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It was the captain.

He looked at my face carefully then took a deep breath.

“How can I help?”

“Where’s your leader?”

“He’s asleep. Come back later.”

“I believe I need to meet him right now.”

“...”

The captain’s expression grew annoyed. After a moment, he gave a strong click of his tongue and disappeared inside the cruise ship.

I wondered if he’d been taken aback by my blue eyes. Or perhaps he didn’t like the manner in which I’d demanded to see their leader.

Of course, none of it mattered at all, since they weren’t the ones who had the upper hand.

The ones that weren’t welcome here were the survivors from Gangnam, not us. There was no need for us to humble ourselves when speaking with them.

A while later, a man who appeared to be in his early to mid-forties appeared at the railing of the second deck, rubbing his stiff neck. It was the major that I’d seen during the day.

The man took a look at the leaders next to me and slowly nodded.

“Are you finally ready to talk now?”

I got right to the point.

“What is your reason for coming here?”

The major wet his lips and took a moment to think. After a minute or two, he forced a smile.

“We came here because we wanted to survive. We don’t have any other intention.”

“Did you think we would accept you without any conditions?”

“No, of course not. Just as we didn’t accept you, we assumed that you wouldn’t accept us either.”

“So, if you already knew the answer, why did you make the journey all the way here?”

He looked me straight in the eyes, not even blinking as the cold river wind swirled around him.

“Because I wanted to at least save my family,” he said calmly.

I could hear the determination in his words, which were mirrored in his eyes.

I stashed my hands in my pockets and continued to ask my questions.

“And what if I told you that we have no intentions in accepting you?”

“I’ve seen the number of survivors here grow. I thought that you were gathering other survivors, so I believed that you would accept my family… Have I wasted my time coming here?”

“It seems so. Please go back.”

My words were a bluff.

If he sincerely wanted to join us, he would humble himself and let go of his ego. And if he had other intentions… He would probably aim his guns at us.

I assumed that the leader of Gangnam would take the first option, because he did not seem to harbor any hostility towards other humans. His reluctance stemmed from the presence of zombies like myself and Kim Hyeong-Jun. He did not seem like the type who would kill everyone here and claim this territory as his own.

The major put his hands behind his back and stared at me.

After a moment, he tore off the rank insignia from his shoulders. He gripped the railing of the cruise ship tightly.

“You… Are you confident that you won’t change?” he asked.

I wasn’t sure what to make of his question.

“One of the members of the Family who attacked Gangnam told me that one day, you’ll turn into one just like them,” he said.

The major tossed aside the rank insignia he had been holding.

“Let’s forget about our ranks, our positions for a bit,” he continued.

“...”

“I’ll consider you as a person and ask you a question. Are you sure you won’t change?”

I furrowed my brow.

“Changing isn’t an issue. I can’t change.”

I had So-Yeon and my family. I couldn’t, no I knew that I could not change, for their sake.

The only option I had was to keep moving forward.

The major smirked at my answer.

"I wonder how long that will of yours will last.”

“If you don’t want to believe me, then leave immediately. I have no time to joke around with you.”

“No, I believe what you’re saying. But you, you must have zombie instincts too, am I right?”

I tilted my head. "Instincts?"

The major took in a breath and let it out slowly.

“There was a zombie like you in the Family, one who had blue eyes. He said that, in the end, you’d change and fall. And that when your zombie instinct awakens, you’ll realize that you can’t live with humans anymore.”

“Did you meet the boss?”

“I don’t know if that was the boss or not… But he had blue eyes like you.”

“Elaborate.”

“...”

The major looked at me calmly without saying a word.

I wondered if he was considering how much information he should be sharing with me. If he was… I clenched my fists, and my blue eyes flashed. I wanted to let him know that I’d kill him mercilessly if he didn’t answer.

The major looked at me carefully, then sighed at the night sky.

