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It seemed like the conversation with the representatives from Gangnam hadn’t gone so well.

I looked at Lee Jeong-Uk.

“How’d it go? Do you think we can get a cruise ship?”

“No matter how many times we tell them, they don’t seem to believe us. They said they can’t lend us a cruise ship unless we tell them how to raise a zombie.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“They’re a lot more stubborn than I thought.”

Lee Jeong-Uk clicked his tongue vigorously. He seemed worn out. Hwang Ji-Hye, who was next to him, rubbed her neck and let out a deep sigh. I looked at both of them, then let out a small sigh.

"Don’t worry. There wasn’t a cruise ship in our original plan anyway.”

“We never knew that we’d have access to a cruise ship in the first place.”

“Then what, we’re really going to make the journey on foot?”

“Now that Hyeong-Jun’s awake, it should be more than possible. There aren’t any members of the Family in Gwangjin-gu. All we have to do is watch out for zombies on the streets.”

“What about the reinforcements that the Family will send?”

“That bothers me a little… But we can’t just sit around, you know?”

Both of them nodded, grimacing.

I had scouts stationed in Haengdang-dong and Majang-dong, so we would be able to take care of anyone from the Family that followed us. I looked at Hwang Ji-Hye.

“If you could handle the survivors of Shelter Silence, that’d be great. Please get them prepared to move as early as tomorrow morning if we have to.”

"All right. But I’m not sure how everyone will react when I tell them out of the blue to prepare for another journey right after surviving a war…”

“Regardless, we still have to move. We can’t just sit around, not knowing when we’ll get attacked again.”

"Got it."

Hwang Ji-Hye offered me a slight bow and headed toward Shelter Silence’s third line of defense. I watched her make her way back, then turned to look at Lee Jeong-Uk.

“We need to pack everything so that we can leave tomorrow morning if we have to.”

“Okay. We just need to pack the essentials, right?”

“Yeah. But don’t forget to pack the tents we brought from Da-Hyun Sun Park.”

“I never would have thought we were going to utilize the tents like this. Got it.”

Lee Jeong-Uk went back to Shelter Hae-Young, already thinking about what to do first when he got there. As I saw him go, I slicked my hair back and thought of my own responsibilities.

Firstly… I needed to paint my newly-recruited underlings blue.

I had lost a lot of underlings during the fight in Gwangjin-gu, and my newly recruited underlings looked exactly like the zombies roaming in the streets.

In order to move with such a large group of people, I had to paint as many of my underlings blue in order to match the number of survivors in our group. I knew that the survivors would feel more comfortable the more zombies I painted blue.

\'It’s gonna be a really busy night.’

I sucked my lower lip and walked toward Jayang-gyo, where Kim Hyeong-Jun was.

“Oh right, So-Yeon’s dad!”

At that moment, I heard Lee Jeong-Uk calling me. When I turned around, he ran right up to me and looked around.

I wondered if he was trying to tell me something secretive.

“Uh… Hmm… Don’t tell anyone else about this.”

“What is it?”

“It’s about Jeong-Hyuk and Da-Hye.”

When I nodded, Lee Jeong-Uk smiled awkwardly.

“They’re having a baby.”

“What?”

“A baby. They’re having a baby.”

“Oh, she’s pregnant?”

“Keep your voice down.”

Lee Jeong-Uk hurriedly covered my mouth and looked around. I stared at Lee Jeong-Uk, my eyes wide open in surprise. He took a deep breath before continuing.

“I only found out recently as well. It seemed like Da-Hye was having morning sickness… Are you familiar with the pregnancy tests that the convenience stores sell?”

“Yeah.”

“Her test kit showed two lines.”

“...”

My mind went absolutely blank.

I didn’t know what to say.

There was a saying that, even during the hardest times, such as in war, flowers bloomed and love found a way to endure, but I couldn’t believe what I had heard.

I was well aware that the two of them were lovers early on, since Lee Jeong-Uk had called Choi Da-Hye ‘sister-in-law’ from the day I met their group.

Even knowing that, though, them getting pregnant right now was unbelievable.

I was happy that a new life was about to enter this world, but at the same time, I worried about how it would be able to survive in this damned world. As a human, I couldn’t help but consider what its future held.

A thought came to me, causing my eyebrows to lift.

‘Were the two of them married?’

I cleared my throat and asked Lee Jeong-Uk, "Uh… I don’t remember them mentioning it to me… But are the two of them married?”

“Well, they were planning to have their wedding this winter. Nobody could have known that the world would turn upside down in the summer.”

I smacked my lips and looked away from Lee Jeong-Uk.

