* * *
The winter that had always been the same, dull and uninteresting, passed, and spring came again.
I got a call from an older guy I was close to, someone I’d met through a club.
“Hey, Minu. I got myself a new camper van. You free this weekend?”
Bak Sangman hyung, a single man in his forties, was someone I’d met in that club. He was ten years older than me, but we got along well. We were both alone, and neither of us was particularly talkative.
That weekend, we headed to the outskirts of Gimpo. We parked the camper van in a quiet vacant lot on the outskirts.
The camper van hyung had newly bought was built on a mid-sized bus platform. It was a modified County bus, the kind commonly used as a minibus.
“How is it? Pretty nice, right?”
Hyung asked with a proud expression.
Honestly, it was more than just nice. There were large-capacity solar panels on the roof, and inside, it even had a toilet and shower facilities. A sink, a refrigerator, an induction stove, a bed. It was on the level of a small studio apartment.
“Wow... Hyung, how much was this?”
“You’ll lose confidence if I tell you, so don’t ask.”
Hyung’s bragging went on for quite a while.
How much battery capacity it had, how much it could charge with solar power, how many liters the water tank held. Something about the inverter output, something about the insulation.
I nodded along as I listened. I didn’t understand half of what he was saying, but he looked excited, so I just played along.
“With independent power, it can easily last for days. It’s self-sufficient.”
“That’s awesome.”
“It’s more than just good. Do you know how much this thing costs? If I’m going to grow old alone, I should at least fulfill a dream like this.”
Hyung kept laughing as he boasted.
Hyung knew my hobby well.
I set up a wooden board in the vacant lot beside the camper van and took out my bows. One 40-pound recurve bow, and one 60-pound recurve bow. The two bows I’d brought with me.
“Ooh, nice. Let’s shoot to our hearts’ content today.”
Hyung said as he loosened up his arms.
Hyung picked up the 40-pound bow, nocked an arrow, and shot. Since the target was about 20 meters away, the arrow lodged into the wooden board without much difficulty.
Watching from beside him, I took the bow. For me, it was a relatively light bow, so I’d been using it for rapid-fire practice.
I slipped three arrows between my fingers and took my stance.
Slavic draw. You set the arrow on the side of the bow where the drawing hand is, pull lightly, and shoot quickly.
— Swish, swish, swish.
Three arrows flew one after another in quick succession. All of them lodged into the wooden board.
“Hey, that’s insane.”
Hyung’s eyes went wide.
“That actually works? It’s seriously like a movie.”
“I practiced a bit.”
“Damn, that’s cool!”
This time, hyung picked up the 60-pound bow. At 60 pounds, it was a powerful bow even for an adult man. It took quite a bit of strength to draw.
Hyung grabbed the string and pulled. His arm muscles tensed.
“Ugh...”
After pulling it halfway, hyung grimaced.
“Ah, my arm hurts. How do you shoot this thing?”
“I’ll show you.”
I took the bow from him.
I smoothly drew the string all the way back. I steadied my breathing and maintained my posture while relaxing my body.
— Swish.
The arrow flew and lodged in the center of the wooden board.
“It’s not something you can do just because you’re strong. You need technique.”
“Technique?”
“If you pull with your arm strength, you’ll tire out quickly. You have to use your back muscles. And when you draw, you apply strength, but when you hold it, you relax. Anyway, 60 pounds is difficult for a beginner, so the 40-pound bow suits you better, hyung.”
Hyung nodded.
“As expected, someone who used to be in the archery club is different.”
“It was only for a little while in elementary school.”
“If you’re this good after only doing it for a little while, that’s talent.”
Hyung laughed and tapped my shoulder.
After shooting arrows for a while, we cleaned up, and I took a drone out of my backpack.
“What’s that?”
“A drone. If you bought a camper van, hyung, then I bought this.”
It was a small mini drone. I unfolded the drone’s propellers and set it on the ground.
“Don’t you need a license to fly a drone? Don’t you have to report it too?”
“It’s under 250 grams, so you don’t need a license, and you don’t have to report it. There are still flight-restricted zones, though, so you just have to be careful about those.”
