.

Kim Hyeong-Jun crossed his arms and looked at him calmly. “Let’s hear it.”

The enemy leader wet his dry lips and hesitated for a second. However, now that the possibility of making it out alive had materialized, it didn’t take him long to clear his throat and speak up.

"Well.. First of all, our organization is called The Hounds.”

He began to speak. Kim Hyeong-Jun was all ears.

* * *

After determining the current state of the Jeju Defense Unit, I spoke to Heo Seong-Min. There were many empty rooms in the hotel that the Jeju Defense Unit was using as their hideout, but I wasn’t sure if there were enough rooms to accommodate everyone from the Survivor Rally Organization. When I mentioned the number of people in the Survivor Rally Organization, Heo Seong-Min’s eyes went wide, and his mouth fell open.

“Did… Did you say five hundred people?”

“Yes.”

The Survivor Rally Organization, which had begun with four people in Haengdang-dong, had expanded to Seongdong-gu, Gwangjin-gu, Gimpo Airport, and finally Daegu. The survivors from Ansim Station and Bangchon had joined us during our trip to Daegu, and we now had five hundred people with us.

Heo Seong-Min rubbed his chin calmly as he collected his thoughts. It wasn’t long before he spoke again.

“Even though we have a lot of empty rooms, it’ll be difficult to accommodate five hundred people.”

“Are there any other hotels nearby? I’d like our people to be as close to each other as possible.”

“There is another hotel next door, but… it hasn’t been cleaned up.”

“How far away is it?”

“It’s in front of the E-Mart, the one that we’re using as the second line of defense on the east side.”

“And it’s before the supermarket, right?”

Heo Seong-Min nodded at my question, then snapped his fingers and got up. He hurried over to the front desk and started rummaging around. After a moment, he came back, holding a large piece of paper that flapped in his hand. It was a map of the entire Jeju Island. Heo Seong-Min dragged his finger along the map as he began to brief me.

“This is the hotel we’re in, the L Hotel. If you go into the alley right next to this place, you’ll find Hotel O.”

This other hotel was extremely close by. It was near enough that it could possibly be seen from the upper floors of the L Hotel. I nodded as I estimated the distance on the map.

"Then… Can I move my people over there?” I asked.

“Right now? To this hotel?”

"Yes. I feel uncomfortable leaving them on the airport runway, because there aren’t any surrounding buildings for them to take cover in. I want to bring the survivors in my group over here.”

Heo Seong-Min pouted his lower lip, organized his thoughts for a moment, then spoke.

“Why of course. That won’t be a problem. It’ll be alright since the zombies have already been taken care of.”

As I got up from my seat, Heo Seong-Min spoke again, his voice full of nervousness.

"It’s just that… I\'m just worried about the Hounds.”

“What about the Hounds?”

“I think the guys who attacked us just now were scouts sent by the Hounds. Now that our position has been exposed, there’s a high chance that they will attack us here.”

He had a point. I nodded to acknowledge his worry, and he grimaced.

“The Hounds have never patrolled this far out before,” he said bitterly. “I think they only came all the way here after seeing the zombies gather at Jeju Airport.”

“My apologies for that.”

"No, not at all. Since you’ve joined forces with us, we also have reliable allies now. It’s just like the saying: in the midst of every crisis, lies great opportunity.”

Heo Seong-Min smiled happily and wished me a safe journey back. Now that I thought about it again, if I had killed Kim Dae-Young at the airport, I would never have been able to get any information about the Hounds or the Jeju Defense Unit.

I was glad that I had made the right choice earlier.

1. The Four Symbols are four mythological creatures that appear in Chinese constellations that are regarded as guardians of each cardinal direction as stated above. The author uses this analogy as there’s a gang located in the four perpendicular directions of Jeju Island. ☜