Rainbow City Chapter 22

Creak, the sound of the door opening was followed by a clunk as it locked. As Seokhwa attempted to step forward, the man with the mask kneeled in front of the iron bars.

“Stay still. Major Kwak Soohwan will come to rescue Dr. Oh.”

“…Major Kwak Soohwan?”

“Be especially cautious of him. He’s the guardian of the corrupt Rainbow City. The rest is left to Dr. Oh’s judgment.”

Creak, the iron door opened, and dull sounds followed. The grumbling noises were undoubtedly Adam’s. Seokhwa leaned further back, and as the man who rushed out was followed by the sounds of Adam attacking, everything fell silent.

Thunk, ggh, gulping, the sound of Adam coughing up blood and scratching his throat echoed from a distance. As the footsteps of the approaching Adam seemed to get closer, Seokhwa slowly exhaled through his nose, keeping his mouth shut.

Thud, right after the sound from nearby, Seokhwa’s body trembled as he heard the sounds of an Adam attempting to attack him from the other side of the door. However, the door remained tightly closed.

Seokhwa pressed his body against the wall and gauged the distance with sound. Cold sweat flowed down his spine like icy water. Seeing that they couldn’t approach beyond a certain distance, it seemed he was still safe. However, he couldn’t sit like this forever. With his body bound, and blindfolded at that, how could he handle the situation? If he shouted, numerous Adams could gather and…

Bang! Taang! The gunshot sounds from outside made his body, which had risen against the wall, shudder and cower. That eerie, beast-like scream and the gruesome sounds of flesh tearing and bones breaking mixed with his heavy breathing.

Who are you?

Seokhwa raised his head abruptly. It was undoubtedly the voice of a familiar man. After that, there was complete silence, and Seokhwa wondered if it was an auditory hallucination. Yet, the footsteps gradually approached him.

Bam! Bam! The impact of kicking the iron door made Seokhwa want to scream. Was it Major Kwak Soohwan? He wanted to ask so desperately, but his throat felt tight, and he couldn’t produce any sound. When someone entered and quickly removed the blindfold, Seokhwa almost embraced him. If only his wrists weren’t tied behind his back, he might have done just that.

Relying solely on sound while remaining oblivious to what was happening created an overwhelming fear. However, relief was brief. With wide-open eyes, he saw an Adam rushing towards him from behind and managed to call out.

“Major…!”

Seokhwa shook his head as if convulsing. As he recalled the past scenes, his body was once again covered in cold sweat. As time passed, the uneasy gaze gradually found stability and sank deep into reflection.

He could have checked Eden through Mother, but there was no law stating that viewing records wouldn’t be reported to the upper authorities. Besides, hadn’t Yeontae shown signs of suspicion? He could have told the truth to the upper ranks, but he didn’t want to. It was because doubts had arisen, along with the suspicion that the murderer of Dr.Oh might be inside this shelter.

He thought he would only focus on researching vaccines and mutations, but he found himself caught in a strange whirlpool. What was Eden, and what were the rebels thinking? Maybe it was better to ignore everything and dedicate himself only to vaccine research? He was no different from Mother. He had been acting based on upper orders alone. However, experiencing fear for the first time changed everything.

Seokhwa looked at his hands. Due to his sweat, the color of the pebble he had been holding was deeply stained. Just today, seven soldiers died. He was safe inside the shelter, but people outside and soldiers weren’t. He had to live with an uneasy mind 24/7, so avoiding nervous breakdowns would be more beneficial. More critical than the vaccine was the cure. Dr.Oh probably had experienced such situations even before him.

Why did Adam attack living organisms?

Seokhwa emphasized this fact the most, and he remembered saying these words to Dr.Oh. The results so far had been straightforward. The Adam virus settled in a healthy organism like a cold, causing infection.

“Dr. Seok, then have we overlooked the most important thing?”

It was before heading to Jeju Island. Dr.Oh sighed, shaking hands with Seokhwa. Seokhwa tightened his grip on the stone and abruptly stood up from the bed.

“Disease.”

The Adam virus is a disease that should be curable. There is no disease in the world that cannot be cured. The key is just when the cure will be developed. Seokhwa had studied various viruses long ago at the Jeju Island Learning Center.

From MERS and novel influenza to the much earlier Black Death. Among numerous viruses, many had no cure developed. Pharmaceutical companies, in the form of capitalism, prioritized vaccines and treatments that were profitable. They also discontinued the development of medicines that were not profitable. The Adam Pharmaceutical Company had spread the virus we created to revive their failing company.

So, what about Rainbow City now?

“Prosperity has ended, humanity is declining, and those in charge of Rainbow City are trying to fill their own pockets by sucking the life out of people! They don’t want change and are using Adam to fulfill their selfish desires!”

He didn’t fully resonate with the rebels’ ideology. He only had suspicions. If those suspicions were resolved, it would be the end of it. However, blocking access to the records of the Hyeonbyeongdae incident had become a catalyst. Seokhwa sighed, his mind in turmoil, and lay down on the floor. Sleep did not come easily.

***

“Hyung, the market isn’t open today.”

His younger brother returned holding an empty rice container, and the hand holding the rice container looked like a fern.

“There’s no rain, and we don’t have much drinking water. What should we do, hyung?”

“Yeah, who’s eating so much?”

Kwak Soohwan handed his brother the bottled water he had saved for his share. This time, he said he would save it but ended up spitting the water back into the bottle after taking a sip.

“Dad?”

“He’s in that room. Go check on him.”

