The Time of Slaughter (1)
"Ugh... Ahh, hng."
Listening to the cat-like whimpering leaking through the slightly ajar door, Executive Jeon Yo-han placed a cigarette in his mouth. After lighting it, he walked to the kitchen and poured a glass of water from the dispenser. In Seoul, it would be difficult to find even a single bottle of water past its expiration date, but not here. This place, 'Golden Heights,' was an apocalyptic paradise overflowing with everything: water, food, infrastructure, and even 'medicine' and women that were good for the body. And the one who ruled this paradise was none other than Jeon Yo-han, the Chairman's right-hand man.
Clunk.
"Oh? Ex-ex-executive Jeon? What are you doing here...?"
An old man stumbled out of the room, grinning foolishly at the sight of Jeon Yo-han. The sagging belly hanging over the man's tighty-whities, combined with the glistening liquid—whether saliva or something else—dripping from his double chin, was truly grotesque. Jeon Yo-han gestured to him with a blank expression.
"I'm just having a glass of water. Go back in and enjoy yourself, Chairman Yong."
"Ri-right, if Executive Jeon says so, I should. But I... I want to eat another bi-bitch. Hehe."
The man, staggering as if drunk, crossed the living room and entered another room.
"Ah... Ugh!"
"Huff, huff. Are you enjoying it? You bitches? Oh, Chairman Yong, come on in."
Inside, another middle-aged man was already tangled up in bed with two naked women, his hands and mouth moving busily.
"Good, so goood... Hehehe."
The man called Chairman Yong burrowed into the tangle of flesh. Thud. The door closed automatically, cutting off the room from Jeon Yo-han once again.
"...I really need to clean up those idiots soon."
Jeon Yo-han muttered, exhaling a cloud of smoke. Right now, on the top floor of this apartment, six men were indulging themselves with over ten women. These men were all big shots from Guri and Namyangju who had been involved in almost everything regarding 'Golden Heights'—land acquisition, zoning changes, architectural reviews, permits, and even supervision. Furthermore, after the world turned to hell, they had played a decisive role in helping Jeon Yo-han and his organization secure this place easily by using the status and power that were still valid at the time. They had even mobilized public officials, including police and firefighters, for their private use. In return, Jeon Yo-han kept them safe and provided them with a life similar to, or even better than, the past.
"Just like right now..."
Jeon Yo-han smirked, looking at the liquor bottles and syringes scattered messily on the living room table. It was a perfect mutual benefit, but they were useless now. They were just old parasites wasting all sorts of resources, including food.
Clunk.
Just then, another old man, who had been in the room Jeon Yo-han had intentionally left slightly ajar, came out with bloodshot eyes.
"What is it, Superintendent?"
At Jeon Yo-han's question, the man smiled awkwardly and replied, "It seems... I killed another one."
"Again? Ha, seriously."
Jeon Yo-han sighed and entered the room. On the bed lay a naked woman, her body covered in injection marks and bruises, her eyes wide open with her tongue sticking out. Seeing the area around her neck was severely reddened, it looked like she had been strangled to death.
"Superintendent, I've told you several times to be careful."
Jeon Yo-han clicked his tongue, alternating his gaze between the corpse of the woman—who had been a fairly famous female streamer and SNS influencer before the world changed—and the Superintendent.
"Sorry. I got a bit excited, so that happened. But there are still plenty of girls like this, right?"
"That may be, but... there are a lot of people looking for her... Ugh."
"Sorry, sorry. I'll have our guys take the body to the cultural center... Oh?"
"What's the matter?"
As the man called the Superintendent tilted his head slightly, Jeon Yo-han tilted his head as well. But he soon realized the man was looking outside the window, not at him. Jeon Yo-han turned his head.
"......!?"
Outside the soundproof window, in the sky even higher than this 20th-floor apartment, a thin streak of light was soaring upward. He doubted his eyes for a moment, but it grew brighter, and a few seconds later, a bright flash spread, infiltrating the green light even into the apartment.
"A signal flare...?"
He muttered, watching the ominous green light of the signal flare flickering as if it were alive. That was when it happened.
Beep. Beep-beep-beep. Beep-beep...
Someone hurriedly punched in the front door lock and burst inside.
"Di-Director! Vice Chairman!"
"What? Manager Baek, what's going on?"
Jeon Yo-han asked urgently at the sight of one of his direct subordinates running in without even taking off his shoes. The subordinate, his face pale, shouted.
"It's, it's an attack! I don't know who they are, but bastards with guns have broken into the back gate of Building 3 and are attacking!"