Just then, Lee Jeong-Uk snapped his fingers.

“Oh goodness, So-Yeon’s Dad!”

“What is it?”

“How about we have a little ceremony for them once we’ve moved to the new shelter?”

“For Lee Jeong-Hyuk and Choi Da-Hye?”

"Yup. I\'m sure a lot of people would enjoy it as well. Don’t you think it’ll give people a glimpse of what normal life was like, even just for a moment?”

“You want people to feel nostalgic?”

“Yeah.”

I quietly rubbed my chin, lost in thought.

A wedding ceremony… It didn’t seem like a bad idea.

After the move, everyone would be exhausted, and adjusting to a new place would have its fair share of difficulties. They would need something to give them some peace of mind, and to help them feel safe in the new shelter. Having a wedding ceremony would be a great way to help them adjust to the new shelter, and make them feel like it was just as safe as the previous shelter.

I nodded, agreeing to his proposal.

“Got it. But for now, don’t tell anyone.”

“Should we keep it a secret from Jeong-Hyuk and Da-Hye too?”

“That’d be ideal.”

“What about the ring and wedding dress?”

“Don’t you think there will be at least one dress store along the way? As for the ring, we can always stop by a jewelry store.”

“Are you saying we should steal them?”

I raised my eyebrows.

“I mean, is it still stealing when there’s no owner?”

Lee Jeong-Uk smirked and patted my shoulder. I smiled back at him and tapped his forearm lightly. His expression seemed rather satisfied.

“For now, this will be a secret between you and me. Let’s focus on the move for now.”

“Okay.”

“Okay, deal.”

Lee Jeong-Uk headed straight back to Shelter Hae-Young. I smiled gently as I watched him go.

“A wedding huh…”

Memories I had forgotten about flashed through my mind. I recalled the days I went on dates with my wife as a couple before our marriage, and the day I walked into the wedding hall, my heart beating nervously.

Lee Jeong-Hyuk and Choi Da-Hye… Their wedding would help everyone reminisce about the good times, and reinforce the message that the world we were in was still worth living for.

* * *

The officers of the Family were gathered inside a rundown building located in Yeouido.

They sat around a round table, silent as mice. The boss was looking out the window with a serious expression.

After a moment, the boss spoke up in a low voice.

“So, you’re telling me that the sixth and seventh officers failed?”

“Yes… Yes boss,” stammered one of the sixth officer’s decoys in reply. The lackey didn’t dare meet the boss’ eyes.

The boss sighed, his brow furrowing. The first officer looked around at the other officers that were present, then said to the boss,

“Boss, if it’s not too late, we’ll go take care of them right now.”

“Am I the only one that heard that the sixth and seventh officers failed?”

His statement was met with silence.

“What do you think you could do if you went right now? Aren’t you an officer? Are you stronger than the sixth or seventh officer? Aren’t you about as strong as the two?”

“Well....”

“The fourth officer, whom I shouldn’t even be calling an officer, was killed by a landmine the moment they set foot in Yeouido, and the fifth officer, who was no different from the fourth officer, was killed by an artillery shell two days ago. And now, you want to leave as well?”

“...”

“Have you thought about the consequences if you die at the hands of the ones in Seongsu-dong? If you keep running your mouth without thinking about the consequences, I’m going to get really disappointed.”

The boss’ tone was crystal clear, like the surface of a frozen lake, sending chills down the officers’ spines. Each and every word that the boss had spoken dripped with killing intent.

Think before you speak.

The boss glared at the officers with eyes full of murder, as though ready to kill the next person who said something stupid.

The officers kept their mouths shut. The boss looked out the window at the darkness that had engulfed the world, then spoke again.

“I should have finished them off with my own hands. I should’ve cleaned up Seongdong-gu before turning my focus to the Gangnam Operation… I grew impatient because of the suspicious activity in Yeouido.”

“No, our apologies, boss.”

“It’s all our fault, boss.”

“I can go to Seocho-gu right now…”[1]

The officers tripped over one another to offer up ingratiating responses, but the boss gestured for them to be silent.

“Stop trying to suck up to me. I’m already pissed. Have you guys considered how I would feel to hear shit like that?”

“...”

“We got it wrong from the beginning… But we can make things right from now on.”

The first officer swallowed before asking a question.

“If it’s okay with you boss, would you mind telling us what you have in mind…?”

The boss took a deep breath, then said slowly, “I can only think of one thing.”

“What is it boss?”

“We have to give up Gangbuk.”

"Boss, you must be joking!"

The first officer looked at the boss with his eyes wide. The other officers also stared at the boss, their mouths opening and closing silently like goldfish.

