Chapter 51: Preparation
Chapter 51: Preparation
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I woke before dawn again.
I'd woken once during the night, but I fell right back asleep and felt as good as ever.
Feeling this good day after day... Wasn't that something everyone dreamed of?
This time, determined not to repeat my previous mistake, I carefully rose without touching anyone's breasts and slipped out of the room.
Seon-yeong had complained about it once before.
She said touching her breasts in the morning woke her up...
I felt guilty, so I had been trying to restrain myself.
But maybe I was addicted. The moment I woke, my hand reached out as though possessed.
I used the bathroom off the living room to wash my face, then dressed quickly.
I planned to visit the recycling area and retrieve the discarded food cans and other tins.
I crossed the silent predawn street and found the recyclables still piled neatly where they had been left.
Of course. There was no one left to dispose of them or take them away.
I gathered about twenty cans and headed straight back.
"Oh, Ga-yeong, you're awake? You didn't even drink last night, so why did you sleep beside us again?"
"Good morning, Mister. I got a little scared trying to sleep alone, hehe... Sorry I didn't tell you first..."
"No, it's fine. I was just surprised. Keep this up and Seon-yeong might scold you one day."
"I already told her earlier... she said it's fine, and if I'm scared I can come sleep with you guys."
I found Ga-yeong moving around the kitchen, and we exchanged morning greetings.
But if Seon-yeong had told her that, what was I supposed to do?
Was I supposed to give up my spot next to Seon-yeong to Ga-yeong?
She had already made me unable to fall asleep without her. Now she was being cruel only to me.
Well, I'd think about that later. For now, I was going to punch holes in the cans with an awl, thread string through them, and make booby traps.
It was one of the countermeasures from last night's meeting: a simple tripwire alarm that would rattle the cans if an intruder touched the line.
The noise might frighten an intruder into fleeing. Even if they charged ahead, it would make them panic or hesitate, so it seemed like a decent precaution.
"Mister, wait a second. I'll find you an awl."
"Okay. This job will be messy, so I'll work in the hallway. Where's Seon-yeong?"
"She was waking up when I came out, so she'll be out soon."
I planned to install the can traps in three places: the building entrance, the stairwell outside our apartment, and the elevator.
The question was whether we'd be able to hear them from inside the apartment.
We'd have to test it, but I'd probably be able to hear them; I wasn't sure about Seon-yeong and Ga-yeong.
They looked pretty makeshift once I had finished them.
Once I scavenged some fishing line and steel balls, I could make them sturdier and much louder.
"Did you sleep well?"
"Good morning. I always sleep well. How are you feeling?"
"A little stiff, that's all. I should be fine once I loosen up and get moving."
After finishing the simple job, I went back inside and found Seon-yeong standing in the living room in yoga clothes.
Every morning, the sight of her reminded me just how healthy I was.
I already had more libido than I knew what to do with, and the sight was far too stimulating.
There was nothing I could do about it, so I joined her in stretching the stiffness from my body.
#
"Shall we go, then? All ready?"
"Yep, Raid Leader."
"Then let's move out!"
We chatted about hobbies over breakfast.
Somehow, I ended up mentioning that I'd always wanted to lead a raid in a game I used to play.
I said I had been too casual a player to lead one and regretted never getting the chance. They responded by declaring that they'd call me Raid Leader from now on...
It was painfully cringeworthy.
Ga-yeong suggested it, and Seon-yeong joined in, egging me on to become our real-life Raid Leader, so I reluctantly accepted.
Well, it wasn't like anyone else was around to hear it anyway.
Today, Ga-yeong was joining us from the start of the morning.
The kid kept clinging to us like a puppy with separation anxiety.
After what she'd been through, I understood and could not help feeling sorry for her.
We all finished getting ready and stepped out the front door.
While Seon-yeong placed a strip of clear tape, cut to size, across the top of the front door, I installed the can traps by the stairs and elevator.
I hid the cans from view and strung the tripwire at ankle height.
It looked cheap and simple, but that little device might save our lives someday.
After all three of us checked the locations, we installed the final trap at the building entrance, and I led the way out.
"Kim Tae-sik's Raid Party, move out!"
The two women, who had been whispering behind me, called out quietly in unison.
They were messing with me, weren't they?
Too embarrassed to answer, I quickened my pace as though fleeing.
#
"You can erase the 'ms' marker now. The C here refers to the people from the client company."
Ga-yeong had downloaded an offline map onto the tablet.
She was following behind us, updating the map as we went.
Beside her, Seon-yeong studied the Zombie Map I'd drawn and explained each marking in a calm voice.
"Wow... How did you transfer all of this? This is amazing. Can I label this place as a bunker?"
"Well, it's a distinctive spot, so sure, you can mark it."
When we passed the intersection where we'd lured and killed the zombie horde, Ga-yeong marveled at the bunker I'd built from cars.
Today's destination was an elementary school about halfway into Zone C.
