The Crimson Helicopter
Both men's gazes snapped toward the window.
It wasn't a low-altitude flight—the propeller noise was coming from far up in the sky, at a high altitude.
Jaejeong's eyes shifted to the doctor.
The doctor shook his head, just as puzzled.
"No idea. We don't have helicopters to send anywhere, or the resources for it. Unless... it's from that ship they say the president escaped on...?"
Soon, a helicopter emerged leisurely from between the clear blue skies.
It looked like a tiny dot, but the spinning rotors were unmistakable.
The chopper began circling the entire safe zone in a wide radius from high above.
Their eyes quickly darted beyond the outer wall.
The zombies' gazes flitted about busily, but the sound was coming from too high up, so they didn't swarm or get agitated.
The doctor, who had been gauging Jaejeong's reaction, opened a drawer.
He pulled out a pair of binoculars.
"I keep it for monitoring purposes, so don't think it's strange."
"...It's strange. Not that I'm just thinking it is."
As Jaejeong scowled and muttered, the doctor pretended not to hear, adjusting the binoculars' magnification.
"There's some kind of mark on the helicopter. I don't know what emblem that is."
"Hand it over."
Jaejeong took the binoculars and focused on the helicopter hovering at a steady altitude.
A large star on a horizontal red stripe.
Chinese military.
"A Chinese army chopper... but what the hell is it doing here?"
Jaejeong muttered as he observed it.
"Beats me. Actually, we've lost contact with the Chinese side for a few days now. Maybe they came in person because of a comms issue."
"No. If that were the case, they'd head straight for the tower rooftop. No reason to circle like that. Wait—it's descending now?"
Finishing his words, Jaejeong slowly lowered the binoculars as if entranced.
The helicopter, which had been maintaining altitude, was gradually descending toward the outer wall that bisected Yeouido in half.
Not from outside the wall, but toward the safe zone side.
Zombies began pouring toward the wall from beyond in massive numbers.
Even inside the safe zone, survivors startled by the helicopter's appearance were swarming endlessly.
The problem was the sheer volume of zombies massing up.
Leaving it like this could be dangerous.
The earthquake's aftershocks hadn't even fully subsided.
If there was a weakened section in the wall and the horde pressed right against it, things could go south fast.
"Fuck!"
Seeing the zombies swarm like a beehive, Jaejeong slammed down the binoculars and bolted from the tower.
Meanwhile, at the outer wall, fierce winds and noise like a gale whipped up by the helicopter sent trash and debris flying everywhere.
The chopper had come down that close.
Close enough to make out the pilot's face.
Youngman, Beom-sik, Anna, and Hyun-soo, drawn by the sound, had gathered near the wall.
"Uncle! Won't that put us in danger?"
Hyun-soo squinted against the swirling dust and shouted at the helicopter hovering motionless over the safe zone.
"It will. But more than that..."
Youngman focused on the fact that it was a Chinese military helicopter.
More than why it was here now, he wondered why it was taking up that position.
They had to know it was endangering the safe zone.
"More than that what? Spit it out."
Anna, who had been watching, prodded impatiently.
Youngman, shielding his eyes from the wind, finally spoke.
"More importantly, the helicopter's flying over our side, not outside the wall. If it stays, the zombies chasing it will slam into the wall like crazy. Then..."
As the group talked, Beom-sik's face twisted oddly upon spotting something.
"Uncle, that's a helicopter, right? Uncle?"
Gaon, holding his hand, called out to the unresponsive Beom-sik.
Beom-sik snapped out of his trance and looked down at her.
"Huh? Yeah, it is. But..."
At the edge of Beom-sik's vision, faint tree-branch-like cracks began to appear.
Just like the fissures that had emerged on the rooftop at the broadcasting station right before Choi PD fell.
Gripping Gaon's hand, Beom-sik slowly backed away.
Gaon's voice and the others' mixed in the air, but he couldn't hear a thing.
He had to run.
He scooped up Gaon, who looked up at him with anxious eyes, and bellowed with all his might.
"Run!"
The moment Beom-sik shouted like a scream and started sprinting with Gaon in his arms—
Crack!
The sound of the outer wall splitting echoed around them.
Cracks spiderwebbed across the concrete, and the ropes securing the logs driven into the ground trembled violently.
The group, realizing too late, stared wide-eyed.
Right then, Jaejeong's voice rang out from behind.
"Everyone, fall back! Now!"
Jaejeong had his rifle ready.
The moment they reached a safe distance, he aimed at the helicopter.
He steadied his breath and squeezed the trigger.
Click!
But a hand appeared from nowhere, yanking the barrel down just as he tried to fire.
It was Jeong I-jin.
"Don't. Don't shoot."
"What the hell?"
"It's leaving. Just let it go."
Jeong I-jin was right.
Whether because of Jaejeong's actions or having achieved its goal, the helicopter that had been hovering over the safe zone was slowly gaining altitude.
The zombies clinging to the wall began leaping into the river after it.
The cracking wall and shaking ropes froze in place.
From the sound alone, you could tell an insane number of zombies were plunging into the water.
Jaejeong needed to confirm the wall was secure.