The boss pursed his lips and looked out the window for a while. A moment later, he turned back to face the officers.

“It\'s time to make a decision. If we give up Gangnam right now, we’ll never be able to set foot in Gangnam ever again. The moment we leave, there’s no way the people in Gangnam will leave Sogang Bridge as it is.”

“Then what about the guys in Seongdong-gu…?”

“There’s no need to get blood on our hands.”

“...?”

“There are three black creatures left in Gangbuk, right? Stop feeding them.”

"Huh?"

All three officers got up from their seats and looked blankly at their boss. They weren’t merely taken aback; they were seriously dumbfounded.

Unlike the officers, though, the boss remained perfectly calm.

“Do you see any other way?”

“The black creatures left in Gangbuk are beyond our ability to deal with. We’re barely controlling them at the moment, but to let them roam free, given the current situation…”

“Stop coming up with excuses and give me another plan, then.”

“...”

“Gather all the dong leaders and their baits in Gangbuk and bring them to Gangnam. And let’s take advantage of this move and replace any members if necessary.”

“Replace?”

“We have no need for weaklings. In this current situation, where even officers are losing their lives, weaklings have little to no value to us.”

“...”

The officers all looked rather disturbed. The boss smirked at them.

"What\'s wrong with everyone\'s faces?"

“I think it would be best to keep all of them alive,” responded the first officer, clenching his fists. The first officer had barely mustered up the courage to contradict the boss’ orders.

The boss tilted his head, unsure about the first officer’s motives.

"And the reason for this is?"

“Even if we eat them, we will only increase our control by fifty underlings. Don’t you think it’d be better to have the numbers on our side, in the current state? It would be beneficial to have more zombies with glowing red eyes under our command.”

"Oh crap! Is that so? I hadn’t the slightest clue. I was stupid. So, first officer, you’ve been thinking all along that I’ve been executing a different plan, one that didn\'t involve us trying to outnumber our opponents? Is that right?”

“Bo… Boss… That’s not what I meant…”

“Hey, you guys there, next to the first officer. Second and third officers, do you know why my eyes are blue?”

The second and third officers looked at each other and shook their heads. He took note of their ignorance and raised an eyebrow.

“Do you want to know the condition for your eyes to change color? There’s really nothing to it.”

The second and third officers stayed silent. The first officer straightened up and answered in their stead.

“Don’t they change once you eat two or more black creatures’ brains?”

The boss nodded.

“Yeah, you’re right. You just need to eat the brains of two or more black creatures. But there’s another way. A better way, in fact.”

“A better way?”

“There’s a way to obtain the powers of a black creature without having to deal with its overwhelming power.”

“What way would that be, boss?”

“You just have to deal with the zombie that absorbed the black creature’s brain.”

“Huh?”

The boss walked to the door leading out of the meeting room. He opened it slowly, then looked back at the officers in the room.

“Do you know why the eighth officer died back then?”

“Yes. The eighth officer died in order to put into motion the initial steps of the Gangnam Operation…”

“No. I ate the eighth officer’s brain.”

The boss grinned at them, and the officers turned pale. The boss looked at each officer in turn.

“I’m going to leave you guys to fight each other. And don\'t even think about leaving until one of you has been killed. My scouts are stationed around the area. so don’t even think about escaping.”

“Pardon, boss?”

“I’ll give you exactly one hour.”

With that, the boss left the meeting room. The meeting room went dead silent.

The second and third officers exchanged looks. They seemed to come to an agreement, and looked at the first officer at the same time.

The first officer looked back at them, not knowing how to react.

“Don’t… Don’t look at me with those eyes.”

"I’m sorry first officer.”

“First officer, I\'m sorry."

“Hey, hey! You crazy bastards… How could you even think about doing this to me, after all I’ve done for you?”

“Well, there’s nothing we can do. It’s not like I can die for you.”

“We can band together and kill the boss! Why didn’t you think of that?”

“That’s because you don’t know the power differential between us and the boss. This difference is the same as the difference between us and the dong leaders. We don’t stand a chance against the boss.”

“Are you guys out of your mind? Are you really being fooled by his bullshit?”

“What’s bullshit is the world we live in right now. I… I don’t want to die like this.”

The second and third officers moved closer to the first officer.

The first officer gritted their teeth, letting out an audible crack. His glowing eyes flashed, and he let loose a battle cry.

Immediately, the silence in the meeting room was replaced by a cacophony of zombie cries.

The desperate wailing didn’t last long.

1. Seocho-gu is a district within Gangnam. ☜