Re: Survival - Chapter 8
Yohan felt confident. It wasnât like he was downplaying the danger. Rather, when compared to some of the stuff that he had experienced before, he was confident in his ability to handle it.
A gang. They may be actual gangsters, but how many people could they have actually killed? Ten? Twenty? In the previous timeline, Yohan had killed hundreds of people in order to survive. His mentality was on a whole different level. They wouldnât be able to handle him. There was one issue howeverâŠ
âDo those guys have guns?â asked Yohan. This was vitally important.
âWe didnât see any.â
âThatâs a relief.â
âThereâs something else I wanted to tell you,â Saeri said. Yohan was still thinking about the gang when he noticed her movements. He looked over to her and noticed that she was taking her jacket off.
âWhat are you doing?â
âIâm trying to make you mine.â
âThis isnât the time for jokes. Put your clothes back on.â
âIâm not joking. I need someone on my side. To save my sister. To protect me. After seeing you fight earlier I decided that youâre my best bet.â
âIâm sorry, but youâre mistaken. Iâm not the type of person that would save or protect someone. Killing, on the other hand, is a different story. Why donât you go after Gunn?â
âHe wonât do. Heâs too soft.â
Yohanâs throat felt dry. He rubbed his face, feeling some blood rushing into his cheeks.
âWe can take the romance bit slow,â Saeri continued, âthough I will admit that Iâve taken a liking to you. Iâm not a bad catch either, right?â
She was clearly confident in her looks. Yohan didnât expect such a shameless show of pride. However, her actions werenât that strange or suspicious, given the circumstances. In a zombie apocalypse, a womanâs appeal was her strongest weapon. But it was also a great weakness that attracted danger.
Yohan had seen it happen a few times, the act of securing the campâs strongest fighter through seduction. It was natural survival instincts and it happened more frequently as time passed. It could be that Saeri had already figured this out.
For Yohan, as long as the person approaching him was not dangerous, he had not outright rejected any women who approached him with sexual favours. Even though sex wasnât as important as eating or sleeping, it did help to improve morale and relieve stress. Of course, something like love is unnecessary. Still, despite her words, there could be some negative consequences given the current situation.
âSorry, I canât protect you or save your sister. Iâll pretend you never said any of this.â
âThatâs unfortunate⊠I wanted to do it too.â Saeri pulled her leather pants back up, but not before flashing him an extremely provocative smile.
âWhat a wicked temptress.â Yohan felt like he was going crazy. Still, he really hated being in debt. He scratched his head several times before speaking.
âOne for one. Every time we do it, Iâll save your life that many times. Thatâs how people usually make these kind of deals,â Yohan said, as nonchalant as possible. Saeriâs face brightened. That was all she wanted to hear.
âGreat, thatâs enough for me. Then, shall we get started?â
âNo thanks.â Yohan smiled back at her.
ââŠHow come?â
Yohan took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth. It wasnât that he was feeling embarrassed but, rather, he disliked the fact that she felt compelled to offer herself this way due to the circumstances.
âFirst of all, Iâm not stupid enough to simply accept a random girl in the middle of all this chaos. Secondly, Iâm not some trash that would touch someone when theyâre shaking.â
Yohan stared pointedly at Saeriâs finger. Her hands were shaking ever so slightly. Other people might not have noticed it, but Yohan definitely did. No matter how daring she was, Saeri was still young. It was obvious that she was putting on airs and it took a lot of effort to wear that mask.
âLastly, youâre not my type. Iâm not attracted to kids. We still have work to do, so put your clothes back on.â
Saeriâs bright smile instantly turned into a frown. Yohan puffed on his cigarette.
âJeez, how ridiculous.â Yohan wasnât expecting to have this kind of conversation when Saeri first approached him. More importantly, he still hadnât decided yet if he was going to settle down here.
As he looked around at the camp, he noticed Saeri smiling brightly at him. He gave her a forced smile in return. It seemed that she was satisfied with the outcome of their conversation. He could now tell that she was openly ogling him with her eyes and thought that maybe she really just wanted him.
âI donât remember being this popular before. Oh well, doesnât matter.â Yohan extinguished his cigarette.
âWhy do you look so annoyed? Is it me?â
âNo. There are just some things that I need to think about,â Yohan replied, waving his hand. He blew out the rest of the cigarette smoke in his mouth. Saeri clicked her tongue dejectedly. She finished putting on her jacket and stared at Yohan once more.
âIs that a bulletproof vest?â
âYeah.â
âWow, youâre prepared.â Saeriâs eyes widened. It was an understandable reaction. Yohan dressed as if he was a soldier going to war. A bandana covered his mouth and neck and he was wearing leather gloves, a bulletproof vest, and combat boots. Her eyes would bulge out more if she could see all the weapons hidden underneath. He wore knives as if they were a garter belt, strapped to the outside of his thighs. He had a small razor blade wrapped in tape near his groin, which would have drawn a comment or two if anyone saw it. He even had lockpicks and other tools inside his boots in case of an emergency.
