Chapter 129: Traveling Together
Chapter 129: Traveling Together
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By handing me the combat vest and rope, Eun-ah was asking me to carry her on my back.
Using her ability, she'd fashion a kind of piggyback carrier. I could carry Eun-ah instead of my backpack, while Hye-ji and my pack rode on the handcart.
That would add Hye-ji and her belongings to the weight I already pulled, but my stamina could handle it easily.
'I was already planning to carry Hye-ji on the cart and keep running anyway.'
This was Eun-ah’s own alternative.
A compromise that allowed us to keep moving without forcing her to share the handcart with Hye-ji.
"All right. Let's make one and test it this afternoon."
"Okay... Thank you."
Eun-ah murmured with her face flushed red.
She immediately sat down and fused the combat vest with the rope.
"Like this... Your feet go through here."
She designed the carrier around a combat vest worn backward and inside out.
Her legs passed through the armholes, while the back panel formed a seat beneath her hips.
At a glance, the idea appeared sound.
"Here, climb on... There. This way you won't have to cling to me, and it feels comfortable enough, right?"
"Oh? What's that?"
We had just begun testing Eun-ah’s carrier.
Hye-ji returned from using the restroom alone.
Considering how long she'd been gone, she'd probably needed to defecate.
"Oh, you're back? This is a carrier Eun-ah made. More of a baby sling, perhaps? Something like that."
"It's not for a baby..."
"Ha ha. Right. Then it's an Eun-ah carrier—an Eun-ah sling."
"You're acting strange, Big Brother... Did the heat get to you?"
Watching Eun-ah carefully, Hye-ji stifled a laugh.
Eun-ah’s eyebrows were deeply furrowed.
"I just put these ropes over my shoulders, right?"
"Yeah..."
Eun-ah sat on the trunk of an abandoned car wearing the carrier she'd made.
When I stood before her and turned around, she handed me the two ropes intended as shoulder straps.
I slipped my arms through, stepped forward, and examined our reflection in a car window.
"Hmm... The straps look too long. Are you comfortable, Eun-ah?"
"I can't see ahead... And my legs are uncomfortable."
The concept was good, but actually wearing it revealed far more problems than expected.
First, the ropes serving as shoulder straps were extremely uncomfortable.
Carrying them for long would probably rub my skin raw.
Eun-ah had complaints of her own.
Because of the width of my back and waist, her legs were spread much too far apart.
Her head also sat below my shoulders, blocking her view and pulling the center of gravity too far backward.
"It definitely needs further modification."
"Yeah... cut this off for me."
"The shoulder strap from the duffel bag? That's a much better idea."
While sheltering from the midday heat inside the tunnel, the three of us put our heads together and improved the Eun-ah carrier.
Product development was not easy.
#
"Climb on already. I told you it's fine."
"Even so... You're doing all the hard work alone."
"Neither you nor Eun-ah will be completely comfortable. This isn't a passenger car."
We were preparing to leave after resting inside the tunnel.
Eun-ah had already donned the carrier, now improved through several rounds of development, and mounted my back.
Hye-ji argued that she should run on her own first and use the handcart only after exhausting herself.
"Just climb on so we can leave. Your running speed is too slow. I intend to go much faster."
"Oh? All right... Then I'm sorry for the burden, but I'll ride."
Out of habit from lifting Eun-ah, I placed my hands beneath Hye-ji’s arms and hoisted her onto the handcart.
"Oof... thank you."
Smack smack
Eun-ah immediately slapped my back from behind.
Perhaps turning my unprotected back toward her had been a mistake.
"Here is your backpack, and this one is mine. Take the shield and baseball bat too..."
After considerable trial and error, we completed our preparations.
I carried a small young woman on my back.
Eun-ah rode there holding her bow and arrows.
Hye-ji sat on the handcart behind us.
Looking faintly ridiculous, we advanced deeper into the tunnel.
Having rested thoroughly, I felt good and moved lightly.
The tunnel we'd entered so confidently, though, soon began constricting our breathing.
"Ugh... This is incredibly creepy."
"Turn on the flashlight."
Hye-ji activated the flashlight enhanced by Eun-ah and aimed it ahead.
The powerful beam revealed a hideous tunnel interior.
"I miscalculated. I didn't realize a tunnel would be this dark..."
"Should we get down and walk? Ugh, all this dust."
"No. I'm not especially tired. Just keep the light steady."
We were deep inside a tunnel devoid of all artificial light.
Running quickly with only one small flashlight would have been reckless.
The ventilation fans were inactive, and suspended dust clouded our vision.
"It's suffocating..."
"Exactly. Breathing is difficult. I'll move a little faster."
"Okay."
I gradually increased our speed.
I had mild claustrophobia, and the enclosed darkness made me instinctively restless.
The tunnel wasn't long; a car would have crossed it quickly. On foot, though, it felt like a bottomless abyss.
Gwaaahhh
Twang thunk
"Oh? Nice shot. You're a master archer!"
"I'm not that good..."
A zombie charged toward the light from the distance, and Eun-ah killed it with an arrow.
We'd attached footrests to the carrier straps like stirrups on a saddle.
Standing on them, Eun-ah drew the string of her ability-enhanced bow.
I recovered the arrow from the fallen zombie.
Eun-ah wiped the slime from it with a wet wipe.
Only after inspecting it all the way to the fletching did she return it to the quiver.
Aside from allowing ranged attacks, the bow was an extremely troublesome weapon.
