The Thing in the East Sea (2)
"Nuclear carrier..."
A groan slipped from my lips. It didn't even sound like my voice.
Seong Ga-yeon turned to me and murmured softly.
"Sung-hoon, what do we do? Looks like cooperating with them won't be easy. Should we contact the president?"
"Isn't the Special Forces captain already on it?"
"Ah."
Seong Ga-yeon nodded as if it made sense. Yeah. What kind of guy was the Special Forces captain? No way he'd just be out there smoking and killing time. The report was probably already in motion.
That's when the US commander said something. I turned to Seong Ga-yeon. She asked me,
"He says since the government's still around, that means the president's safe. Can't exactly congratulate you under these circumstances, though. I hear you came to our Humphreys base for some special mission. What kind?"
Hmm... A smile tugged at my lips. How the hell do I explain this? One wrong word, and we'd look just like those local survivor groups.
I thought for a moment before replying.
"We figured this base would be empty. Thought we could stock up on firepower here to reclaim Korea and rescue people."
The US commander gave a wry smile.
"Sorry to disappoint you by still being alive."
Hmm. Cynical bastard. I shook my head.
"That's not what I meant. I'm just glad so many people here at Pyeongtaek Base are still hanging on. How many survivors?"
"A lot died."
Seong Ga-yeon translated.
"Not many officers have their families intact. Lots of enlisted too. Roughly four hundred left."
Seong Ga-yeon looked a bit surprised and asked something. The commander answered, but I had no clue what. She leaned in and whispered to me.
"This place had about thirty thousand including non-combatants and civilians. He says they killed them all."
Hmm... This young commander in front of me. He'd said he shot his own superior in the head. All his comrades he'd trained with, shared meals with—their families too. He'd killed them all with his own hands to survive.
Everyone was doing it these days, but still. Four hundred, though... That's a decent number. Even combining our Large Mart group and the SeoRae Village crew, we wouldn't hit half that.
As I was thinking that, the US commander spoke.
"You've come a long way. Surviving this hell is a blessing. But unfortunately, you'll get the same answer we gave the locals. We can't provide you with anything. Understand?"
While Seong Ga-yeon translated, the commander pulled a brown cigar from his top pocket, cut it with a cutter, and lit it up. Meeting's over.
As her translation wrapped up, he nodded to the young soldiers behind him. They approached.
I said,
"One thing I want to ask."
Seong Ga-yeon translated. The commander stared at me silently, arms crossed. I asked,
"It's been two months since the apocalypse hit. But you're still here. The nuclear carrier's still out in the East Sea, yet you haven't budged. Why?"
Seong Ga-yeon stared at me blankly. What? Her eyes were strange. Then it hit me.
I'd never said the word "apocalypse" out loud before. This was the first time.
Seong Ga-yeon said,
"Apocalypse... You really think that's what this is? That now is the end times?"
Hmm. That question. My head spun a bit.
Seong Ga-yeon—no, everyone else probably saw this as a global crisis. Something we could overcome if we tried hard enough.
But "apocalypse" carried a different weight. No one I'd met had ever uttered the word. As if saying it out loud meant admitting it was an unstoppable force we couldn't beat.
Maybe unconsciously, we'd all avoided it. Admit it's inevitable, and hope dies.
I looked at Seong Ga-yeon. I didn't think this was the apocalypse. I just knew it was. The messages had told me.
But I couldn't say that. I nodded slowly at her.
"Yeah, I do. But we're still alive. And we'll keep living. Don't you think?"
Seong Ga-yeon slowly lowered her gaze. Then she turned and translated my words exactly to the commander.
His eyebrow twitched slightly.
"Apocalypse. That's a kinda accurate word for... current circumstances."
The commander gave a wry smile and continued. Seong Ga-yeon turned to me.
"Apocalypse fits the situation pretty well. To answer your question, yes. You're right. We've tried leaving several times, but failed. For the same reason the locals are worried about."
...I get it. I asked quietly,
"...The beasts, right? Are they that strong? Even a heavily armed unit can't break through?"
The commander nodded slightly after the translation.
"You know about the beasts. It's them, like you said, but not just that we can't punch through."
He tapped ash into the tray and took a drag. He started to say something, then paused, looking at me. I was pulling a cigarette from my pocket. Watching him enjoy his so damn much made me crave one.
He eyed my move, then pulled a cigar from his jacket pocket and offered it.
Ooh, a cigar. No reason to say no. I took it, put it in my mouth. He cut the end with his cutter and lit it with his Zippo.
I took a deep drag and exhaled. Rich tobacco bite mixed with deep woody smoke filled my lungs.
Nice. Saw in movies these were Cuban.
I muttered,
"This Cuban too?"
Seong Ga-yeon watched me, then translated. The commander chuckled.
"Actually yes. It's Cuban."
"Yeah. Cuban."
I held up the cigar with a smile, then gave a thumbs-up.
"Cigar good!"
The commander laughed.
"I think it's the apocalypse now too. Who knows if we'll even be able to get these Cuban cigars anymore."
He rested an elbow on the table.
"I believe we'll return to normal lives someday. Even if we can't fix everything, the survivors can rebuild civilization together. That's why we have to go back. Save and gather as many as we can. That's why you came too, right?"
He tapped ash and continued.
"We can handle the beasts. They're getting bigger, but we haven't seen any we can't take. The problem's protecting our civilians."
I puffed my cigar, listening to Seong Ga-yeon's translation. Nodded slowly, eyeing the commander.
He went on.
"They're beasts. If getting bigger made them slower, they'd be easy targets, but they speed up instead. Not sure if it's momentum or what. When flying beasts and land ones swarm from all sides, our heavy gunners hold, but the families don't. Took time training everyone who can fight—even the women civilians. And."
The commander sighed softly.
"If we pull out, we're fully exposed. All farmland around, can't cover four hundred in cover. Don't know how the locals will react, so we can't move rashly."
Hmm... Beasts and survivor groups. Both enemies to these guys.
I nodded and asked,
"So, what's the plan?"
The commander crossed his arms. His face darkened a bit.
"Honestly? Selfish or not, I'd hoped the locals would help us get back to the Lincoln carrier. That's why we gave them weapons. But as you saw, no dice."
He set the cigar in the ashtray and crossed his arms fully. Looked at me.
"We've trained most civilians. We'll leave soon. If locals get in the way, we'll turn guns on them. Beasts too."
Seong Ga-yeon's face darkened as she translated. Mine probably wasn't great either.
He said it softly, but bottom line...
...Block the road, and we'll kill you all.
...Hmm... Given Seong Ga-yeon's gloom, the president and Seong Gyu-hyuk wouldn't take this well either.
But me? These idiots charging in and dying? Not my problem. I came for weapons.
I looked at the US commander.
And said,
"I've got a proposal."