âYouâre really not going to save my sister?â
âWeâll see. I canât give you a straight answer right now. I might help if I decide to stay at this camp and those guys keep bothering us, but have they killed anyone? How many of them are there?â
âNo, they didnât hurt anyone. There were six of them. Well, Gunn and Hyuk got hurt a little. They were trying to take some people and Gunn tried to stop them. Hyuk got angry after his brother got hurt and they hit him.â
âOnly six people with no weapons and they still got their way? Was everyone else just sitting down?â
âThey had a hammer, dripping with blood. Everyone was busy cryingâŠâ Saeri hesitated before continuing, ââŠincluding me.â
Yohan cleared his throat loudly to clear the awkward atmosphere.
âGo help clean up. If we donât secure this place, we wonât last long.â
âI thought we made a deal. Are you going to save my sister or not?â
âForget it. If things get bad here, Iâm just going to leave.â
âAre you scared of those gangsters too?â
âIâm not scared. Iâm actually contemplating killing them all, but Iâm still not sure about something.â
âNot sure of what?â
âNot sure if this camp or their camp is more qualified to survive.â
âWhat? I told you. Those are bad people that kidnapped my sister.â
âBut they havenât killed anyone. Of course, Iâm not saying that what they did is right. If they become a threat to me, I could kill them anytime,â Yohan said, casually, âHowever, aside from the Kang brothers, you, and maybe Jung Hwan⊠I feel like the others are useless. If necessary, I might just take a few people with me. Getting out of here would be a lot easier than securing the mall. On my way here, I already noted a few places where a small group could start a camp.â
Gunnâs camp had survived mostly due to sheer luck and the efforts of a few people. Yohan wanted to establish a fortified primary base that had great protection and support. However, Gunnâs camp didnât meet these standards. He wasnât blaming anyone, it was normal for people to be scared of dying. However, they were running out of time. Objectively speaking, the people in the camp had drastically low life expectancy scores in Yohanâs eyes.
âYouâre a scary person, Yohanâ
âNonsense. Excuse me, Iâm going to talk to Gunn.â Yohan was done trying to convince people. This camp couldnât handle six humans, let alone zombies. He already had another plan prepared precisely for this kind of scenario. He needed to use Gunnâs influence. It was still too early for him to exert his will on the survivors here. Additionally, Gunn had to remain as the campâs leader.
Yohan found Gunn, who gave him a meaningful smile. Yohan scratched his head.
âDid he hear my conversation with Saeri?â
âHowâd it go? Did you talk with everyone?â
âYeah, it was hard not to tell them all off.â
Gunn laughed out loud. It was an honest laugh. Yohan frowned. He was starting to lose interest in helping the group. When he encountered Gunnâs group in the previous timeline, they werenât like this. Yohan wondered if the survivors here were even the same people.
âIs it because of my timing?â
After experiencing some danger and hardship, the group would become more reliable survivors, but unfortunately they havenât had those experiences yet.
âGunn.â
âYeah?â
âYou donât want to throw away this camp, do you?â
âThrow away?â
âLike I said. If we donât secure the whole mall, I donât think weâll last long. What do you think about leaving this place and starting a new camp somewhere else with me? Weâll only take a few people with us.â
âYouâre joking right?â Gunn chuckled. Seeing his bright smile, Yohan couldnât bring himself to say that he wasnât joking at all. He thought about simply leaving the camp entirely, but it would be a waste to leave Gunn behind.
âThereâs too many people. Do we really need to keep everyone?â
âOf course.â
Yohan groaned inwardly.
âThen hereâs what we need to do.â Yohan calmly detailed his plan. When he was done, Gunn looked gloomy.
âIsnât this⊠a bit much?â
âNot at all. Wake up. Youâre not their mother. Youâre not responsible for these people. In this situation, we canât save everyone. They need to learn to protect themselves.â
Gunn didnât argue further. He knew Yohan was right. Gunn reluctantly decided to take action and turned his head to call Hyuk over.
âHyuk, tell everyone to gather around.â
Moments later, all the survivors in the camp gathered. With everyone present, Gunn stepped forward to speak. Yohan was standing behind him, but disappeared once Gunn started to speak.
âThere is definitely too many people here.â
âDid something happen?â
âEveryone, I need to tell you all about our future plans.â The crowd quieted down as soon as Gunn spoke. Once he had everyoneâs attention, he continued.
âAccording to Yohan, who came from outside, the government and military arenât able to do their jobs. I donât think we can keep waiting for them like this. We need a long-term plan. The water we have right now will run out soon and the supplies will last no longer than a month.â
âSo what do you want us to do about it?â
âIâm thinking about barricading the main entrance on the first floor and killing all the zombies inside the mall.â
âNo way!â The crowd got noisy as people talked amongst themselves.
âWeâre looking for volunteers. When this is overâŠâ Gunn paused. It was difficult for him to say the next part. âWhen this is over, any additional water and supplies acquired will only be distributed among the volunteers from now on.â
âThatâs unfair!â The crowd got louder and some people were screaming at him. Gunn was shocked. He had never been yelled at like this before.
âGunn, I donât think thatâs fair. Are you saying that those that cannot fight should just die?â
âIâm sorry. If things donât work this way then no one will volunteer and everyone will die. Those that cannot volunteer can offer to pay those who do for a share of their supplies.â
âThenâŠâ
âIâm not done yet.â The room went silent.
âIf we run out of suppliesâor if another group invades us and kicks us out of the mallâwe wonât be able to take non-volunteers.â
The crowd erupted once more. Their jeers hurt Gunn emotionally.
âI put my life on the line and fought for themâŠâ
He was only asking them to do the same in return and, yet, they responded with cold words and stares.