The Third Wave

...Sloppy?

I kept watching, thinking he might actually know a thing or two, but he didn't seem to know much of anything.

Hmm. Well, that might even work in my favor.

Even The Art of War has a stratagem for turning an enemy's own spy. If the other side let their guard down, the opening would swing my way.

After that I pushed the upgrades along, glancing over at Doosik whenever I had a spare moment. The moment a repeating crossbow was finished, it went to a squad leader, and the workshop started turning out everyday things—pots, dishes, the lot.

"Commander. Are we each allowed to take one of these?"

"Yes. From now on you won't have to go hunting for a bowl every time you eat."

"Aigoo, then I'd better carve my name on it. People keep walking off with them."

"Haha. I'll have so many made before long that you won't even need to."

"Aigoo, our Commander works himself to the bone. Thank you, always."

Once the fields were upgraded, we could plant new crops, wheat among them. Breadfruit was tasty enough, but eating it at every meal was starting to wear thin.

"Wheat, is it... Then we could make flour too, couldn't we?"

Aunt Yoonseo, who'd been working the field, came up beside me.

"Yes. The workshop can build a mill as well."

"Oh my, then bread would work. Commander, would it be all right if we planted a lot of wheat?"

"You know how to bake?"

"I used to make it at home now and then, with the kids. It won't be quite like it was back then, but... I'll give it a try."

"Oh... I'd appreciate that."

And the next day, the base filled with the smell of baking bread. Raise the tech and a problem was solved inside a day, so life improved at a ridiculous pace. I took a loaf and went back to the commander's office.

Crunch.

I dropped into the chair, bit in, and turned on my phone.

Mmm... so good.

I opened the gallery, and everyone was talking about bread.

I tapped the one at the top. Someone had photographed the exact same bread I was eating.

They're having a good time. If the waves would just keep not coming, we might even get around to jam before long. Hmm.

I tore off another bite of bread and opened Doosik's view. He had a loaf in one hand and his phone in the other, looking at the same post I'd just read. He tapped the comment box and slowly started typing.

Hwang Doosik posted the comment and popped the rest of the bread into his mouth.

Well... I have to look like I belong here.

On the way in, he'd figured that if they caught him they might beat him to death. Answer carefully if anyone spoke to him. Never, under any circumstances, bring up the boss. He'd sworn it to himself over and over—and all anyone ever asked was whether he'd eaten. He said he'd had two, and they laughed and told him that was good.

...Maybe this isn't so bad.

Doosik brushed the crumbs off his fingers and opened his messages.

Once it was sent, he realized the whole thing was about food.

Something else...

Watching people wash their own bowls beside the oven, he sent one more line.

Then the man who'd been hauling wheat sacks with him called out.

"Mr. Doosik. How many loads did you carry earlier? Three?"

"Sorry? Ah... yes."

"Hm? Three with me, and didn't you do one more on your own at the start?"

"That counts too?"

"Of course. Four, right?"

The man corrected Hwang Doosik's score on the board. Even after he walked off, Doosik stayed where he was, staring at the names and numbers packed tight above and below his own.

Why does this feel good?

He wasn't even that far behind the person right above him. A few more sacks of wheat and he figured he could catch up. His eyes drifted toward the couples' lodgings, where a young man and woman were stepping out the door side by side.

So if I just had a partner, I could go in there too.

He looked at his score again.

Stack a little more first... then maybe I ought to try my luck with a woman...?

He grabbed an empty sack and went back to the fields. When he rested after lunch, he checked his name one more time. He'd climbed past the person he'd seen that morning. Doosik sat down in the shade of a tree and took out his phone.

Report finished, he went back to the gallery. Someone had left a reply under the comment he'd written.

The hell is this punk?

Doosik hit reply.

Doosik furrowed his brow.

They feed you well. They credit you for the work you do. What is there even to complain about?

He typed a comment, erased it, and typed it again.

Posted. He refreshed the screen in case a reply had come in. Nothing yet.

Must be hungry, talking like that. They could just come and eat.

He leaned his back against the tree and stretched his legs out. A full belly, and not a soul telling him what to do while he rested.

...Isn't this basically heaven on earth?

That was when Taehyun came out of the commander's office.

"Everyone, stop what you're doing and gather up!"

Doosik lowered his phone and got to his feet.

I called Chaerin at once.

"Chaerin. Bring everyone this way. Leave the baggage—just yourselves."

"I'll handle it. Don't come in through the front of the base. Circle around by the fields."

I hung up and waved everyone over.

"Bring all the bundled straw. The lumber too. We're putting barricades up on both sides of the entrance."

I drew lines in the dirt and marked where they ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠were to stack—two rows that flared wide the farther they ran from the base and pinched narrow as they came in.

"Leave this open. Don't block it."

People hauled the straw bundles into place and braced them with lumber. I stationed the crossbows just inside the narrow passage we'd left.

"Bring the bolts over here too. Anyone with a repeating crossbow, up front."

While the squad leaders stepped forward, I looked for Doosik. The man was coming in with three bundles of straw hugged to his chest, when everyone else was carrying two.

"Mr. Doosik."

"Yes, sir! Commander!"

He set the straw down and came at a run.

"There's something I need to ask of you."

"Sir?"

"I need you to go to Chaerin's base and bring some zombies back."

"...Zombies?"

I smiled and nodded. Even if it went wrong, he was only a spy, and if I posted Minsu as backup it shouldn't be too much of a risk.

"I'll keep guiding you by phone. When you come back, come in here—through this gap."

Doosik looked between the barricades, then back at me.

