CHAPTER 19
My breathing got heavier with the rising pressure, yet I couldn't see this person. I turned around when I felt like I'd had enough—I wanted to run away from it. It's pathetic, but what else was I supposed to do? I turned around again, but something blocked my way. There was a pitch-black, nearly 7-foot-tall figure taking slow steps toward me. With each step it took, my breathing grew heavier. I could feel myself and my surroundings shaking, and I could hear Nicole's voice... I looked around, but no Nicole.
I gasped, sweating and panting as I looked around.
I woke up to see Christian with his hands firmly on my shoulders. I didn't pay attention to that though—what caught my attention was how panicked he looked. I sat up and wiped the light sweat from my forehead.
"What's wrong?" I asked, looking dead into his eyes. I glanced around and saw the cat now laying comfortably on the driver's seat. But... no Nicole?
"This is bad..." he muttered. He repeated those words two more times before I stopped him.
"Hello? Earth to shitty hair?? Tell me what happened, at least," I said as I brushed his hands off my shoulders.
"And calm down a bit. It can't be that bad, right?" I jinxed it.
"You realize we're in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, and you really have the audacity to say that?" he scowled back. Fair point, I guess.
"Alright... when you put it like that, it sounds bad," I admitted, then paused. "But what's so bad that you're panicking like that?"
"It's... Nicole." He blurted it out. My eyes widened slightly.
"Nicole..?" I repeated, now genuinely concerned.
"W... what happened to Nicole?" I asked.
"He... he was kidnapped. By the same one that kidnapped Ruby," he announced, uncertainty in his voice. I stared at him, my eyes wide. How? Why? This whole situation is such a mess... it's scattered all over the place. I couldn't speak. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.
"Though... I found a hint on where they might be. I'm not completely su—"
"Anything. Any hint will help. If I lose you, we'll all be alone. I'd rather stay with your dumb ass than be alone in this situation," I cut him off. I knew it sounded weird considering our current relationship, but what needed to be said was said. He didn't respond, just let out a quiet sigh. Then he showed me a paper with an address.
"This is what the person left behind." He handed it to me. I looked at it. It was... an old abandoned building. I recognized it—I used to live in front of this place for a few years. But something didn't add up. Christian said the person left it behind. And the one who kidnapped Ruby was a murk, not a person. This was suspicious.
"But... didn't Ruby get kidnapped by a murk, not a human?" I asked.
"Yeah, she was. But there was a murk and a human beside it. The man took Nicole and left this address behind," he said, snatching the paper from my hands.
"...Interesting," I muttered, unsure of what else to say. The only choice now was to go to the address.
Then another question popped into my head.
"How did Nicole even get kidnapped? Weren't you guys in the car? And we're in the middle of nowhere." I didn't even look at him, but I could hear him grit his teeth in annoyance. He let out a soft sigh.
"Well, Nicole had an idea, which I stupidly agreed to. There was a shop nearby and we were going to get walkie-talkies, so if we ever got separated, we could stay in touch. But while we were breaking into the shop, some guy walked up to Nicole. He wasn't a zombie, but his skin was oddly pale. Then he injected something into Nicole, who fell unconscious. I only found out after he left. So... yeah." As he explained, I looked at Christian with an upset gaze.
Well, of course Nicole wanted walkie-talkies. I didn't blame him. Not completely.
"Well... did he do anything to you?" I asked, making sure Christian wasn't drugged or something. That guy could've done anything and he wouldn't know. No offense though. I looked at him impatiently, waiting for an answer.
"No," he replied, almost proudly. Then he added, "The guy ran off with Nicole before I could really react to any of it." I nodded slowly.
It fell silent. Both of us just sat in our thoughts. But then, I instinctively turned my head.
I felt a strong, alluring presence.
The same one from that dream... though I still couldn't quite make out what I was looking at as I turned back.
