XG 70 - Serial killers look like normal people

“They don’t look like bad people,” Chen Yibo voiced out his sincere thoughts.

“Just like serial killers look like normal people,” Wong Xue Guo quipped.

"Let them in. It won't be good to fight outside and get too much attention from the zombies. Everyone, go hiding but make it so that you will still be able to look at the entrance. Yibo, we will confront them as soon as they enter."

"How about me?" Wong Xue Guo asked.

Kang Xunsu paused. He had not intended to let the little princess fight against people yet and unconsciously put her in the group to be protected.

"... You will act as our backup in case we can't handle them. Watch them for any surprise movement."

Ash and Kim Sung-Ho went to hide, occasionally revealing their heads out of their hiding place to peek at what was going on. With Kim Sung-Ho's encouragement, he got Yuna to hide with them and told her to be quiet.

"Xue Guo, hide here?" Chen Yibo pointed behind a large shelf that was already pushed forward by someone else. Behind it will be a good spot to hide and also happen to be facing the entrance.

It will let her eye the entire group's actions from the back.

"Be careful," Wong Xue Guo told him before slipping into her hiding place. Instead of using her sword, she took out her gun. Aside from her hiding place that will be unsuited to wave her sword around, she also does not want her blade to accidentally reflect sunlight and expose her hiding place.

True to L.L.'s words, five people entered the supermarket. The illiterate Wong Xue Guo could only understand that the young woman carrying the injured man was saying ‘hurry up’ to others.

“Ji-Hyun? Are you there?” A woman in her mid-thirties dressed in gym clothes unsuited for the winter season called out as they looked around the shop.

Once Chen Yibo translated what she said to Kang Xunsu, he had them step out and point their guns at the group of five.

“Sorry for being rude, but we need to be cautious when meeting new people nowadays,” Chen Yibo greeted.

The group of five stopped walking and stared in a rather unfriendly manner at the two males stopping them with their guns pointing at them. It was hard to blame them for their hostility.

“...Where is Ji-Hyun? The owner of this shop,” the woman in gym clothes asked, her fists clenched on her sides.

Chen Yibo could sense that this woman seemed to sincerely care for Yuna’s father, if they correctly guessed Ji-Hyun was her father’s name. “... He had died from the bite.”

He guessed right when the woman took a step back in shock, her face lost any color it previously had.

“Where is the little girl? Yuna?” One of the elderly men with a thick beard asked.

Hearing her name, Yuna peeked out of her hiding place and called out sweetly, “Grandpa~”

“Yuna!”

Kim Sung-Ho and Ash could not stop Yuna from springing out of their hiding place and ran to the bearded man. One could see they have a good relationship when the man teared up as he hugged Yuna like a kind grandfather.

Kang Xunsu, who had listened to the translated version of the conversation, did not ease his guard even when the newcomers knew Yuna. “Sung-Ho, can you help Yibo to translate for me? Yibo, ask them why they come here. Also, ask what happened to that injured man.”

Kim Sung-Ho nodded and jogged to Kang Xunsu’s back, using him as a meat shield and also close enough to listen to do his job as a translator.

“We are here to seek a place to stay.” The woman in gym clothes explained after calming down from the shocking news. “We thought our friend would be here so we came to find him but to think…”

“I guess you have taken all the food Ji-Hyun had hidden? Could you spare some for us? Of course, we will help you in exchange for it,” The bearded man said, his tone quite anxious.

“What kind of help?”

“We know which place still has food. We can lead the way.”

“Then why don’t you go there by yourself and get the food?”

“It’s too far from where we came from.”

“What will you do if we refuse to share the food?” Kang Xunsu did not yield and asked a difficult question.

The newcomer’s expression hardened, telling them indirectly that their response to their disagreement would not be good.

“I will share the food, only if you answer what happened to the injured man.”

The younger woman in the group hesitated. Her action had Chen Yibo wondering if she had trouble explaining the man's injury.

But to Kang Xunsu's eyes, the woman was hiding something and adjusted his gun. "Yibo, tell them to answer honestly if they do not want us to assume the worst."

The injured man was favoring his right hand, which was rolled up with a black shirt to cover his injury from view.

"His hand is gone," another elderly man without a beard that shared similar features with the bearded man said with a gruff tone. "Wheein, let them look at Eunhyuk's wound. They won't be assured if they don't see it."

