Winter Preparations 2
Choi Eun-ji clutched the organized documents to her chest and stepped into the cleanest building among those inside the walls—one that looked as if renovations had only recently been finished.
She climbed the stairs, stopped before the door at the far end of the third floor, knocked—"knock knock"—and reached for the handle.
"Wait! Wait, wait, wait a second! Who is it?"
Sim Geum-a's voice came from inside, sharp with urgency.
"It's me."
After Choi Eun-ji answered, the rustle of clothes followed, then a weary "...Come in."
Choi Eun-ji looked inside and instantly flushed scarlet.
Seo Yeong-chan sat in the desk chair. Sim Geum-a, who had been perched on the armrest pressed tight against him, was climbing down while straightening her clothes.
Choi Eun-ji frowned.
"Some of us have been outside all day inspecting and logging the people pouring in until we're completely drained.... And here you two are, putting on quite the show in a room that doesn't even have a bed."
Seo Yeong-chan looked embarrassed and pretended to study the view outside the window. Sim Geum-a mumbled, "Sorry.... You got here a little earlier than I expected today...."
Choi Eun-ji let out another deep sigh.
"The problem isn't that I arrived early—it's that you two got so heated up in here, don't you think?"
She shot Sim Geum-a a hard look, set the documents on the table, and continued.
"People are gathering far faster than we planned. At this rate the food we've stockpiled will run out soon. We need at least twenty percent more than we have now."
Seo Yeong-chan's expression turned serious again.
"Twenty percent, huh.... It should be doable for now. No matter how cold it gets, our hydroponics can keep running...."
As he spoke he began carefully reading the names and information of the new arrivals listed on the papers.
Once Choi Eun-ji finished her report, I flipped through the documents she had brought and opened a proper discussion on how to put the incoming people to use.
"First... among everyone who's come in, we need to pull out anyone with skills and classify them separately. Vehicle mechanics, electricians—even people who can sew. Their skills are going to be critical assets for keeping our force alive and growing."
"Yes, we're already doing that."
Choi Eun-ji answered.
"And... risk factors... anyone with firearms experience outside the military, or a history of causing trouble in other groups... we've already sorted them out early and put them under special watch."
Sim Geum-a added.
"Good. You're handling it well."
I turned to the last page of the documents, then finally voiced the most uneasy possibility that had been sitting in the back of my mind.
"...One last thing."
I looked from one woman to the other.
"Among the people who've come in... we have to keep the possibility of 'spies' planted by those bastards the military sent firmly in mind."
Both Sim Geum-a and Choi Eun-ji's faces hardened at once.
"Those are the ones who attacked us with weapons support. They won't back off that easily. There's a very real chance they've slipped someone inside to stir up trouble or pull information out of us."
"Got it."
With the warning about spies as the final point, I showed signs of ending the meeting. Sim Geum-a, who had been turning something over in her head, spoke up.
"...I've been wondering whether I should even bring this up...."
She looked thoroughly troubled.
"As you already know, hubby, people are pouring in faster and in bigger numbers than we expected, and big and small problems keep cropping up.... Right now the biggest one is sexual issues."
I frowned at her.
"Rape? Sexual assault? Under surveillance?"
Sim Geum-a shook her head.
"No. It's not that primitive. It's the opposite, actually. The women... have almost nothing to do."
I turned my chair toward her with interest. She let out a long breath and went on.
"Most of the work in our territory right now is building repairs, expanding the wall line, hauling and stacking resources from outside—jobs that need muscle. Relatively speaking, there's almost no work the women can take. And that's creating problems."
Choi Eun-ji, as if she had been turning the same issue over for some time, continued.
"Limited resources like the winter clothes coming from the Shelter, or the shower coupons and bath coupons we issue, are mostly being monopolized by the men who supply the labor."
She tapped the names on the newcomer list one by one.
"...And they're collecting the price for those limited resources from the women. It's a kind of... prostitution."