“Oh, is that so?”
Hyung peered at the drone with curiosity.
I launched the drone. With a small whirring noise, the drone rose into the air.
“You try it too, hyung.”
I handed him the controller. Hyung awkwardly moved the sticks.
The drone wobbled to the side, shot upward, then came back down.
“Hey, this is hard.”
“Everyone’s like that at first.”
After operating it a few more times, hyung seemed to get a feel for it and slowly sent the drone forward.
“Oh, it’s working, it’s working.”
The drone made a lap over the vacant lot.
“Wow, this is fun.”
Hyung said with a laugh.
When evening came, hyung took meat out of the icebox.
We unfolded a folding table in front of the camper van and placed a grill plate over the burner. Once the oil heated up, we put pork belly on it, and with a sizzling sound, a savory smell spread in every direction.
“Meat eaten outside is the best, after all.”
Hyung said as he flipped the meat with tongs, and oil splattered as smoke rose from the grill plate.
I opened a cold can of beer and took a sip. Drops of water beading on the can ran down between my fingers, but I didn’t care.
When I dipped a well-cooked piece of meat in ssamjang and bit into it, oily meat juices filled my mouth.
It was comfortable even without any particular conversation. Grilling meat, eating, drinking beer. The occasional few words tossed back and forth were all we said, but that made it even better.
Once the sun had completely set and darkness descended, the sound of grass insects began to come from around the vacant lot.
After we finished eating, hyung brewed coffee. It was hand drip, another one of his hobbies. As the hot water slowly fell over the beans, the scent of coffee spread through the night air.
“As expected, hyung, your coffee tastes amazing.”
“It’s good, right? I changed the beans this time.”
Steam rose from the mug he handed me, and when I took a sip, the bitter taste lingered in my mouth for a long time. Looking up at the night sky, I saw stars packed densely together, the kind you couldn’t see in the city.
As the night deepened, the air grew chilly, and we went into the camper van.
It was warm inside. The air from the heater tickled my toes, and in contrast to the cool air outside, it felt even cozier.
The bed area was divided into two sections, with beds placed in the front and back.
“It’s spacious in here. Much more than I expected.”
“Four or five adults can sleep here. They made good use of the space. There’s quite a bit of storage up there too.”
Hyung pointed toward the ceiling and spoke as if boasting again.
I sat on the edge of the bed, and the mattress was softer than I’d expected.
“Well, if I’d gotten married, I would’ve brought my wife and kids along.”
Hyung muttered as he sat on the bed across from me. His voice sounded somewhat bitter.
“Come on, if you’d gotten married, you probably wouldn’t have been able to buy something like this.”
“Haha. That’s true.”
Hyung chuckled.
We each lay down on our beds and turned off the lights, and faint moonlight came in through the window. Hyung’s breathing gradually deepened, and he seemed to fall asleep quickly.
I stared at the ceiling and thought back on the day. It hadn’t been a bad day. When I closed my eyes, I fell asleep before I knew it.
* * *
Sunlight streamed in through the window. It was the next morning.
When I opened my eyes, hyung was already awake. I could hear the sound of coffee being brewed, and the savory aroma filled the camper van.
“You awake? Have some coffee.”
Hyung handed me a mug. I wrapped my hands around the warm cup and took a sip. It had the same bitter taste as last night.
I opened the camper van door and went outside. The morning air was cold, but refreshing. The sky was clear without a single cloud.
“The weather’s nice.”
“Right? Should we hang out a bit more before we go?”
Hyung said as he unfolded a folding chair.
That was when hyung turned on the radio. Music flowed from the small radio installed in the camper van. It was an ordinary morning broadcast.
But then, all of a sudden, the music cut off.
— This is breaking news. Unidentified acts of violence are occurring simultaneously across the country. Citizens are advised to refrain from going outside and remain indoors if possible. I repeat. Across the country...
Hyung and I met each other’s eyes.
“What the hell is this?”
Hyung turned up the radio volume.
— Police and fire authorities are currently being dispatched, but the situation remains difficult to assess. There have been reports of victims indiscriminately attacking other citizens...
