Apocalypse's Teacher - Chapter 63

Chapter 63

The Harsh Season (2)

***

It’s a world where tragedies are more common.

In other words, it’s a world where you can understand the nature of a tragedy just by looking at the scene in front of you.

The student tied to the bed had his skull cracked.

It looked like a blunt object had struck him.

Judging by the condition of his skin and teeth, and his half-rotten eyes, it was clear this happened after he became a zombie.

I recalled the appearance of the parents once more.

Their clothes suggested spring, autumn, or winter—not summer, when the virus outbreak began.

And the house was full of well-preserved food.

Combining all these clues, I reached an answer.

They couldn’t give up on their zombified child, so they kept him tied to the bed.

They must have waited for a vaccine to be developed.

‘…What a futile effort.’

The result was this.

Whether it was a mistake or desperation, I couldn’t tell.

The child must have bitten the parents, and the parents, infected by the virus, killed their child with their own hands before losing their sanity.

They probably knew that was the last bit of peace they could provide.

I felt a bitter taste in my mouth.

Facing the tragedy brought about by this apocalyptic world always left me feeling suffocated.

I looked at the school uniform the child was wearing.

On the left chest, the name tag read [Heo Jin-woong].

‘Jin-woong. Jin-woong.’

I walked over to Jin-woong.

I reached out and closed his wide-open eyes.

‘…Rest in peace.’

I offered a brief moment of silence.

Then, I heard Jinwoo’s voice from the living room.

“Uncle! Can we go now?”

Startled-.

My body shuddered.

I glanced between Jin-woong and the open door, then quickly shouted back.

“No! I’ll come out! There’s nothing in here!”

With that, I quickly left the room and closed the door.

It wasn’t a sight the kids should see, so it was better to hide it from them.

“What kind of room was it?”

Jinwoo asked.

I replied with a hearty laugh.

T h i s w a s c o p i e d f r o m k i ng mtl . org
“It was just a dressing room. Full of luxury items, but they’re not really my taste. They wouldn’t look good on me anyway.”

Jinwoo chuckled.

“Well, what if they were your taste? We wouldn’t have enough space in our backpacks even if we took only the preserved food.”

His face brightened as he tapped the preserved food.

Ki-hyun, too, looked more lively, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

She always paid the most attention to the distribution and management of food, so it was a natural reaction.

T hi s w as c o p i e d f r om k ingm t l . o rg
Maybe it was because I had just seen a dead child around their age.

Their cheerful faces felt poignantly endearing.

“What do we do now? Are we going to keep searching since we found so much?”

Ki-hyun asked.

She seemed uncharacteristically excited, her words filled with anticipation.

I suppressed my mixed feelings and gave her the answer she wanted to hear.

“No, let’s call it a day. We’ll go home, unload, and come back in two days.”

“Again?”

“We need to be active in winter. It’s the best time to stockpile food.”

“Ugh….”

Ki-hyun’s face quickly fell.

Her expectation turned into a pout.

I laughed.

As naturally as possible, as if nothing was wrong.

But even so, a different kind of anxiety welled up inside me.

***

The journey back with our supplies was peaceful.

Although we occasionally saw zombies due to the noise we made, they were slow enough that we could avoid them safely.

Hyesung was beaming with a wide smile.

She wiggled her hips all day, expressing her excitement for the ham we were having for dinner.

For me, her joy was painful to watch, so I escaped to the rooftop.

Whoooo-.

A chilly wind blew.

The biting wind between the buildings seeped into my bones.

I huddled, lost in thought.

‘What if….’

What if my children ended up like that boy?

Could I give up on them?

Could I make a different choice from those parents?

The thought made my mind swirl.

I used to think I would always be rational, but I had softened.

I might soften even more in the future.

I wasn’t confident I could make a different choice.

Isn’t this a meaningless worry?

That question was the most meaningless of all.

In this harsh world, happiness is fleeting, and misfortune sneaks in like a thief to crumble a person.

“Sigh….”

My breath fogged in the cold air.

My pounding heart made it hard to focus.
T h i s w a s c op ie d f r o m k i n gm t l .o rg

Then.

“Seokho!”

Helen came up to the rooftop.
T h i s w a s c op i ed f ro m k in gm tl . o rg

Bundled in layers of clothes, she waddled like a penguin.

I couldn’t help but chuckle.

T h i s w a s c o pie d f r om k i ng m t l.o r g
“What’s this? No dress anymore?”

“Hmph…!”

Helen flinched exaggeratedly.

It was the reaction she had every time I mentioned Christmas.