"What!? Fuck, how is that possible!?"
Jeon Yo-han shouted, having not heard any gunshots because this place was perfectly soundproof.
"I, I don't know!"
It wasn't just Jeon Yo-han who was shouting; the subordinate was just as flustered. 'Golden Heights' was a large complex, so it had many passages besides the main gate, but they had already closed them all, and there were only three passages actually in use. Even those three passages were used by alternating one every week, with two blocked off at all times for security. And yet, there were guys who found that and got in like ghosts?
"Send all the guys! No, give the cops guns first and send them!"
"Yes!"
"Ah, no, Executive Jeon? I have to be the one to move our guys..."
The Superintendent stepped forward, but—Thwack!
"Ugh!"
Jeon Yo-han stared with cold eyes at the man who had been knocked down by his punch and was sprawling on the living room floor, and said, "Superintendent, because I call you Superintendent, do you think you're still a real cop? You parasite bastard."
"Ugh...?"
"Shut your mouth and go change your clothes quickly. Go crawl over there and at least pretend to lead the cops."
* * *
Bang...! Tat-tat...! Bang...!
Listening to the gunshots continuing from afar, Kim Sun-woo hurriedly changed his clothes. Kim Sun-woo's face, covered in gauze and bandages, was still a mess with many bruises. Four days ago, when he returned to 'Golden Heights' with Sergeant Oh Yong-mok, he had been beaten by the gangsters for failing the operation. It wasn't just a failure; he had lost nearly 30 people and all their important equipment, such as firearms and drones. Of course, Kim Sun-woo wasn't the one in charge, but it was natural for violence disguised as interrogation and accountability to be poured onto him and Oh Yong-mok.
"Fucking gangster bastards... Now you guys are finished too."
The anxiety that had been burning his insides because Lee Jun-ho, who seemed like he would come at any moment, had been silent until now was also over.
"Uung... Uncle?"
"Un-uncle. Uncle, what's that sound? What's going on?"
Seeing his two nieces, the bloodline left behind by his older brother and his wife who had passed away due to the infection, Kim Sun-woo, who proved he wasn't alone in this hellish world, hugged the two nieces who were now eight and ten years old and said, "It's nothing. I think I have to go out now, so Lee-seo and Ji-an, stay here. Don't open the door for anyone after I leave. Got it?"
"Uung."
"Uncle Sun-woo, I'm scared. Hiiing."
Unlike the younger one who hadn't fully woken up, the older niece, who was somewhat mature, sobbed and buried herself in Kim Sun-woo's arms.
"It's okay, it's okay. Uncle will be back soon... Promise."
Bang, bang!
- Kim Sun-woo! Hey, you special forces cop! Get out here quickly!
At the rough voice from outside the front door, the two nieces flinched and trembled. Kim Sun-woo struggled to pull the two children away and said, "Lee-seo, Ji-an. Remember what Uncle said. Don't open the door for anyone. Go to the main room now, lock the door, and cover yourselves with the blanket. I'll be back soon. Promise."
"Okay, okay. Sob!"
After hugging his two nieces one last time, Kim Sun-woo hurriedly opened the front door and stepped outside.
"Fuck, I'm in a hurry, you dog bastard."
"Hey, hurry up and run to the armory."
"Why? What's going on?"
When Kim Sun-woo asked, pretending not to know as he saw the gangsters swearing, the guy twisted his face and said, "What do you mean what's going on, fucker? Can't you hear the sound? Some fucking bastards have broken in and..."
"Why are you explaining? Fuck, just go!"
Moving with the two gangsters, Kim Sun-woo secretly put his hand into his pocket. Feeling the touch of the vacuum-sealed bag containing Lee Woo-jung's finger that had been in the freezer until a moment ago and the chopsticks he had sharpened to a point, he followed them with a cold face.
* * *
"I brought him, boss! What about the others?"
"They'll be here soon. Fuck, why did this shitty thing have to happen when I was on guard duty? Fuck it. Ptooey!"
The gangster who had been guarding the front of the complex library used as an armory crushed his cigarette and spat. Bang-bang...! Bang...! Tat-tat-bang!...!
"Fuck, it's brutal."
"Who the hell are they? Isn't this a big deal?"
The guard and the four gangsters whispered with anxious faces, looking in the direction where the gunshots were continuing. At that moment—Whoosh...
A dull noise different from the gunshots was heard from afar, and soon one side of the sky was brightly dyed green.
"W-what is that?"
"I don't know either!"
The gangsters were surprised, and Kim Sun-woo and the others who had come to receive firearms were also surprised. However.
