Winter Preparations 3
Hoping to shake off the bitterness of the day before, I started getting ready to head out the moment I finished breakfast.
"Here you are, Yeong-chan-nim."
Kang Po-gyeong handed me the plastic containers of food.
"No matter how I look at it, the lack of animal protein is a little disappointing."
"You're telling me. We really need to go out and properly hunt down some chickens, pigs, cattle—something."
When I agreed, she smiled faintly.
"Everything else is coming together smoothly enough. I'm sure we'll find livestock eventually."
Her optimism made me smile too. With the two guard robots waiting for me, I left the Shelter.
About ten minutes' walk brought me to a site not far from the Shelter. There, roughly ten guard robots worked day and night, demolishing old buildings, clearing the rubble, and transforming the land into the vast farmland that would feed us next year. It was a place of hope.
The surrounding dilapidated buildings had all been brought down, the ground now bare, clean earth. Among the cleared lots, one old building still stood alone—a former senior center. I stopped in front of it.
"Everyone, come out and eat."
From the quiet interior came a rustling. Three young women emerged, moving slowly, carefully checking the doorway before stepping outside.
"Th-thank you… thank you…"
They took the boiled potatoes and sweet potatoes I held out, shivering in the cold, repeating their thanks over and over. Then they turned to go back inside with the food.
I gestured toward them and told a guard robot, "Hey—bring the water over too." When the robot approached, the women flinched hard.
From their perspective, those steel machines had reduced the raiders who had captured and abused them to corpses in an instant. Of course the robots terrified them.
Before they could shut the door completely, I spoke again.
"Once you've finished eating, we'll be moving you somewhere else. Keep that in mind."
One of the women looked back at me, eyes full of confusion and fear, and stammered,
"I—I know this might not be something you want to hear, but… wh-where exactly are we going? Are… are all of us going?"
"All of you. A vehicle will be here around the time you finish eating, so let the others inside know ahead of time."
She just stood there trembling, unable to do anything. I added,
"It's somewhere far safer than this, with a lot more people. Don't worry too much—just get ready."
After watching my face for a long moment, she forced a nod. Satisfied, I left the building.
I looked out over the earth that had already expanded to nearly the size of a school athletic field. One of the guard robots working in the distance approached me, and I asked,
"Clearing buildings and turning the soil—looking good!
Unit One… Unit One, right?"
> Affirmative. Designation Unit One confirmed.
> Current progress: approximately 8% additional land secured beyond the instructed dimensions.
The robot answered in a voice laced with mechanical static. I nodded and continued,
"What about the zombies? Just in case—if any show up, do not kill them on the farmland. Drag them as far away as you can and deal with them quietly."
> Understood. No hostile entities have been observed in this sector recently.
> If any are detected, they will be processed as instructed.
"Good, good. Keep it up."
I stood quietly watching the land slowly take shape as it expanded.
About thirty minutes later, a truck rolled toward me with a guard robot loaded in the cargo bed.
"Oppa! I'm here!"
Nam Jin-ju waved from the driver's seat, her voice bright and energetic.
"Any zombies on the way?"
She shook her head.
"Nope? Weird, right? Maybe because it's gotten so cold? Why are they so scarce all of a sudden? Are they actually hibernating or something?"
I shrugged at her question, then walked over to the senior center and called inside,
"All right, time to go. Everyone inside, come outside."
The door opened slowly. Eight frightened women emerged, clinging to one another as if the cold alone might knock them down.
"Over there—climb into the truck bed."
I pointed. They kept glancing at me, moving in tiny increments, as if trying to delay as long as possible.
The sight was so frustrating I was about to say something when Jin-ju, already out of the truck, lightly tapped my arm. She walked toward the women with a bright, gentle voice.
"It's okay! No rush—take your time and be careful getting on! We'll help you with your things!"
The women moved with far more ease than they had when I'd spoken. Jin-ju came back to me and whispered,
"…After everything they went through, of course men scare them. Until we get to Geum-a's place, I'll do the talking. Oppa… just stay quiet."
I looked at the women, then at her. I let out a small sigh and nodded.
Choi Eun-ji looked at the eight women standing before her, trembling like prisoners awaiting a death sentence; at Seo Yeong-chan, who was desperately staring anywhere but at her; and at Nam Jin-ju, who offered a small bow and a quiet "Please take care of them." She exhaled a long, heavy sigh.
"…Go stand at the back of the line."
She spoke to Yeong-chan.
"If you personally bring them in first, it could backfire. To everyone else, it'll look like they're getting special treatment… and that could make them targets for the wrong people."
Yeong-chan glanced toward the temporary lodging beside the wall, where other people were gradually filing out and forming a line under Dima and the other sentries' directions. He nodded.
"Oppa, I'll handle it."
At Jin-ju's words, Yeong-chan nodded once more and went inside the wall first.
Watching him go, Jin-ju turned to the eight women with a reassuring, "This way, please," and led them to the very end of the already long line.
Once she confirmed they were in place, Choi Eun-ji spread a fresh record sheet on the makeshift desk and said shortly to the sentry beside her, "Let's begin."
The sentry nodded and waved from a distance. People began approaching her desk one by one—or in family groups—guided by the other guards.
"Name, the area you lived in, and any skills or specialized knowledge you have. Speak up."
As Choi Eun-ji spoke, two other sentries stepped forward and held out their hands for the man's belongings.
"Everything you brought will be inspected right here, right now.
Food and valuables you can keep. Anything that could be used as a weapon stays outside. If you can't accept that, turn around and go back where you came from."
The man at the front—somewhere in his forties—shook his head. "No, that's fine." The sentries began thoroughly searching his bags.
"Good. Then let's start with your name."
And so Choi Eun-ji began carefully inspecting and recording the long line of new arrivals, one person at a time, from early morning onward.
Inside Sim Geum-a's wall.
A large empty lot had opened up from the recent massive expansion of the fortifications. There, four overseers with spears sorted the people who had gathered since early morning, directing them one by one to the right or the left.
When the sorting was finished, the oldest-looking overseer shouted,
"All right! Today, only the people on the right are work crew! Left side—no work today. Head back to your quarters!"
The men on the right, relieved and glad to have been chosen, hurried to grab the picks and hammers stacked nearby. Those on the left let out deep sighs and turned away with heavy steps.
Among them, a young woman approached the overseers.
"Overseer! Why wasn't I picked again? This is the fifth day in a row!"
At her accusing tone, the overseer turned with a trace of irritation.
"Miss, please stop this and go somewhere else. How many times is this now?"
He continued,
"Look—if it were you, would you pick a girl for pure hard labor like this? While the other guys swing a hammer three times, you'd need eight or nine!"
She didn't back down.
"Then I'll just rest less and work more when the others take breaks, so the output matches! I can do it! Please—just give me a chance!"
Even her desperate plea mixed with begging didn't move him. He shook his head.
"I'm really sorry, miss… There are other jobs women can do, and we've been looking for people lately. Helping in the kitchen, doing laundry. Go try those…"
"Too many people are already after those jobs! And they're not daily work like construction! I need work so I can get clothes and shower coupons!"
The overseer was done. He walked toward the selected workers as he answered,
"What do you want me to do about there being so few of those jobs in this world…
At least here, unlike outside, the food is handed out fairly. Be satisfied with that… Sorry. Try somewhere else."
A short while later, left alone in the empty lot, the woman could only look up at the sky and let out a long, helpless sigh at her own powerlessness.