It was fun to tease her because of her lively response.

“Seokho, you’re a bad ass…!”

“Bad… yes? What does that even mean?”

I wish she’d stop using English.

I never understood what she was saying.

Thinking it was probably an insult, I glared at her, and Helen approached with an embarrassed face.

“What are you doing up here?”

“What do you think? Just getting some fresh air.”

“Seokho, aren’t you cold?”

Helen looked at me with a tired expression.

I snorted and answered.

“This is nothing. I was in the Special Forces, lady.”

Of course, I wasn’t actually in the special forces, just a special soldier.

“Oh, army?”
T h i s w as c o pi e d f r o m k i n g m t l .or g

“Huh? What?”

“Seokho, were you a soldier?”

Her eyes lit up with respect.

I felt my shoulders puff up a bit.

I cleared my throat and replied.

“Ahem…! I was, back in the day.”

Don’t call it pathetic.

Special soldiers are also special forces, and marine drivers are still marines.

That’s how everyone in society fudges their backgrounds.

But that’s not important.

“Why did you come up here?”

I wondered what she was doing here.

Helen answered.

“Ah…!”

…She just rolled her eyes without saying anything.

Thi s w as co p i e d f r o m k in gm t l . o rg
What’s with her?

“Uh…! To, to get some fresh air!”

“In this cold?”

Helen flinched.

Suspicious, I narrowed my eyes, and Helen stammered.

“M-my hometown is colder! Canada is very cold!”

She gave a thumbs-up.

I widened my eyes in surprise.

“Huh? You’re from Canada?”

I never asked before, so I just assumed she was American.

Helen nodded vigorously.

“Yes! Canada!”

“Oh….”

Now that she said she was Canadian, she did look like it.

Or maybe it was just my imagination since I couldn’t tell the difference between Canadians and Americans.

Helen blew into her hands and looked over the railing.

“Oh, zombie! There!”

She pointed unnecessarily at a distant zombie.

I looked at her, and a thought crossed my mind, so I asked Helen.

“Hey, lady.”

“Yes?”

“Don’t you want to go back to your home country?”

When I thought about it, she was a foreigner, and she was in Korea when the virus broke out by chance.

Canada must be much colder than Korea, and since no other catastrophe was reported when communications were still up, she might be able to reunite with her family if she went back.

It was strange that she never seemed to miss it.

Helen frowned.

She seemed to be pondering something and made a ‘hmm’ sound.

Finally, she gave her answer.

“Not right now.”

“Not right now?”

“Yes! Not right now!”

Th i s w a s c o p i e d fro m ki ng m t l. o r g
Helen smiled.

“No family. I’m an orphan. So, even if I go to Canada, there’s nowhere to go.”
T h is w as c op i e d f rom ki n g mt l . o r g

Helen stepped away from the railing and looked at me.

“So I didn’t think about it. I didn’t like Korea at first, but now I do.”

“What do you mean?”

“I love the children. Hyesung, Dayoon, Dabin, Jinwoo, Ki-hyun, Seokho, and Grandpa. I love you all.”

She gave a thumbs-up.

“We are family.”

Family.

The word made my eyes widen slightly.

It resonated so strangely that I felt captivated by it.

“Family….”

I mumbled the word, tasting it in my mouth, and let out a chuckle.

“…Yeah, we’re family.”

Ah, I understood now.

I realized why my emotions had been so shaken after seeing that family in the apartment.

I had come to view these kids, the old man, and this lady as family.

Helen laughed.

I laughed along with her.

“That’s right.”

Our laughter echoed, and I said.

“But you’re an orphan too?”

“Yes! And Seokho?”

“Yeah, I’m an orphan too.”

“Orphan friends! Nice to meet you.”

We shared a bond.

Not a particularly pleasant one.

“Seokho, you remind me of my orphanage friend, Killy! He was fierce and a great fighter!”

“What does he do?”

“He’s a gangster! Last I saw, he was selling drugs!”

Did she just compare me to a drug dealer?

A vein popped on my forehead.

Helen squealed and ran wobbly towards the stairs.

I watched her for a moment, then walked up and flicked her forehead.

Whack-!

“Ouch!”

“Let’s go in. It’s cold.”

T h is w a s c o pi ed f r o m k i n gmt l.o r g
On our way down the stairs, I glanced at Helen.

‘Did she come to comfort me?’

Maybe she followed me because I looked upset.

Looking at her sulky face, that’s what I thought.

“Seokho, you’re violent…! So violent…!”

Then the thought vanished.

End of Chapter