Chapter 124
"On your left!" shouted Hwang Ji-Hye as she got her crossbow ready.
I turned to my left and saw zombies running toward us from Jayang-dong. Even though we had faced many zombie waves on our way to Gwangjang-dong, there were still thousands of zombies roaming the streets.
As I ran to my left, Hwang Ji-Hye and the guards fired crossbows at the zombies coming from the front. As I shattered the first zombie’s bones, I regretted that I hadn’t brought enough underlings with me.
I’d only brought the first company with me. The rest of my underlings were defending Gwangjang-dong.
Although Kim Hyeong-Jun had brought his mutants, I was afraid that the zombies would be able to overcome our weaknesses if we continued to face such a large number of them.
Kim Hyeong-Jun took care of the zombies coming in from the right as he spared a few sporadic glances toward the survivors. Since our priority was to keep Hwang Ji-Hye and the guards safe, Kim Hyeong-Jun and I couldn’t let ourselves become separated from the survivors.
Grrr… GWAAA!
I saw the second wave of zombies rushing toward us from the end of Achasan-ro. I counted the number of zombies that were approaching as I dealt with the zombies around me.
As the number of survivors left in Gangbuk decreased, the zombies became more and more aggressive and ferocious.
There were sixteen survivors with us, including Hwang Ji-Hye.
Back when there were more survivors in general, this number of survivors gathered together would attract at most one to two hundred ravenous zombies.
Now, though, there were more than six hundred zombies coming after sixteen people.
“Call in Mood-Swinger!” I shouted toward Kim Hyeong-Jun.
Instead of responding to me, Kim Hyeong-Jun gave orders to Mood-Swinger.
“Push them back, Mood-Swinger!”
"Ar… no… ld!”
Mood-Swinger started making throat-tearing noises while getting down on all fours.
“Krrr…”
Hot steam began to rise from its body.
Its light copper-colored skin gradually grew darker, until its entire body turned dark brown. Mood-Swinger let out a thunderous roar and charged toward the zombies.
“KRRR!!!”
Bang!
Asphalt fragments were sent scattering like fragments from a grenade. Before we knew it, Mood-Swinger had disappeared before our eyes with a loud boom.
I remembered how, fifteen days ago, Kim Hyeong-Jun had commented on how crazy Mood-Swinger’s body was after it had transformed. He had told me that there was no other way to describe its body than the word ‘crazy’. I finally realized what he meant by that.
We had brought a unique monster into this world.
My jaw fell to the ground when I saw Mood-Swinger’s movement. If Mood-Swinger attacked us, it would be the last day of our lives.
Mood-Swinger appeared in front of the approaching zombies in an instant, as if it had gained the ability to teleport.
I wondered if it moved at the same speed as me. Perhaps it was even faster than me.
Above all, though, its strength was way beyond mine.
Mood-Swinger had lost its intelligence, but it was able to obtain power that couldn’t be described in words.
'It shouldn’t have a problem dealing with a black creature.’
Mood-Swinger was no longer an ordinary mutant. It was safe to say that he was like the T-800 that appeared in movies. In fact, it just might be stronger than that.[1]
Thanks to Mood-Swinger, we were able to easily take care of the street zombies.
While Mood-Swinger munched on the dead bodies of the zombies, I looked around and addressed Kim Hyeong-Jun.
“Over there is the front entrance of Konkuk University Hospital. Can you go get some bandages and disposable syringes while we meet the survivors of Gangnam?”
"No worries. Should I go to Seoul Forest after I get everything?”
“If you do come, come via Achasan-ro. So that we don’t miss each other.”
“Okay.”
After I was done talking with Kim Hyeong-Jun, I walked toward the guards. I noticed that the sun had begun to set, slowly dipping under the horizon to the west.
We had no time to lose.
A moment later, Hwang Ji-Hye came up next to me.
"We should get going before it gets too late."
“Everyone, stay close, now that Hyeong-Jun isn’t around anymore.”
“Will do.”
Hwang Ji-Hye ordered the guards who were retrieving their arrows to prepare to move.
We made our way to Seoul Forest with the sunset.
* * *
By the time we arrived at Seoul Forest, it was already pitch dark.
Even though we had cleaned up Seongsu-dong a while back, we were still attacked by zombies. It seemed like zombies from other areas had come in and occupied Seongsu-dong.
Thanks to their attack, though, I became more certain that my hypothesis was true.
The Family had given up on Gangbuk.