"I... do you think I can do it?"

"I'm asking because I trust you, Mr. Doosik."

His mouth hung open for a moment. Then he straightened his back.

"...Understood. I'll do it!"

He took out his phone and checked my number first. I clapped him on the shoulder and sent him off, then opened the pull window and drove the natural flora zombies toward Chaerin's base.

"Hoo... It starts any moment. Everyone, fall back."

I stepped inside the barricade and raised my crossbow. Far off, zombies appeared in a wash of blue light. The moment they saw the base, they came pouring in at a run.

"Ah..."

"Getting too tense won't help. Everyone, take one deep breath."

"Hoooo..."

"Hooo..."

I waited with the crossbow leveled. The lead zombies funneled in between the wide-flared barricades, and more kept shoving up from behind. The ones in front ground shoulder to shoulder, trying to force the narrowed mouth, while the ones behind drove them on.

Okay. They're lining up nicely.

A moment later the narrow passage was packed solid.

"When the turrets open fire, you fire with them!"

Tat-tat-tat-tat!

The turrets started spitting, and I worked the lever of the repeating crossbow. Thuk. Thuk-thuk. The zombie in front of me pitched backward. I drove the next bolt straight into the one behind it.

"Keep going! Only the ones coming in!"

The shooters aimed down the gap and loosed bolt after bolt. One that was climbing over a fallen zombie took a bolt to the face and went sprawling.

"Bolts!"

"Here!"

While the shooter beside ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠me reloaded, I kept firing. When he started again, I stepped back and loaded bolts of my own. That was when the call came from Doosik.

I passed my crossbow to the person beside me and opened Doosik's view. Zombies were surging toward Chaerin's base—far more than the ones I'd sent, too many to ring in a neat circle and walk back the way I had last time. Doosik was pressed behind a tree, watching.

"Go right from there. A little farther... yes. Now yell as loud as you can."

"Yes. Yell, then run."

Doosik came out from behind the tree.

The nearest zombies turned their heads. He shouted once more and ran. I slid the natural flora zombies out to either side, and the horde spilled through the gap like water from a cracked jar.

"Stay calm. Just watch that they're following, and lead them in. If it gets dangerous I can slow them down at least a little, so don't worry too much."

I kept the flora zombies pacing him on both flanks, and every time the wave zombies trailing behind tried to fan out, I shoved them back into line. Doosik ran without turning his head.

"Just keep coming like that."

I cut the shared view and checked the entrance. Corpses were heaped like a mountain, and the zombies clawing over that mountain of the dead took bolts through the skull and became part of the pile.

"Reload. Another one's coming."

Behind us, Chaerin was bringing her people in around the fields. I waved her farther inside and opened Doosik's view again. Through the jolting image, our barricades came into sight.

"You're here. You see the entrance I told you about?"

"Come in through there."

I had the shooters hold their fire. A second later Doosik sprinted through the gap, face soaked with sweat, mouth open, gasping, and still running to the very end.

"Mr. Doosik! This way!"

I reached out and yanked him aside. While he collapsed beside me, the zombies packed into the narrow mouth. I drew the flora zombies on either flank back outside the barricades.

"Fire."

Tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!

The shooters leveled their repeating crossbows and cut loose straight down the lane. The zombies in the passage went over all at once. The ones driving in from behind couldn't even stop. They climbed the corpses in front of them, and we shot them in the head.

"C-Commander... I..."

"You did well. Rest for a bit."

I smiled at him and took the crossbow back.

All right. Next.

Another bolt went through a forehead. Only after the last zombie fell did I lower the crossbow.

"Is anyone hurt?"

People looked around at one another. Chaerin checked the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ones she'd brought, one by one, then shook her head at me.

"We're all fine too."

"...Not a single person got hurt?"

"Whoa... this is actually insane... Long live the Commander!"

One man looked from the heap of corpses to the rest of us and burst out laughing. The person beside him laughed too, then threw both arms in the air.

People grabbed one another and pounded backs. I set the crossbow down and let out a long breath.

"Thank you, all of you. That was hard work."

"You're the one who did all the work, Commander!"

"Long live the Commander!"

It was Doosik. The man who hadn't been able to catch his breath a moment ago was on his feet, shouting.

"Hooray!"

"Kang Taehyun! Kang Taehyun!"

Embarrassed, I scratched the back of my head. And still I couldn't stop smiling.

"Ah, that's enough. Everyone, get some rest."

"Commander! Just one photo!"

Someone stepped in beside me with a phone, and the rest came crowding in.

"Me too!"

"Ah, get me in it!"

Wedged among them, I awkwardly held up a V with my fingers.

Ma Deoksoo read Doosik's report again.

"...Why the hell is this idiot working so hard? Back here all he ever did was scratch his balls."

Deoksoo scrolled up through the reports above it. Bread. Bowls. Contribution points. At the line about them counting every bit of his without missing a thing, he clicked his tongue.

This bastard's having the time of his life. Is he going to put down roots over there?

He typed a message.

While he waited for an answer, he went into the gallery. A hot post sat at the very top.

Deoksoo tapped the photo. Zombie corpses were stacked in front of the barricades, and beneath that shot was another—the commander throwing a V, ringed by his residents.

Deoksoo zoomed in. The women standing beside the commander were smiling, every one of them.

What the fuck kind of trick is that bastard pulling to live like that?

Then the reply came in from Doosik.

Deoksoo set the phone down. He sat still for a moment, then picked it up again.

Ha. This ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠son of a bitch is no help at all. Looks like I'll have to play a harder hand.