The Strategy of Using Barbarians to Control Barbarians
“…….”
Jun-ho scrutinized the military unit. It wasn't a mechanized infantry division. While they had vehicles, there were no armored personnel carriers, nor were there any of the small tactical vehicles colloquially known as "Guntonas."
'They’re standard electric cars and electric trucks. Did they requisition them?'
Jun-ho narrowed his eyes as he watched the electric vehicles and trucks slowly descending the mountain path, matching the pace of the infantry. This meant their commander was someone who had fully accepted the reality of the apocalypse. In this world, continuing to use noisy military vehicles was nothing more than advertising their location to the zombies. Furthermore.
- Aerial object detected. Suspected to be a drone.
“Altitude and speed?”
- Altitude 120 meters. Cruising at 20 kilometers per hour. I suspect it’s for reconnaissance.
“Pull back for now so you aren't spotted. Keep watching them from that side.”
Although the Our Shelter drone was at a much higher altitude and there was no risk of being discovered, Jun-ho gave the order and then looked up. Park Seon-hui was staring at him with tense eyes.
“You go back to where the car is with Purdy.”
“Okay.”
Jun-ho was inwardly surprised by how readily she nodded without hesitation. “Can you find your way back? I know Purdy is with you, but still.”
“I’m good at finding my way. And if I stay, I’ll just be a hindrance. I’ll go wait with Purdy.”
“…….”
Jun-ho looked at Park Seon-hui with a fresh perspective. She was nervous, but she didn't seem terrified. Moreover, her situational judgment was remarkably sharp. It wasn't easy for a young woman to show such composure in the apocalypse.
“Be careful, Oppa.”
“Yeah. Here, take this.”
“……!?”
As Jun-ho handed her the Glock 17, Park Seon-hui’s already large eyes widened even further. “You know how to use it, right?”
“Uh, yes. G Seventeen. I learned from my grandfather and shot it often with Duck-i Oppa. But… are you sure you can give this to me?”
“It’s just for a little while. Anyway, go now. It’ll take them at least two hours to get here, so don't rush. Take your time.”
“Yes, Oppa.”
As Park Seon-hui carefully took the Glock 17, Jun-ho patted Purdy’s head and said, “Go back and wait with her. I’m counting on you.”
Woof.
“Akina. Attach one drone to them.”
- Confirmed.
Soon, Park Seon-hui and Purdy quickly retreated along the path they had come.
After Park Seon-hui and Purdy left, Jun-ho continued to monitor the military unit’s movements. After using their drone to scout the area, they resumed their advance.
'The drone's movement radius is roughly 1.5 kilometers.'
They could probably go further, but it seemed they were only scouting that distance due to the drone's flight time limitations. After finishing the drone reconnaissance, they would move 1.5 kilometers and launch the drone again. Whoever the commander was, they were extremely cautious and highly capable.
'If that’s the case….'
Back when he was building the shelter, Jun-ho had formulated several contingency plans for encountering military units after the apocalypse broke out. Of course, his basic policy was never to make contact first unless the military entered the shelter's safety zone. But this time, the situation was a little different.
'Maybe this will work… no, there’s a high probability it will.'
Quickly organizing his thoughts, Jun-ho changed channels and sent a transmission to Yun Yeong-su.
“Yeong-su. Are you in the workshop?”
- No. I was in the power room. I’m on my way up to the control room now. But you said you saw soldiers?
Yun Yeong-su, who was incredibly busy moving between the server room, workshop, and power room for maintenance, asked in a worried voice.
“Yeah. I don't think they’re heading toward our shelter, but we still need to be careful. Anyway, send me a delivery drone. Put this in it….”
- Yes. Yes, yes… I understand.
After relaying what he needed to Yun Yeong-su, Jun-ho focused on his work again, frequently checking the video feed of the military unit.
Whirrr…!
Ten minutes later, the transport drone sent from the shelter arrived. Jun-ho took the items out of the cargo bay and loaded the clothes and gear he had been wearing into it.