"This zombie from the Family said that zombies like you will eventually be taken over by your zombie instincts and you’ll lose the ability to think rationally if you don’t eat zombie brains or a live human brain. They said that that’s your fate.”

My eyebrows twitched when I heard what he’d said.

I wondered if this was the reason why the dogs kidnapped humans.

Eating one human brain made it possible for zombies to talk. And if this was the only reason to eat a human brain, it would’ve been unnecessary to capture a lot of people. I finally realized that the reason they’d been kidnapping survivors was to consume their brains.

This sudden revelation left me speechless.

I carefully looked over at Kim Hyeong-Jun. He was staring at the major with a straight face.

The feud between him and Lee Jeong-Uk earlier today, and why it was getting more difficult for him to keep sane… The reason behind it finally hit home.

Our zombie\'s instincts were slowly eating us inside out, without us even realizing it.

I furrowed my brow and bombarded the major with questions.

“If that’s the case, then how did you survive after hearing all of this? Something’s not right. The moment you hear something like that, you should be dead meat. There’s no reason for the head of the Family to spare you.”

“...”

“Don’t you think that something’s not right as well? Did the gang boss escort you onto the cruise ship or something? If whatever you’re saying is true, they have no reason to let any of the survivors go. Am I wrong?”

“...”

“If you were going to lie, you should’ve thought it through beforehand.”

“They spared us so that we could tell you what I just told you.”

His words left me speechless.

‘They were spared just so they could pass this message to us?’

‘Was the head of the Family that confident?’

The major continued to speak.

“The zombie… They seemed to be enjoying the situation. They said they wanted to see what happened to you after your fall…”

“Shut it!” I yelled, frowning. I knew what the boss wanted.

All the leaders had already heard what the major had said.

I looked carefully around at the leaders. All of them were engulfed in fear. Some were swallowing hard, and others were looking back and forth between me and the major, not knowing how to react.

Despite having gone through thick and thin together, I could sense the distrust and anxiety they now felt toward me and Kim Hyeong-Jun in their eyes.

We had no clue when and how we’d change. The uncertainty that the major’s words had introduced had already begun to shake the foundations of our firmly established relationship.

I looked back at the major.

“So, they let you go for this puny reason?”

“You… You think I had a choice? I would’ve died if I didn’t get on the cruise ship. And getting on the cruise ship gave me the slightest probability of surviving.”

“...”

I bit my lower lip and clenched my fists. I couldn’t think of a reply or a rebuttal. I hated myself for not being able to come up with something.

Lee Jeong-Uk, who was next to me, put his hand on my shoulder and spoke up.

“Leave the rest to me.”

“...”

I was furious.

I felt furious at the thought that the boss was playing around with me, and at the possibility that my zombie instincts could take over me eventually, just like the boss had said.

I had no clue how to wash away the dirty feeling I had within me.

Lee Jeong-Uk took a deep breath and stepped forward. He then looked right at the major.

“Alright, this is how it’s going to be.”

“...”

“Your family will disembark,” he said calmly.

The major sighed in relief and bowed. However, Lee Jeong-Uk didn’t stop there. His words that followed were heartless, cold as ice.

“But you can’t get off.”

“Better than nothing…”

“Only the other survivors and your family can disembark. You, return to Gangnam.”

When he was done, Lee Jeong-Uk walked back to my side, grimacing. The captain, who had been standing next to the major all along, suddenly yelled at the top of his lungs. He was straining so hard that the veins in his neck were popping out.

“You bastards!!!”

The captain raised his K2 rifle and aimed it at Lee Jeong-Uk’s head. Seeing that, I hurriedly shielded Lee Jeong-Uk with my body.

The major’s eyes went wide, surprised by the captain’s rogue actions.

“Put your gun down.”

"I can’t sir. In fact, I don’t want to… I can’t stand those motherfuckers giving you shit anymore, not when they don’t know a thing about you.”

“Put down the gun Captain Park. That’s an order.”

