96. The Road to Ulsan (3)
It was a sweeping advance. The vanguard had liberated the village and township ahead without a hitch, unstoppable in its momentum.
But there was one problem.
"They're all empty villages and empty townships."
The areas the vanguard had liberated were complete no-man's-lands, devoid of both people and zombies. In other words, liberating them meant nothing since there was no one to live there afterward—but a liberation was still a liberation. Jeong Dong-gun's vanguard had meticulously searched the surroundings and interiors for any signs of activity, securing the villages as best they could.
"…No threats in the vicinity."
The only lamentable part was that there was truly nothing there. No zombies around the villages, and even careful checks of nearby reservoirs, farmlands, and the adjoining township turned up no traces of zombies or survivors despite the thorough sweep. They'd wasted time on yet another fruitless search, and Jeong Dong-gun's expression soured.
"Captain. Thorough search complete—no zombies or survivors found."
"Nothing on my end either."
Reports from the troops over the comms channel confirmed the same: no survivors, no zombies. Even Son Sang-hee, prepared for this exact scenario, had nothing to show for it. At least there was one common thread.
"No precious metals or food here either. Anything not essential for survival has been discarded like trash."
"In other words, they've stripped out everything useful for daily life and left nothing else?"
"Yes. We checked the reservoir for water access too, just in case. No survivors settled here."
Evidence that survivors had once lived in the village and township. Traces left behind allowed guesses at when they'd vanished, suggesting it hadn't been sudden. The presence of those signs meant that at some point, the survivors had a reason to flee to somewhere else.
"Evacuation, just like you said, Son Sang-hee."
"Then some must have headed for Gyeongju."
It brought to mind Son Sang-hee's initial mention of an evacuation. But that clashed with the contradiction: if so, the Balhut Cult to the north should have heard something, yet there'd been no word at all.
Even if the Balhut Cult is rumored to be a pseudo-religion, when lives are on the line, they'd seek shelter there anyway.
The initial guess had been the cult's poor public image deterring refugees, but Jeong Dong-gun remained pessimistic. In a life-or-death crisis, people didn't make cold calculations—they prioritized immediate safety. Cult or not, if it saved their lives, survival instinct would drive them to ask for help without hesitation. Geographically closer to Gyeongju than Ulsan—which required passing through multiple villages—fleeing south made more sense for speed and security. Plus, with the expedition force expanding Nam Kyung-jin's influence back then, anyone paying attention to outside news would have known villages were being liberated.
"Any search of the nearby mountains?"
"Monsters make it risky, so we haven't yet."
"Just check for signs of entry at the base. No need to climb where monsters might be. Ah—Son Sang-hee, the detection-type, go with them."
"Understood."
Short on clues, Jeong Dong-gun ordered Son Sang-hee and some troops to scout the nearby mountains. With her along, they could roughly gauge if people were inside and detect any monsters. If no monsters lurked there, he'd deem this an anomaly, halt the advance, and report straight to Yu-na.
"Monsters were present."
"I see."
The report that came back was ambiguous. No zombies or survivors, but monsters in the mountains, per Son Sang-hee. Jeong Dong-gun sensed the situation spiraling into a mystery. If even the monsters had vanished completely, he could call it an anomaly and retreat without hesitation—but with monsters intact, it was too subtle to pull back. The nagging thought that it might all be coincidence upon coincidence made retreat feel premature.
"Haa. Then we'll set up an outpost here and mark it as Balhut Cult territory."
"Understood. Contact headquarters for reinforcements?"
"Yes. Request mostly veteran troops."
"Got it."
In the end, Jeong Dong-gun prioritized securing manpower for safety. To claim the liberated village, he planned outposts on the outskirts and cult banners in prominent spots. He requested troops for outpost duty from headquarters, and the cult promptly sent soldiers, construction materials, and laborers.
"The dispatched personnel will build the outpost here. We press on."
"Yes, sir!"
Safety confirmed via recon, Jeong Dong-gun marched the vanguard across the village bridge toward the next settlement once construction began.