It seemed like the street zombies were roaming around searching for food now that the dong leaders had been relocated to Gangnam. There was no way that the dong leaders would have left zombies to roam around; it’d be stupid for them to leave potential underlings alone.
Since I also managed the street zombies by creating prisons, it would be questionable if the dong leaders just let street zombies roam free under their watch. Knowing how these members of the Family were, they would’ve tried harder than I to keep more potential underlings to themselves.
I sat at the guard post at the third line of defense in Seoul Forest, sorting through my thoughts.
After a moment, Hwang Ji-Hye entered, rubbing her hands together.
"Geez… It’s getting colder.”
“What are you guys eating for dinner tonight?”
Hwang Ji-Hye had just returned from the apartment we used to stay in. She’d told me earlier that she had left something there. Her attention shifted to the contents boiling within a pot nearby, and a broad grin quickly spread across her face.
The smell of ramen had filled the guard post, making her mouth water.
The guards and Hwang Ji-Hye wolfed down the eight bags of ramyeon that they had brought in the blink of an eye. The portion wasn’t enough for the sixteen people to eat their fill, but they were grateful that they could even eat a bowl of ramen.
I looked at Hwang Ji-Hye.
"Stay put. I’m going around to scout for a little bit.”
“Oh… Got it.”
Hwang Ji-Hye sniffled and smiled brightly.
I was worried that the guards and Hwang Ji-Hye might get frostbite.
The guard post had been erected to offer some shelter from the wind, but there were only four blankets available for them to keep them warm.
Four blankets for sixteen people.
They had created a small fire to cook the ramyeon, but they couldn’t keep the fire going in the guard post, especially since the place was not so well-ventilated.
The cold wind blowing in from the river swept past my body and continued on as I left the guard post.
It was one of the worst days to be on guard duty.
I couldn’t help but worry about how much further the temperature would plummet. I looked at my underlings and gave them several instructions.
‘First platoon of first company, look around the third line of defense. Second platoon, check the paths that lead into the forest. Third platoon, patrol the north bank of the river. Fourth and fifth platoons, stay put and guard the tents here.’
Grrr.
My underlings responded in unison, filling the air with their throat-rending cries.
I stared at Gangnam, which lay beyond the Han River.
Gangnam was pitch-dark, with no lights to be seen, which reminded me of a ghost town. It definitely felt new and foreign.
I assumed that there were a lot of survivors on the other side who had to be at war with the Family at the moment.
Gangnam and Gangbuk were going through slightly different situations, just because of the fact that we were divided by the Han River. I wondered if the people of Gangnam had felt like this in the past.
I wondered if they shared similar thoughts as mine, back when we were desperately fighting for our lives.
I let out a deep breath. The clear, white mist that emerged seemed to carry with it all my worries.
Back when I was a human, I used to hate how my life was so dull and monotonous. I felt like my life couldn’t get any more boring.
Now, though, I felt more than ever that boring, uneventful lifestyle was never going to be part of my life ever again.
Flash.
At that moment, there was a flash of light from Gangnam.
I quickly ran to the guard post.
“There’s a light flashing.”
Hwang Ji-Hye’s eyes widened, and she hurried out with her flashlight in her hands. When she saw the flickering lights from Gangnam, she responded with several flashes of her own flashlight. The two sides sent signals about three or four times, then stopped;.
Hwang Ji-Hye looked at me.
“Could you get the raft ready?”
I walked to the riverside and prepared the raft. After Hwang Ji-Hye and Kwak Dong-Won got on, I gave it a hard shove. The raft shook once, then floated out into the Han River.
Several of the guards approached me.
“Do you think we’ll get anything from them?” one of them asked. “I heard that Gangnam was at war with the Family…”
“We’ll have to wait and see.”
Hwang Ji-Hye and Kwak Dong-Won rowed further into the Han River. I watched the raft getting further away with a calm expression.
I had done my part.
Getting information regarding the Family, the situation in Gangnam, and securing supplies was now in the hands of Hwang Ji-Hye and Kwak Dong-won.
I prayed that the negotiations would go well, and that we could obtain all the information we wanted.
* * *
About an hour later, Hwang Ji-Hye and Kwak Dong-Won returned.
Judging from Hwang Ji-Hye's bright expression, it seemed like they were able to get what we wanted from them.
With some effort, I pulled the raft back to shore using the rope attached to it.
“Could you come over and take these?” Hwang Ji-Hye called out as she handed the supplies that were on the raft to the guards.
