I eased the bus forward slowly. But the rubble was piled up in a tangled mess, and whatever I'd spotted was hard to make out.
I stopped the bus and kept watching in that direction.
How long had I been sitting there? Hunger hit me all at once.
*She's probably starving too.*
I shifted my gaze toward the town center. She was nowhere in sight.
I went to the living area and opened the fridge. I was hungry but had no appetite. I grabbed a banana and headed back to the driver's seat.
*Huh?*
Someone stepped out from between the rubble.
A boy.
He didn't seem to notice the bus. He was moving carefully, watching his surroundings, heading somewhere.
I slowly rolled the bus forward and followed him.
It's always hard to guess kids' ages at a glance, but he looked like he was in the lower grades of elementary school at most.
Why was a kid that young wandering these streets alone? Looking for food?
*Crunch.*
The rubble under the bus cracked and shifted. The sound startled the boy and he suddenly broke into a run — but he wasn't fast. He looked weak, like he hadn't eaten properly in days.
The boy turned right at an intersection and disappeared. I turned the bus and followed.
But he was gone.
I stopped the bus and scanned the area. That's when I noticed a single-story building to the right that had barely collapsed. The shutter at the entrance was cracked open just a little at the bottom.
I sat there thinking.
If I left that kid alone, he wasn't going to last long. But the fact that he couldn't see the bus meant he wasn't Awakened — which meant I couldn't just bring him on board.
*Am I sticking my nose where it doesn't belong?*
I went to the living area and packed some bottled water, bananas, instant rice, and canned goods into a plastic bag. I at least wanted to do that much. Watching a child go hungry wasn't something I could just ignore.
I parked the bus close to the side of the building, checked my surroundings, then stepped out gripping the bag and my sword. I left the side door open so I could get back in at any moment, then crouched down and crawled under the shutter into the building.
Inside was dark. And quiet.
I could hear someone breathing. But it wasn't the boy.
Then came the click of a lighter. In the flash of light, I saw a white beard.
The lighter went out.
*Damn it.*
The lighter clicked again. An old man with a white beard. That's when I saw what he was holding.
A long gun. I didn't know what kind. The light went out again.
"Who's there!"
A rough, gravelly voice. Behind him, I could sense the presence of the child, still breathing hard.
"I saw the kid and got worried. Put the gun down."
The old man's voice was firm.
"Get out of here. Now!"
Right. What was I thinking, following a kid in here just to get a gun pointed at me. Damn it.
"Okay. Put the gun down. I'm leaving."
I was already annoyed as I started to crawl back out. But then I heard the old man cough. Then a retching sound.
"Grandpa!"
A little girl's voice.
I grabbed the bottom of the shutter and pushed it up higher. Daylight spilled in through the gap, and the dark interior brightened considerably.
The old man had sunk to the floor, breathing in ragged gasps. The boy from before was beside him, and a girl who looked even younger was clutching the old man's arm with both hands.
The gun the old man still hadn't let go of looked like an old air rifle. Worn down and battered — it probably couldn't fire at all.
I moved closer and looked him over. Blood was trickling from his mouth, and there were wounds across his body that looked like bites and cuts from one of the creatures. It was clear he'd fought desperately to protect his grandchildren.
Even as he struggled to breathe, the look in his eyes as he stared at me was still sharp and dangerous.
"I'm the grandson of Han's repair shop."
I kept my voice as gentle as I could. The old man's expression shifted — from hard suspicion to something more uncertain. Then, like something had clicked, he asked:
"Ah… the repair shop kid?"
I nodded. He seemed to half-remember my face.
He glanced at the sword in my hand with a puzzled look, but he didn't have the energy left to ask about it.
"My… grandkids… today was supposed to be… my son's day to come… what's going to…"
I pieced it together. I'd seen young couples like this before — leaving small kids with the grandparents on weekdays, coming back on weekends to spend time with them, heading back to the city during the week to work.
"Why were you out there alone? It's dangerous."
I asked the boy. He fidgeted, then answered quietly.
"Grandpa's medicine… I was trying to find some…"
I didn't know what to say to that.
"Today was supposed to be the day Mom comes…"
That was the little girl beside him. But her mom wasn't coming today. And the old man didn't look good.
*If they could just get on the bus, the bed could help him.*
I was still thinking it over as I checked the old man's condition. That's when I noticed something familiar on his neck.
A green liquid.
*Oh, damn it.*
It was slowly seeping out from his neck.
"Ngh—"
Suddenly the old man's eyes rolled back. The whites showed, and his body began to tremble.
The children screamed and burst into tears. Their crying filled that small space. Noise was dangerous.
"Shh! Quiet!"
It was no use. The old man's convulsions grew worse, and the green liquid spread faster, beginning to coat his entire body.
"Stop crying!"
I snapped. The boy finally choked back his sobs and clamped a hand over his little sister's mouth.
Through the half-open shutter, I saw a pair of legs.
A Stilter.
Just one.
I swung my sword at the legs immediately. But the legs vanished in that same instant. My swing hit nothing, and the force of it sent a jolt of pain up my arm. No time to feel it. The Stilter was already inside the building.
Its height forced it to bend its back and neck at unnatural angles — it looked like something out of a nightmare.
The children went white as sheets. The old man convulsing on the floor was now completely covered in green jelly. Then the convulsions stopped.
*He's infected. About an hour, roughly?*
I kept my eyes on the Stilter's movements and raised my sword. Then I pressed my back against the children, pushing them toward the wall. If I didn't give it space to appear, maybe it couldn't use that spatial-warp movement.
