The Most Dangerous Group in the Apocalypse
"I’m actually losing it… I need help."
Park Seon-hui muttered to herself as she headed down to the basement of the main building, her face flushed bright red. She truly needed help. It was because she had never experienced anything like this in her life—the feeling of someone constantly occupying her thoughts, and finding her gaze drifting toward them whenever they were nearby.
Her older brother, Park Deok-cheol, was out of the question for relationship advice, and it felt awkward to talk to her best friend and roommate, Jo Yu-na. Consulting Choi Ha-neul or Kim Hui-yeong in the medical room felt equally embarrassing. She had firmly decided that she would never tell Choi Ha-neul, especially after what had happened just a moment ago—though she suspected Choi Ha-neul had already guessed something.
"I'm crazy. I should just focus on peeling garlic. Awww…."
With a sigh heavy with self-reproach, Park Seon-hui began cleaning the gym. Since the regular users usually tidied up after their workouts, there wasn't much for her to do. At most, she just had to wipe the floor and mirrors and organize the equipment once more.
Beep.
A communication notification sounded in her earpiece, and she checked her smartwatch. This watch, synced with their smartphones and tablets, was used by all members of Our Shelter to communicate with one another.
"Oh!?"
Park Seon-hui was startled when she saw the name of the sender. She quickly checked her reflection in the gym mirror, smoothing her hair and adjusting her clothes as if she were about to meet someone in person. After clearing her throat, she tapped her earpiece twice.
"Yes, this is Park Seon-hui."
- Yeah. Where are you right now?
Hearing Jun-ho’s reliable, deep voice, she felt her face flush again. She tried to answer as normally as possible.
"I'm cleaning the gym."
- Is that so? Is there a lot left to do there?
"Oh, no! I'm almost finished."
Realizing that Jun-ho was looking for her, her voice rose slightly in pitch without her meaning it to.
- Alright, then let's meet in the lounge in ten minutes.
"Yes."
As soon as the call ended, Park Seon-hui sniffed her own body, then bolted out of the gym and sprinted up the stairs. She rushed into the room she shared with Jo Yu-na, finished a soap shower in three minutes, and applied the basic skincare products she had been issued. With one minute to spare, she ran back down the stairs, caught her breath in front of the lounge, and carefully pushed the door open.
Jun-ho, who had been looking at a tablet with a steaming cup of coffee on the table, looked up.
Zing.
Meeting his indifferent gaze, Park Seon-hui felt her heart race for a split second.
"You're here? Sit down."
"Yes."
Trying her best not to reveal her agitation, she approached with as natural a gait as possible and sat in the seat facing Jun-ho.
"It’s nothing major, but… hm? Did you shower this morning?"
"Ah, yes."
Feeling a bit embarrassed, her voice grew quiet.
"Hmm. That’s a bit of a problem… Anyway, that aside. You need to come out with me today."
"Yes? Why, why is that?"
To Park Seon-hui, who asked with a touch of nervousness, Jun-ho replied as if it were obvious.
"Why? To go out and work."
"Ah…."
"Deok-cheol and Su-ho have to train with Jun-hyeok and patrol the guard posts."
"……."
Feeling a bit dejected that there was no special reason for the request and that she had been chosen simply because she was the 'hard worker' (dolsoe), she slumped slightly.
"Besides, they’re good at heavy lifting, but they aren't very delicate with their hands. You're the best at that kind of work, Seon-hui."
At Jun-ho’s follow-up, her mood brightened again.
"Anyway, we’re taking the vehicle, so get ready and come to the parking lot. Oh, and since you just showered, make sure there’s no soap scent left, and definitely wear your mask and goggles."
"…Yes?"
As she stood up, Park Seon-hui tilted her head. She had been on countless outside operations, but she had never heard such a request before.
"We’re going outside the safety zone today."
Having completely pacified Gahyeon-ri with the Edu Town operation, Our Shelter began a reorganization to prepare for the next stage. Facilities like the workshop, medical room, and pharmacy were fine, but the infrastructure that had existed since the shelter's completion—the energy systems including solar panels and generators, sewage treatment facilities, and all piping and electrical wiring—as well as the computing system that controlled and managed it all, required inspection and maintenance.
While they had been monitoring things constantly, precision inspections were necessary every year to ensure they could survive not just for a few years, but for decades. Meanwhile, the women led by Choi Ha-neul checked the wild fruit trees and herb patches Jun-ho had discovered while installing fences and obstacles last winter, as well as the open fields where they had sown various seeds like garlic. While most vegetables were grown in the greenhouse, that wasn't enough to satisfy everyone's palate.
In the meantime, Park Deok-cheol and Baek Su-ho helped with all sorts of tasks while receiving intensive training from Jun-ho and Jun-hyeok for three to four hours every day. The brothers passed on physical conditioning, combat techniques, and skills learned from domestic and international military academies. Both were in their early twenties with excellent stamina; Baek Su-ho had been discharged less than a year ago, and Park Deok-cheol had experience with hunting and survival training in the United States, so they followed the training well.
About two weeks passed, and as the shelter reorganization was nearing completion, Jun-ho decided that it was time to expand their drone reconnaissance beyond the safety zone that included Our Shelter. The work he was doing with Park Seon-hui today was the foundational step for that.
"Mokuri is mostly fine because we installed a repeater on the roof of the Jaeseong Building. We can monitor the major points and the subway station. But the mountain behind the shelter, the north side, is lacking."
While there were PTZ cameras linked to turrets at the five guard posts on the mountain behind the shelter, their purpose was to protect the shelter and the safety zone. They were essentially a primary defense system. Furthermore, while the detection and identification capabilities of the PTZ cameras were quite excellent, they couldn't compare to high-altitude drone reconnaissance.