They arrived at a larger village than the last, thinking any evacuees heading to Ulsan might leave traces here.
"It's quiet, Captain."
"I know."
Quiet again. If survivors had reclaimed it themselves and set up defenses, that would be understandable. But the village entrance the vanguard reached showed nothing—no barricades, no roadblocks. Roads were vital arteries; any defenders would control them religiously. Yet there were none.
Or perhaps...
"No one's inside this village. I sense nothing at all."
There was simply no one left to control it. Son Sang-hee voiced the ominous thought: no zombies, no survivors here either.
The last village was decent-sized. A bigger one like this with no survivors or zombies? That's off.
It was strange. If evacuees from the previous village had come here, traces should remain.
"No signs of fighting either."
"Is that so?"
No traces at all. In this era of superhuman awakeners hunting zombies, their battles left massive destruction—buildings routinely crumbled. Awakener clashes would scar the area, yet nothing.
"Instead, all survival essentials have been scavenged. Same as before."
Scavenging for survival was expected, but this was universal. Witnessing the exact same scene in another village, Jeong Dong-gun spoke up on a hunch.
"Then search the nearby township and factories."
"Understood."
The village communities might have relocated for defense. Easier terrain existed nearby than these open villages. If they'd fortified there, it would explain everything—two villages uniting against the apocalypse's hardships.
But that's no easy feat.
Jeong Dong-gun knew better. Leadership disputes, rations, supplies... Fortifying meant abandoning farmlands, the villages' key advantage for food. As a former survivor camp leader plagued by food shortages, he was certain they'd never relinquish arable land, risks be damned.
"…Nothing, Captain."
"I see."
The returning scouts found no one. No survivors, no zombies—not even corpses or traces. That ruled out mutual annihilation. To Jeong Dong-gun and the vanguard, only eerie, abandoned husks remained.
"No evacuee traces. Even the locals' signs are gone."
"At least monsters are in the mountains."
"Haha. Think they kidnapped the villagers?"
With no survivors or zombies found, one soldier floated the idea of mountain monsters abducting residents. U.S. cases hinted at monsters taking hostages or slaves for brutal urban warfare, and Korean communities reported missing villagers near mountains—plausible enough.
"…Doubt it. Kidnappings would leave awakener mana traces in the mountains. Nothing like that."
"Then maybe they all fled to Ulsan…"
"…We set up a checkpoint near the Donghae Expressway. Wouldn't the obvious gate catch their eye first?"
Son Sang-hee countered: no awakener presence if abducted. Another suggested Ulsan flight, but why ignore the glaring Balhut Cult checkpoint—a sturdy, visible door—en route from Gyeongju?
"Captain. While searching the farmlands, we found something suspicious half-buried in a field."
As deliberations deepened, a soldier reported over comms. The vanguard welcomed the lead; Jeong Dong-gun leaned into his radio.
"Suspicious object?"
"Corpses buried in the ground."
"Corpses? Wait—not just lying around, but buried in a field? Not in a grave?"
Corpses dumped somewhere weren't rare, even pre-apocalypse—illegal graves in national parks or deep woods. In this zombie apocalypse, street bodies were too common to report. But buried in a field? That implied deliberate interment.
"Not just one—several. Can't tell if zombies or survivors. All flesh is gone; just bones."
Jeong Dong-gun shot puzzled glances at the others listening in.
"Several? Huh. That's odd. If they planned next year's crops, why dump bodies in the field instead of a proper grave or cremation?"
"No idea. Maybe desperation?"
No one knew why skip graves or incineration for prime farmland. Farmers treated fields like goldmines for food; contaminating them made no sense.
Apocalypse or not, farmland value skyrockets for food production. No one ignores that.
Haste might explain it, but not abandoning future harvests. Jeong Dong-gun pressed on.
"Assume there's an unknown force in Ulsan. Let's move out thinking that."
"Understood."
If not farmers but some group that took the civilians elsewhere, burying bodies in fields fit perfectly.