40. Escape
40. Escape
Alleyway.
"Will this car do?"
"I don't think there'll be a problem. Even if they fly at us, it's just arrows or bullets."
I can cover that.
The van.
I put the 3 siblings in the very back, and the three women in the middle.
And I had Seo-yoon sit next to me.
Exactly the order we met.
"Tae-jun, check that you've packed everything."
"Yes, hyung."
"Be ready to pull them out immediately."
"Yes."
"Good."
I had packed the guns and ammunition into Tae-jun's Subspace.
At first, I wanted to load it with food... but if we ran into a military group on the way down, I thought that would be better.
'...I'll start by revealing my ability.'
Of course, that's only if the military group is still alive.
I really hope the 32nd Division is alive right now.
'......'
I hope it's not just a bunch of fucked up people left alive, like at the Hana Sports Center.
Sure, there's something like a superpower, which is basically like handing a gun to a human, but the world right now isn't exactly a place worth living in. The IN Company bastards are extracting superpowers,
and the Infected are all just fucked up kinds of creatures.
"Is everyone in?"
"Yes."
"Yes, we're all here."
"Let's go."
ㅡVroom.
The van's engine started.
ㅡClunk.
ㅡClunk.
We carefully left the housing area, driving over the corpses.
#
ㅡClunk.
ㅡClunk.
Corpses are being crushed.
ㅡPew.
ㅡPew.
Bullets fly, shattering the heads of the staggering Infected.
ㅡClunk.
ㅡClunk.
Southern Cheongju.
Since we couldn't take the 4-lane or 8-lane roads, we took a slight detour.
It would be best to take those roads to get out, but it's better to take the long way around than to run into something fucked up for no reason.
A quiet 2-lane road.
ㅡClunk.
ㅡClunk.
We're driving against traffic now, but in a ruined world, there's no such thing as driving against traffic or whatever.
The inside of the van was quiet.
Well, it's not like there's anything to talk about while moving out.
But being this overly tense wasn't good.
"That..."
Maybe that's why. Seo-yoon, who is quick-witted, spoke up first.
"Yeah?"
"So, are we... leaving here for good?"
"Pretty much."
The house was great, but it was tucked away in such a corner that if the Infected came, we would've had to fight without being able to do anything else.
It meant we didn't even have the option to run away.
On top of that, the IN Company bastards are roaming around downtown Cheongju.
They weren't hunting humans, but.
They were shooting down any humans they saw nearby, and they were just doing their own thing regardless of whether they drew the Infected's aggro or not.
'I'm just uneasy about it.'
Seo-yoon and these people are my future plan.
People who are mentally sound and whom I can control.
I might add more later, but...
'No, wait.'
To be honest, I'm very uneasy about Seo-yoon being there. Of course, my heart would ache if the other women died, too.
But nothing can happen to Seo-yoon.
Of course, I can't say that won't happen in the countryside either, but the chances would be lower than in the city.
The fences are much higher, the visibility is wide open, and there are plenty of corners to escape through.
'From there, I'll try to make contact with the Bugang-myeon area.'
It seemed like a good plan.
ㅡClunk.
ㅡClunk.
As I was thinking that, Seo-yoon opened her mouth while looking at the satellite map.
Seo-yoon was turning on her laptop.
"It's to the left from here."
"Here?"
"Yes."
We headed toward the house we had chosen.
'Was it Nam-i-myeon?'
There weren't many decent places in Bugang-myeon, and all the roads were dead ends.
That's why the house—or was it a pension?—that I found on the satellite map was perfect. There were no buildings around it except for the house itself.
Just rice paddies and fields.
On top of that, the roads were open both above and below, and both sides were blocked by dense mountains, so it was the perfect place to leave our people.
'......'
I mean, there's no such thing as a perfect place.
But at least it would be better than the house we were in.
ㅡPew.
ㅡPew.
I could hear the sound of bullets flying. Of course, I was retrieving them and firing them repeatedly, but since the Infected's bodies are weaker than metal, I planned to kill them with a few bullets until they wore out.
ㅡClunk.
ㅡClunk.
How far had we gone while killing the Infected like that?
We were able to reach the stream.
'Phew.'
I was pretty worried, but we didn't run into any Variants.
Now, we just have to keep going down from here.
Once we get out of here, we'll have escaped Cheongju.
We kept moving down.
#
Naturally, there was no such thing as a blockade.
Because the military that would have built such things was all destroyed while they were moving.
Therefore, we were able to get out of Cheongju without any trouble.
However.
It would have been a bit difficult if I hadn't reached Lv. 4.
No, I could have gone down, but it would have taken a long time.
Like the broken utility poles blocking the road.
Or the vehicles blocking the path.
Plus, there were a lot of Infected.
ㅡClunk.
ㅡClunk.
The vehicle drove, avoiding various broken things while stepping on corpses.
We arrived at Yangchon-ri, Southern Cheongju, where there were only vehicles.
"...There really aren't any."
"Yeah. Since the Infected were made from people, there are definitely fewer in the villages."
The small convenience stores, real estate agencies, vinyl greenhouses, construction buildings, etc., nearby were all closed.
And in the places where I could feel signs of life inside, most of them were just Infected.
ㅡKieee...
"But don't you think people could be alive here?"
"If we search, we'll probably find some."
In places like towns, townships, and villages, there was a higher probability of people being there than in the city.
Of course, as long as there are Variants, they'll die off one by one.
Since superpowers aren't that strong until Lv. 2, and you have to reach Lv. 3 to be useful, to get from Lv. 2 to Lv. 3,
you needed firearms.
