Even Zombies Have Fandoms

Chapter 103

Originally, zombies were beings that moved continuously even without any stimulation. Whether it was to find prey, or simply because they didn’t know how to stay still, they continued to move aimlessly here and there even when no targets were in sight.

As a result, zombies rarely gathered together unless the space was narrow or there were obstacles blocking their path.

In summary, the scene on the field, which had nothing but soccer goalposts, made no sense.

Wondering if he had seen wrong, Muyoung rubbed his eyes and checked again, but the clustered zombies didn’t disperse. His hope that it might have just seemed that way because their paths momentarily overlapped was also shattered as their formation remained unchanged over time.

“Why on earth are they gathering?”

Muyoung, who had come to check with a light heart only to witness an ominous situation, let out a pained sound. He was worried that the three people who had suffered yesterday and hadn’t rested properly might have to struggle again because of this inexplicable phenomenon.

‘Should I wake up hyung?’

Muyoung glanced toward where Seokjae was, saw him sleeping soundly, and fell into contemplation.

Looking back and forth between the scene outside the window and Seokjae several times, Muyoung eventually turned his back.

‘I’ll wake him when something becomes more certain.’

From Seokjae, not the window.

He was the one who had suffered the most yesterday in many ways, and since he hadn’t been asleep for long, Muyoung wanted to let him rest as much as possible.

Of course, he wasn’t making a reckless choice blinded solely by such personal desires.

‘It’s not like there are signs of danger yet.’

It was certainly an unusual phenomenon, but there was no movement that specifically threatened them.

Unless they rushed toward the school in that state. They were just forming several groups scattered across the field. As if they were gathering in groups of friends to chat.

“That can’t be…”

Zombies that pushed and trampled each other at the sight of prey couldn’t possibly have that level of sociability left. Convinced that there must be another cause, Muyoung stared intently outside and racked his brains.

‘It’s also strange to think that other survivors came in and gathered.’

As soon as he assumed that there were coincidentally others who had entered the school besides themselves, he concluded that it didn’t make sense. Terribly put, with that number of zombies, one or two survivors would be devoured instantly, leaving only bones.

Zombies don’t scatter immediately after hunting, but such dense gathering was only possible shortly after a meal had ended. Even more so in this situation where, though it had thinned considerably, rain was still falling and new noises were being created from all directions.

‘I didn’t hear any screams.’

Since he had been careful even with his breathing so as not to disturb Seokjae’s sleep after putting him to bed, it didn’t make sense that he hadn’t heard human screams. Especially not the sounds of multiple people.

“What could be the reason…?”

No matter how much he pondered, he couldn’t come up with an answer, so Muyoung conflicted over whether it would be better to wake Seokjae after all. Although he couldn’t sense any changes despite being able to prick up his ears freely now that the thunder had stopped, he suspected there might be danger signals that he had failed to notice.

‘You’re really incompetent, Kang Muyoung.’

He had wanted to quickly draw conclusions like Seokjae did, solve any problems, and then explain it coolly… But it seemed too much for him.

Muyoung decided to look a little more as a last lingering attachment, and if he still couldn’t find an answer, he would wake Seokjae. With his forehead pressed against the glass window, not minding the pressure, he passionately examined the zombies and their surroundings.

But no matter how much he looked, there was nothing he could guess. Just as Muyoung, now looking dejected, was about to sigh and declare his surrender, the dawn light that had been hidden behind clouds illuminated his face.

“Ugh, it’s bright.”

Frowning at the light that directly pierced his eyes and stepping back, Muyoung immediately pressed against the window. The zombies, which had only been moving hesitantly, were now definitely moving!

“What’s going on?”

Muyoung’s mouth fell open at the change happening outside. Since there were many zombies moving, not just one or two, he who had been focusing on each spot began to observe the zombie groups as a whole for the first time.

‘The zombies aren’t all moving together.’

“Kraaak…”

“Kieek!”

Zombies on the outskirts of the group pushed other zombies as if trying to board a crowded train, and in the middle of the clustered group, they suddenly pushed each other as if a hole had opened. Occasionally there were zombies that fell and got trampled, but even those creatures continued to crawl rather than stop.

It was an extremely bizarre movement, but Muyoung, looking down from above, muttered in bewilderment.

