Brownsville Road, penetrating the southern part of Pittsburgh.
An old motorcycle roared through, emitting a rough exhaust sound resembling the cough of a terminal patient.
Behind the handlebars was a man.
The yellowed white coat, commonly known as a doctor’s gown, fluttered in the brisk wind.
Wearing the white coat like a jacket, he also had a black military vest and jeans inside.
Combined with the leather gloves on his hands, it was quite a distinctive outfit.
However, his face was hidden behind a black motorcycle helmet.
Creak-
The man, Aiden, parked his motorcycle on one side of a small street.
His gaze turned towards the sky.
It was noon, with the intense sunlight pouring down to the point of dazzling.
Despite the pleasant weather, the atmosphere around the deserted storefronts where he stood was anything but cheerful.
On the road, overturned car bodies were visible.
Beyond them, a collapsed building groaned under the scattered broken glass.
Inside what used to be a famous restaurant building, nothing could be seen except dust and darkness.
But Aiden, after scanning the surroundings briefly, only retrieved a small package from behind his motorcycle and silently took a few steps forward.
He headed a block further into the storefront area.
There, amidst the desolation, stood a single brick house that maintained its original shape.
The door was not torn, and the building was a modest one-story structure, adorned with a dark curtain of metal material covering the windows from the inside. The entrance featured a massive iron door reminiscent of a vault.
Additionally, a formidable iron fence surrounded the house, giving it a menacing feel, distinct from the neglected buildings.
Advancing towards the building, he stopped exactly five meters from the iron door.
“...Is anyone there?”
Following, a deep, cavernous voice echoed, creeping out from the helmet.
Soon, someone responded to his voice.
“Yes.”
“I’ve brought the goods.”
Aiden placed the small package he had brought on the ground.
Then, stepping back five meters with another package in hand, he waited in silence.
The building’s interior echoed with the resonating sound of a heavy man’s voice.
“Got it. Just wait a moment.”
The rattling sound of metal quietly echoed.
Meanwhile, there were also faint, whispered noises between the two people.
Knowing this but still maintaining silence, Aiden continued to stand there.
Only he knew where the gaze inside the black helmet was directed.
Clunk!
A hefty metallic sound of unlocking came from the iron door.
The 15cm-thick iron door slowly twisted open, and a woman walked out from within.
Rebecca Lewis.
A red-haired Caucasian woman in her forties with noticeable red hair.
She approached Aiden, or rather, the small package on the ground, holding a gun in one hand.
There was a subtle tension in her gaze.
“...”
Behind Rebecca, another woman aimed a rifle towards the outside.
The black muzzle nonchalantly observed Aiden.
Rebecca, with an escort of that gun, slightly trembling, unpacked the goods on the ground with her shaky hands.
Among them were a few cans, clean tissue, and a box of 5.56mm bullets.
“These are the requested items. Is everything in order?”
“...Yes.”
“Then leave my compensation and go back.”
“Is this correct?”
Rebecca picked up the items and placed them where the package had been.
What lay there was a 200ml blood pack.
Aiden nodded without saying a word.
Rebecca took the items and returned to the building, leaving Aiden to move.
As he was about to turn around with the blood pack tucked inside his vest.
“Wait a moment.”
Rebecca spoke up again.
She was looking at him, her hand on the iron door.
“Is there something else you need?”
“It’s not that...”
For a brief moment, a hesitating expression appeared in Rebecca’s eyes.
However, she shook it off with determination, surprising Aiden with an unexpected question.
“Are you a doctor?”
“What?”
“Didn’t you used to be a doctor? The thing hanging around your neck.”
Rebecca pointed at Aiden’s name tag.
It displayed the full name ‘Aiden Lee,’ along with a faded photo, and his specialization as a surgeon at the Pittsburgh Medical Center.
“Wait, Rebecca!”
The one from inside the iron door grabbed Rebecca’s shoulder.
A Latina woman in her twenties with brown skin, Diana, stood there.
Although Diana seemed to be trying to stop Rebecca with a bewildered face, Rebecca paid no attention and continued speaking.
“If you’re a doctor, there’s something I want to discuss.”
“What is it?”
“My daughter is sick.”
“Sick?”
A hint of sarcasm crept into Aiden’s voice.
Due to the name tag he carried around, he had received unreasonable requests several times.
However, Rebecca’s response was sharper than he expected.
“It’s not what you’re thinking! My daughter hasn’t been bitten!”
“So, you want medicine?”
“Examination... to start with. We don’t even know what medicine she needs.”
“...”
Aiden fell silent for a moment.
While finding medicine was something he could do anytime, directly seeing the patient was an entirely different issue.
But Rebecca seemed more desperate than he anticipated.
“Please! My 10-year-old has been vomiting blood for a week! At this rate...”
Aiden silently observed Rebecca as she pleaded.
Even without knowing who her daughter was.
Seeing Diana behind Rebecca, who was also silently chewing her lip, it was evident that the child was in a serious condition.
“Fine.”
So Aiden nodded.
