64. Return to Origin (2)
64. Return to Origin (2)
'This is seriously annoying.'
The bullet hole was on Lieutenant Kim In-seop's forehead.
There's no way he'd commit suicide like this, so it's definitely murder.
It seems a rebellion broke out from within, and at that exact moment, a legion of Infected attacked from the outside.
Or, they lured the Infected in on purpose to cause chaos, then slipped away themselves.
ㅡTak
ㅡTak
There was plenty of evidence, too.
The scene of the logistics center I examined after coming back out.
Earlier, it was swarming with Walkers, Runners, Balloons, and Sentient Beings, so I couldn't examine it properly, but now I could.
'......'
The external vehicles had been loaded with modern weapons, food, and a lot of other things, but a few of the vehicles were empty.
Even the important military supplies were all gone.
There was a vehicle that had been smashed and overturned, but...
It seemed like these were the people from here who couldn't escape.
It seemed like they lured the Infected, killed the Lieutenant, and while the civilians and soldiers were in a panic, they escaped.
'......'
Who could it be?
Who did this, and why?
It seemed like a good idea to look for more bodies. I wouldn't be able to find the people who had already left, but it felt like something else might turn up.
#
ㅡKwajik
ㅡPuchut
ㅡPuchut
The interior, which I investigated after wiping out the Walkers and Runners.
I was able to find quite a lot of evidence inside as well.
The missing key equipment. From high-end gear like thermal imagers and night-vision goggles to firearms and ammunition, quite a bit was missing.
Since this was the place where I had followed the Corporal and received quite a lot of supplies.
'It's completely empty.'
Looks like they took everything.
The firearms, too.
'And the bodies that look like they were shot to death, too.'
The Infected had gnawed on them, but there was still plenty of evidence left.
ㅡJjeoeok
The chest of a soldier's body, half-eaten, had multiple gunshot wounds; it looked like they had been hit by automatic fire.
'......'
It was the same for the civilians.
Bodies with gunshot wounds all over, perhaps from resisting.
Bodies with crushed shoulder blades, as if hit by an ability, and bodies with heads torn off, perhaps from automatic fire.
The bullet holes scattered throughout the logistics center didn't seem to have been made only when fighting the Infected.
It seems they really planned to stab them in the back and run away.
'......'
Also, solid evidence appeared.
The place I inspected after going to the back of the logistics center and wiping out the Walkers and Runners.
After passing through areas full of corpses and heading toward the back door, I saw tire tracks along with engine oil stains on the ground.
The trail left by the leaking black engine oil continued all the way down, leading to the lower road heading toward Daejeon and Sejong.
'......'
Looks like they caused the trouble and then just ran away.
Or, conversely, maybe the survivors here killed those people and escaped to avoid the swarming Infected.
'...The probability of that is low.'
And doing it with vehicles that were leaking oil, at that. It's certain that someone staged a coup and caused this.
So, what do I do now?
'What do you mean, what do I do?'
I have to follow them.
#
I drove the car around and came to the back door.
ㅡDeolkeong
ㅡDeolkeong
Then I drove the vehicle and headed down.
Whether they went to Daejeon or Sejong, I have to check.
ㅡDeolkeong
ㅡDeolkeong
'They probably went to Daejeon.'
Sejong is no place for people to go.
Isn't Sejong where they came from in the first place?
They fled from there after fighting a Hunter, so there's no way they'd go back.
Especially since the survivors would have trusted the Lieutenant's words unconditionally, there was no reason to go this way.
However.
'......?'
The oil leak trail continued in the direction of Sejong Special Self-Governing City.
The oil trail led toward the bridge where I had previously seen Sejong Jiphyeon University.
As I followed it down, the oil led into the interior of Sejong.
'They went to Sejong City.'
...Why?
#
There are things the Lieutenant told me before.
He said they reorganized the formation into the 1st Battalion. The remaining 32nd Division survivors were in the 1st Battalion, divided into 4 companies; the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Companies were in the direction of Sejong City Hall, and the 4th Company, where the Lieutenant was, conducted rescue operations in Cheongju.
However, contact with Sejong City Hall was lost midway, and the 4th Company subsequently escaped and established a base in Bugang-myeon.
'The Sejong City Hall, where the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Companies were, was slaughtered by a Hunter.'
I definitely confirmed the bodies of the soldiers and civilians there.
And I had told the Lieutenant's group about that. If so, wouldn't they naturally know that Sejong City was no place for people to live?
Why would they lead these people and flee in this direction?
'...Did they not believe the Lieutenant?'
Or me?
That doesn't make sense, there are too many witnesses.
The 13 members of the 2nd Platoon who caught the Nest at the Bugang Traditional Market are witnesses, aren't they?
'......'
Who knows, that's why I came here to find out.
Sejong City.
I don't think I've been here since I came to catch the Hunter.
ㅡDeolkeong
ㅡDeolkeong
The dawn streets were very quiet. The oil led toward the city center, in the direction of Sejong Jiphyeon University.
I followed the trail of oil.