Before long, I started reading its pattern. I thrust the sword forward into the spot where it was about to reappear.
*SCREEEE!*
This one's scream sounded a little different. But the way it died — and that baffled expression — was the same as the last one.
It split in two. I waited.
Two Korka glinted through the gray smoke. The bus outside absorbed them instantly.
"The old man is gone. Let's get out of here."
But the children were pressed against the wall, shaking, and didn't move an inch.
"If the monsters come, we're all dead! Don't you want to see your mom and dad?"
They started moving, slowly and reluctantly. But they couldn't take their eyes off the old man, and they couldn't bring themselves to leave his side.
*CRASH!*
A window at the back of the room — covered with a black cloth — shattered. The cloth billowed. From the shape and movement, Uglies. And not just one or two.
Taking on a few Uglies by myself wouldn't be a problem — but there were two small children here.
"Run!"
I grabbed the kids' hands and ducked out under the shutter.
"Can you see the bus?"
The boy already knew he couldn't. I was hoping the little girl at least might be able to.
*B… bus?*
They both murmured something similar.
"Damn it."
I glanced back for a second. The building was swarming with Uglies. More were appearing on the sides and the roof.
Too many for me to handle alone. Even if Seonghee Awakened right now, we'd be buried before we could take them all out.
I lifted the children and set them on top of the bus roof.
"I'm… I'm scared."
The little girl was on the verge of tears. To them, it must have felt like floating in midair. The boy looked bewildered by the whole thing, but he wasn't crying.
I climbed up the rear ladder and repositioned their hands so they could grip the railing along the edge of the roof.
"Hold on tight and stay flat. If you move, you'll fall. Don't let go. No matter what."
I opened the roof hatch and dropped down into the driver's seat. I left the hatch open and floored the accelerator.
*CRASH!*
The shutter of the building next door burst open and a massive swarm of Uglies poured out all at once. It looked like a wave of giant cockroaches.
The bus was moving, but hadn't built up speed yet. The Uglies spotted the children on the roof and launched themselves at the bus.
They couldn't see the bus — to them, the kids must have looked like they were floating in midair — but they didn't seem to find that strange at all. Uglies apparently weren't smart enough to question it.
*Skreeee—*
A few Uglies clinging to the bus started crawling up toward the roof.
"Damn it!"
I jerked the bus hard left and right. The bigger risk was the kids falling off, but there was nothing else I could do.
Honestly, by the time the creatures were climbing up to the roof, I think part of me had already given up.
If I stopped the bus and climbed up, I could probably take out those few — but then the massive horde I could see in the side mirrors would be on us in seconds.
And then I'd be dead too.
Was there never any saving them?
Was this what I got for sticking my nose in?
I sank into self-loathing. I had this bus, and I still couldn't do anything.
"Haah…"
*Thud.*
A heavy impact from the roof.
*Crack! Snap! Crack! Snap!*
Then a familiar sound started coming through the open hatch.
*Could she actually be back?*
I was still hesitating, not trusting my own ears, when her voice reached me.
"Drive!"
It was her. I floored it. In the side mirrors, a dark mass was surging after us — but somehow, I felt a wave of relief wash over me.
As the speed climbed, I could hear the children struggling on the roof. Hanging on to nothing but that railing, they had to be exhausted. I felt terrible, but I couldn't slow down.
At least Seonghee was up there watching over them.
No — the real relief was that she'd come back at all.
*Just hold on.*
As the bus picked up speed, the horde began to fall behind. At this rate, we could shake them.
But once we cleared the circular area around the town hall, the road was blocked again — collapsed rubble and wrecked cars everywhere.
If we could just get past the town center and onto the main road, it would be easier — but getting out of the town center wasn't easy at all.
The Uglies closed in right behind us again, and a few leaped back onto the roof. Seonghee turned them into pulp.
The bus plowed forward, smashing through debris and wreckage. The shield kept draining. The one saving grace was that the Uglies kept throwing themselves at us, which meant the Korka kept charging.
We punched through the rubble and finally broke out of the town center onto the main road. As the bus accelerated, the creatures couldn't keep up.
I don't know how long I drove. The side mirrors showed nothing.
But I didn't ease off until we were completely clear of the town area. Out on the main road, there were only scattered wrecked cars along the shoulder — nothing that made it hard to move fast.
I knew this area well. I knew a high spot with a clear view of the town.
A little further on, I spotted the trailhead parking lot. It was a popular lookout point. I stopped the bus and scanned the town center from a distance. Dark shapes swarmed through it like cockroaches.
*Where did all of them come from so suddenly?*
But strangely, none of them were coming outside the town. Looking more carefully, they were all clustered inside a circular area centered on the town hall parking lot. Even the ones that had been outside the circle were converging inward.
Once I confirmed they weren't following anymore, I climbed up to the roof.
The children were both safe. But their faces were drained of color. They were still gripping the small railing, and they looked like they didn't even have the energy left to cry.
I turned to Seonghee, who was holding the children close.
"Thank you."
"I'm glad I found you in time."
She looked at me for a moment, then reached over and took the hands of the children who still couldn't let go of the railing. Their grip hadn't loosened at all.
I moved closer and patted their backs gently.
"Hey — do you see that open door over there?"
Both of them looked where I was pointing. Then they shook their heads.
*Ah… no way around it, then.*
A wind stirred in the sky above. And a foul smell brushed past my nose. A dark shadow fell across the roof of the bus.
I'd smelled that before. On the hill near town.