Free Web Novel“No, wait....”
Junho, who had been about to head back toward Wonmi Mountain along the route he had just mapped out, suddenly stopped.
“Something’s off....”
The number had decreased because he had killed two of them just now, but originally there had been around four Alphas controlling the approach toward Sosa Station.
And the number of slave zombies under those four Alphas alone had to be somewhere around three to four thousand.
Yet Choi Hyunwoo, Kim Taeyoung, and the soldiers with them had managed to enter Sosa Station without getting caught by those things.
Even if they had been moving at night while wearing night vision goggles, it still didn’t quite make sense.
“Don’t tell me....”
A thought suddenly struck Junho.
Without hesitation, he crossed the intersection at speed and sprinted toward Sosa Station.
Because Sosa Station had been built atop an elevated structure, the area beneath it was so dark that not even moonlight reached it.
After spotting dozens of zombies wandering underneath, Junho changed direction toward the soundproof wall running alongside the tracks.
The narrow road below was lined with dozens of abandoned vehicles parked bumper to bumper.
Meanwhile, ivy vines completely covered the tall stone retaining wall supporting the railway soundproof barrier, spreading down far enough to engulf several of the parked vehicles as well.
After spotting the only box truck among them, Junho quickly climbed onto the cargo compartment roof. From there, he scaled a utility pole and the thick vines beside it before reaching the top of the retaining wall.
Using the same method, he climbed up onto the soundproof barrier itself.
Rather than immediately dropping onto the tracks, Junho first carefully scanned both directions of the railway line.
“As expected....”
The gaze behind Junho’s wide-angle night vision goggles turned cold.
Around thirty ordinary zombies wandered across the Sosa Station platform.
But farther down the tracks toward Bucheon Station, hundreds of zombies had gathered around a stopped subway train.
And that sight could only mean one thing.
There were humans inside that train.
Because zombies possessed a homing instinct.
There was no way that many infected had all turned directly on the tracks beside the subway.
Which meant the zombies there were all slaves controlled by an Alpha.
And there was only one reason they would remain gathered like that.
Prey.
Only when there were living humans trapped inside.
And Junho was highly certain that the survivors inside the train were Choi Hyunwoo, Kim Taeyoung, and the soldiers traveling with them.
“.......”
One of the major reasons he had come all the way to Bucheon—Choi Hyunwoo—was now less than two hundred meters away.
Even so, Junho’s eyes remained completely calm.
He couldn’t allow himself to get excited.
Not only had he yet to confirm whether the survivors inside the train truly were Hyunwoo’s group—
Rescuing them wasn’t the only problem. He also needed to thoroughly plan what happened afterward.
This was the middle of downtown Bucheon, where even a tiny variable could trigger tens of thousands of zombies to pour over the tracks.
So Junho calmly gathered a little more information first.
Then he climbed back down the soundproof wall and retaining wall before heading once more toward Wonmi Mountain.
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.
Even so, as he moved swiftly and silently through the mountainside toward Catholic University, Junho’s heartbeat was slightly faster than usual.
He was still human.
Still capable of emotion.
***
“Is this really the place...?”
“Yes. This is where the Sister and the children will live.”
Sister Agatha, carrying the youngest three-year-old girl on her back, spoke in a whisper. Yoon Seolhee nodded.
The place Seolhee had led the farm survivors to after crossing the mountain for over an hour was a youth training center located in Bucheon.
Although it stood on the same Wonmi Mountain range, it was roughly one kilometer away from the farm as the crow flew, and nearly two kilometers from Yeokgok Station by road.
The rear of the facility backed directly into the mountain, while the surrounding area consisted entirely of rice fields and farmland. To reach it, one had to leave the six-lane Yeokgok Road connecting Yeokgok Station and Kkachiwool Station and travel over three hundred meters into Wonmi Mountain.
Most importantly, there was only a single access road leading to the facility.
And because the entrance had been left unmanaged for such a long time, thick overgrowth and trees completely concealed the training center from the roadside.
“We found it by luck. As you can see, nobody’s here, and the nearby houses have been abandoned for a long time too. And...”
Manipulating the drone controller, Yoon Seolhee displayed thermal-camera footage of the training center and surrounding area while continuing.
“According to Mr. Junho, this area was probably designated for redevelopment.”
“That’s probably true. The farmland we were staying at was also supposedly going to become a park in a few years. Land this close to a major road would’ve been targeted even sooner.”
