The Apocalypse Regressor's All-Purpose Shelter

Bwaaaaaaaaaang...!

You motherfuuuuuuckers...!

The deafening roar of motorboat engines and screaming curses echoed across the river.

For a while after the outbreak began, Paldang Dam had held steady without major issues. But at some point the floodgates had been opened, increasing both the water flow and the river depth enough that even boats could now pass beneath Jamsil Bridge.

And so, just after the electric motorboat carrying the three of them passed under the bridge—where boats normally couldn’t travel—

the looters’ motorboats appeared.

The distance had been fairly large at first.

But the bastards were rapidly closing in.

“How far?”

Junho’s voice remained low as he spoke to Kim Jimin, who was controlling the drone.

“About 150 meters. But are those fuckers seriously insane?”

Unlike Junho, Kim Jimin looked visibly tense.

And understandably so.

Even if they were technically on the river, this was still the middle of Seoul.

Cheongdam Bridge and Yeongdong Bridge were practically right in front of them. North of the river lay Seongsu-dong, south of it Cheongdam-dong, while Gangbyeonbuk-ro and Olympic-daero stretched along both sides.

And in a place like this, those idiots were racing around on loud motorboats while screaming at the top of their lungs?

They weren’t normal lunatics.

“They are crazy. But they’re not acting without a plan.”

“Huh?”

Junho skillfully steered the electric motorboat as he continued.

“The river’s probably around seven to eight hundred meters wide here. And both us and them are near the middle. There’s strong wind too, so even pretty loud sounds usually don’t reach the shoreline.”

“Ah....”

“And even if the sound does carry, the zombies can’t see them. The distance is too far.”

That was why survivors had been able to move around the Han River using noisy motorboats and jet skis.

“That makes sense. But what do we do now? Feels like they’ll chase us to the end.”

Junho had already increased the boat’s speed.

But their side was heavily loaded with gear, making them slower, and they also had to think about battery consumption.

It was only a matter of time before the gasoline-powered motorboats caught them.

“We kill them. They’re probably acting like this because they don’t know we’re armed.”

Yoon Seolhee pulled back the bolt on her KP9 as she spoke.

But Junho shook his head.

“No. They won’t be able to keep following us.”

“...What?”

“You’ll see. Still, both of you stay ready to fire at any moment.”

“...Okay.”

The two of them exchanged puzzled looks before lying prone at the rear of the boat in firing positions.

Wheeeeeee—

The electric motorboat carrying the three of them sliced across the water while the two looter boats continued their rapid pursuit behind them.

And high overhead, roughly two hundred meters in the air, the drone following Junho in follow mode observed everything from above.

Eventually, after the electric motorboat passed beneath Cheongdam Bridge, Junho spoke again.

“Watch those guys carefully.”

“...?”

The two of them kept observing the looters’ boats through their scopes.

Then, after a short while, Kim Jimin narrowed his eyes.

“Huh? Why are those bastards slowing down?”

He was right.

The two motorboats racing wildly across the Han River suddenly reduced speed.

“Ah....”

Yoon Seolhee seemed to realize something. She lowered her scope and spoke.

“The bridge.”

“The bridge?”

“Yeah. There are tons of cars and zombies on top of it. Their engines are way too loud, so if they pass underneath at full speed, they’ll definitely get noticed.”

“Oh!”

Only then did Kim Jimin understand the situation as he looked toward Junho.

Junho grinned and nodded.

“Exactly. The engine noise draws the zombies’ attention, and once that happens they’ll look down under the bridge. Then hundreds of them might jump.”

He smirked faintly.

“I didn’t prepare these electric motors for nothing.”

If gasoline was stored the shelter way—with lowered temperature and humidity plus every stabilizer and preservative imaginable—they could still use it for around two years.

Even so, Junho had deliberately chosen electric motors over gasoline engines purely because of the noise issue.

In a real apocalypse, the single most dangerous thing when dealing with zombies was noise.

First, noise.

Second, also noise.

Wheeeee—

The inflatable boat carrying the three of them wasn’t completely silent.

But compared to a roaring gasoline engine, the electric motor was practically noiseless. frёeωebɳovel.com

By the time the looters slowed near the bridge, Junho’s group had already fully passed underneath and widened the gap dramatically. freewebnovёl.ƈom

Meanwhile, the looters—who reduced power about two hundred meters before reaching Cheongdam Bridge and then coasted almost entirely on inertia once they entered the zombies’ visual range—crept beneath the bridge like turtles.

Watching the looters silently shake their fists in rage instead of screaming because of the zombies crowding above the bridge, Kim Jimin snorted.

“Those assholes look pissed. But what’re they actually gonna do?”

“Nothing.”

Junho replied calmly.

“There are way too many bridges on the Han River.”

A bridge appeared every one or two kilometers along the Han River.

Meaning those looters would never catch them even if they died and came back to life.

“But won’t they still keep following us?”

“No. Fuel matters too, and by now survivors probably all have their own territories. Plus, guys like that usually know roughly where Alpha territory starts. They’ll avoid those areas whenever possible.”

“Ah....”

There was a reason the period beginning around six months after the apocalypse was called the Great Struggle Era.

Before that, it had mostly been zombies versus humans.

But from this point onward—

zombies versus humans,

zombies versus zombies,

and humans versus humans all erupted constantly.

And in a place like Seoul, that went without saying.

No one knew the exact number, but even though countless people had died, become zombies, or fled, Seoul was still a megacity holding survivors in the millions.

