Apocalypse: Apparently, I Can See Zombies

"Jin-woo?"

Micah, who had been on high alert was momentarily dumbfounded when he heard the familiar voice of his recently made friend. He then laughed and said.

"I knew it, I knew you wouldn't have died!"

Jin-woo couldn't help but show a smile when he heard that.

"Micah, they said you were infected I didn't think I would meet you here."

Jin-woo's sorrow was momentarily replaced by excitement and relief as he stepped forward to approach Micah.

However, three steps in, Micah suddenly stepped back and said.

"No, stay there."

Jin-woo's steps immediately froze, and he came back to his senses. He looked closer at Micah and saw that his eyes were completely white without any pupils. But unlike other infected zombies, no visible black veins were snaking across his arms or face.

"You're infected… What happened?"

Jin-woo asked with a complicated expression on his face.

However, while Jin-woo paused his steps, Seong quickly approached Micah and started pacing around him with a curious look on his face.

Micah went silent for a moment before he sighed and said while glancing toward Yoon-min's body leaning against the wall.

"Yoon-min tried to be a hero and ended up getting bitten. He died while I was carrying him here and after reaching the roof I was beaten by one of the zombies that were chasing us."

Jin-woo knew he was leaving some parts out, so he said.

"I know Ye-jun closed the door before you could enter."

Upon hearing Jin-woo's words, Micah's fists noticeably clenched.

"That bastard, he deserves to die. He stared directly into my eyes while closing that door, not even hesitating for a moment. I've never been so angry at someone ever."

Jin-woo remained silent, but he perfectly understood how Micah felt towards Ye-jun.

Seong paused his inspection of Micah, then a solemn expression overcame his face as he blamed himself for not going through with strangling his cousin.

After sighing to settle his emotions, Seong turned to Jin-woo and asked.

"Hey Jin, quickly ask him how it feels to be a zombie, we might discover something useful."

Seong then turned back to Micah and leaned in to examine his gray eyes.

Jin-woo nodded subtly and then got ready to ask Micah this question, but Micah did something that completely shocked them both.

He suddenly turned his head in Seong's direction and said.

"Hey, I was trying to ignore it at first, but who are you?"

This caused Seong to stumble back, his eyes widening and mouth hanging open in mute disbelief.

Jin-woo's reaction wasn't too dissimilar, but he quickly recovered and asked.

"Micah, you can see Seong?"

"Yeah, it's weird, after turning into a zombie I lost my eyesight, but for some reason, I can see a vague silhouette of you two."

Through Micah's eyes, the world was enveloped in a white-greyish blanket, with the only thing visible being Jin-woo and Seong's figures that looked like black scrambled pixels, like what you would see on an old TV.

However, while Jin-woo's figure was dazzling, Seong's figure was dim.

"Wait, you're blind? Then why can- Ah, no, let's back up, that's not what we mean! How can you see me? I'm only a soul projection within this dimension!"

Micah: ???

Micah was so taken aback he couldn't help but show a puzzled expression.

Luckily, Jin-woo stepped in and briefly explained his abilities as well as Seong's true nature.

"You're a ghost? Wait Jin, so when you said you were seeing things, you were actually telling the truth?"

"Haha, my name is Seong, nice to formally meet you."

Seong introduced himself with a peace sign.

Micah heard that name and hesitated momentarily but then asked.

"Seong? Aren't you Jin-woo's friend who died during winter break?"

"Best friend! But this isn't the issue right now, it's the fact that you're aware that I exist. Is it because you were infected by the alien DNA? But the other infected zombies couldn't see me, so maybe it's because you're a third type of infected, one that is more dead than alive?"

Seong suddenly paused, then said.

"Dead and alive… Could it be because you're in between life and death that you can see my soul, or is it really due to the virus from the alien's DNA? Maybe both?"

Micah: ??

Micah couldn't really follow Seong's words. Alien DNA? A third type of infected?

"I don't know about any of that, so I'll just go with what you say."

Jin-woo looked at Micah and asked.

"What's it like… being a zombie?"Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Seong came out of his thoughts and looked at Micah.

Micah thought for a moment then explained.

"I can move my body, but I can't feel it. It's as if I'm controlling a character in a game. Also, even though I can only see the world in a white-grayish color, I can hear up to several dozen meters away."

Seong's eyes flashed, and he quickly asked.

"Tell us what's that like, is it like echolocation?"

"Hm, I think so. Each time I tap my foot on the ground I can sense the sound wave as it spreads out and comes into contact with objects, from there I can technically 'see' my surroundings."

"That's strange, it doesn't seem like the zombies can do this, they only wildly react to loud noise without any order to their actions. But do you share any similarities to them, like do you feel the urge to drink blood?"

Micah suddenly paused but then nodded his head and replied. Your next read is at empire

"Yeah, I do feel the urge to drink blood."

Seong stiffened, while Jin-woo felt a cold chill crawl up his spine.

"Do you feel like drinking blood now?"

Micah turned to look at Jin-woo with his gray eyes and honestly responded.

"Yes."

Jin-woo immediately felt uneasy, but Micah quickly added.

"However, I can hold back the urge. Though, for you Jin, I don't have to."

Jin-woo tilted his head in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

Micah didn't answer immediately, instead, he stared at Jin-woo who was only a dazzlingly static figure in his eyes, and after sensing the danger emitting from him once more, he finally spoke.

"For some reason, I'm feeling a sense of danger from you, that's why I asked for you not to approach. As for you, I strangely felt nothing from you since you came, not even the urge to drink your blood, but now I know why."

Micah glanced at Seong as he said those last few words.

Seong and Jin-woo couldn't help but glance at each other, both seeing the surprise in their eyes. They were on the same wavelength as they concluded Micah was sensing the mutated gene in his blood.

After thinking for a moment, Jin-woo glanced at Yoon-min, then sighed. He chose not to reveal the fact that his blood contained the cure for this virus because he wasn't sure if the cure would work on the first type of infected like Yoon-min.

For the first type of infected, rather than becoming a zombie that exists between life and death, it seemed they simply slipped into death.

Clenching his fists, Jin-woo turned back to Micah and confessed.

"I'm sorry Micah, I was the one who brought the virus to school. If it wasn't for me, Yoon-min wouldn't have died, and you wouldn't have become like this. It's my fault."