CHAPTER 19
It fell silent, as both of us stayed thinking. Though I felt myself turn my head back. It was instinctively. I felt a strong, alluring presence. The same one I felt in that dream, though I couldn't quite make out what I was looking at as I turned back...
It was a black-looking figure. But it instantly vanished into thin air when I saw it. I froze for a second after processing this. I could see Christian looking at me from the corner of my eye. "You ok?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Who'd be ok in this situation?" I replied, rolling my eyes with a soft sigh. That black figure was pretty tall, around 6'5 maybe? It didn't seem very realistic... though I'm not implying that I'm hallucinating. I'm definitely not. It seemed real—but... not realistic. If you know what I mean.
"Fair enough," he muttered.
It fell silent again. The silence was rather deafening, if I do say so myself. I looked back once more, just to see if it was still there. Nothing. I sighed softly. There was nothing I could do now except come up with a plan to find Nicole. That black figure felt irrelevant right now. Still... every little detail mattered in our situation.
"Well... for now, why don't we drive to the address? If there's anything we can do, it's that," I suggested. He looked skeptical but agreed anyway.
I started driving after a little food break. Everything was finally starting to take a toll on me. No Ruby. That odd nightmare. And now Nicole's gone. What if we never find them?
The city—Seoul—is pretty large, to be honest. It's not easy to go around looking for some address. We're lucky I even remember where it is.
Aside from our situation, Seoul seemed... peaceful. There weren't many zombies to be seen, and barely any bloodshed either. It looked pretty normal—except for the complete lack of people. I glanced in the rearview mirror and saw Christian lying down peacefully. He looked like he was falling asleep, so I decided to play a little prank.
I stopped the car and honked for no reason.
He instantly jolted up and looked around. "What's wrong with you, shitty face??" he scowled, clearly annoyed. I chuckled seeing him groan groggily with bed hair. He lay back down, and I could hear him sigh silently.
It had only been 35 minutes of driving familiar roads, trying to remember the way to the apartment building. Not sure if we're close yet.
"This is going to take a while," I mumbled to myself. I hadn't realized I was speaking out loud.
"How long of a while, hm?" Christian replied, looking at me through the rearview mirror. I glanced once, then refocused on the road.
"Oh—probably a few boring hours of turning left and right," I sighed.
"Ugh... I'm really not patient enough to wait that long."
"There's no other choice. Tell me if you've got a better idea—or better yet, if you know where the building is." I could hear him growl lowly, then fall silent. I didn't say anything either, and focused back on driving.
We were both still jaded and beat after everything that had happened so far with barely any sleep. But there wasn't time to rest. Not really.
Some time passed. I could hear Christian groaning, tossing and turning every five minutes. I guessed he was worried about Ruby. Just an assumption, but it made the most sense. It was silent in the car. The sky was just beginning to brighten.
It was 6:10 a.m. The sun was about to rise. We were on a bridge, and the view was clear.
Feeling a bit hungry, I snacked on some chips and drank water. By this point, we were on the west side of Seoul—completely different from where we started. We had started from the northeast. I figured Christian eventually fell asleep again, since I couldn't hear him moving or groaning anymore.
The bridge to the next part of Seoul was a long one. We'd only gone about a quarter of the way across. Normally it would take about three hours, driving at 60 km/h. But I was going 70, just to save time. Driving was boring, but I focused on the road. Not like I had a choice.
I thought about waking Christian so he could drive, give me some rest—but I'd been sleeping more. I was surviving on one hour and thirty minutes. It'd be rough for him. I'd let him sleep a while longer.
Eventually, I got drowsy. So I pulled over near the bridge to get some fresh air. It was around 7:50 a.m. I planned to wake Christian at 8:30 so he could take over.
The sunrise had faded, and now the sun was up in the sky. There were barely any clouds. It was a windy day, not hot at all.
I stood outside for a few minutes, letting the wind hit my face and blow my hair back. It was peaceful. Serene. Oddly quiet.