In response, a glimmer of hope appeared on Rebecca’s face, but Aiden cut it off immediately.
“But there’s a condition.”
“What do you want?”
“It’s not a demand. It’s a matter of whether you can accept it or not.”
Aiden’s hands moved upward.
Whether there was a gun in those hands, or if Diana’s rift pointed at him again, Aiden grabbed his helmet with empty hands.
Coolly, he took it off, and the faces inside it made the two women involuntarily frown.
“So, the rumors were true.”
Rebecca was met with murky eyes that showed no glimmer of emotions.
His distinct facial features weren’t menacing, but the faded greenish skin and scars scattered across his face proved that what Rebecca was looking at was an unmistakable zombie face.
Aiden casually spoke.
“Do you still want my examination?”
Rebecca shivered at his still low, almost guttural voice.
However, she didn’t back down.
Instead, she gritted her teeth and shouted towards the corpse.
“Yes! Whether it’s death from illness or turning into a zombie, that’s what it is.”
“Rebecca!”
“Quiet, Diana! This is about my daughter and my problem.”
Ignoring her colleague, Rebecca, armed with a gun, walked towards Aiden again after throwing the gun away.
Watching Rebecca approach, Aiden frowned uncomfortably.
“...Rash judgments, no matter what. Did you go crazy and want to die?”
“I’ve heard a lot of rumors about you. They say that if you make a deal, you never break the contract.”
“Rumors are just rumors. Especially 90% of what those junk dealers gossip about is nonsense.”
“And the remaining 10%?”
“That’s even more nonsense.”
Aiden pulled out his gun as Rebecca approached.
Rebecca halted, and Diana, holding a rifle, urgently placed her finger on the trigger.
In this tense situation, Aiden calmly spoke.
“Don’t come any closer than this.”
“What do you suggest? How will you examine my daughter?”
“...”
Even in the face of the gun, Rebecca’s concern for her daughter was evident. Threats weren’t effective.
Knowing that a prolonged conversation with such an opponent wouldn’t be beneficial, Aiden put his gun away, well aware that words were exhausted.
“Just wait here for a moment.”
He returned to his motorcycle.
As Aiden approached the motorcycle, Rebecca followed him, protesting loudly.
“You! Trying to escape-“
“I’m not running away.”
What Aiden took from the motorcycle was a gray bag.
Seeing the red cross drawn on it, Rebecca widened her eyes.
It was too similar to the bags doctors carried when they went out on rounds.
“First, listen to the explanation. Your daughter is vomiting blood?”
“...Yes.”
“Anything else?”
“She had a severe cough. So, for the past two months...”
Rebecca detailed how long her daughter had been ill and the symptoms she had suffered in front of Aiden.
“You wouldn’t have just left it alone. Have you tried anything?”
“We gave her a few types of cold medicine we barely found. But... she didn’t get better at all.”
“I see. I want to see the patient myself.”
Rebecca heaved a heavy sigh but nodded in agreement.
“Okay. Stay by the door. I’ll bring the child.”
Soon, Rebecca brought a small girl in front of Aiden.
A beautiful blonde girl with green eyes.
Originally, she might have been quite cute, but now, due to the illness, she looked pitiful with a faded impression.
“...”
The girl looked at the large figure in front of her, Aiden.
Fear immediately filled her eyes, but that was all. Even if she knew the danger of walking corpses as she lived in this world, her weakened state indicated she couldn’t react properly.
In front of the girl, Aiden took out a stethoscope.
He hung it around his ears and extended the stethoscope towards Rebecca, indicating her assistance in the examination.
“...Tuberculosis.”
Aiden murmured as he listened to the rough breathing through the stethoscope, as if grinding on asphalt.
“Tuberculosis?”
“It’s a guess. Let me make it clear in advance; don’t expect a 100% diagnosis from me.”
“...I know.”
Even though Rebecca admitted that she couldn’t be certain, her face still showed her disappointment.
In this world, where there were no hospitals or pharmacies left, what remained were just remnants, and verifying a clear disease had become a challenging task.
“Can it be cured?”
“If it’s tuberculosis, yes.”
Rebecca’s face lit up at Aiden’s words.
“But it’s not an easy task. Antibiotics need to be taken continuously for at least 9 months.”
“9... 9 months?”
“If you need antibiotics, I’ll bring them immediately. You’ll be prepared to pay the price, right?”
Rebecca nodded, and Aiden put the stethoscope back into his bag, standing up.
The examination was over; there was no other reason for him to stay here.
Just as he stood up to leave, Rebecca’s voice reached him.
“When will you come back?”
Aiden, who momentarily paused at her question, thought for a moment.
There was undoubtedly a large hospital nearby, now turned into ruins.
Even though zombies roamed there, it was still possible to get a few cans of antibiotics.
“...I will come back tomorrow at noon.”
“Okay. And... thank you.”
Aiden looked back slightly at Rebecca’s thank you, nodded once, and got on the motorcycle.
Then he put on his helmet and, with the sound of an old engine, ran down the same quiet road as when he came here.