'Even I had to kill Mirrors with firearms to level up.'
I think that's the reason why it's hard for ordinary people to level up.
In a country like the US where firearms are legal, it might be manageable.
But seeing how the military was completely destroyed, the probability of there being dangerous Variants that even firearms can't handle was extremely high.
Or maybe the IN Company did something else.
This is something I'll have to check later, though.
'......'
We kept moving.
#
We arrived.
'I-Pension.'
Snow Pension?
Anyway, it seems to be a pension, not a house.
"Oppa, I think we should open that."
"Yeah."
The fence was huge, and there was nothing around.
It looked like there was no one inside, probably because it was the winter off-season for guests.
'Nice.'
Mountain in the back.
If you go up the road, there are rice paddies and fields.
If you go down, there's a dirt road.
A perfect structure with not a single Infected in sight nearby.
'Of course, self-sufficiency might be a problem.'
"Let's check inside first."
"Yes."
#
The inside was clean, as expected of a pension.
It had been neglected for quite a while, so there was some dust piled up.
But it didn't look like there were any people or Infected.
Guest rooms... should I call them guest rooms?
Anyway, there were five buildings that looked like they could accommodate five teams.
When I entered one house, there were 2 rooms on the 1st floor and 2 rooms on the 2nd floor. A lounge on the 3rd floor.
The strange thing was that the houses were connected.
'Actually, that's better.'
"Let's divide into group 1 and group 2. We can each take rooms on the 2nd floor. We'll use the 3rd floor over there for surveillance."
I roughly claimed the first room on the 2nd floor as mine.
"I'll take this one."
Seo-yoon snatched the room next door like a ghost.
The other women and the kids seemed to be picking their rooms on their own.
The 3 siblings decided to go to the house next door.
We could move right next door anyway.
"Unpack, Tae-jun."
"Yes."
"Take the guns and put them in the locker on the 2nd floor. You saw it when we came in, right?"
"Yes, hyung."
"Everyone come out when you're done organizing. I'm going to look around the area."
""Yes.""
The cleanup finished quickly.
Well, just putting food in the fridge and lockers, and Tae-jun putting the guns and ammo in the 2nd-floor locker was all it took.
After that, I looked around the inside of the pension.
'It's pretty wide, whether it's a yard or a place to grill meat.'
This place is big enough to catch and raise something later. Of course, I'd have to bring them here.
Over there, I could see a field where some plants were growing, whether they were growing something or if they were just growing around it.
There are rice paddies and fields above, so I thought we could cultivate them here.
'......'
The surroundings were really quiet.
If only electricity and water didn't get cut off, we could keep living in a place like this.
But that will reach its limit someday, too. If it were just the Infected, I could think about it loosely, but since there are those IN Company bastards.
Food will run out soon, too.
'Are there any animals nearby?'
I'll go to the Bugang-myeon area tomorrow night, and after that, it would be good to look for some animals.
#
A day passed quickly.
Since there were no Infected here, we could move easily even during the day.
"Ugh."
"Can't reach it?"
"Yes. Ugh. Hyung. Help me with this."
"Move."
We found some fabric inside the pension and installed blinds.
Since the structure was such that the inside was too visible.
"Yun-ji-ssi. Are you okay?"
"Yes. It's not heavy."
Yun-ji and the strength-enhanced siblings, Young-jun and Yu-rim, moved all the unnecessary luggage to the last pension.
The super-sized TV, air conditioner, and heater that were supposedly in the pension.
Other than that, we organized all the miscellaneous items in the last pension, except for what we needed.
"Phew."
That's how the cleanup finished during the day.
Surprisingly, the cleanup took a long time. I thought it would be done in an hour or two, but there was a lot to do.
Still, as much as we cleaned up, the free space increased significantly.
'Surveillance is also good from the 3rd floor.'
I could see everything from the entrance to the places where people could enter from both sides.
We definitely picked a good spot.
"Oppa, aren't you sleeping?"
"I have to. If I want to move tonight."
As I was saying that, Seo-yoon walked over to me and spoke. What she was holding in her hand was... dried squid.
"Is that squid?"
"Yes. The one we brought from the mart. This was super expensive, so I couldn't eat it often."
"You'll get a square jaw if you eat that."
"...Hey."
I laughed and snatched the roasted squid she was holding.
She said, flustered.
"You said I'd get a square jaw."
"It's fine for guys."
"I'm fine too, okay?"
"I'm not."
"What are you talking about? Ah, give it back quickly. It's mine."
That's how the day passed.
#
I walked up alone for a long time.
ㅡPapak.
"Kieek..."
A Walker falls.
I didn't bother bringing a vehicle. Since the goal was to find a vehicle anyway.
I open several houses in the village.
'None.'
None here either.
I wish there was one here.
ㅡKeee.
There is one.
I see an Infected inside.
Judging by the physique, it's an adult male. But it's not a Runner. It's a Walker.
ㅡPak.
ㅡPew.
ㅡPew.
The Walker falls with the center of its head pierced.
I searched the inside of the house.
'Found it.'
I found the car keys.
Looking at the vehicles outside, I press the car key.
ㅡBeep-beep-beep.
The vehicle opens.
ㅡVroom.
It works.
In this case, I can leave the van at I-Pension and use this to move around.
The vehicle is in perfect condition, too.
The gas tank is about 80% full.
'Shall I go?'
I left the I-Pension side to the kids, so I planned to go to the logistics center in Bugang-myeon alone today.
ㅡClunk.
Dirt road.
The vehicle rattled.