Home on Wheels
“I’ve finished installing everything, but it might suddenly stop or act up. If that happens, just call us.”
“Do I need to put something inside to test it?”
“You can put whatever you want in there. Or you can just open it periodically to check if it’s staying cool.”
I nodded and looked at the refrigerator. It was different from the one in the cult leader’s penthouse. Not very tall—less than half the height. But it stretched wide horizontally.
A food truck refrigerator/freezer with 400L capacity.
From the name alone I could guess its purpose. Equipment designed to transport ingredients anywhere, anytime, and cook them fresh. It looked like it drew power from both the vehicle’s battery and solar panels.
The kitchen was the same.
A food truck cooking station including microwave, induction cooktop, and portable workstation.
It really felt like this vehicle was slowly turning into our home.
Yong-tae glanced at us siblings with a satisfied expression and muttered, “Originally gas would’ve been better… but you’re really okay with electric? Feels weird asking after I’ve already installed everything.”
“It’s fine. This is enough.”
The chances of the world returning to normal were practically zero. Gas and oil would either slowly lose purity or their prices would skyrocket. Or both. Electricity was the clear answer. We’d have to conserve it, sure, but it was definitely the right choice.
“Well, if you need anything else, just say the word.”
“You didn’t touch any of our stuff, right?”
“Whoa, you think I’m crazy enough to touch your things? My predecessor got caught skimming and ended up dead.”
Choi Yong-tae was from a nearby city. As a technician, he said he received better treatment than most locals. But even that had limits. His predecessor mistook that treatment for privilege and was executed by Kang Ji-hyung. I could roughly guess why. There were other technicians, and it served as a warning, but it was also meant to build trust with the people using the market. Long-term, it was the smart move.
Yong-tae seemed to understand that too. He didn’t show any resentment. Instead he continued casually, “If you don’t trust me, feel free to count everything… If there’s really nothing else, I’ll head off to sleep. From now on, unless it’s urgent, please wait until morning to call me…”
That statement itself inspired trust. My sister would check everything anyway, but I nodded and waved him off.
“Good work. You can go.”
After the amiable technician bowed politely and left, we finally stepped inside the vehicle. The interior greeted us in a completely different state from just a few hours earlier.
“Whoa…”
It was genuinely impressive.
It wasn’t just the new kitchen and refrigerator. The vehicle’s massive cargo space left plenty of room even after the food-truck fridge and kitchen were installed. The leftover area held the supplies we’d kept after sorting: ammunition, weapons, the exoskeleton, the reinforced suit we’d received earlier, food, water, medicine, and fuel cans. They’d even thrown in an industrial outlet as a bonus.
But none of that was what truly mattered to us.
What we were really marveling at sat right in front of us.
“Yah!”
The spot where my sister threw herself. A bed now occupied the space that hadn’t existed before. Not just something that resembled a bed—it actually looked like a proper, decent bed.
This all-terrain vehicle had originally been a five-seater. Behind the driver and passenger seats there used to be a long bench. Given the vehicle’s purpose, it was probably meant for the security detail protecting the president or the cult leader. But with only the two of us, it was unnecessary space. At best we’d used it to rest briefly or as a makeshift bed, but it was never truly comfortable.
So when we first got the mattress I’d wondered how to remove the seats and lay it down. Choi Yong-tae had taken care of it with perfect sense.
“Wow, oppa! Look! There’s storage under the mattress!”
Where the three-person bench had been, there was now a fold-down bed with built-in storage. The surface was neatly finished; even running a hand over it felt smooth. Sliding doors beneath revealed sheets, blankets, and spare pillowcases. There was plenty of room to store our clothes too.
I was honestly impressed.
“Oppa~ Hurry! Lie down here! It’s super, super comfortable!”
Hearing my sister’s bright voice, I walked over and lay down on the mattress. It was genuinely comfortable. Not quite at the level of the cult leader’s penthouse bed, but the mattress itself was high quality. It cradled our bodies with a soft, sinking support.
“Ah, the blanket’s so soft. If we cover ourselves with this, we won’t be cold even in winter. Right?”
The blanket was excellent, the pillow fluffy, and the bed itself perfectly cushioned.
“So… hug me tight. Mmm?”
“Sigh.”
As expected, Kang Ahyeon was the softest thing of all.
“Ah, hng, kyaa!”
My sister beamed as soon as I pinned her down. She clutched her cat doll and happily rubbed her cheek against me.
She liked it. The chuckle that slipped out of me made her smile even brighter.
“Are we going to sleep here every single day from now on?”
“Well, probably.”
“Ehe, I like it so much…”
Her voice melted into a puppy-like purr. I kept her pinned beneath me and pulled the blanket up over us. It was still cold outside. Two months after the Rapture, spring had yet to truly arrive. As the warm blanket covered us, old memories surfaced.
