Tremors 5
"…I'll relay your terms exactly as stated."
The sergeant who had accepted our conditions nodded with a grim face, then led his men away in a hurry.
I watched their retreating backs and turned to Yeong-ju standing beside me.
"…What's with you? Why do you keep trying to just send those soldiers packing?"
They were still the 50th Division, after all — I couldn't understand her at all. When I put a little edge into the question, she stared straight at me, hard and unblinking.
"…You don't seem to have a very clear read on yourself these days."
"On what?"
"Lately, whenever you hear the word soldier, it feels like your first instinct is just to kill them."
Her words left me speechless for a moment.
…Was that true? Thinking about it, I did find them instinctively repulsive.
I took a moment to look at myself.
Watching me, Yeong-ju went on.
"Ever since that time — right after that soldier Seo Guk nearly got me killed… you've been different."
She took my hand, her grip soft enough to feel even through the suit.
"…I didn't die. I'm right here, perfectly fine, standing next to you. So there's no reason to treat the entire 50th Division as the enemy just because of one man — Seo Guk."
"…Alright. I'll try to hold back more."
I finally nodded at her words.
"But… why does that Colonel Shin want to get in touch with us so badly?"
Once I'd finished dialing down the urge to kill, I asked. Yeong-ju looked toward the direction the soldiers had vanished and answered.
"That Cleaning Day thing. I think we need to stop it."
"It sounded grand when they talked about it… but even if they're the military, there are still scavenger groups left, and we've gathered a fair number of security robots ourselves. Can the soldiers they still have really reclaim the entire Daegu region?"
"…I'm not particularly worried about that side of it."
"Then what?"
When I pressed her on that strange remark, she looked down at the two mutant corpses sprawled on the ground and said:
"Those zombies packed densely underground that the soldiers mentioned earlier. Haven't you seen that scene somewhere before?"
"I've never seen anything like—"
I was about to say I'd never witnessed such a thing when something surfaced in my mind. After a moment of thought, I finally remembered.
"…I have."
That horrific scene I'd stumbled on by chance while traveling with Nam Jin-ju.
Dozens of zombies packed tightly together, and at the center, one zombie biting into another — transforming into a mutant right there on the spot.
Back then, I'd smashed its head before the change could finish…
"Right. What you told me about that day is far too similar. And considering how much fewer zombies we've been seeing lately… I'm starting to think maybe they really have all gone underground, just like those soldiers said."
As Yeong-ju crossed her arms, the images formed in my head.
If that horrific scene I'd witnessed was being reenacted simultaneously throughout this city's underground? And more than that…
"…The soldiers said even the slightest impact set them off in a chain reaction, like dominoes."
"Yeong-ju… are you trying to stop that Cleaning Day operation for the same reason I'm thinking? To keep mutants from being created?"
"Yes. I don't know much about the military, but when they started talking about a 'firepower company' and the like, that means they're not just shooting guns — they're bringing much heavier weapons, right?"
"…That's right. Probably an artillery company."
"Exactly. So what if — just what if — the shock from that bombardment somehow reaches underground, and the hundreds or thousands of zombies gathered there all transform into mutants at the same time?"
Her question sent a chill down my spine.
"…We'd be completely fucked."
I nodded in agreement as Yeong-ju did the same, and pictured countless mutants rising from below.
It was the worst scenario I could imagine.
In the largest room of the 50th Division bunker — a place so well hidden that even most of the soldiers themselves didn't know its location — two middle-aged men were moving their hips like animals behind naked women bent over a desk.
Strangely, the men's rough breathing filled the room, but the women's voices were barely audible.
The reason was simple: both women, driven by a hunger and thirst greater than their pain and shame, were desperately stuffing the food laid out on the desk into their mouths.
"Easy, boys! Those bitches are going to choke at that rate."
Watching the horrific scene from a cot against the wall beside the desk, a middle-aged man stroked another woman whose head was buried between his legs as he spoke.
"Haha, yes sir! Deputy Commander! I'll be gentler."
"Huff… huff… But no matter how slow I go, looking at how these bitches are eating, choking seems pretty much guaranteed."
At their replies, the Deputy Division Commander laughed, then roughly yanked the head of the woman between his legs.
"You bitches! Acting all high and mighty at first, putting on airs — completely useless! Starve them for over five days without a drop of water, and only then do they learn their place and spread their legs on their own!"
