Chapter 60
My face darkened, and the faces of the others grew concerned as well. Lee Jeong-Uk came up to me and asked, “Did the gang members show up?”
He knew what was going on without me having to explain everything to him. I nodded and took out my notepad.
- There are gang members at Shelter Seoul Forest.
“Is it going to be dangerous?”
- We don’t know how many of them there are. But if they’re planning to attack Shelter Seoul Forest, we shouldn’t take it lightly.
Shelter Seoul Forest had suffered attacks from the gang members and their ‘dogs’ multiple times already. But their shelter hadn’t gone down, and the gang members had probably taken notice of that.
Clearly, they viewed it as a difficult shelter to take down. This meant that the gang members were going to give it their all if they attacked again. But I wondered why they’d decided to attack the shelter out of the blue. There hadn’t been any activity from the gang members for a while now.
‘Are they low on food or something? Or are the other areas bereft of survivors just like Haengdang 1-dong?’
At that moment, it hit me. It might have been because of the incident in Majang-dong. If that was the reason they were planning to attack, I couldn’t just stand here doing nothing.
It was reasonable for the gang members to think that the survivors of Shelter Seoul Forest had attacked Majang-dong. They were the most probable ones to do so. According to their data, the closest shelter from Majang-dong, and therefore the place that had the highest probability of carrying out the attack, would be Shelter Seoul Forest. This meant that I bore some responsibility for this incident as well.
It would be easy for me to avoid my responsibility right now. But the price I would later have to pay down the road could put me and my family in peril.
If Shelter Seoul Forest went down, the gang members might not come to Haengdang 1-dong through Hanyang University, which was to the east. Instead, they could just come through Eungbong Bridge to the south.
For me, Shelter Seoul Forest was like the first line of defense, almost like a breakwater. If they went down, it would be impossible to block off the waves that would come rolling into Haengdang 1-dong.
My confusion must have shown on my face, since Lee Jeong-Uk grabbed onto my arm.
“Don’t worry. Go take a look.”
“...”
“Leave this place to us.”
I could see his determination on his face. I bit my lip and nodded once. The others then came up to me, each of them grabbing my hand while offering encouragement.
“Take care.”
“We’ll take care of the children.”
“Don’t bite off more than you can chew.”
I braced myself for what was waiting for me as I looked into everyone’s eyes.
Lastly, So-Yeon came up to me and grabbed my shirt.
“Daddy…”
She was looking up at me, her eyes filled with nervousness.
I kneeled on one knee and hugged her skinny body tightly. I tickled her wrist and flashed a gentle smile. She pursed her lips and looked straight into my face. She then nodded in a lively manner.
“Take care, Daddy! I’ll see you soon!”
It felt like I was on my way to work on an ordinary day before the world had turned into this. I used to hear her habitual farewell every day before heading off to work. If there was something different from before, it was the fact that I wasn’t in a suit.
The premise itself wasn’t any different. Just as I used to go to work for my family, I was now going to work for the safety of people at Shelter Hae-Young. I patted So-Yeon on the head and thought to myself,
‘Sweetie, Daddy will be back.’
I rose and gave orders, looking in the direction of apartment 102.
‘First and second company, follow me.’
Grr! Gaa!
I had combined the first to fifth platoons into the first company. I formed companies once my underlings exceeded one thousand.
My one thousand underlings from first and second company answered in a grand voice and came flooding out like a tide. The blue wave that was rolling out from the entrance of apartment 102 was grand and magnificent.
I took my one thousand underlings and headed toward Seoul Forest.
I corrected myself—I took my army to Seoul Forest.
* * *
On my way to Seoul Forest, my mind churned through all sorts of useless thoughts.
I was worried that Kim Hyeong-Jun hadn’t woken up even after a week, and if the gang members had gotten their hands on a mutant. I also had to think about the possibility that there could be multiple enemy leaders.
If I jumped the gun, there was a chance that the survivors at Shelter Seoul Forest would think that I was their enemy and possibly start shooting at me. I also had to come up with a clever way for me to differentiate between the survivors and the ‘dogs’ in Shelter Seoul Forest, if there were any.
I had to be cautious with everything. I had to think in order to minimize my casualties and take care of the situation.
As I passed Eungbong Bridge, a dense forest welcomed me. The trees looked sturdy like chains, as if warning zombies to stay away, and that they wouldn’t allow them through.