'It's really Lee Jun-ho!'
Kim Sun-woo immediately exchanged glances with Oh Yong-mok, who had arrived first. He quickly pulled out the chopsticks in his pocket and stabbed the neck of the gangster closest to him from behind like a madman. Thud! Thud-thud!
"Gurgle!"
They were smaller than regular chopsticks, being for children, but they were sufficient to pierce the thin and fragile human neck.
"Huh? Ugh!"
The other surprised gangsters turned their bodies at the same time, but they couldn't deal with the surprise attack of Kim Sun-woo, who was an active police special forces operator, and Oh Yong-mok, who was a detective in the violent crimes unit.
"Ugh."
"Cough... Ugh."
Kim Sun-woo, who glanced at the gangsters falling to the floor and bleeding profusely in an instant, shouted to the men who didn't know what to do, "It's the military! That's a military signal flare! The military has come to save us! Everyone, grab your guns and kill the gangster bastards! Sergeant!"
"Yes!"
Oh Yong-mok, who received Lee Woo-jung's finger thrown by Kim Sun-woo, quickly unlocked the library door.
"Wh-what did you say?"
"Is it true? Is the military really..."
"Let's go! That's definitely a military signal flare! The gunshots are also K2 series! You've all been to the military, right?"
Kim Sun-woo raised his voice once again. Then, the expressions of the men, most of whom knew Kim Sun-woo well since they had been here for quite a long time, changed in an instant.
"Fuck, let's do it!"
"Let's do it. Let's kill all the dog-like gangster bastards and save our families!"
The anger of the men, who were someone's father, son, older or younger brother, or husband, boiled over like a wildfire, and Kim Sun-woo quickly entered the armory with them. The men grabbed the guns and magazines they could see. However, Kim Sun-woo looked at the armory with cautious eyes, and soon, seeing one place, he ran toward it.
"Petty bastards. If you had this, you should have given it to us sooner."
Kim Sun-woo, with a deeply moved face, picked up an HK416, the firearm used by the South Korean Police Special Forces.
* * *
"Fire in bursts! Save your ammo!"
At Lee Seok-jin's shout as he entered the back gate of Golden Heights apartment, the soldiers calmed their excitement and continued their disciplined fire. Static.
- Rooftop occupation complete, Battalion Commander! 20 personnel have entered the designated apartment building.
To the report of Lieutenant Jeong, who had led 20 personnel into the pre-determined apartment building, Lee Seok-jin replied, "Good job! The K15s will fire once the bastards are perfectly within the kill zone!"
- Yes! Understood!
Lee Seok-jin had assigned four K15 light machine guns to the platoon that would occupy the rooftop with Lieutenant Jeong. 'Golden Heights' was a luxury apartment complex, so the distance between buildings was quite wide, but it was still within the effective range of the rifles, so if the gangsters fired at them from the rooftop, they would have no choice but to be hit. Therefore, to prepare for that and strike the bastards flocking to the back gate, occupying the rooftop of the building closest to here and pouring firepower from there was the obvious choice.
'All operations should be as simple as possible...'
Complex military operations had a high probability of failure. Especially in a battle taking place in this kind of environment, the 'timing' of each individual taking a set action at a set time was much more important than a sophisticated and detailed operational plan. But if that were as easy as it sounded, there would be no failed military operations in the world. Nevertheless, Lee Seok-jin was certain that this operation would succeed, especially that Lieutenant Jeong's troops would be able to 'go to the set rooftop at the set time' and finish their preparations. Because.
Tat-tat-tat-tat!
Flickering his flashlight weakly, Jun-ho, who had played the biggest role in Lieutenant Jeong's troops occupying the apartment rooftop in just over 10 minutes at the incredible speed he had seen at Paldang Station square, shouted, "I've received the radio!"
"Yes! Manager Park Cheol-woo's side has also gone to the main gate! I'll go too!"
"Yes! Mr. Lee Jun-ho! Don't get hurt!"
Jun-ho, who had played the biggest role in Lieutenant Jeong's troops occupying the apartment rooftop in just over 10 minutes, raised his hand once without a word and ran out as he was. Above such Jun-ho's head, a drone floating 100 meters in the sky monitored the entire situation with him at the center.
- Boss! If you turn the corner of the walking path 30 meters ahead, there are people!
Park Deok-cheol, who had taken on the role of operator because he wasn't used to such chaotic large-scale battles, relayed the situation without rest.
"Roger."
A reddish murderous intent swirled in the eyes of Jun-ho, who had pulled out his drawing knife. Now, it was time for slaughter again.