“Delivery confirmed. Now do your part.”
- Understood. But are you really going to be okay? It sounds dangerous.
“I’m fine. Don't worry about me and just look after the shelter and the community. You stopped all outside work, right?”
- Yes. I passed the message to Song Ki-jun as well. Only the Search and Destroy Squads are on standby in a few locations, and everyone else working outside is being brought in.
“Good. It’ll be over in a few hours, so tell them to be careful until then. Keep Jun-hyeok on standby so he can come here at any moment.”
- Understood.
“Good.”
Ending the communication, Jun-ho quickly continued installing the relay. He hadn't been able to install solar panels, but the batteries he brought were enough to last until tomorrow. Soon after completing the relay installation, Jun-ho confirmed that the video feed from the drone was transmitting to his tablet without interruption, and he spoke quietly.
“I’m moving out now. Keep the drone at an altitude and distance where the soldiers won't spot it.”
- Yep. Boss, be careful.
Jun-ho sprinted along the mountain path. Having sent his tactical vest and even his reinforced plastic-lined bike suit back to the shelter, he was dressed in ordinary work clothes and carried a worn-out bag. Furthermore, his only weapons were an unmodified air rifle and a hunting knife strapped to his waist. This was because he had disassembled his AR15 and sent it to the shelter via the transport drone.
- Boss. You’re 700 meters away in a straight line. You’ll run into them in about 20 minutes.
“Got it.”
At Yun Yeong-su’s words, Jun-ho stopped running. He deliberately threw himself onto the ground and rolled a few times. Not satisfied with that, he dirtied his hair and face with soil, pulled his hat down low, and spoke while filming himself with a mini-drone camera.
“How do I look?”
- Just like Rural Survivor #1.
“Good. From now on, no communications. Keep checking only via the drone.”
- Yes. But seriously, be careful. If anything happens, I’m sending Jun-hyeok and the 'Dolsoe' crew out.
“Yeah. But that probably won't happen. Anyway, cut the feed.”
- Roger.
Ending the communication, Jun-ho carefully packed his radio, earpiece, and tablet into a waterproof bag and buried it well under a suitable tree.
“Hoo.”
Taking a light breath, Jun-ho picked up his air rifle and began walking, recalling the military unit’s last confirmed location and route. The drone would be watching him from high above, but having removed all his high-tech gear, he was now just another ordinary survivor of the apocalypse. Well, he still had an air rifle, so he was probably in the top 5 percent.
“Between 5 to 8 minutes….”
Checking the time on his old-fashioned digital watch, Jun-ho continued walking toward the military unit. Five minutes later, he held the air rifle in his hand and lowered his waist. He walked slowly for several minutes, constantly scanning his surroundings in a pointed-shooting stance.
“Freeze! Move and I’ll shoot!”
A textbook warning erupted from the slope.
“……!”
Jun-ho acted as if he were greatly startled, then looked toward the source of the shouting and slowly raised his hands.
“Drop the gun!”
Jun-ho pretended to hesitate for a moment, then slowly lowered his air rifle to the ground.
“Hands up and five steps forward!”
As he did as he was told, three soldiers suddenly rose from a spot about 30 meters away.
“Slowly, over here!”
As he walked toward them with his hands raised, one soldier ran up quickly and snatched Jun-ho’s air rifle. Only then did the soldiers lower their muzzles and speak.
“Who are you? Why are you here? What are you doing here?”
“What do you mean, what am I doing? I came up from the village down there to catch a deer or something.”
“Village down there? Is there a village where people live here? What about survivors? How many are there?”
“…….”
Jun-ho did not answer the question from the soldier wearing the sergeant’s rank insignia. Instead, he lowered his hands, crossed his arms, and said, “Why? If I tell you, are you going to go and loot it?”
“What? Hey, this guy….”
“Park Snake. The Battalion Commander says to bring that man in.”
