The Finale, Part 3
Click. Jun-ho ejected the magazine of the Chinese-made pistol, checked the chamber, and tossed it to Song Ki-jun.
"Ugh... Argh!" Jun-ho walked over to Park Il-ho, who was groveling on the floor, grabbed him by the collar, and dragged him away.
"Aaargh!" Park Il-ho screamed, the knife still embedded in his arm. Jun-ho paid him no mind, dragging him all the way to where Song Ki-jun stood before finally ripping the blade out.
"Squeeeal...!" As Park Il-ho squealed like a pig, Jun-ho slapped him across the face. *Smack! Crack! Slap!*
"Urgh! Cough! Ack..." Only after his head had been whipped back and forth several times, spitting out blood and a few teeth, did Park Il-ho finally quiet down. Jun-ho threw him at Song Ki-jun's feet, then retreated to his corner and crossed his arms.
"..." The Edutown residents, having witnessed Jun-ho's ruthless and brutal efficiency up close, fell dead silent. It was hard for them to believe that Park Il-ho—the terrifying dictator who had brutally oppressed them—was being treated like a stray dog overnight.
"Look at this," Song Ki-jun said, holding up the Chinese pistol Jun-ho had thrown him. "This man conspired with gangsters to attack The First Apartments. And you all went along with it."
"..." Quite a few people flinched. They likely wanted to deny it, but the moment they caught sight of Jun-ho's expressionless face, they could only swallow hard and look down.
"I am passing judgment. Park Il-ho: death penalty."
"..." "Eek!" The residents' eyes widened in shock. Just as Park Il-ho, squirming like a worm on the floor, let out a shrill groan and raised his head, Song Ki-jun aimed his air rifle and pulled the trigger.
*Thwip! Thud!* A tungsten pellet embedded itself right between Park Il-ho's eyes. His head snapped back, and he collapsed.
"Aaaah!" "Oh my god!" At the sight of Park Il-ho's death, several people screamed and jumped up. However, those presumed to be Park's family members couldn't take another step. The Search and Destroy Squad had raised their air rifles in unison, aiming directly at them.
Song Ki-jun spoke to them, his voice thick with suppressed rage. "Why? When you were planning to kill other people and steal everything they had, did you honestly think nothing would happen to you?"
"..." "The same goes for the rest of you." Song Ki-jun swept his gaze over the terrified residents. "You were threatened? You had no choice? Cut the crap. You know why? Because the people of The First Apartments didn't invade this place. The people of Jung-dong in Gahyeon-ri didn't invade here or our apartments either."
Some might have felt wronged, or perhaps viewed his words as mere sophistry. But this was the apocalypse, a world where law and social order had completely collapsed. And regardless of the details, the ones who had just saved the Edutown residents were the very people they had intended to attack, kill, and rob.
"But everyone who actively participated in the attack has paid the price. This piece of trash was simply the last of them."
"..." The residents realized exactly what that "price" meant, and soon, several of them began to sob. They had witnessed their own fleeing family members being swarmed and bitten by the sudden horde of zombies, turning into monsters themselves, or being dragged away as mangled corpses.
"Whew." Song Ki-jun took a deep breath and continued. "However, there are mitigating circumstances. While you are accomplices, you were either forced to participate or acted passively. Therefore, I pass this sentence."
Looking down at the Edutown residents who were staring up at him in sheer terror, Song Ki-jun declared, "All of you will relocate to Building 8. We will pipe in water from the valley so you have running water, and we will provide electricity. We will also supply a basic amount of food. However, you are strictly forbidden from leaving Building 8 without permission."
Building 8 of the Edutown Apartments was located at the very edge of the complex, with only a single access road. In other words, if they blocked that path, it was practically a prison.
"And starting tomorrow, we will clear the walking trails to build greenhouses. You will grow your own food there. If you don't like this arrangement, you are free to leave. We'll gladly send you to Mokuri."
The residents, who knew all too well from the gangsters what state Mokuri was in, couldn't utter a single word. It was practically a death sentence.
Just then, Jun-ho, who had been watching silently from the corner, stepped up to Song Ki-jun and whispered something in his ear. Song Ki-jun nodded a few times, then addressed the residents again. "Alright, everyone head outside."
Though terrified of what might happen next, the residents looked at Park Il-ho's corpse lying face down in a pool of his own blood and hesitantly did as they were told.
"Ah?!" "W-what is this...?" As they stepped out of the management office, the residents' eyes went wide. They had no idea when it had arrived, but an electric truck was parked right in front of the building.
When the truck's cargo bed was opened, revealing its contents, their eyes widened even further. The truck was packed with boxes of instant rice, canned goods, and medical supplies.
"From now on, you will clean and organize the apartment complex. Once the work is done, these will be distributed to you."
The whip had been brutal, but the immediate sight of a delicious carrot lit a fire in the eyes of the Edutown residents. Of course, all these supplies were nearing their expiration dates, but no one knew, and even if they did, they wouldn't have cared.
Clearing the zombie corpses, debris, and trash from the complex didn't take long. True to his word, Song Ki-jun distributed the food and medicine while housing the residents in Building 8.
Although there were still many zombies trapped inside the apartments, the Search and Destroy Squad, who were already veterans at hunting and exterminating the undead, cleared them out with ease.
Yet even that simple task seemed like a miracle to the Edutown residents, who had been strictly controlled by Park Il-ho's faction and the gangsters, completely isolated from the outside world.