The major kept his voice low. The captain hesitated for a moment, biting his lower lip. However, it seemed like he’d committed himself to this dark path. He blinked rapidly, but kept his gun trained on Lee Jeong-Uk.

The muzzle of his K2 started to tremble. He spoke, his voice sounding as though he was on the verge of tears.

“If it weren’t for you, platoon leader, we would… We would have already died. How in the world do you think I can leave you behind, sir?”

"Calm down, Captain Park. Nothing is going to change even if you act like this.”

“Why, sir? Why are you giving up? Weren’t you the one who told us to survive till the end?!”

“...”

The major grimaced at the captain and approached him slowly. He placed his hand on the captain\'s rifle and brought the muzzle toward his forehead.

The captain was taken aback by his superior’s actions. The major stared firmly into the captain’s eyes.

“What did I say are the virtues of being a commander?” he said quietly.

“Keep… Keep a cool head, and have ice in your veins.”

“Do you think you’re behaving in such a manner right now?”

The captain’s trigger finger began to shake violently. Eventually, he let go of the trigger and slowly lowered his rifle.

The remaining strength flowed out of his legs, and he fell to the ground and wept silently. His sorrowful sobbing made it past the bow of the cruise ship to Gwangjang-dong, where I was.

The captain stayed crumpled on the deck, and cried for a long time.

The major stood there, the sparse moonlight reflecting off of his eyes.

“Survivors! Disembark now!!” he commanded.

The ship’s doors, which had been closed tightly, began to open. The survivors, who had been shivering in the cold, began to disembark one by one. The leaders, including Hwang Ji-hye, Park Gi-Cheol and Hwang Deok-Rok, escorted the survivors from the cruise ship to the hotel lounge.

Kim Hyeong-Jun, Lee Jeong-Uk, and I stared at the major in silence.

The major stared at my face for a long time, then took a deep breath.

“Please take good care of my friend here. He’s not perfect, as you can tell.”

“Any regrets?”

"I wouldn’t be human if I didn’t have any regrets.”

“We can give you some time to say goodbye to your family.”

The major seemed to hesitate at the suggestion, but it didn’t take long for him to reply.

“The people from this cruise ship, all of them are my family,” he said with a thin smile. “Although I’m a failed leader... I hope you don’t turn out to be like me.”

“My zombie instincts might take over me someday. Do you still think it\'s okay to leave your family in my hands?”

“Well, it might sound ridiculous to say this now… But you seem different.”

“What?”

“You’re different from those guys from the Family, or the blue-eyed zombie next to you.”

His comment made me look over at Kim Hyeong-Jun, who was standing next to me. He was taking deep, controlled breaths with his eyes closed. It seemed like he was trying his best to regulate his emotions.

The major chuckled.

"I\'m glad to see someone sane.”

“...”

“Being a platoon leader didn’t suit me anyway. I couldn’t even get promoted, even though I’m well into my forties and I’ve lost so my men along the way… I’ll rest in peace knowing that I did my best in protecting Gangnam.”

“...”

“I hope you don’t think badly of the survivors from Gangnam. I’ll take all their sins with me.”

With that, he reached down to help the captain—still on the floor next to him—to his feet. The captain wiped away his tears, unable to lift his head.

The major gave him a benevolent smile.

“I think I told you this earlier today.”

“Sir… I…”

“Officers don’t bow their heads.”

The major held out his right hand, and the captain, biting his lip, reached out to grip it in a firm handshake.

The captain kept his head up this time.

“From now on, you are the leader of the survivors of Gangnam,” the major told him simply.

“Yes… Sir…”

"It’s… It’s only right that I will be buried along with the other men who made their sacrifices to get us to where we are. It\'s ridiculous for a platoon leader to beg for his own life.”

The major laughed as though he was making a joke and patted the captain on the back. Then the major looked me straight in the eyes.

“I trust you to take care of my family.”

With that, he drew his pistol from his side and placed it against his temple.