Do Wheein clenched her teeth in frustration as she fought with her desire to cover her father from view. Since the apocalypse happened, she had a new understanding of how far a human could fall from morality. There was never an end to how deep the fall could be.

“Please. We need to be sure that he was not bitten and brought danger to us,” Chen Yibo helplessly urged under Kang Xunsu’s prompt.

“Wheein. Do it.” Do Eunhyuk told his daughter. His face was very pale, likely to be from loss of blood but his gaze was clear.

With the help of the woman in gym clothing to hold Do Eunhyuk steady, Do Wheein slowly removed the shirt from his hand. The wound was not properly treated, with only using a shirt to stop the blood flow, not that it helped much.

Chen Yibo’s expression changed when he saw the wound. Do Eunhyuk’s right hand was chopped off, right at the middle of his lower arm.

Kang Xunsu’s eyes narrowed at the sight of the wound. “You cut it yourself with a surgical knife?”

Chen Yibo hurriedly translated for Kang Xunsu and caught Do Wheein’s surprised expression.

“How did you know… never mind. Yes, we had no choice but to cut off his hand.”

“Why? Is he bitten?” Kang Xunsu questioned.

The group hesitated until the injured man suddenly spoke in English with a British accent. “If you help us, we will share what we know about the human infection rabies and a way to survive the bite.”

“Eunhyuk! What are you saying!” The elderly man without a beard chastised. He could not understand English, but he knew Do Eunhyuk was likely trying to bargain for something.

“... He’s bitten.” Do Wheein bitterly admitted in English that has a thick accent. But after that, she continued in Korean. “But he’s still normal! He’s not infected and the cut worked before it spread!”

Chen Yibo had dutifully translated every word to Kang Xunsu, but the older man does not look as if he will soften up. “Brother Xunsu, can we let them stay here and give them some food?”

Kang Xunsu’s expression was neutral, but as someone that had been with him for years, Wong Xue Guo could see he was not really accepting of that opinion. Usually, the priority-minded, self-loving her would agree with him, but not this time.

She moved out of her hiding place until she could be seen and waved her hand to get Kang Xunsu’s attention. When he finally glanced in her direction, she nodded furiously at him as she winked at Chen Yibo. She knew Kang Xunsu understood what she wanted to say, but he just lazily arched an eyebrow in response.

Giving him a glare, she completely stepped out of her hiding place. “Brother Xunsu, let’s use him as an experiment.”

The newcomers were taken aback by her sudden emergence but quickly accepted her presence. With how heavily armed Kang Xunsu and Chen Yibo looked, it would not be unreasonable that they moved around in a group. But they were still surprised with how young the other members were, aside from Kang Xunsu.

“Oh?” Kang Xunsu said nonchalantly, but his gaze was asking her what she was doing and why she was acting like a holy mother out of nowhere.

Wong Xue Guo gave him a small smile as a silent thank you as she ignored the real meaning of his gaze. “Mister, we are also interested in knowing whether you will still be a zombie after chopping off your bitten hand. In exchange for your assistance, we will naturally offer as much food as you need.”

“I agree,” Do Eunyuk said calmly. If not for his pale face and missing wrist, he would not look like an injured person. His tolerance towards pain was not something to be looked down on.

Kang Xunsu sighed, no longer protesting in lending help to the strangers as it was rather interesting research in case they face the same problem in the future. The scientists back at the lab might be interested in the findings too. If Do Eunhyuk still changes into a zombie, they could kill him.

“Does your word represent your entire group?” Kang Xunsu asked, seeing that the rest of the group clearly have little to no mastery over the English language.

But seeing how they still choose to follow Do Eunhyuk after knowing he was bitten and has a high possibility of turning into a zombie, they do not seem to be the selfish or cowardly type. They were also helping the father and daughter hide the truth too.

Chen Yibo dutifully translated so that the rest of the group would understand.

“I follow my father,” Do Wheein answered in her broken English. The rest agreed, since the request of surveying Do Eunhyuk was not a difficult one, especially when the person himself agreed.

“I gave my word, that if I survive this, I will return the favor. If I could not make it, my daughter will repay it on my behalf,” Do Eunhyuk promised.

Kang Xunsu grinned like an unlawful rake. “Alright. Let’s hope, for your sake, that we can witness some miracle.”