It does seem weird that this is 2023 but the time froze in 2020. Seoul is lifeless now. And the first snow today didn’t seem to make it any soulful. The snow-covered the broke old cars, the same as the streets.

In those streets, he was the only beating heart, the only being of warm blood and flesh. The walls around him were doubtless home to many in the fairly recent past, yet now it was an unfamiliar maze to all. The only guy that survived in Itaewon after the zombie apocalypse took over the world. He walked around in the city, whistling some random songs he missed listening to. He stopped at a wedding dress store. He wondered how that dress stayed all those years standing still in that mannequin.

And at that moment, all he wished for was another beating heart in this deserted city, another being of warm blood and flesh, one more pair of boots to walk next to his. He sighed and tapped the baseball bat “guess you will always be alone here short guy” he spoke to himself.

Walking during the day is the safest always, he came into a grocery store and grabbed some canned food. Even though some of them are expired but his body’s immune is stronger than before, surviving wasn’t easy for him but he decided to not give up. He froze when he heard a sound behind him. In the calm of the city, he was able to hear every breath 100 meters away from him. He grabbed the knife from his backpack steadily and calmly.

“You won’t die today Son Chaeyoung” he whispered to himself before he turned around.

A freak.

Blue skin, red eyes, and weird groans they make. Luckily, they don’t see or smell but they are sensitive to noises around them. Chaeyoung smirked when the freak turned his back to him and he was able to kill him stealthily. He choked him before he stabbed its face.

“941, I am too close to 1000” he sighed before he rushed outside the store. His beloved chopper motorcycle was parked there. He caressed the handgrips “let’s go baby girl, it will be dark soon” he said drifting away back to his apartment.

~~

Chaeyoung entered his first floored apartment and made sure the door is tightly locked. He sighed when he saw how lifeless his apartment has become. Closed curtains, canned food stocked next to the broken TV he once punched after a mental breakdown, and a wall full of sticky notes. And the most important corner for him, his workshop table that’s full of bullets, guns, and scraps for his melee weapons.

‘ - The freaks are sensitive to light.

- The freaks come out at night only (some of them come out in mornings)

- Everyone in Itaewon is infected or dead. No one is alive.’

He read them for the thousands of times before he grabbed the black pen and proceeded on writing on the whiteboard.

“Kills: 941

Days of surviving: 1091.

Last hope: A military camp in Pocheon”

The young man frowned when he heard the sound of freaks roaming in town as the sunsets. Running or walking, searching for dead bodies to eat.

“Let’s sleep, tomorrow is the big day”

He laid under the two blankets and drifted to deep sleep.

~~

Chaeyoung woke up around five. The freaks are eventually going back to their shell and dark places. He wore his usual outfit along with his black cap. He then walked to the table and took every bullet he owns along with his rifle, gun, and his nailed baseball bat.

“That should do it,” he said before he looked at himself in the mirror. A scratch under his left eye along with another bruise on his cheek after running away from a bunch of freaks.

He sighed and walked slowly outside the apartment. The corridor was empty as always, silence and calmness everywhere. It kills him inside every single day.

Chaeyoung looked around as he sat on his motorcycle, he doesn’t know if he will ever come back to his hometown. He gave it a last stare and smile before he revved up the engine.

~~

“I am lost” Chaeyoung sighed as he stopped the motorcycle mid-street. He was surrounded by nothing but snow, wind, and broken cars. To say that he was cold to death was an understatement. He pulled out a map he keeps with him “stupid” he cursed himself after he realized that he took the wrong road and Pocheon is three hours away now.

Chaeyoung looked at his watch, the broken glass made it hard for him to read. But the sound of the freaks around him made him certain that it’s near sunset.

He parked the motorcycle near a black van an