Though deeply religious, Sister Agatha had apparently lived in Bucheon long enough to understand worldly matters fairly well.
“Another good thing is that this place has solar power installed since it was city-operated. With a little maintenance, it should work again. And places like this normally have emergency—”
“Diesel generators. They probably stocked a couple drums of fuel too.”
“...You know your stuff.”
“Yes. Our convent and orphanage were the same.”
What Seolhee didn’t realize was that Korean priests and nuns tended to possess frighteningly strong survival instincts.
Especially people running orphanages.
Those places were always short on supplies and desperate for support, to the point where calling it “survival ability” almost wasn’t enough. It was closer to combat power.
There was a reason the three nuns led by Sister Agatha had managed to survive the apocalypse this long while taking care of four college students who barely understood the world and more than a dozen minors.
“Please wait a moment for now. I checked yesterday, but I think it’s best to verify everything one more time.”
“Of course. Thank you so much.”
“It’s nothing. Anyway, we’ll leave all the food, medicine, and supplies we have with you. There are seeds too, so you should be able to survive for quite a while. Besides—”
“You don’t need to worry about us that much. Your kindness alone is more than enough. Please give our deepest thanks to that brother as well. Just like we always have, we’ll manage somehow on our own. We’ll be fine, so you should go do what you originally intended.”
“...No.”
At Sister Agatha’s smile, emotion suddenly welled up inside Yoon Seolhee.
Thankfully, the darkness hid her face well enough.
Quietly turning her head to conceal her burning eyes, she spoke.
“A-anyway... if what we’re trying to do succeeds, we’ll bring even more supplies here later. Maybe soldiers will even come stay here with you. According to what Lee Junho said, meaningful changes should begin happening within five years at most... maybe even two or three. So... please wait a little longer.”
“Yes. Thank you again.”
Yoon Seolhee bowed deeply to Sister Agatha before leaving to scout the facility.
The frightened faces of the children lingering in the darkness weighed heavily on her mind, but just as she bit her lip and started walking—
“Sister.”
“Yes, Sister?”
Seolhee turned at Sister Agatha’s call.
“It seems we may never see each other again after today, so I wanted to say this in advance. Could you pass along a message to Brother Lee Junho?”
“Yes? What kind of...?”
At Seolhee’s puzzled expression, Sister Agatha smiled warmly.
“Please tell him this: Brother Lee Junho is also a kind and good person. I’d appreciate it if you’d pass that along. Ah, and tell him I’m not some gullible fool either.”
“Yes. I understand.”
She wasn’t entirely sure what that meant, but hearing someone call Junho a good person still brought a faint smile to Yoon Seolhee’s lips.
***
After once again confirming through reconnaissance that the training center was completely empty, Yoon Seolhee escorted Sister Agatha and the farm survivors inside.
The facility was dusty and somewhat dirty, but the bedding remained in good condition.
There were plenty of necessities like soap, toothpaste, and toilet paper, and the storage rooms still contained unopened bags of rice and flour alongside a surprisingly large supply of seasoning and sauces.
That alone would allow them to survive for months.
Even so, Seolhee took two of the college students and climbed back up Wonmi Mountain.
And when they arrived at the point Junho had designated the previous day, he was already waiting for them.
“...That’s the situation. So I think we’ll need to adjust the plan a little.”
After roughly explaining everything to Seolhee, Junho glanced at the college students nervously watching his expression.
“Anyway, it’d be better to discuss the details at the control center. The Sister’s probably worried sick waiting for these two.”
“Let’s go, then.”
Together with Yoon Seolhee and the students, Junho returned to the integrated control center.
“Whoa...?”
“Holy shit....”
After learning how to enter the building from Junho, the college students arrived at the second-floor storage room—
And stood there staring in disbelief at dozens of sealed containers filled with food, medicine, and every kind of supply imaginable, all vacuum-packed.
“Most of this will remain usable for another two or three years. And as you can see, there’s a lot of it. So only take what you immediately need today. After that, come back whenever necessary. Never during the daytime. Only move at night.”
“Y-yes, sir.”
“And who said they know how to fly drones?”
“M-me.”
“Good. I’ll give you one. Use follow mode whenever you travel back and forth. I removed the altitude restrictions, but....”
After teaching them how to operate the drone along with all of his conditions and warnings, the two students loaded the supplies they immediately needed onto carrying frames and returned to the training center through Wonmi Mountain.