The announcer’s voice on the radio was trembling.
“Acts of violence? Did some kind of protest break out?”
Hyung tilted his head.
It was then.
Someone was running toward us from far away.
At first, I thought it was someone jogging. I assumed it was a person out for a morning run. But something was strange. The way they ran was too desperate. They were swinging their arms and sprinting with all their might.
“What’s wrong with that person?”
Hyung looked that way too.
And behind that person, two others were chasing.
At first, I wondered if they were running together. But they weren’t. Their movements didn’t seem human. The way they leaned their upper bodies forward and ran like mad was like watching beasts.
“Hey, hey, that...”
Hyung’s voice grew quiet.
I instinctively stepped back.
“Hyung, let’s go inside.”
“Huh?”
“Quickly.”
I dragged hyung into the camper van and closed the door. We looked outside through the window.
The fleeing person fell. Maybe his foot caught on something, because he pitched forward. He tried to get up, but it was too late.
The two who had been chasing him pounced on top of him.
A scream rang out.
I held my breath and watched. Hyung was beside me, staring out the window with a stiff expression.
The fallen person struggled. He swung his arms and tried to push them away, but it was useless. One of them bit his arm, and the other bit his neck.
Blood sprayed, and the man’s screams gradually grew quieter until they stopped.
When the fallen man’s movements completely ceased, the ones who had been tearing into him stood up. With bloodstained mouths, they stood there and looked around. They no longer touched the fallen man.
As if nothing had happened, they began to slowly walk away.
“Wh-what the hell is this... Isn’t he d-dead?”
Hyung muttered in a trembling voice.
I couldn’t answer. I just stared at the corpse lying outside the window.
How many minutes passed?
The corpse that hadn’t budged began to move.
It slowly raised its upper body, then staggered to its feet. Blood was flowing down from its neck, but it stood there as if nothing were wrong.
Most of its shirt was torn, leaving the flesh of its upper body almost exposed.
The man lifted his head toward the sky.
He spread both arms and stood still, staring at the sun.
“D-damn it. What the hell. What is that...”
Hyung said as he took a step back from the window.
“It really looks like a zombie...”
“Hey, G-Gang Minu. Zombies only show up in movies... They don’t exist...”
Hyung’s voice was shaking. He seemed to be trying hard to deny it, but the scene before our eyes was far too obvious.
“Besides, look at that. Why is it standing still with both arms spread out like that?”
I looked out the window again.
The man who had been lying there bleeding just moments ago was standing. With both arms spread, his head tilted toward the sky, he stood without moving an inch. Morning sunlight shone down on the skin exposed through his torn clothes.
And there was a smile on his face. The sight of him standing there with his eyes closed, the corners of his mouth lifted as if he were happy, was even more chilling.
The place we were in was a quiet countryside area, but not far away, a few houses could be seen. From that direction, screams kept sounding intermittently. Someone shouting for help. The sound of glass breaking. Even the sound of a car being smashed.
They were far away, but faintly audible.
We hid there for a long time, holding our breaths.
“What do we do?”
Hyung asked in a low voice.
“If it’s dangerous... we may have to kill it.”
Even I was surprised by the words that came out of my mouth. But I couldn’t think of any other way.
“B-but that’s a person. If he’s just infected and mentally unstable or something...”
“It might be something like rabies... But if we act carelessly, we’ll be attacked by that thing and get infected the same way.”
“Th-that’s true...”
Hyung nodded. His hands were trembling.
“We have the bows, but do you have anything else that could be used as a weapon?”
Hyung began searching the inside of the vehicle. He opened cabinets and drawers. Soon, he found a toolbox. From inside it, he took out a hammer and a wrench.
Hyung held the hammer. It was a heavy steel hammer.
I took the wrench and stuck it into the back pocket of my pants. Then I took out the bow and nocked an arrow.
The 60-pound bow. A familiar weight in my hand.
I looked out the window again. The thing was still standing there. With a happy smile on its face.
I carefully opened the door. A light breeze brushed against my face.