While they quickly unloaded the supplies, Hwang Ji-Hye rubbed her cold hands together.
“Please push us out again.”
“Huh?”
“We still have more supplies to bring back. Could you push us out again?”
“They’re suddenly giving us this much…?”
Despite my doubts, I pushed the raft containing the two of them out again, then began to question the motives of the people in Gangnam even more.
The two of them disappeared into the darkness of the Han River again, and I went through the supplies that they had brought over.
There was canned food and dried food, along with all sorts of seasonings. Another box was full of rifle magazines. I frowned at the supplies.
'Something doesn’t seem right. How can they give us so many supplies when they’re in the middle of a war with the Family?’
I couldn’t wrap my head around this.
I scratched my forehead and stared out at the pitch-dark Han River.
I had no clue what their discussions could have contained. No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t find an answer.
I sat by the river and stared out at the Han River for a while. After a moment, I saw Hwang Ji-Hye and Kwak Dong-Won returning, covered in sweat.
As I pulled the raft in again, Hwang Ji-Hye called for the guards.
This time, there were three large boxes. I looked inside. They were full of magazines.
I looked toward Gangnam. This totally boggled my mind.
“They must be insane,” I muttered.
“Pardon?”
Hwang Ji-Hye had overheard me talking to myself.
I looked over at her and tilted my head.
“What did you tell them? What did they tell you?”
“They said that the survivors of Gangnam are easily holding off the Family’s attacks.”
"Even if that’s the case, they’re giving us all of this?”
“This isn’t even all of it. I have to go back and get more.”
“More?”
I repeated the word as a question, staring at her with wide-open eyes. Hwang Ji-Hye wiped off the sweat that was dripping down her forehead.
“There are still three more boxes to bring over,” she answered. “Two of them contain food.”
“...”
My expression grew troubled. Kwak Dong-Won, who was next to me, spoke up.
"Is there a problem?"
"No, I don’t… I just feel like there’s something fishy about this.”
“Don’t you think we should get whatever we can when we can? No?”
Kwak Dong-won punctuated his reply with a burst of laughter.
It seemed like Kwak Dong-Won, who had come from Gangnam, was feeling rather superior. His tone seemed to suggest that whatever was going on merely highlighted the vast differences between Gangnam and Gangbuk.
Just a few weeks ago, he’d been stuttering and trembling, but now he was bursting with excitement, unable to contain his joy.
I was feeling reluctant, but I pushed the out raft again, since only a fool would refuse what they were giving us. Once the three round trips were completed, we had eight boxes piled up in front of us.
Four of them were full of magazines, and the remaining four were full of food.
I looked over at Hwang Ji-Hye.
“Have they ever given you this much?”
"Pardon?"
“The supplies that were piled up in Shelter Silence's storage room. Did they ever give you this much at once?”
“No. It was usually about half of this.”
“So you’re saying that this is the first time they’ve given you eight boxes at once?”
"Yes."
Hwang Ji-Hye was already so preoccupied with the boxes in front of her that she didn’t catch the meaning behind my words.
My eyes continued to reflect my doubt. Kwak Dong-won, who was next to me, spoke up.
“Why…? Is there something wrong?”
I let my tone of voice grow serious.
“It’s like giving a bucket of water to your neighbor when your front yard is burning just because some smoke was blown in their direction. Am I the only one who feels weird?”
Hwang Ji-Hye finally realized that something didn’t seem quite right, and fell into deep thought.
On the other hand, Kwak Dong-Won merely smirked.
“Don’t you think that just means that Gangnam has this much to spare for others?”
“That’d be great if that’s the case…”
“I’d say not to worry too much about it. If they ask for them to be returned later on, then we’ll deal with that issue when it arises.”
Kwak Dong-Won stared at the supplies in the boxes with a satisfied smile. He then gestured to the guards.
“If you could help us move these, that’d be great. Let’s move them to the cart!”
The boxes were so heavy that it took two or three people to move them.
And they had given us eight of these boxes.
As I smacked my lips out of suspicion, Hwang Ji-Hye walked over to me.
“After hearing what you said… It definitely does seem strange.”
“It seems like there’s something else behind their generosity.”
“Let’s have a meeting once we get back.”
I nodded and looked out at the Han River, shrouded in pitch-black darkness.
Even though we had received more than enough supplies, I was not at ease.
1. The T-800 is from the movie Terminator, which is Skynet’s first cybernetic human-like organism. Arnold Schwarzenegger portrayed the T-800 in the Terminator movies. ☜
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