The limited lifespan of each arrow also prevented us from using them freely.
"I'll handle any zombies from here on."
"All right. Should I prepare the throwing stones?"
"Yes. Eun-ah, turn on another light and watch the rear."
"Okay..."
The sign at the entrance had listed the tunnel length as 1.3 kilometers.
I'd worried about a blockage in the middle, but perhaps traffic had been light, because we encountered none.
We safely emerged from the dust-filled tunnel.
"Whoa! Ack... So bright. I truly thought I'd suffocate in there."
"Exactly. Tunnels are no joke."
"My throat feels full of phlegm..."
Outside, we drew deep breaths of clean air.
I never wanted to enter a place like that again.
After sharing drinking water and checking our equipment, we vented our pent-up frustration by running.
The road stretched wide and open before us.
"Kyaa~ Are we not going too fast?"
"No one can stop me!"
Reinforcing the handcart and creating the Eun-ah carrier—
everything had been for this moment.
Even at considerable speed, the modified cart remained stable.
Eun-ah had reinforced its cargo bed in several places, allowing the water container, duffel bag, and even Hye-ji to remain secure.
"Ah.ah.ah.ah.ah."
Behind me, Eun-ah opened her mouth and made a sustained sound.
Her voice vibrated with the regular impacts of my running.
It resembled a child vocalizing in front of an electric fan.
"Eun-ah! You'll bite your tongue doing that."
"Ah.ah.ah. Ack? Heeeung..."
"Ha ha ha. Good grief."
The moment I warned her, she apparently bit it.
A pained whimper sounded beside my ear.
Wind rushed past my face as I ran, carrying Eun-ah’s thin moans like a strange form of ASMR.
She sounded like a sobbing ghost.
"Over there! Another tunnel is coming up."
"All right. I'll slow down. Prepare the lights again."
How long had we been running?
A tunnel entrance appeared ahead, and I gradually reduced our speed.
The handcart had no brakes.
I controlled it entirely through my own strength, and its considerable weight made sudden stops difficult.
"We'll pass through the same way as before."
"Yep!"
Only moments earlier I'd vowed never to enter another tunnel, but we had no alternative route.
Going around required crossing the mountains, which would consume far more time and effort.
The sun hadn't yet set.
Running along the expressway had barely recovered the time lost inside the tunnel.
To reach the Bukhan River before nightfall, we had to cross this one as well.
"Hoo..."
I sighed once and approached the tunnel entrance, which gaped like the maw of a beast.
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"The Bukhan River..."
"Yes. That's the Bukhan River."
"It's beautiful in the sunset."
The late-afternoon leg of our journey ended when we reached the Bukhan River before sundown.
We now needed to find a place to rest and prepare dinner before darkness fell.
"Let's head down there."
We left the expressway.
I intended to reach a place I'd noticed while crossing an elevated section earlier.
[Eunbangul Mulbit Arboretum]
It was a small arboretum beside the Bukhan River.
A narrow tributary ran along it, and I had seen no sign of human activity from a distance.
Well-maintained trees grew throughout the grounds and seemed capable of concealing any light after dark.
"There are no vehicles in the parking lot."
"Right. That's good for us."
We passed through a building that appeared to serve as both ticket booth and management office.
While searching for a campsite, we killed two zombies dressed like employees.
There was no evidence that other survivors had visited.
"Would using the building we passed earlier be a bad idea?"
"It's too dangerous for sleeping."
I explained my criteria for choosing a resting place to Hye-ji.
Anyone approaching should be forced to make noise, and our light should remain concealed.
Alternatively, the terrain should allow us to establish obstacles or provide a clear escape route.
As a final option, we needed a place whose entrance could be completely barricaded for a defensive stand.
No location could be perfectly safe, but I searched using those minimum requirements.
"Over there..."
"Got it."
Eun-ah had a talent for locating suitable shelters.
This time, she selected a small clearing filled with tall grass.
Dense shrubs and tall, leafy trees concealed it so completely that even we didn't notice the clearing until we were close.
Most arboretum trails were paved in red brick, but gravel surrounded this clearing.
That meant anyone approaching would reveal themselves through sound before reaching us.
"We should pitch the tents and sleep here tonight."
"All right. Without the tents, we'd have ended up sleeping directly on the ground."
"I think I saw restrooms and some kind of garden plot over there. Let's pitch the tents first, then investigate."
The guide map had shown a very small gardening-experience area.
Overgrown weeds hid it from view, but with luck, we might find fresh vegetables.
Anticipation swelled within me.
"Should we bring the fishing rods too?"
"Yes. Let's take them. Hopefully the tributary contains fish."
"All right~ Eun-ah seems to have good fishing luck, so I'm looking forward to it."
"Don't expect too much..."
The two women rarely spoke directly to each other.
Awkward little exchanges like that comprised nearly all their conversation.
Their tense relationship showed no sign of improving.
'It's only been two days, but still...'
We quickly selected a place for the tents and gathered the equipment we needed.
The plan was to first check if fishing was even possible.
Even if there were fish to catch, night fishing was dangerous.
We had no idea what kind of monster might be lurking underwater.
So, while there was still some visibility, we moved first to the Bukhan River tributary that ran beside the arboretum.
"Huh?!"
"Shh."
We arrived at the nearby riverside in no time.
Hye-ji, caught off guard, ended up making a small noise.
Someone else had already gotten there before us.