“Don’t tell me they’re avoiding the sunlight?”

Though it was hard to believe, as he watched a bit longer, his guess became a certainty.

As the rain had almost stopped to the point where it was difficult to tell if it was still falling, the dark clouds disappeared proportionally. Naturally, the sun brightening the sky gradually affected the ground, and the zombies gathered in the gradually diminishing shade. They looked like beasts that had lost their habitat and been driven away.

‘Wh-why?’

There was one who couldn’t get up and was crawling, perhaps because its spine had broken when its waist was trampled, but once it entered the shade, it began to wriggle as if trying to stand up. Seeing this, Muyoung could no longer deny it.

The zombies were definitely avoiding the sun.

“They didn’t use to do that, right? I’m sure until recently…”

As he messed up his hair in disbelief, something suddenly occurred to him. The number of zombies that he thought had gradually decreased when cleaning the streets for Seokjae and others. Come to think of it, it seemed like there were increasingly more zombies to clear inside the buildings marked as shelters.

The difference, which was subtle at first, became clearly noticeable later, but since he had moved locations just as much, he considered it a characteristic of the location. There were exceptions like that house they recently used as a shelter where no one was present.

‘I thought there was no one outside because it was a suburban area and everyone had escaped well before martial law! It’s not like I look inside every building. And they were hardly visible at night!’

The reason the number of zombies visible on the streets had decreased even at night seemed to be because they had entered buildings in the morning and didn’t come out. Unless they heard noise from outside, they would probably just bang their heads against the building walls and wouldn’t think to leave.

“But what’s the real reason?”

It’s not like they turned to ashes and disappeared when exposed to the sun like vampires.

‘Maybe they die if they’re exposed to the sun for too long?’

There were occasionally zombies that fell behind from the group because their bodies were too damaged to move, and Muyoung watched them closely just in case.

But they all remained the same.

‘I guess not. If that were the case, the three of them could have been safe…’

Completely excluding the possibility that it could affect himself, a mutant zombie, Muyoung was merely disappointed that the chance for Seokjae and others to escape comfortably had disappeared.

“No, this is not the time.”

Reflecting on past events and considering how zombies had been densely packed inside buildings, it was highly likely that those outside would also enter the school when morning came. It was still dawn so the sun wasn’t strong, and the clouds that hadn’t completely disappeared were still casting shadows, making the zombies merely move across the field, but they needed to leave this place quickly.

‘Will they immediately believe me if I tell them zombies might come into the school to avoid the sun?’

That would be good. Muyoung ran to wake the sleeping Seokjae while inwardly praying.

‘Let’s convince hyung first. Then he’ll help convince the others!’

He sat down next to him, who was sleeping with quiet breaths, and grabbed his shoulder. It was to shake him awake.

*Flash.*

But, as soon as Muyoung grabbed his shoulder, Seokjae’s eyes opened.

“Hyung, wake u- huk.”

Muyoung backed away in shock as Seokjae woke up before he could finish speaking.

His sharp gaze, without a hint of sleepiness and frowning, softened when he spotted Muyoung. Soon, Seokjae pressed his fingertips firmly against the corner of his eye as if trying to clear his mind and asked.

“…What’s wrong.”

“Ah, th-that… I think we need to move right away.”

His voice was deeper than usual, perhaps because he hadn’t been sleeping. Feeling unnecessarily sorry even though he hadn’t done anything wrong, Muyoung smiled awkwardly before directly stating his point and then hesitated.

“So right now…”

He was concerned about how to explain it so that Seokjae would believe him.

Thinking that it might take some time but showing him directly would be the most certain, he tried to grab his wrist and pull. But Seokjae answered before that.

“Okay.”

“…Pardon?”

Without any hesitation, Seokjae got up from his spot and walked toward the sleeping Kyungho and Junwoo. He was acting like someone who already knew what was happening.

Staring blankly at his back, Muyoung had the absurd thought that Seokjae might have mind-reading abilities before stuttering.

“Hey, wake up. We need to move.”

“Hy-hyung. I haven’t explained anything yet…?”

“Is an explanation necessary?”

Seokjae, who had been squatting in front of the two and waking them by patting their heads, stood up at Muyoung’s words. Then he looked at him and slightly tilted his head to the side. As if he was genuinely puzzled.

“You said we should go together.”