"So, I’m going to install a few repeaters and cameras to the north and west."
"Yes. I understand. But how are you going to handle the electricity?"
Park Seon-hui asked from the passenger seat of the multi-purpose electric vehicle moving along the mountain trail behind the shelter.
"I'll have to mount solar panels. It’s a mountain, so the efficiency will be lower, but the repeaters and cameras don't consume that much power, so it should be fine."
"Aha. Like when we worked at the reservoir before?"
"Yeah. Come to think of it, you helped Mr. Jung-woo with the work back then."
"Yes. The day my brother caught the snakehead fish."
That had been months ago. Park Seon-hui felt a strange sensation. It didn't feel like it had been that long, but thinking about it, she had already been living at Our Shelter for nearly half a year. And during that time, all sorts of things had happened. Of course, Park Seon-hui herself had mostly just done the work assigned to her in the shelter and safety zone, but Jun-ho, who was right beside her….
"But, aren't you scared, Oppa?"
"Of what?"
Watching Jun-ho’s profile as he focused on driving, Park Seon-hui thought his nose was quite high and handsome as she continued.
"Zombies, and… fighting those bad people."
"I am scared."
"Really?"
Recalling her first meeting with Jun-ho, where he had literally slaughtered the thugs, Park Seon-hui asked back with wide eyes.
"I'm human too. I die if I'm stabbed, and I turn if I'm bitten by a zombie. So, of course, I'm scared."
"Then how on earth…."
"Because I can't afford not to fight. It’s the job I do best."
"……!"
"In the end, I fight because I’m scared of dying and I want to live. If I weren't scared, I wouldn't have a reason to fight."
"…I see."
Park Seon-hui felt Jun-ho seemed a little different. To be precise, he gave off a different vibe. Just then, Jun-ho turned his head slightly toward her. Park Seon-hui, who had been staring blankly, was startled and whipped her head away. Jun-ho looked at her with curious eyes and said.
"Why are you so startled? Anyway, we're here. Let's unload the gear. Purdy."
Woof.
Purdy jumped out of the cargo bed as if he had been waiting. Jun-ho and Park Seon-hui unloaded the repeaters, solar panels, and batteries from the multi-purpose vehicle. Jun-ho shouldered the heaviest panels and batteries, but Park Seon-hui, whose strength and stamina had improved noticeably from consistent exercise, also shouldered a 10-kilogram load and began to climb the mountain.
After moving for about 30 minutes, the two people and one dog arrived above the tunnel where the highway passed through. It wasn't far from the point where they had previously encountered the people from the Beoksagol Youth Association. If one passed through this tunnel, which stretched for a full 3 kilometers, it led to the new city where the three high school students and the academy instructor they had rescued from the mansion in the past had lived.
> No threats observed within a 300-meter radius.
> Approximately 400 meters remaining to the repeater installation point.
Listening to the AI Akina’s voice, Jun-ho arrived at the point to install the repeater, following the route marked on his tablet. Since it was a location he had decided on after examining it in detail with a drone beforehand, and because both of them had done the same work several times, the task wasn't difficult. In less than 30 minutes, the two finished installing one repeater and set off back into the mountains with Purdy in the lead.
Whistle!
"Purdy."
When Jun-ho whistled and gestured, Purdy, who had been moving ahead, quickly moved in the direction Jun-ho pointed. Although they were constantly scouting and monitoring the surroundings with drones, in these mountains, unforeseen threats could strike at any moment. In such situations, Purdy, the most reliable companion, stayed about 20 meters ahead of them, constantly checking the surroundings and sniffing out the path.
An hour later, Jun-ho and Park Seon-hui arrived at the spot to install the second repeater. It was a place Jun-ho had only seen through PTZ cameras and was visiting for the first time—a sunny spot near the summit of a mountain with a few graves, offering a clear view of Beoksagol and Yeongho-ri.
"It's a graveyard. Could it be a family tomb?"
"Probably. But nobody comes here even on holidays."
Moreover, because trees grew thickly right in front of this spot, it couldn't be seen well from the village below the mountain. It was a bit unsettling to have several graves nearby, but there was no better place to install the repeater, PTZ camera, and solar panels.
"Alright, let's hurry. We'll stop here for today and…."
Beep. Beep.
"……!?"
Just then, a warning sound rang out in Jun-ho’s earpiece.
Large-scale caution targets observed in the direction of Jugeumsan.
Approximately 1.2 kilometers in a straight line from current location.
"Switch the screen."
Following Akina’s voice, the drone camera footage appeared on the tablet. Perhaps because the repeater hadn't been installed yet, the video stuttered, but Jun-ho was able to immediately identify who the warned 'caution targets' were.
"Military unit…?"
Coming down the unpaved mountain road from the summit of Jugeumsan, about 1 kilometer away, were soldiers all wearing combat uniforms. Also, because the distance was so great, he couldn't confirm their armament status or unit patches, but there appeared to be over 200 of them.
"Where exactly are they heading?"
After a moment of silence, Akina’s emotionless voice was heard.
> Jojong-myeon, Gapyeong-gun, Gyeonggi-do or Ildong-myeon, Pocheon-si, Gyeonggi-do. One of the two areas. Both are locations of main ROK military units.
"Contact the shelter and the Gahyeon-ri community. Tell them to stop all outside work immediately and get indoors. Relay the message to Jun-hyeok, Yeongsu, and Ha-il Hyung-nim for the shelter. For the community, just contact Mr. Song Ki-jun for now."
Jun-ho hurriedly issued his instructions. Based on his experience before the regression, the most dangerous group in the apocalypse wasn't the zombies or the looters—it was the soldiers who had lost contact with their superiors and whose chain of command had vanished.