She rubbed her temple, looking conflicted.
"The problem is both sides are doing it by mutual consent, so we don't really have a clean justification to stop it. But if we step in and try to manage it properly... then we end up officially running the prostitution in this territory."
Sim Geum-a groaned. "Aigoo... do I have to do that shit again here?" She stuck a cigarette between her lips as if the whole idea exhausted her.
"Meal distribution is equal for men and women with no discrimination, right?"
I asked. Sim Geum-a nodded.
"Discriminating with food is the cheapest, dirtiest thing you can do. So meals are pretty much fair—almost no difference."
"So in the end, the shower and bath coupons we made as rewards for people coming back from dangerous work outside are causing this. They're circulating almost like currency now, aren't they?"
Choi Eun-ji nodded.
"Yes. On top of that, the rule that three shower coupons can be traded for one bath coupon is only locking in their value as currency even harder."
"...Alright for now. Let me think on this a little more and we'll talk again."
I nodded after a moment's thought and stood. Both women said they would keep turning it over on their side as well.
"Keep gathering people the way you are. We'll push more food and water your way."
"Got it! You hang in there with your work too, hubby!"
Sim Geum-a's words suddenly reminded me of something important.
"Ah... right. Speaking of work...."
I asked them carefully.
"...Could you take in some women separately?"
Both their expressions tightened for a second. I pretended not to notice and pressed on.
"It's just... we've been clearing raider hideouts one by one lately.... And every time, women they captured and were abusing keep turning up...."
I made myself look as apologetic and pained as I could.
"For now we've got them temporarily gathered in a small building in the area we'll use as the Food Production Zone next year... but honestly, just us alone, it's not easy to manage and protect them properly...."
When I finished, Sim Geum-a let out a deep, bone-weary sigh.
"Aigoo... fuck. Eun-ji. I must've sold the country in a past life or something. Looks like my fate is to do that goddamn work all over again here."
I had nothing to say to her lament, so I simply turned my face toward the window.
I left Sim Geum-a's Territory and headed for the Shelter, issuing new orders to the two security robots that had come with me.
"I'll keep returning to the Shelter along the safe route. You two carefully check whether any zombies are hiding nearby."
> [Acknowledged]
The two security robots answered in flat mechanical voices, then silently split to either side of the road and began scouting.
Still wearing the Walker Suit, I walked slowly through streets where darkness had already begun to settle. A small pebble caught my foot; I kicked it away with a soft tak.
Night had fallen, yet strangely I felt little worry.
The reason was simple: as the weather grew steadily colder, the number of zombies I met on the streets had been dropping in a way you could see with the naked eye.
The first winter since the outbreak began.
Whether this strange thinning was tied to the cold itself, or a sign of some other change we still didn't understand—fewer zombies were visible, but my thoughts only multiplied.
After walking for a long while, the scouting robots returned to my flanks. Far ahead in the dark, the familiar gray silhouette of our Shelter began to take shape.
On the path leading back to it I found Yeong-ju waiting for me, wearing a Foundation Suit and leading six security robots.
"What, were you waiting for me?"
I smiled as I spoke. Yeong-ju walked toward me.
"Did you check everything properly? Sim Geum-a—that woman... is she doing all right?"
"Yeah. More people showed up than we expected, and Sim Geum-a and Choi Eun-ji are both fine."
"Good. That's a relief."
She answered shortly and fell into step beside me toward the Shelter.
"Today... you didn't run into any raiders?"
Something in the air felt different from usual, so I asked. Yeong-ju answered.
"No. It wasn't a large group, but I cleaned one out on the way back."
I glanced around us without thinking. Yeong-ju seemed to know exactly what was on my mind; her voice stayed calm and even.
"...Now that winter's here and their food stores have run dry, even feeding the women they'd been keeping has become too much of a waste for them. There were a few who... starved to death."
I said nothing. I simply looked up at the early-winter night sky growing colder by the minute and walked side by side with her toward the Shelter.