After instructing the workers to reinforce it from inside as best they could, he raced back to the tower.
Back in the room where he'd met the doctor.
The doctor was still staring outside.
Jaejeong grabbed the binoculars from the table and scanned the wall thoroughly.
The zombies' bizarre behavior was still ongoing.
Countless zombies were diving into the river after the helicopter.
They clustered so densely they looked like waves.
Even Jaejeong, who'd seen it all, swallowed dryly.
He hadn't realized half of Yeouido was packed with that many zombies.
If the helicopter had lingered just a bit longer, it really could've been disastrous.
"Whew..."
The doctor, who'd been watching the crisis, slumped against the table like his legs had given out.
He'd been standing rigid, tensed that the wall might collapse.
"That was really close. Why would the helicopter come here and hover over the wall like that..."
The doctor bowed his head, face full of incomprehension.
Cold sweat soaked his shirt.
He'd just been standing there, yet drenched like that.
It had been that perilous.
If the wall had given way, the safe zone was done for.
But Jaejeong's gaze was elsewhere.
Some of the zombies that had been charging into the river suddenly veered off, heading back into Yeouido.
'Why?'
Jaejeong couldn't shake the question.
From above, it looked like they'd received some command.
After watching for a while, Jaejeong concluded it was the work of a Crazy Mom or Water Balloon.
Nothing else explained it.
The doctor, having witnessed it too, adjusted his glasses and observed.
Then he spotted the people repairing the wall.
"Did you order that?"
"Order what?"
"The wall repairs."
"Yeah. Gotta patch it up somehow."
"No need. Sure, some are still inside, but visually, most threw themselves into the river. We should push forward and turn all of Yeouido into the safe zone."
The doctor's judgment was swift, as expected.
Jaejeong watched him with amazement, spotting opportunity amid shock and fear.
He'd been sweating bullets just moments ago.
"I need to see the president. Come with."
The doctor, opening the door, glanced back.
At Jaejeong, who hadn't budged.
"Not going?"
"Doesn't seem like my place. I told you—I'd think it over."
The doctor stared at Jaejeong for a moment.
"...Understood."
Bang!
The door slammed shut roughly.
Jaejeong had nearly followed without thinking.
It was true—this was a golden chance to expand the safe zone.
But going along would've meant accepting the doctor's request to work for the tower.
Sure, Jaejeong was operating within the tower's sphere, but he had to avoid formally aligning with them to meet the president.
Kang Minyoung's words suddenly came to mind.
Don't ask for opinions—just choose and decide yourself.
For now, Jaejeong chose neutrality.
His heart had already leaned one way, but he'd picked the middle path.
It wasn't time yet.
Leaving the tower, Jaejeong sought out Youngman first.
The outside was still chaos, with workers repairing the wall and survivors watching with anxious, trembling eyes.
Youngman had pulled back with the group.
Jaejeong quietly pulled him aside.
"Met the president?"
"Ah, yes. Was just about to tell you—he said he needs help, like you suggested."
"And?"
"Wasn't easy, but I told him I'd think it over, like you said. After weighing it all, doesn't seem like something to decide on the spot."
"Good call."
"What's your plan going forward?"
Youngman popped a chocolate bar from his pocket into his mouth and asked.
"Neutral until we check the warehouse."
"Warehouse? Oh, right—that."
Youngman nodded, recalling the forgotten warehouse talk.
Then he grinned brightly.
"I get it."
Youngman grew more impressed with Jaejeong the longer he knew him.
At first, he'd seen him as just big and brutally strong.
Sometimes hesitant, a bit rough around the edges.
But now, the opposite.
Jaejeong was sharp despite appearances.
He had vision to see the big picture.
And that towering frame and build made him stand out anywhere.
The sheer presence radiating from that massive body was indescribable.
Above all, his plan to check the warehouse before moving.
It meant he'd back the president eventually, but only after grabbing some leverage over the tower.
Rushing in could muddy the group's position.
Jaejeong knew that well.
Through his actions, his judgment, the small group was becoming a key pillar in the safe zone.
The doctor was waiting for the president.
His original plan had been to bring Jaejeong and lay out future directions with Congressman Kwon Jeong-woo.
But Jaejeong refused.
So the doctor had met Kwon alone and now came to the president with decisions in hand.
The president roamed the safe zone freely, but it wasn't yet enough to threaten the doctor or Kwon.
The serum was still inside the safe zone, after all.
And behind them loomed China.
Comms were down, but they'd resume eventually.
Rumors swirled that the president wanted U.S. contact, but rumors were just that.
Even if true, he had no real way to reach them.
All long-range comms gear was in the tower.
Still, some checks were needed.
First, expand the safe zone, seize all of Yeouido—then the landing operation.
The military craved it, but the tower had scoffed.
Now the situation had flipped.
Somehow, they had to peel the military from the president.
To send them on the landing op, Yeouido had to be secured first.
That way, their eyes would turn outward.
As the doctor sat quietly, sorting through events, the president appeared.
This was their first private meeting.
But who was the doctor?
He was confident he could persuade the president.
The president would see through the tower's intentions, but he'd make refusal impossible.
Aware or not, the president sat with a mild expression.
Infected People