Unlike most reserve-force units, the Sang-myeon unit was not completely isolated from civilian housing.
Around the base were quite a few homes, small factories, and warehouse buildings, and from what Junho had previously learned, the total population of the area was just under a thousand.
Which meant there was a high chance that at least one or two Alphas had emerged here.
So he had expected this place to be overrun by zombies or in bad shape.
But...
***
“What the hell happened here? This looks almost like... a war broke out.”
“H-hyungnim. Those are zombies, right? Just how many are there?”
“.......”
At Kim Jimin and Baek Suho’s words, Junho silently looked down the mountain.
Flames and smoke rising from all over the place. Vehicles and countless corpses scattered across the roads.
Through the residential district, the roads, and the rice paddies, groups of five or six—or sometimes dozens—of zombies wandered together.
At a glance, there were at least three or four hundred of them. If there were more inside the buildings, the number easily exceeded five or six hundred.
That many zombies were swarming an area not even a third the size of Gahyeon-ri.
“Hyung. No matter how I look at it, this all happened just a few days ago. Right?”
“Yeah. Probably three or four days ago. Maybe even yesterday.”
Junho’s face and voice were extremely dry.
Because in a rural area like this, it was exceedingly rare for an entire region to be devastated to the point of near-annihilation like this.
“Let’s get the drone up first.”
“Okay.”
Yoon Youngsu or the AI Akina could have controlled the drone from the shelter, but the wireless range would have been pushing it, so Junho piloted it personally.
Kiiiiing...!
With a sharp mechanical whine, the industrial drone shot into the sky.
Rain was expected for the next three or four days starting tomorrow—according to the AI’s prediction—so the wind was fairly strong. Without this model, stable high-altitude reconnaissance would have been difficult.
Junho connected the controller to the laptop he had brought, and soon the entire village containing the reserve-force unit appeared clearly before them.
“Ugh!”
“H-holy shit...!”
“God....”
Not only the shelter members, but even the soldiers who had come with them could not hide their shock.
Even they, who had already experienced real combat and survived battlefields of their own, were shaken by the sight in front of them.
“Ulp.”
“Bleegh...!”
Several soldiers even vomited after witnessing dozens of zombies chase fleeing survivors, tear apart those who collapsed from exhaustion, and devour them alive.
But Junho coldly piloted the drone past the scene and moved it toward the reserve-force unit.
Then the group’s eyes widened at what they saw there.
“There are a lot of people.”
Just as Junhyeok said, there were around fifty or sixty people busily moving around the reserve-force unit’s parade ground and outside the buildings.
“You’re right. Soldiers and civilians... huh? What are they doing?”
“Wait... are they fighting? Against each other?”
They were.
Inside the reserve-force unit, whose main gate had been barricaded with military and civilian vehicles, humans were fighting humans.
“Are those lunatics insane? The outside’s already turned into that kind of hell, and they’re fighting each other in there?”
At Junhyeok’s frustrated and incredulous outburst, Junho spoke quietly.
“I think I get it now.”
“Hm?”
Everyone’s eyes turned toward him, but Junho continued piloting the drone, calmly observing the situation at the reserve-force unit.
“The incident happened either yesterday or this morning. The people with the soldiers are locals from this area. The others are outsiders. Most likely tourists who came here last year.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Look closely.”
Zooming in with the drone’s optical camera payload, Junho continued,
“First of all, they’re way younger. Especially that guy. There’s no way someone living in a place like this would have tattoos covering his entire body like that.”
“Ah....”
Although it was spring, the northeastern Gyeonggi region still became fairly chilly after sunset. Yet the image on the screen showed a man wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt.
Everyone nodded.
The man was wearing protective gear in his own way, but the parts of his arms and neck that showed were covered in colorful tattoos.
“There’s a reserve-force unit here, but around this area there are streams and valleys where people like to play in the water. And if you go a few kilometers farther, there’s the Bukhan River too.”
“That’s right. The last time I came here for reserve training was maybe May or June. Even back then I saw people driving out here for vacation.”
Song Gijun chimed in.
Junhyeok then looked at Junho.
“Anyway, hyung, we’re helping the reserve-force unit right now, aren’t we?”
“No.”
“What?”
“......!?”
At Junho’s cold answer, not only Junhyeok but everyone else stared at him in shock.
“No, why? If we help the soldiers and locals over there, we can get ammunition and supplies, can’t we? And anyone can see those tattooed bastards are the ones attacking them.”
“Are you sure?”
“Huh?”
“Can you guarantee it? That the tattooed group attacked the reserve-force unit first? Can you guarantee the soldiers and locals over there are good people, and the tattooed group are the bad guys?”
“Uh... w-well....”
Turning toward the soldiers from Lee Seokjin’s unit who had come to support them, Junho said,
“Staff Sergeant Park. Before meeting me, how many other military units did you see?”
“Ah, yes.”
“And how were they? Were they all protecting civilians? Did they all fulfill the duty of the Republic of Korea Army?”
At Junho’s question, the sergeant’s face darkened, and he immediately shook his head.
“...No. I don’t think so. That’s why the battalion commander never joined up with another unit either. After one attempt at making contact nearly got us killed, we avoided them entirely.”
“You heard him, right?”
“.......”
Seeing that not only the sergeant but the other soldiers also wore dark expressions, Junhyeok had no choice but to fall silent.
“Of course, you might be right. Maybe the reserve-force soldiers really are protecting the locals. Maybe the tattooed group really did attack them. But unless we know for certain, we can’t immediately decide who we should help first.”
“...I get what you mean.”
Junhyeok nodded.
The rest of the group felt the same.
By now, everyone understood very well that in a world like this, appearances alone could not be trusted.
