The Seed Vault
It was lunchtime on the third full day since we had left the Shelter.
A stretch of road that would once have taken us less than three hours had instead demanded a full three days of travel. At last, we had arrived.
When the road sign bearing the place name “Bonghwa” came into view in the distance, Yang Jin-ju and I let out simultaneous cheers of relief.
“Whoa…! We actually made it!”
“I know, Oppa! We really did!”
All the hardship of the journey melted away like snow, leaving us flooded with a swelling joy.
“But Oppa… the suit energy is already under half. Will we be able to make it back?”
From the cargo bed, Yang Jin-ju checked the remaining power of the Foundation Suit she had been wearing without really running it, her voice edged with worry.
“It’s fine. On the way back the road will already be clear—no more clearing obstacles like we did coming out. We’ll have enough energy.”
I reassured her.
To avoid the dangerous streets of downtown Bonghwa, we followed the outer ring road, carefully clearing the last remaining zombies and debris as we advanced.
And then, at last, a massive freestanding signboard revealed itself before our eyes.
National Baekdudaegan Arboretum – Seed Vault
We had finally reached the place where our last hope lay sleeping.
We hid the truck near the entrance in a safe spot, donned our respective suits, and slowly entered the Seed Vault grounds.
Thanks to its location on a remote mountain slope, almost no zombies were visible here. In the quiet forest only the sound of the wind and the mechanical tread of our footsteps echoed.
At the entrance stood a simple explanation of the Seed Vault’s purpose along with a full site map.
“That way, Oppa!”
Yang Jin-ju pointed to the right edge of the map. At the tip of her finger was a tiny building labeled Affiliated Seed Improvement Research Institute.
We nodded to each other and began moving toward the institute, slowly and carefully.
Compared to the massive main Seed Vault building, the seed research facility was truly small and shabby. Yet from the entrance itself a red warning sign reading “Authorized Personnel Only” and a doorway of four thick layers of reinforced glass made it clear that, appearances aside, this was a critically important facility.
We approached the building entrance and tried to open the first glass door. It was locked tight.
“No choice. We break it.”
I spoke, gripped the handle, and applied force. With a dull thunk! the suit’s power shattered the locking mechanism and the first door swung open.
And in that exact instant—
Wreeeeee! Wreeeeee!
A piercing siren that threatened to tear our eardrums began to howl throughout the entire building.
Startled by the still-functioning security system, we hurriedly scanned the surroundings for any zombies that might come running at the noise. Contrary to our expectations, not a single one appeared.
Instead, what greeted us along with the siren was another mechanical voice rising from inside the institute.
Warning. Warning. External intrusion detected.
Right then, from an old speaker mounted on a streetlamp beside the building, a sharp woman’s voice crackled through static.
“Who’s there? What business do you have here?”
At that voice we reflexively ducked behind nearby landscaping trees for cover. Suddenly the siren cut off with a sharp click. The woman’s voice came through the speaker again.
“I’ve stopped the alarm for now. I’ll ask once more. Who are you people?”
We glanced at each other for a moment, then I rose as our representative and spoke.
“We’ve come to get some seeds! We mean no hostility!”
Silence stretched from the speaker for a while. Then a troubled-sounding voice returned.
“…I’m sorry, but I have no idea what you’re saying. You’re wearing some kind of armor and I can’t see your faces. And honestly, there’s no microphone on your side, so I can’t even hear your voices from here.”
After a moment’s thought we had no choice but to mix hand gestures and body language, desperately trying to convey: We are not enemies. We only want to take a few seeds.
The woman’s voice came through the speaker once more.
“…For now, please come to the main building. We’ll talk there in person.”
Come to the main building?
Five months of experience had taught me that anyone who kindly invited you somewhere was never free of a trap.
I turned back toward the institute door, half-deciding to just rip the rest of it open and go in. At that exact moment a frantic voice burst from the speaker.
“Stop right there! Touch that door again and I’ll turn the siren back on!”
She repeated her demand that we come to the main building.
“…Let’s just go, Oppa. We don’t have another option.”
At Yang Jin-ju’s words I finally accepted her suggestion.
We began walking with heavy steps toward the massive Seed Vault main building.
The structure we arrived at rose from the earth in a strange, alien form—something that oddly resembled our own Shelter in places.
When we stood before the huge iron door that looked like the entrance, the same woman’s voice we had heard earlier came clearly through the speaker mounted on it—far sharper and more distinct than the old streetlamp speaker.
“What business brings you here?”
“As I said before, we’ve come to obtain some seeds. We mean no hostility.”
When I answered, a long silence stretched from the other side of the speaker. Then, after a moment, a faintly trembling voice completely different from before came through.
“…Has the world… returned to normal? What’s the situation outside… like?”
That voice carried the desperate hope she must have clung to through months of isolation.
I couldn’t bring myself to crush that hope, yet I couldn’t lie either.
“…No. It’s still the same. Still… dangerous.”
My answer was met with another deep silence. Then a sharp, irritable voice snapped back.
“Then why on earth do you need seeds?! In this situation, are you planning to farm or something?! That’s insane!”
“…We have a safe place. And the strength to protect it. But to maintain that safe place we need food production capacity, so we intend to plant them.”
At my words she fell silent again for a long time. At last, as if she had made up her mind, she proposed a dangerous bargain.
“Very well… if you have strength.”
Her voice was cold and businesslike.
“When I open the door, inside this corridor… there will be six of my colleagues who have turned into zombies.”
She paused and drew a breath.
“If you drive those people… out of this building, or else…”
Her voice trembled ever so slightly.
“…deal with them, then I will help you obtain what you want. That is the condition of the deal.”
The instant her words ended—before she even waited for our answer—a heavy clank! sounded and the massive iron door before us began to open, very slowly.
Clank! Clank!
Multiple locking mechanisms must have been involved; the heavy door opened with a slow, oppressive sound. Cold, musty air from inside leaked through the gap.
Right then Yang Jin-ju spoke toward the speaker on the door in a voice that was utterly cold and sharp.
“Just a moment.”
At her voice the unlocking process seemed to pause; the opening door hesitated.
“Honestly, I don’t really see why we should help you. There don’t seem to be many zombies around here, and it doesn’t look like you have any way to stop us. We could just tear open that door we were at earlier, go in, and take what we want without any problem, couldn’t we?”
Her words were a clear display of power—and a threat.
Yet the woman beyond the speaker was not shaken in the slightest by the provocation. Instead a faint, derisive snort came through.
“Fine. Go ahead and try.”
Her voice was strangely leisurely.
“Just take the seeds and seedlings you want and walk out. But the moment you leave this building without proper storage treatment, every last one of them will wither or become worthless garbage within two days. I will process them so you can transport them safely. That is the reason you have to help me.”
At her words Yang Jin-ju clicked her tongue and could give no reply.
In the end we had no choice but to step through the opening door.