We had left Sion Mountain Fortress, passed through Gucheon Village, and were now here in our new nest. The feeling was strangely fresh. At first I hadn’t been sure how long I could survive. After seeing the Serpent of Eden, I thought I might die soon. When I faced the Preacher and prepared to fight, I thought this might be the end. Yet I had overcome every crisis and reached this point.
Lately those crises didn’t even feel like crises anymore. I handled them smoothly. Of course I still got scared because a bullet would kill me, but there had been no true life-or-death moments like the ones with the Preacher or the holy warriors. I hoped it would stay that way.
The problem is that they’re all dead. Crushed under the building.
I remembered the colossal variant I had seen on the tablet Kang Ji-hyung showed me. Proof that a building over ten stories tall was moving as the variant’s living shell. Even with the anti-materiel sniper rifle, exoskeleton, and state-of-the-art firearms, victory seemed impossible. In a way it felt like something beyond the Serpent of Eden. A warning that the things waiting ahead would not be easy.
“Oppa~.”
My sister, still pinned beneath me, shifted a few times to find a comfortable position, then wrapped her arms around me and asked.
“…Yeah.”
“What are you thinking about?”
“About what we should do from now on.”
“From now on?”
“Yeah. I don’t have any specific next step in mind.”
It wasn’t that we had no goals. Our goal had always been the same: survive, and become happy. To finally seize the happiness we had never been allowed before. That was why we dreamed of the beach, a university, a date along the Han River.
“Mmm… We don’t know the area very well either.”
The military knowledge from the Centurion engraved in my mind only gave rough locations of nearby bases. It said nothing about resorts or scenic spots.
“Hmm, then can Ah-hyun decide?”
“Huh?”
“Ah-hyun has somewhere she wants to go…”
She whispered carefully.
A place she wanted to go? It wasn’t that strange. The Han River, a university, the sea—those were all places she wanted to visit. But to think she could name a realistic destination in this world.
I looked at her in the darkness, close enough to see every eyelash.
“You can tell me…?”
“Uh, yeah. Of course… Where?”
“…The department store.”
“The department store?”
Suddenly a department store?
“There was one in Gucheon Village too.”
“Mmm, that’s true… but everything’s smashed, covered in blood… and the goods are already gone…”
Ah, right. The only decent finds had been the food court fridge and the sports section. It had felt less like a department store and more like a looting target.
“There… I want to wear tons of pretty clothes and pick out pretty clothes for oppa too.”
Her condition was specific. A department store no one had visited or looted, one that was safe or could be made safe. A shopping date there.
“You really are a girl after all.”
“Eii, don’t tease me…”
While everyone else obsessed over tomorrow’s food and survival, she wanted to try on luxury clothes at a department store. It was absurd, but—
“If it’s not possible, you can just say so…”
“Who said it’s not possible?”
I was a good brother. In this fucked-up world, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call me the best brother alive.
“A department store? We can just go.”
If my clumsy sister—who seemed like she wouldn’t last a day without me—said she wanted to visit a department store, I was more than willing to go along with it. After all, in this fucked-up world, the only thing I could trust was my sister.
“Let’s ask in the morning if there’s a department store that hasn’t been looted yet.”
“…Really?”
“Of course it’s real.”
Her face lit up. Her smile was so bright it felt like the room had grown lighter even without turning on any lights.
“As expected, oppa is the best! I love you!”
Her slender limbs wrapped tightly around me. Feeling every bit of it, I smiled.
“Oppa, then… can we kiss too?”
“Ah, again? I don’t like it when it blocks my breathing…”
“I’ll kiss you lots and then make it up to you with Ah-hyun’s chest.”
“Hmm, then I guess I have no choice.”
“Hehe, oppa is the best. I love you the most in the whole world.”
“Cheesy.”
Even as I said it, I pressed my lips to my approaching sister’s. As always, it was bearable.
“A department store? One no one’s visited? No, something like that…”
“Doesn’t exist?”
“…Well, there is one. But… there’s a fucking strong variant there. Even my underlings never dared go in.”
“How far is it?”
“It’s not far. Actually pretty close.”
“We’ll clear out that variant bastard, finish our business, and hand the place over to you. Invest in us.”
“Tsk… If it goes wrong, aren’t I the only one losing out? What if you just take everything and run… Ah, I’m joking. Of course I’ll invest.”
“Then right away—”
“No, no. Why are you in such a hurry? Plenty of people have died there. Shouldn’t we gather more information first?”
“…And while we’re at it, you’re telling me to buy more stuff?”
“You catch on quick. When it’s time to sell, you sell. Right?”
Our next destination: the department store. I left the principal’s office carrying a box of ammunition for the anti-materiel sniper rifle.