“.......”
From the top floor of the control center, Junho watched the two of them disappear into the distance through a thermal monocular.
Would they survive the year?
Would they manage to move all the supplies without being discovered by other survivors?
He didn’t know.
But the deal had been made.
And from this point forward, Sister Agatha—the woman who had firmly declared she wasn’t some gullible fool—and the other good-hearted adults would handle things themselves.
***
“...So this is the best plan available. Manager Park will act as my backup. Jimin and Areum will remain to the rear, operating the drones, conducting reconnaissance, and preparing for emergencies.”
“.......”
After spending more than ten minutes explaining the routes and marked points on the satellite map, Junho’s listeners fell silent.
Because—
“Isn’t this way too dangerous? No, not for us—for you. You’re seriously planning to move along the tracks alone...?”
Junho had just dropped a bombshell.
He intended to infiltrate toward Bucheon Station alone via Line 1.
“It’s the fastest, safest, and most reliable way to handle this.”
“But still....”
“Oppa, I think it’s too dangerous for you to go alone.”
Watching Yoon Seolhee, Kim Jimin, and Han Areum voice their concerns one after another, Junho answered calmly.
“No. I’m not doing this alone. Someone has to secure a sniper position on the shopping-building rooftop overlooking the intersection and provide backup. Someone has to keep scouting with drones and relay information to me. If I really were alone, I wouldn’t even consider a plan like this.”
And that was the truth.
Because he had trusted comrades at his side, he was willing to attempt a plan that might appear reckless on the surface but actually possessed an extremely high chance of success.
And that wasn’t all.
“To be honest.”
“......?”
Junho looked at the three of them with a serious expression.
“If variables appear or something unexpected happens and massive zombie hordes flood onto the tracks... honestly, I’m confident I can escape by myself.”
“......!”
Everyone’s eyes widened.
“But I’m not confident I could do that while protecting all three of you too.”
Yoon Seolhee and Kim Jimin—both of whom already knew exactly what kind of monster Junho really was—briefly exchanged glances before nodding.
“If you put it that way, I guess there’s no arguing with you. Understood.”
“Tch. Can’t really refute that.”
But Han Areum, who had never personally witnessed Junho’s true capabilities, couldn’t hide her shock.
“W-wait, Seolhee unni? Jimin oppa? Seriously? You’re really sending Junho oppa alone?”
The two of them turned toward her simultaneously.
“You’ll understand once you see it.”
“In a good way, Junho hyung isn’t human.”
***
1:20 a.m.
—Can you hear me?
“I hear you clearly. How’s visibility over there?”
—Good. I’ve got the station area within a fifty-meter firing radius.
Yoon Seolhee had taken position atop the building overlooking the intersection where Junho had eliminated the two Alphas earlier.
—I just sent the drone your way. Thanks to the redevelopment zone, there aren’t any tall buildings in the middle, so it can fly all the way to Bucheon Station without a problem.
The radio signal was stable.
Kim Jimin and Han Areum, positioned atop the pharmacy building at Catholic University, were fully prepared as well.
All of this was possible because Junho had used the raiders to thoroughly identify the territories of the nearby zombie groups and Alphas.
“Priority one is locating the Alphas. Inform us immediately when you spot them. Manager Park or I will handle the kills.”
—Understood.
—Copy that.
After hearing the tension-filled replies from the two of them, Junho lightly vaulted over the soundproof wall lining the Line 1 tracks.
Two drones hovered overhead.
Three reliable comrades supported him from the ground.
And on top of that, he was wearing the motorcycle suit from the Bucheon house.
Over it, Junho wore a tactical vest and reinforced plastic armor.
Armed with a KP9, a Glock 17, a machete, and a commando dagger, he slowly walked down the railway tracks.
Far ahead, hundreds of zombies stood motionless around the isolated subway train like rows of mannequins.
Junho continued forward with quiet footsteps, like someone taking a peaceful nighttime stroll.
Eventually, the distance between him and the zombies near the last subway car narrowed to around fifty meters.
And at that exact moment, a drifting cloud slowly covered the moon.
Now Junho could clearly see the zombies through his night vision goggles—
While the zombies themselves could no longer see him.
Taking advantage of the perfectly timed darkness—
Shing.
Junho drew the darkened machete and commando dagger.
And his pace quickened slightly.