I didn’t go to Shelter Seoul Forest, but to a building where I had posted a scout. I hid the first and second company in nearby buildings while I headed toward the rooftop. Two of my scouts were waiting for me on the rooftop. I stared at them.
‘Where are the enemies?’
My scout pointed. As I followed its fingertip, an enormous, endless red tsunami was preparing to attack. I couldn’t close my mouth as I took in their overwhelming numbers.
I wondered if one leader alone could control an army this large.
It seemed impossible. It made no sense to me. Just by eyeballing it, I could tell that there were around three thousand underlings. It was more likely that there was more than one leader.
It seemed like the gang members weren’t here to take over Shelter Seoul Forest. I was certain they were here to raze it to the ground.
I swallowed hard and fell into deep thought.
I felt bad for the survivors, but it wasn’t the time for me to head to their rescue yet.
I knew that Shelter Seoul Forest had guns. Even if they had guns, though, they couldn’t shoot them forever. There certainly was a limit, and I knew that that would be the right time for me to intervene.
GRR!!!
At that moment, fierce cries arose from the boundless red ocean. The army of three thousand split into six blocks.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Guns were being fired inside Shelter Seoul Forest. But the bullets weren’t heading toward the six blocks of the gang members. They were heading for the people inside. I heard guns being fired and people screaming.
It was the ‘dogs’.
The enemy leader's cries were like the sound of trumpets signaling the start of a war, and the ‘dogs’ had moved accordingly.
I crouched down as I took a look at what was happening inside Seoul Forest. There were people popping out from the ground. The ‘dogs’ looked no different from animals. They were dirty, had sunken cheeks, and their clothes were half-torn.
I could tell who were the survivors and who were the ‘dogs’ right away. At that moment, I remembered what Kim Hyeong-Jun had told me.
- Shelter Seoul Forest has a lot of different strategies under their belt. One of them was using underground tunnels. Some aren’t even used anymore.
But the ‘dogs’ and gang members were already prepared for these underground-tunnel attacks. In fact, they were making use of the underground tunnels themselves.
Flames rose across Seoul Forest. I saw people hurriedly running with water jugs. They were throwing the jugs toward the underground tunnels and some of the people that followed threw Molotov cocktails.
I belatedly realized that they weren’t throwing water, but oil. They were fighting back against the ‘dogs’ that were trying to get in.
The survivors at the shelter had decided to burn down their base in order to protect it. It was a decision that cut off most other possible strategies, but it was the best decision the survivors could make at the moment.
As the shelter descended into chaos, the gang members started moving accordingly. Four of the red blocks spreaded out like wings and started banging on the shelter entrance. Chaotic screams and ear-splitting explosions echoed through the air.
My hands trembled as I watched the devastation unfold in front of me, but I knew I had to wait for the right moment. I had to wait and wait.
As I challenged my patience, my mind grew increasingly anxious, and I could feel my nerves trembling. Just looking at the battlefield made it harder for me to breathe, but I still had to endure all of this. I knew I had to wait until the commander that was overseeing everything made a move. I also had to wait until I knew how many enemy leaders there were.
The two-thousand-strong vanguard of the gang members came crashing down like a wave, and the first barricade started to break. The pressure from the gang members was relentless, like a raging wave.
With the first barricade on the verge of collapsing, the survivors that were manning the first defense line all withdrew in unison.
I wondered if their barrels had melted, or if they were short on ammunition already.
“Get the Molotov cocktails out!”
“Molotov cocktail ready!”
“Molotov cocktail ready!”
I heard loud voices repeating orders from the interior of the chaotic shelter. The survivors gathered in front of the second defense line.
As the first defense line went down and zombies piled in, the people behind the second defense line started rotating a large pulley. The floor in front of the second defense line started to sink.
They were making the entrance impassable as soon as the survivors that were holding the zombies off at the first defense line had joined the second defense line.
The zombies that were following the survivors began falling into the pit. So did the countless Molotov cocktails that were flying toward them. Even from where I was, I could smell the pungent petroleum smell.
I clenched my fists and let out the breath I’ve been holding onto. There seemed to be hope. If they kept them off like this, the survivors could fight off their attack.
GRRRR!!!
With the vanguard stalled, the two other blocks that were being held in reserve started moving. But they didn’t choose to attack from the front.