Sangsan Elementary and Middle Schools stood beside each other, and our first objective was to clear a route that far.
If we opened the route successfully, we could scavenge the stationery and hardware stores along it.
However, the area was a busy commercial district surrounded by apartment complexes and shops. Its population density had probably been far higher than Zone A's, so this wouldn't be easy.
"Oh, right. Manager Lee texted this morning, so I told him Min-su and the others were all dead."
"Oh, really? What did Manager Lee say?"
"He said we must have had a hell of a time with three people invading our home. He told us to ask if we needed help."
The actual exchange had been much longer, but that was the gist of it.
When I told him there was a man with the ability to turn invisible, he was surprised and said it seemed like a counter to Director Kim's ability.
Manager Lee's point was that there was probably no such thing as a perfect ability.
One person's ability might counter another's, or an ability might have an inherent flaw of its own.
That left me wondering what weakness my own ability had.
If there was a counter to my ability, what kind of ability would it be?
"Shh."
I'd just passed the intersection and become briefly lost in thought when I spotted a zombie in an alley.
The road sloped uphill, lined on both sides by low three- and four-story buildings. An apartment complex lay farther in.
Whoosh—thwack.
I took one of the stones left over from making the can traps out of my sling bag and threw it at the zombie.
The stone shot through the air and struck the back of the zombie's head squarely. It fell with barely a sound.
"From here on, watch every direction. There are parking-garage entrances and blind corners everywhere. Let's kill the zombies as quietly as possible and keep moving."
"Yes, Raid Leader."
They both answered at the same time.
Were they really planning to keep this up?
#
"Let's rest here for a while. The zombies just keep coming."
We'd planned to clear only the road as we advanced, but before we had gone even two blocks, we retreated to the second floor of a nearby commercial building.
Judging by the route we'd cleared so far, Zone C practically had one zombie for every step we took.
Most of the first-floor shops had their doors open or smashed in, so to pass through, we had to deal with every zombie inside.
On top of that, there were plenty of zombies just standing in the middle of the street.
With our current strength and experience, we could have cleared all four blocks of Zone A before noon.
That was how many zombies there were, and yet we hadn't seen a single person.
We'd been delayed from the moment we entered Zone C.
Since we had already cleared the zombies from the first floor, we swept the billiard hall upstairs as well and came inside to rest.
"Honey, come look at this."
I'd just taken off my mask and was drinking water when Seon-yeong, who'd been looking outside through a small window, called me over.
I went over and looked out the window. Four men were approaching.
"What the— Looks like they're coming straight here."
"Right? They seem to know exactly where we are. Maybe one of them has a detection ability like Director Kim's."
"Or they were watching us clear zombies."
Yesterday's bad memories came rushing back, and my tension spiked.
They outnumbered us, and all four were men.
"Both of you, get ready to fight and keep your eyes on them."
I hurriedly emptied my windbreaker and trouser pockets, set their contents aside, and filled them with billiard balls.
I checked the main entrance and back exit, then tipped several pool tables upright to form a barricade.
"Those men are killing the zombies. One of them is taking them out by throwing an axe. Huh? The axe is moving on its own."
"Okay, keep watching and let me know when they reach the building entrance."
I ripped the drink dispenser from the corner of the billiard hall and dumped its contents across the floor, starting at the entrance.
Someone else might have the same invisibility ability as yesterday's attacker, so I prepared whatever warning I could on short notice.
"He's incredibly strong. He's already cleared the zombies and is walking straight toward us! He killed eight. Wow—he hasn't missed once."
"And you can't get any read on the others' abilities at all?"
"No, I can't tell. The only strange thing is that a man behind the axe wielder keeps massaging his shoulders. Why would he massage him in the middle of a fight?"
"Seon-yeong, could the man behind him be applying some kind of buff? Games have support classes that do that."
Ga-yeong had played games too, so she reached the same conclusion I had.
"Really? If that's his ability, then by himself he would... Huh? We made eye contact. He's staring straight at us."
"Understood. When they come upstairs, take cover behind the pool tables with your shields ready. Seon-yeong, they've already seen you, so try talking to them. I'll stay off to the side and throw the billiard balls if things go bad."
"All right. Ga-yeong, put a shield over the table directly in front of us, then stay hidden."
"Okay."
Ga-yeong could create several shields, so we prepared one in advance.
Seon-yeong positioned herself directly opposite the door, while Ga-yeong and I split off to either side.
I'd set the pool tables facing the door in a crane-wing formation.
Was there anything else I could prepare?
The sudden appearance of another survivor group caught us off guard, but I took several deep breaths and calmed myself.
We'd discussed this exact situation during the second item of our emergency meeting.
Stay calm.
Seon-yeong's shield was strong. Even in the worst case, it should buy us time.
Stick to the plan.
"They're inside. I'll take position."
"Shield."
Ga-yeong deployed her shield and hid behind a pool table.
I took cover off to one side and watched the billiard hall entrance.
Would they be friendly visitors or hostile ones?