Awe
Awe.
*Vroooom—!*
Darkness had begun to settle over the Yeongdo Camp.
The Dark Knight roared through the main gate, its heavy exhaust note echoing off the walls.
Sang-goo had already finished his radio call with Team Leader Baek, so no one moved to stop him. Leaving the sentries' salutes behind, he headed straight for the medical wing.
Basement level 2, quarantine zone.
The guards at the entrance sprang to their feet and saluted, but Sang-goo answered with nothing more than a flick of his eyes and strode past them.
*Creak—thud.*
Beyond the double steel doors, a special isolation room lined with thick, reinforced glass waited at the end of the corridor.
Sang-goo stood before the glass wall.
Inside, all was quiet. No beastly howling, no screams of agony.
On the bed, a huge man leaned back against the wall with a book spread open across his knees.
Jang Seok-woo.
Every trace of the creature whose muscles had been melting away, dying by inches, was gone. His shrunken skin had regained its elasticity, and the muscles faintly pressing against his loose hospital gown looked solid and firm. Red color had returned to his face, and his gaze had settled into calm.
When Sang-goo had first seen him, he'd been nothing but a hulking mass of bodybuilder bulk; now he looked more like a well-built Western model. Give it a day or two, and he'd probably swell back into that imposing frame again.
The man was so absorbed in his book that he hadn't even registered Sang-goo watching him.
*Knock knock.*
Sang-goo rapped lightly on the glass.
Sensing his presence, Jang Seok-woo slowly closed the book and looked up. The moment he recognized Sang-goo beyond the glass, he climbed off the bed and came to the wall.
"You've come, sir."
Sang-goo pressed the intercom button.
"Still reading it?"
A faint smile crossed Jang Seok-woo's face at the voice carried through the speaker.
"I think I'll need to read it several more times before I truly understand it. But my head feels clear now. The heat that was burning inside me is gone, too."
His voice was far steadier than before. He clenched his palm into a fist, opened it again, and beamed.
"You saved my life. Thank you."
This morning he'd looked like a man about to die — and now he was smiling, clean and bright, without a hint of color in his expression. There was a childlike innocence to it, set against that enormous frame.
It was hard to get used to.
"Dr. Kim wasn't a quack after all. Have you eaten?"
"Yes, sir. Once I recovered, I was starving… Team Leader Baek made sure I was well fed."
Sang-goo rummaged in his pocket and pulled something out.
*Free time.*
Two chocolate bars, their wrappers crumpled.
He opened the pass-through hatch and slid them inside.
*Clunk.*
"Ah…."
Jang Seok-woo, smacking his lips on the other side, opened the hatch and picked up the chocolate bars. In that hand, big as a pot lid, they looked absurdly small.
Rough fingers carefully peeled back the wrapper. The sweetness stung the back of his nose; his mouth watered, and his appetite came flooding back.
"…Thank you."
Jang Seok-woo bowed his head again toward the glass.
"You're helping us plenty, so eat without worrying. As long as you keep cooperating, we can move you somewhere better — so don't waste thoughts on anything else."
"Of course. I will never disappoint you."
"…Good."
Sang-goo gave a nod, then turned and walked away. Jang Seok-woo stayed exactly where he was, eyes locked on Sang-goo's back until it vanished into the darkness.
Soon silence returned.
Letting the lingering sweetness of chocolate melt on his tongue, Jang Seok-woo sank into thought.
If I just do what that man says, I might actually live.
He could rely on him, strangely enough.
It was nothing like what he'd felt for Dr. Jang Sun-woo, the father who had made him. If that had been blind obedience, what he felt for this man was an instinctive kinship — and awe.
He suddenly recalled something Jang Sun-woo had once muttered, almost to himself.
*A special man. 'Wild-born' — unlike you.*
Jang Seok-woo knew what he was. Born as one of countless test subjects, an artificial product shaped by drugs.
But Boo Sang-goo was different. A mutant created in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, using a man named Woo Sung-tae. The work of Kate, who had betrayed Ryan and joined Jang Sun-woo back then. The sole survivor of that laboratory — bitten by a Woo Sung-tae mutant, refusing to die, forging his own antibodies and evolving.
He is the way. The only way I can live. Only at his side can I meet Charles Lee. And only then… can I live like a human being.
Jang Seok-woo clenched his fists.
What if, someday, Dr. Jang Sun-woo — his true father — appeared? What if he called to him again? What if his other brothers came for him?
I'll kill them. All of them! Every last one!
Jang Seok-woo's eyes burned with resolve.
I will never betray that man. Never!
It was the moment a made monster chose his master by his own will for the very first time.
* * *
The next morning.
The scent of fresh coffee drifted through the operations briefing room. A plate of simple sandwiches sat on the table, where Sang-goo, Director Yoo Dong-seok, and Team Leader Baek Sang-jin were seated.
"Go ahead."
At Sang-goo's signal, the footage Little had recorded came up on screen.
*A low hum—*
The full sweep of Gimhae Airport unfolded across the wall display in merciless detail. The wave of ten thousand zombies smothering the runway, the nest of Night Visitors coiled in the darkness of the terminal lobby, and even the cutting-edge equipment inside the bunker.
When the footage showed the general and senior officers being torn apart by the Night Visitors, Director Yoo's brow tightened.
"This is far worse than we expected."
He took off his glasses, wiped them, and let out a sigh.
"The supplies are tempting, no question… but hitting that place with our current force would be throwing eggs at a rock. No — it would be suicide."
Team Leader Baek shook his head with a grave expression.