On the left side of the shelter, there was a man-made wall about three meters high.
The survivors had concentrated all their defenses on holding the second defense line. They didn’t have enough manpower to take care of the sides at the same time.
The bulk of the forces moved to the west side, and the zombies stared up at the tall wall. After a while, four zombies that had seemed to have glowing red eyes started grabbing the other zombies by their collars and throwing them across the wall.
I bolted upright as I saw what was happening. I wondered how they could even think of such a strategy. I wasn’t sure if they were being stupid, or if they were taking advantage of the zombies' infinite survivability. I never imagined that they would resort to throwing zombies over the wall. These four zombies that seemed to have glowing red eyes also had superhuman physical capabilities.
These were the leaders.
These were the leaders that had decided to bring three thousand of their underlings to attack Shelter Seoul Forest. I couldn’t help but smirk as I looked at them.
‘There’s four of them?’
If there were only one or two leaders, it would have been much more dangerous. If there were two leaders leading the three-thousand-strong army, that meant the leaders were as strong as me. But since there were four of them, this meant that each of them controlled fewer zombies, which meant that I would be able to deal with them easily.
I knew it was time to enter the fray.
I reached the first floor in a single leap and gave orders to my hidden underlings.
‘Everyone, thanks for waiting.’
Grrr!!! Kwaaa!!!
‘Let’s fight.’
My blue-colored underlings emerged as one, and me and my underlings ran toward the side of the shelter.
* * *
Grrr!!!
The leaders that were throwing their underlings over the wall all stopped at once and started looking around when they heard my underlings cry. They saw my blue colored zombies flowing toward them like the tide. They hesitated for a moment, but quickly got themselves into position to mount a defense.
Before they had gotten fully into position, I charged toward the enemy leader, who was slightly out of position and hurled my fist at it.
Smack!
A wave of ecstasy flooded through me as I felt the impact through my fist. My punch had sunk in deep.
The zombie leader’s body twisted strangely and fell to the ground. Seizing the opportunity, I stomped on its face with my right foot while it was still trying to come back to its senses.
Crack!
The feeling of its face splattering traveled up through my entire body, causing a thrill. I locked eyes with the other enemy leaders. I could sense their bewilderment.
‘That’s right. Be startled. Be hesitant. Be afraid. I’ll end your lives for you.’
As I stared at them with my glowing eyes, I felt a rush of adrenaline. My pupils contracted. My muscles tightened and my nerves tingled with precision. My murderous aura wrapped around my body like a carefully-sharpened knife.
I was in full berserker mode. ‘That’s one,’ I mumbled to myself.
‘Kill that motherfucker!’
GRR!!!
All the red zombies charged toward me at once. I smirked and tore through the zombies that were in my way.
The closest leader kicked out desperately at me. Its movements were terribly slow and pathetic, as though it were moving in slow motion.
I grabbed its legs and lifted them. The zombie leader lost their balance and landed on its back like a turtle. I jumped on top of it right away and hurled my knee into its face.
The four leaders had three thousand underlings in total. This meant that each leader commanded at least seven to eight hundred underlings. Seven to eight hundred underlings was not a trivial number. It was good in most situations. They probably strutted about arrogantly most of the time. However, to me, those numbers meant nothing.
Even the leader in Majang-dong had around one thousand underlings. The leaders here were even weaker than the leader in Majang-dong, and that one couldn’t even leave a scratch on my body. If there had been only one or two leaders here, it would've been difficult. However, since there were four of them, it was good news for me.
They were no match for me.
‘That’s two,’ I thought to myself.
‘You son of a bitch!’
The remaining two leaders charged toward me, howling death cries. I kicked the one charging straight toward me in its stomach, at the same time grabbing the collar of the one sprinting in from the right. I was used to fighting zombies with red glowing eyes, and I knew I had more than an even chance of winning, especially against ones that were weaker than me.
As long as they didn’t pull out a joker like bringing in a mutant, I was going to beat the living hell out of them. I smirked and talked to the one I had grabbed.
‘This is the end of you. I got you good.’
Without warning, it burst out in laughter.
‘Ha… HAHAHA!’
I wondered if it was going insane. Perhaps it was losing its mind before it died.
The creature flashed a cunning smile.
‘No, no. I got you.’
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