If it weren't for this, I probably wouldn't have even thought of tracking them. So, I was lucky. Of course, I don't know if I should call this fucking lucky.
ㅡDeolkeong
ㅡDeolkeong
I crossed a small bridge and entered the Sejong city center.
When I came before, I didn't enter this way.
Because I bypassed it and headed straight to Sejong City Hall.
'For now, I don't see any other signs of Infected.'
Like that, I followed the oil, smashing the heads of Walkers and Runners.
Following the wide 6-lane road, at the end of the path I went down, I was able to find a vehicle.
ㅡKkiiik
'That's it.'
The condition was severe.
A truck that was split completely in half.
And traces of the asphalt being cracked.
'It's a Hunter.'
It looked like the aftermath of being attacked by a Hunter.
Are they fucking idiots?
ㅡTak
ㅡTak
I approached while keeping an eye on my surroundings.
An overturned military truck. And the bodies of men wearing military uniforms, dead.
There were no familiar faces.
That means they were people I didn't know, or people I just glanced at and passed by.
And it was certain that they had died recently.
If it were an old body, say from January, it would have already decomposed.
ㅡTak
ㅡTak
From the overturned vehicle, a lot of basic firearms and ammunition were found. And the bodies of Walkers and Runners scattered around, and signs of a battle with a Hunter.
'Fucking lunatics.'
Didn't I tell them?
That the Hunter is a fucking lunatic. They couldn't believe that, and they crawled back here?
Furthermore, it became certain. There were no civilian bodies at all, excluding the soldiers. This means the soldiers staged a coup, killed Lieutenant Kim In-seop, brought in the Infected, then took the supplies from inside and crawled back into Sejong.
'I don't know why they came to Sejong, though.'
It seems there are survivors.
Because the number of dead soldiers was small.
It looks like they fought the Hunter and ran away again.
Is there something there?
Or do they believe the main force is still alive?
'......'
If I go this way and turn right, Sejong City Hall does come up.
Anyway, I'll decide to pick up the equipment down here with Tae-jun.
'I'll have to go toward City Hall.'
Because that's the only place those people could go in Sejong.
#
ㅡKkiiik
The City Hall, not far from the Geumgang River, was exactly as it was when I came before.
The traces of the previous battle with the Hunter also remained.
However, there were no traces of trucks or armored vehicles.
'There weren't even five soldier bodies there. That means they must have fled somewhere after fighting the Hunter.'
It means they are somewhere inside Sejong City.
However, it didn't seem like I could find them right now.
The sky was already starting to brighten, and Sejong City was incredibly vast. And...
Over there, across the Geumgang River.
There was also the yellow infected zone that I hadn't checked yet.
It seemed like it would take quite a long time to find the traitors who escaped here.
Or they might already be dead.
'......'
Still, I have to look for them.
They know my information. If they scurry off to somewhere like IN Company and spill all my information, some fucked up things could happen.
'I'll have to stay here for a while.'
Sejong City.
A place I had temporarily put off because of the Hunter and the yellow tumor.
"Phew."
I took off my gas mask and looked across. The panoramic view of the ruined Sejong. The plan to envision a future with the Lieutenant's group, the remnants of the 32nd Division, had failed.
Perhaps it was to be expected.
Because the Lieutenant was someone who had no power of his own in this ruined world, possessing only the Area Surveillance ability.
The Lieutenant's plan to protect the civilians and survive somehow—that one failure took his life and the lives of the people.
He was a good person.
Perhaps if we had met before the apocalypse, we could have been pretty good friends.
However...
I can perhaps understand why the remaining soldiers staged a coup.
The burden of 200 civilians.
17 soldiers had died.
The plan to subjugate Bugang-myeon had also failed.
'There wouldn't be an answer.'
Especially since that group prioritized saving the elderly and weak instead of saving the able-bodied men and women first.
Why, they even abandoned the 3 siblings at our base to prioritize taking the elderly and the weak.
'.......'
It's meaningless.
Because they all died in the end.
The Lieutenant and the civilians had no power.
'Power, huh.'
Power and Contract.
Human trust cannot be bought with anything. However, with Seo-yoon's Contract, it can be bought.
'......'
For some reason, I felt like I had returned to the time before I met Seo-yoon.
To the days when I knew nothing, not knowing when or where my life would be targeted, but now I have power. And I still have the people I've gathered.
'I need to change my direction a bit.'
I had put it off because of the logistics center, but
I think it might be right to gather people with Seo-yoon as the focus.
A crazy ability where they have to follow orders if they sign a contract. A crazy ability that makes the possibility of betrayal not just low, but zero.
'I'll have to think about it.'
However, it was the moment I thought that.
ㅡTak
I caught a certain noise.
'......?'
And.
ㅡTadadadak
I perceived something running along the wall like crazy.
A form made by chopping up four humans and sticking them here and there.
ㅡKkujik!
ㅡKwang!
Something slammed into the side right in front of me.
A figure struggling, impaled on a rebar, tried to get up.
'......?'