"Hoo… ten thousand of them. Clearing them with ammunition alone would be a monstrous waste."
Silence settled over the room.
A jar of honey sitting right in front of them, and not a hand could be laid on it.
Sang-goo sipped his coffee, unperturbed. He'd expected this reaction.
"So — are we giving up?"
"No."
Director Yoo shook his head firmly.
"We prepare. Thoroughly. We find a way to clear them out while burning as little ammunition as possible."
He opened a notebook and began to explain.
"Chief Kim Cheol-ui has built several prototypes. Based on those, we'll use the production base in Saha District to convert trucks and vans — armor-plated, studded with spikes. Proper 'armored vehicles.'"
Sang-goo nodded as he studied the printed photographs and hand-drawn schematics.
"Looks good. If we deploy ten of them at once, they'd be genuinely effective."
He remembered the monstrous armored rig they'd built out of a dump truck a while back — and there were several other designs besides.
"Also, ordinary rifles won't cut it. We need to mass-produce 'special anti-zombie weapons' for large-scale killing. Flamethrowers, for instance."
The picture was growing more ambitious by the minute. Interest stirring, Sang-goo listened as Director Yoo went on.
"And one more thing. Special protective suits to shield our own people are essential. We'll need full-body suits made from that shark-bite-resistant material, or from thick leather."
Easy to say. Reality was another matter.
Kim Cheol-ui could manage the weapons and vehicles without much trouble, but full-body suits for the operators who'd be going outside were a harder problem. They would be absolutely necessary for reclaiming Busan — but a handful of suits wouldn't begin to cover it.
Sang-goo couldn't do everything himself; they needed at least a hundred special suits and a proper unit built around them.
As the meeting stalled for a moment, Sang-goo offered a suggestion.
"Busan is an export city, so there's bound to be a useful factory somewhere. Something like bike suits made from material similar to what I wear, or a defense-industry plant. We have ten thousand people now — surely some citizen knows where to look."
The airport couldn't be cleared today anyway. Even if it could, the supplies wouldn't be usable right away. In the end, the real goal was stabilizing all of Busan.
Team Leader Baek and Director Yoo both nodded.
"Then let's start with what we can do."
With the broad strokes settled, Sang-goo checked the time.
"I'm planning to spend about three days sweeping through downtown Busan. I'll check on survivors in the commercial districts, look over Ohsung General Hospital — and, ah, while I'm at it, confirm the second bunker."
He said it as if it were nothing.
Team Leader Baek and Director Yoo swallowed hard and managed awkward smiles. Sang-goo, puzzled for a moment, chuckled.
"It's fine, so stop apologizing. I already have the bunker key… and if I ever need something, I'll tell you."
"Please do, Sang-goo."
To Director Yoo's earnest expression, Sang-goo gave an answer in kind.
"Yes, sir."
* * *
Leaving the briefing room, Sang-goo headed straight for the hotel.
There, the Dark Knight gleamed in the sunlight, freshly serviced. Little, likewise tuned up, was already seated in place. As Sang-goo checked his ammunition and equipment, he sensed movement behind him.
It was Team Leader Baek Sang-jin.
"All set?"
"Yes."
Sang-goo answered absently, pulling on his gloves. Baek hesitated for a moment before speaking.
"That alpha you brought back from the crows' place. He died before dawn."
"…I see."
"It's a cruel thing to say, but… we should have pushed and drawn more blood while we had him. I never thought he'd go that fast. According to Dr. Kim… damn it, it only works with blood from someone still alive."
Bitterness and regret warred across Team Leader Baek's face. In this world, survival — and the preservation of fighting strength — came before ethics.
Sang-goo nodded without a word. If the man had been doomed regardless, then perhaps squeezing him dry would have been the right call, cruel as it was.
"We're down to exactly seven vials of serum. Even with Jang Seok-woo rationing, he won't last two months. When that time comes…"
The moment would come when they'd have to decide — squeeze out as many golden eggs as possible before Jang Seok-woo died.
"Don't worry about it too much."
Sang-goo said, picking up his helmet.
"He mentioned he has brothers. If we keep moving, we'll run into them — or the man who made them."
"From your lips to God's ears. Whew… and honestly, this whole thing leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Whatever we choose… tsk."
As Sang-goo gave a grim smile and swung a leg over the bike, Team Leader Baek called out again.
"Oh — one more thing. It was Pastor Jung Woo-jin."
Sang-goo's hand stilled.
"We sent a truck out early this morning and brought back the two doctors and the pastor's body. I heard… the gist of what happened."
Team Leader Baek watched Sang-goo's face carefully, then tossed the question out lightly.
"Were you… close?"
Sang-goo stared into empty air for a moment. But he had no desire to dig up the tangled mess of feelings by dragging his father into it.
He shook his head.
"No."
"All right. I'll see to the rest myself."
Team Leader Baek nodded with a smile that was neither knowing nor unknowing.
"Ah, and those gangsters from the Mirae Building. I'm thinking of sending them to Chief Kim Cheol-ui."
"To the factory?"
"Yeah. Once they've healed up a bit, split them three ways — laborers for the Yeongdo-gu Camp, the industrial complex production line, and farmhands for the Geumji New City smart farms."
"Not bad."
Sang-goo pulled on his helmet.
"See you in three days!"
"Yes, sir."
*Vroooom—!*
With a crisp roar of the engine, the Dark Knight shot out.
His destination this time: Seomyeon, Busan's first great commercial district.
The time had come for another hunt — one he would wage alone.