“I don’t want to see him. What about Mom?”

“Mom is also in Dad’s room.”

“Ah….”

The disappointed younger brother mumbled as he looked out into the balcony.

“To hell! Perish! Rainbow City! Salvation descends! Believers, gather at Hwasun Hall!”

Worn-out apartments and cars below, along with red writings stained with exhaustion on the floor, came into view. The place they were in was not part of Rainbow City. Still, the market opened once every four days, providing support for the soldiers, allowing them to be dispatched. The Hyungs who lived next door volunteered for the military a few months ago, and there had been no news from them so far. People speculated that the brothers were probably dead.

The parents of Kwak Soohwan and his brother were also citizens of Rainbow City. The father and mother worked in the shelter, commuting from their home in the safe Green Zone. However, to have a child in Rainbow City, one needed permission. Kwak Soohwan and his brother were unauthorized children, so their parents raised them in the excluded area of Rainbow City. Not being under the protection of the city didn’t mean that Adam wasn’t causing trouble there. They had their own forces and, although inexperienced, even mercenaries composed of ordinary citizens. But once they grew strong enough, Rainbow City stamped them as rebels.

The parents visited Kwak Soohwan and his brother once a week, but this time, they were stuck inside, unable to return. Moreover, the fact that their parents were here should not be disclosed. Kwak Soohwan checked the remaining canned goods and medicine inside the cupboard.

“I’ll be back, so stay quiet at home. Don’t open the door even if the neighbor asks you to. Got it?”

“Why, where are you going again?”

The younger brother followed his brother, step by step. Kwak Soohwan handed a nearly empty pill bottle to his brother.

“Eat it with the remaining canned sausages. Don’t forget.”

“Yeah.”

The younger brother was suffering from Biscotti Aldridge syndrome. He had lived with autoimmune disease symptoms, and when he got injured, bleeding wasn’t easily stopped due to a shortage of platelets. Despite relying on medication to boost his immune system, Rainbow City’s pharmaceutical companies had announced that they would no longer supply the medicine, citing low prices. Nevertheless, it wasn’t too difficult to obtain it as long as one had money. Kwak Soohwan’s parents paid a certain amount to pharmaceutical companies through brokers and managed to acquire the medicine for his brother to survive.

Kwak Soohwan was only fourteen, but although he didn’t eat well, he had better growth than kids his age. Hence, neighbors speculated that he was sneaking good food from somewhere. It wasn’t entirely wrong. Kwak Soohwan liked the feared Red Zone. Especially when a place went from Green to Red at once, there was plenty of food. Fortunately, that day was a day when the crescent moon was visible. Kwak Soohwan descended the stairs and knocked on the entrance of Mr. Blind’s third-floor apartment.

The one-eyed man, known for connecting with Rainbow City’s brokers, opened the door with annoyance etched on his face.

“What is it?”

“Sir, my father said if we couldn’t contact him, I should ask you for my brother’s medicine.”

The one-eyed man frowned, but he recalled what he had heard before. If we can’t be contacted for a while, please get medicine for the child.

“How much?”

Kwak Soohwan took out the currency commonly used in Rainbow City. There were a total of seven types of currency, each corresponding to a color. Among them, green was the most expensive. When Kwak Soohwan presented a currency with a rainbow entirely drawn in green, the one-eyed man brought out a magnifying glass to verify its authenticity.

“I’ll bring it by the day after tomorrow, so wait for it.”

“Thank you.”

Ignoring Kwak Soohwan’s words, the one-eyed man abruptly closed the door.

“A brat acting all high and mighty for no reason, putting on airs and acting tough.”

Facing the closed door, Kwak Soohwan spat on it. Descending to the first floor, he found his parents’ car and, with still unskilled hands, took the wheel. Turning on the radio, he stepped on the accelerator upon receiving information about the designated area in the Red Zone.

Kwak Soohwan knows something scarier than Adam—it’s starvation. Of course, he rarely encountered Adam directly. Before reaching the Red Zone border, Kwak Soohwan parked the car and dashed into the alley. Fortunately, the market wasn’t far from here. After checking the surroundings for Adam and confirming he wasn’t there, Kwak Soohwan immediately rushed into the market. This place used to be where higher-ups lived, so there were fresh groceries that were not commonly found in the market. Of course, those with short expiration dates were all rotten.

To avoid making noise with the plastic bag, Kwak Soohwan opened the backpack zipper and filled it with canned goods. Processed foods were generally canned goods with long expiration dates, and naturally, they didn’t taste good. Greedily, Kwak Soohwan filled the backpack to the point where the zipper wouldn’t close. He glanced at Jeju-do natural spring water and opened the lid, drinking it heartily. Drinking pure, fresh water without impurities felt like a long time had passed. Lastly, he spotted a tray of eggs and put the whole thing into another backpack.

He searched the medicine display shelves in the mart, but the medicine his brother needed wasn’t visible. Kwak Soohwan looked around and, following the moonlit path, started running again. Although the sound of canned goods clashing in the backpack made his spine tingle, fortunately, Adam did not appear. After taking a deep breath, Kwak Soohwan headed back towards the car he had parked.

“Damn it.”

As soon as Kwak Soohwan spotted the car, he muttered a curse under his breath. It was a car set up by the soldiers at the checkpoint. They used flashlights to illuminate the interior and began searching inside. Kwak Soohwan reluctantly started moving on foot. Since he had driven for 30 minutes by car, it would take at least half a day to walk or run to his destination.