At the words of the corporal holding the radio, Park Snake—Sergeant Park—clicked his tongue.
“Tsk. Fine. Mister, let’s go together for now.”
And so, just as Jun-ho had planned, he successfully made contact with the military unit by deliberately getting caught at the time they were launching their drone while on the move.
“You said your name is Lee Jun-ho, right? Didn't you receive the mobilization order?”
At the words of Major Lee Seok-jin, who looked to be in his mid-to-late 30s, Jun-ho, now stripped of his bag and hunting knife, chuckled.
“Major. If you were Major, and you went to the valley to play with your friends and the zombie outbreak happened, would you be able to go just because you got a mobilization text? While leaving the kids behind?”
Jun-ho looked around at Major Lee Seok-jin and the several other officers with him and continued. “Besides, zombies are crawling everywhere. Are you telling me to just go out there and die? Do you think that makes sense?”
“…….”
Perhaps realizing it didn't make sense even to them, Major Lee Seok-jin and the two officers with lieutenant rank insignia fell silent. However, their gazes didn't leave Jun-ho, and Major Lee Seok-jin, who had quietly observed Jun-ho for a moment, spoke again.
“I apologize for that part.”
He had already realized it when he came to see these three officers. Just as he had anticipated when he first discovered them, Major Lee Seok-jin, the Battalion Commander (provisional), was a remarkably competent and proper commander, rare to find in the apocalypse. This was because the two lieutenants currently with Major Lee Seok-jin belonged to different units. Not only them, but the nearly 200 other soldiers and non-commissioned officers also belonged to different units. In other words, about three or four units had gathered and were under Major Lee Seok-jin’s command.
In Jun-ho’s experience, it was extremely rare in the apocalypse for soldiers whose chain of command had collapsed to follow an officer from another unit. It meant Major Lee Seok-jin’s ability was that outstanding.
“It’s fine. Anyway, that’s how it is. I have to survive, too.”
Thinking that if he had met a soldier like this before the regression, he might have joined them, Jun-ho shrugged his shoulders.
“Alright. Then, Mr. Lee Jun-ho. What happened to your friends? How many are there?”
“There were five originally. Two were bitten by zombies; one turned into a zombie and one died. I killed the friend who turned into a zombie. Because it tried to attack me, and I wanted to live, too.”
“……!”
Major Lee Seok-jin flinched for a moment but soon nodded. In the current world, holding someone accountable for murder because they killed a zombie attacking them was truly an idiotic thing to do.
“Then are there three of you alive, including Mr. Lee Jun-ho? And there are no other infected in that vicinity?”
Jun-ho called them zombies, but perhaps because he was a soldier, he seemed to call them "infected."
“There were many, but they’re all dead. Of course, I didn't do it.”
“Then…?”
“A while ago, some dog-like gangster bastards came and killed all the zombies. And… two of my friends were also done in by those bastards. Those sons of bitches….”
Major Lee Seok-jin flinched at Jun-ho, who was grinding his teeth, and quickly asked back. “Gangsters? What gangsters are you talking about? Are there gangsters in this neighborhood, too?”
“No. I hid and listened to them talk, and it turns out those bastards were from… Deokso? Deoksim? Anyway, they were guys from that side. I only found out they were gangsters while listening to their conversation.”
“If it’s Deokso, is that the place in Namyangju with a lot of apartments? Are you sure?”
When one of the lieutenants asked in a hurry, Jun-ho nodded.
“Yes. I’m not from Namyangju so I don't know where it is, but I definitely heard it as Deokso or Deoksim. They said they have their own shelter there. They said they have a huge amount of food and many people they treat like slaves.”
The reason Jun-ho had gone out of his way to make contact with over 200 soldiers. While it was also to prevent them from coming toward Our Shelter and Gahyeon-ri, his true goal was to reveal the base of the Daeseonghoe and lure them there. In other words, it was —using barbarians to control barbarians.