They meekly followed every order, constantly walking on eggshells around Song Ki-jun, the Search and Destroy Squad, and most of all, Jun-ho—who hadn't uttered a single word or lifted a finger, yet radiated the most terrifying aura of them all.
"That seems to be most of it sorted out."
"Indeed. By the way, thank you for keeping your promise, Jun-ho."
Song Ki-jun expressed his deep gratitude to Jun-ho for thoroughly keeping the promise he had made on the day they first met. But Jun-ho shook his head.
"No need. After all, I'm not a resident of Gahyeon-ri. It's only right that someone like you handles this, Song Ki-jun."
"I suppose so. It's a hassle, and we'll face criticism and resentment... but it really is our responsibility. That's the only way we can look you and your companions in the eye after all the help and support you've given us."
It was precisely because Song Ki-jun knew his boundaries and possessed a strong sense of duty that Jun-ho had saved him in the first place. Jun-ho nodded in approval.
"Once tomorrow's work is finished, I won't be interfering in Gahyeon-ri for a while. Ah, though I will join you when we raid the Nonghyup Warehouse. We need to secure our share of the supplies."
"Of course. We'll be counting on you then as well."
"Likewise."
When Song Ki-jun offered his hand, Jun-ho finally smiled and shook it. With this, Gahyeon-ri had officially become a powerful ally and a perfect shield for the Shelter.
But Jun-ho was entirely unaware. Not only Song Ki-jun, who detested authoritarianism more than anyone, but also the members of the Search and Destroy Squad, the Gahyeon-ri community, and even the Edutown residents who had witnessed his terrifying display today—all of them had begun to view Jun-ho as a sort of feudal lord, a guardian deity, or a terrifying judge.
And so, Jun-ho brought the grand finale of Gahyeon-ri's pacification to a perfect close.
Early the next morning, Choi Jung-woo arrived from the Shelter in an electric truck. With Jun-hyeok and Baek Su-ho acting as his assistants, he installed wireless repeaters, amplifiers, and four sets of PTZ Cameras and T1 Turrets around the Edutown Apartments.
While the turrets were primarily meant to eliminate external intruders, they were also programmed to fire Tungsten Pellets at anyone from Building 8 who attempted anything suspicious.
Meanwhile, the Edutown residents were put to work in earnest. The elderly and the women were assigned to finish the cleaning tasks left over from yesterday, while the men cleared the walking trails or dismantled the solar panels on the apartment roofs and harvested batteries from the electric vehicles in the complex.
Having finished installing the cameras and turrets before lunch, Choi Jung-woo collected the salvaged solar panels, batteries, electronics, and various other equipment dismantled by the residents.
While some of these items would be used by the Gahyeon-ri community, the vast majority were transported back to the Shelter. This was based on the judgment of Baek Ha-il and Yun Yeong-su, who believed they would prove useful in one way or another.
Song Ki-jun took full charge of organizing Edutown and managing its residents, while the former village head, Kim Seok-hwan, and the elderly Go Seok-jin stepped up to handle similar duties for the Gahyeon-ri community.
Jun-ho simply watched as the three of them took the heat in his stead, managed the various tasks, mediated conflicts among the survivors, and handled all the tedious chores of leading the Gahyeon-ri community.
Listening to Yun Yeong-su's chatter over the comms, Jun-ho loaded his gear onto the multi-purpose electric cart. "Cut the nonsense. Anyway, is everything quiet on the Mokuri side?"
"They've survived this long, so they've got that much survival instinct. At any rate, keep sending drones to Mokuri to monitor them. Those gangsters are bound to show up in a few days."
"Roger that," Yeong-su replied.
Jun-ho started up the electric cart. Now that Gahyeon-ri was pacified, it was safe to drive on the roads. Of course, he always used the secret passage leading to the industrial road whenever he went out.
The people of Gahyeon-ri still had no idea where Jun-ho and his companions actually lived. They only guessed that it was somewhere within a thirty to forty-minute drive, but no one dared to seek out his base.
For one, everyone was terrified of Jun-ho. Furthermore, they knew that any area outside the Gahyeon-ri community's "safe zone" was still a living hell crawling with zombies and scavengers. Now that they had finally secured safety, no one was crazy enough to step back into that hell just to cross Jun-ho.
*Whirrr...* Parking the electric cart near the Edutown management office, Jun-ho retraced the route the gangsters had used. His reason for heading back to Mokuri was simple.
It was all because of the confession of An Jun-tae, the manager of the Mogu-ri gang. Despite being a gangster, he hadn't been able to withstand having his shoulders dislocated a couple of times and had spilled everything he knew.
That was the problem. Jun-ho knew that the gangsters had traveled along the metropolitan light rail line to reach Mokuri. He had used that very same route in his past life when he was dragged to Mokuri and had to make his way to the center of Namyangju.
However, transporting zombies—especially three Alphas—along that route seemed highly improbable. They would have to travel on foot, and carrying creatures bound tightly in heavy iron chains simply made no sense.
But on his way to Mokuri, Jun-ho learned something new.
Checking the video feed from the drone sent to Mokuri on his tablet, Jun-ho's eyes narrowed slightly. Just as Yun Yeong-su had said, five men riding in three electric carts had parked on a secluded mountain slope and were now heading down toward the junkyard that housed the secret passage to the Cheongsan Building.
However, Jun-ho's gaze was fixed not on the path the gangsters were currently taking, but on the route from Onae-ri they had likely used, and the point at its very end.
"These bastards... they came via the Han River." That location was incredibly close to Paldang Dam and Paldang Station.