He yanked her head again, shuddered for a moment, and looked down at her.
"Haha! That's your water and protein. Swallow every last drop."
A moment later he shoved the woman aside and tossed some food from beside the bed next to her. Seeing it, the woman who had been shoved down and was coughing desperately crawled over, tore open the packaging, and stuffed it into her mouth.
The three men laughing together at the sight then looked up as Major Kang entered after a knock.
"Oh, Major Kang! Finally here to join in? You'll collapse if you work too hard!"
"Yeah, yeah! It'd be a disaster if our ace Major Kang went down! Come over here — take a break and enjoy yourself for a bit!"
Despite the vulgar invitation, Major Kang simply said, "No, thank you," and moved to the side.
As he crossed the room, he glanced once at the woman on the floor eating, then approached the Deputy Division Commander, who was looking over the other naked women trembling in the corner as if selecting merchandise.
"Deputy Commander."
"Oh! Major Kang! What is it?"
The Deputy Division Commander, who hadn't even turned his head while looking at the women, spun around with a startled expression when Major Kang whispered something in his ear.
"…The Division Commander has woken up?"
"Yes. However, they say his consciousness hasn't fully returned yet."
"Fuck! A man who was just on IV fluids with no other treatment recovering… What do we do? If the Division Commander wakes up, we're all—"
"Don't worry. We've sealed the information thoroughly, so only we know about this for now. We'll carefully prevent any word from leaking out, then deal with him together on Cleaning Day."
At Major Kang's words, the Deputy Division Commander's briefly darkened face brightened again.
"As expected! Our Major Kang — always so thorough! Alright then, what do you need help with? Coming here in person like this, you must have something you need from me, right?"
"Yes. Given that the 'Division Commander' has become a variable, I think we need to move the operation up a bit."
"Hmm… By how much?"
"The sooner the better. It'll take at least five days to assemble the troops in one place, so I suggest we execute within the next seven to eight days."
"That's a bit fast… But it's Major Kang's judgment… Fine, proceed. If any opposition comes up, tell me — I'll handle it, so don't worry!"
"Yes, thank you."
Turning away from the retreating Major Kang, he grabbed one of the women in front of him and threw her onto the bed.
"Hik! P-please spare me!"
"Who said I was going to kill you? Rather than ending up like that bitch over there — starving yourself half to death resisting until you're begging for forgiveness — start serving properly from now on! Then I'll make sure your family in the shelter gets plenty of food!"
Major Kang looked back at the Deputy Division Commander, watched that horrific scene for a moment with completely emotionless eyes, then clenched his fist tightly as he stepped out the door.
Something was crumbling inside him. As he left through the door, the rage he'd been holding back began to surface on his previously expressionless face.
Clang, clang—
When he heard the thick iron door of the bunker room he'd just left locking behind him, Major Kang was finally able to release the deep sigh he'd been holding.
He asked the lieutenant who had been waiting outside the iron door and now stood beside him:
"What's the status of the subordinate units in the area? Any units catching on?"
"As far as we've determined, none yet."
"Keep checking until we're certain. If they find out we're going to wipe them out too in the end, everything falls apart…"
"Yes, sir!"
After hearing the lieutenant's reply, Major Kang went with him to where the desks and communications equipment were gathered. Looking at the map, he asked his loyal subordinates who had quickly gathered around him:
"What about the scavengers?"
"No matter how hard we look, other than Sim Geum-a's group, there's not a single place that isn't abusing and exploiting people…"
"Actually, Sim Geum-a's side provides meals without discrimination! And the quality of the food is quite good, too."
At one soldier's words, Major Kang slightly furrowed his brow, and another continued:
"Lieutenant Colonel Seo Guk… it seems almost certain he was killed in action. I also dislike Sim Geum-a, who had a grudge against Lieutenant Colonel Seo Guk… but as things stand, it seems we only have one option left…"
"…What about that place that operates those strange drones? Still nothing on them?"
At Major Kang's question, the soldiers looked at each other and could only say, "…Still investigating."
Major Kang let out a deep sigh and said, "Alright. Keep looking into it," dismissing the soldiers.
Then, after a moment of thought, he returned to his usual expressionless face — a face from which no emotion could be read. Picking up the radio, he began transmitting.
His cold, businesslike voice echoed low through the bunker.