Those looters hiding motorboats inside the now-wild forests of the Han River parks and hunting other survivors using the river were clearly organized.

There was no way they didn’t understand that reality.

No matter how savage or fearless they acted, they still valued their own lives.

So Junho expected them to give up soon enough.

And before long, he was proven right.

“They’re turning around.”

Yoon Seolhee lowered her scope completely after spotting the looters pivot their boats around near Ttukseom.

At first it had looked like they might continue chasing.

But there was no point anymore.

Junho’s boat had already passed far beyond Yeongdong Bridge and widened the distance to nearly a kilometer.

“They have to. They need to conserve fuel, and from here on this probably isn’t their territory anymore.”

“Then...?”

“We reduce speed too and start moving mostly on inertia. From here onward we need to be much more careful.”

Because they were approaching the point where Jungnang Stream met the Han River.

***

After the world collapsed, Jungnang Stream underwent a truly dramatic transformation.

Why?

Because survivors desperately needed water.

And Jungnang Stream passed through Dobong-gu, Nowon-gu, Dongdaemun-gu, Jungnang-gu, Seongdong-gu, and even Gwangjin-gu.

It was obvious how many survivors would gather there.

And what happened when huge numbers of survivors concentrated in one place?

That’s right.

Zombies gathered too.

Especially Seongdong-gu, where Jungnang Stream flowed into the Han River.

That area had become absolute chaos.

A true hellscape.

“...Or so we heard.”

Junho subtly changed what he remembered from before regression into “information Major Lee Seokjin’s unit acquired.”

At his words, Yoon Seolhee and Kim Jimin’s expressions hardened.

Because they were now approaching the exact point Junho had mentioned.

“Let’s cover the boat with camouflage netting. From here on we’ll rely on the drone and move mostly by inertia.”

“Yes.”

The two quickly covered the boat carefully with the camouflage tarp, then layered reeds, branches, and floating trash over it once more.

“.......”

Lying flat, Junho focused only on the drone controller screen.

Battery remaining: over fifty percent.

The weather was slightly cloudy, but visibility remained acceptable.

Junho disabled the drone’s follow mode and moved it toward the right side—the Gangbyeonbuk-ro side where Jungnang Stream flowed.

Then he carefully observed the area.

“......!”

Junho’s eyes widened when he saw the region once known as Seoul Forest and Eco Forest beyond Gangbyeonbuk-ro.

People were living there.

Dozens—

no, hundreds—

of tents and containers filled the area.

The outer perimeter connected to the roads had been barricaded with wooden walls, shipping containers, and barbed wire.

It was a gigantic shelter.

And that wasn’t all.

Several watchtower-like structures had been built by cutting down trees from the forest.

And somehow they had even installed dozens of solar panels.

“That’s bad....”

Clicking his tongue quietly, Junho immediately recalled the drone.

Their luck couldn’t possibly have been worse.

It seemed someone standing watch atop one of the towers had accidentally spotted the drone while stretching.

And the moment Junho saw the startled man shouting something downward—

“Shit....”

“What’s wrong?”

Yoon Seolhee asked after hearing him curse.

“I think they spotted the drone.”

“...What? By who?”

But Junho had no time to explain.

“It’s not just that they saw our drone. They have drones too. Don’t move for now. They probably can’t spot our boat immediately.”

“......!”

Startled, Yoon Seolhee and Kim Jimin whipped their heads around.

Behind the shelter’s industrial drone, two tiny dots were rapidly approaching.

The two of them immediately held their breath and remained perfectly still.

“Just leave. Just keep going...”

Junho muttered quietly.

But his wish went unanswered.

No matter how well camouflaged it was, the boat was still fairly large and elongated.

And because they constantly adjusted direction to avoid drifting into shore, it seemed they had been noticed after all.

“Tch.”

Junho clicked his tongue and increased the electric motorboat’s speed again.

“Please take over steering this. It’s not difficult.”

“I’ll handle it.”

As Yoon Seolhee took control of the boat, Junho partially lifted the camouflage tarp and raised his rifle skyward while lying flat on his back.

But the boat rocked violently, and the drones were moving extremely fast.

Even aiming properly was difficult.

No matter how skilled Junho was, shooting down a drone with a rifle under these conditions was impossible.

“Let’s increase speed more.”

In the end, Junho had no choice but to prioritize speed over battery conservation.

Unless the Eco Forest survivors possessed relay systems and amplifiers like the shelter did, they wouldn’t be able to operate drones several kilometers away.

And just as Junho predicted, after pursuing them for roughly two kilometers, the two drones suddenly stopped and hovered in place—likely having reached wireless range limits.

Almost as if they were still watching both the shelter drone and Junho’s boat.

“Haaa... thank god. Huh? Why do you look like that? We lost them, didn’t we?”

Kim Jimin spoke, relieved.

Junho responded with a bitter smile.

“The important part is that we were spotted. We still have to come back upriver in this boat.”

“Ah...!”

“And we already burned through thirty percent of the battery.”

Originally, the plan had been to cross the Han River in one go and enter the Gyeongin Ara Waterway in Gangseo-gu.

But because of the unexpected situations forcing them to repeatedly run at maximum speed, the battery drained far faster than expected.

Which meant—

“We’ll need to stop somewhere midway and recharge. Otherwise we won’t even make it to Bucheon.”

And that meant the three of them would have ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) to spend twenty-four hours in the middle of Seoul.

Even if it was near the Han River.