Their judgment had only been clouded slightly by the ammunition, supplies, and the horrific sight spread out before them.
“Then let’s make our decision.”
Junho’s voice remained cold, but in a situation like this, that coldness felt more reassuring than ever, and everyone focused on him.
“We keep monitoring their situation while finding a suitable place to use as a relay station. At the same time, part of us will establish an approach route to the reserve-force unit.”
“Okay.”
“Yes, hyungnim!”
“Junhyeok and Suho, get all the drones out and on standby. Kim Jimin, you move with me. Staff Sergeant Park’s squad will move along the route I designate later.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Understood. But... are we moving on our own?”
Staff Sergeant Park asked cautiously.
Naturally, they were uneasy about going by themselves. More than anything, both Park and his squad members had seen Junho fight back in Deokso.
And they were only human. Being with Junho made them feel safe.
“As if. They’ll be moving with you.”
At Junho’s nod, the soldiers’ eyes all turned in the same direction.
“Whoa!?”
“Damn....”
Their eyes widened at the sight of the G1 attack drones upgraded with frontal ballistic plates.
Now repainted so thoroughly that they no longer resembled children’s ride-on cars at all, the G1 attack drones radiated an unmistakably dangerous presence just from appearance alone.
“Before the world went to hell, the military had already started experimenting with this stuff to some extent, right? Manned-unmanned integrated combat systems.”
“Y-yes. But mostly front-line units near the border fence or specialized formations.”
“I see. But from now on, whenever you fight alongside us, this is how it’ll be done. One drone assigned for every two people as a baseline.”
“I-I see. But who’s controlling them...?”
Junho pointed toward the armored vehicle parked on the hill. A thick, long antenna that had not been there before now jutted upward from it.
“I didn’t bring that thing here for decoration. Our side will handle the drone control. Staff Sergeant Park just needs to follow the radio instructions properly. Then nobody dies, and nobody gets hurt.”
“Ah, understood.”
Neither Staff Sergeant Park nor his men had been conscripted into this mission.
Every one of them had volunteered for this operation.
That was why—
“Everyone ready? Yeonsu, take care of the guys. Keep listening to the radio at all times.”
“Yes, squad leader!”
After the sergeant’s energetic reply, the soldiers checked their weapons and equipment.
Along with standard Army gear, they were also wearing ballistic goggles and ballistic masks personally issued by Junho.
And that was not all. In preparation for emergencies, Junho had attached infrared strobe beacons to their helmets and issued each of them an individual first-aid kit.
Though they themselves had joined this combat support mission because they needed ammunition and supplies, Junho treated them on equal footing with the shelter personnel.
As a result, their motivation was not merely high—it was overflowing.
“You all know the plan, so I trust I don’t need to explain further. We’ll shave our way in from the outskirts. Just follow instructions. Shelter, ready?”
— Confirmed. Ready.
Hearing Akina’s businesslike voice, Junho slowly spoke.
He looked over each face one by one—their expressions tense, adrenaline beginning to rise, the will to fight gradually carving itself into them.
“The operation begins now.”
***
“Hoo... hoo....”
Staff Sergeant Park Jiyong, twenty-five years old this year and someone who had enlisted as a noncommissioned officer immediately after graduating from a two-year college, steadied his breathing as he advanced carefully.
Three squad members moved slowly on either side of him, rifles raised and ready.
Only four men total.
Under normal circumstances, that would have felt terribly unsafe.
What? Soldiers carrying assault rifles are scared?
Are you some cowardly weakling?
Before the world became like this, Park Jiyong himself probably would have thought the same thing.
But after a real zombie apocalypse broke out, after fighting those things several times and surviving, he knew better now.
Even if you handed those loudmouths a K2C1 rifle and five or six magazines, they still would not be able to do a damn thing.
Once thirty or forty zombies came rushing at you, there was not much you could accomplish with a rifle.
Reality was not an FPS game, and if someone managed even a single headshot out of ten rounds fired at zombies sprinting toward them like maniacs trying to eat them alive, that person was already an elite soldier and a crack marksman.
Anyway, after the world turned into this hellhole, if someone had ordered him and four or five others not to conduct reconnaissance but to actually “attack” a zombie-infested area, he would have shot that bastard first instead.
But now, Staff Sergeant Park Jiyong was willingly carrying out that mission—and firmly believed they would succeed.
Because—
Wiiiiing....
That strange attack drone flying alongside him and his squad at walking speed while emitting a low motor hum.
— 140 meters ahead. Two o’clock direction. Seven zombie entities approaching. G1 units will commence firing in six seconds.
And because whoever the female controller was, her voice was so cold and businesslike that it somehow felt sexy instead, while she informed them of everything and even controlled the drones herself.
“Hey. Two o’clock. One-forty out.”
The moment Park Jiyong spoke, the squad members moving through the brush immediately dropped into kneeling firing positions and turned their muzzles in that direction.
A few seconds passed.
Paang! Paang! Paang!
Because the air pressure had been adjusted in expectation of relatively close-range combat, the drones’ effective range had shortened somewhat, but in return the two drones could now fire up to three hundred tungsten rounds without recharging.
“They—they all hit. Every one was a headshot.”
The designated marksman, who had mounted a four-times optic instead of a red-dot sight, sounded genuinely awed.
— All targets eliminated. No threats within a 150-meter radius. High concentration of entities at 180 meters in the nine o’clock, twelve o’clock, and one o’clock directions. Exercise caution. Continue movement.
Hearing the controller’s voice immediately follow up, Staff Sergeant Park Jiyong became certain all over again.
“Hey, guys. We should seriously put down stakes here. Screw rotation deployments and all that. Staying in Yeongho-ri feels like our best shot at surviving.”
All the squad members nodded vigorously.
