Please, Help Me!
"This is Outpost 1. It’s the very first one my brother built."
"The location is excellent. You can see the road and the village perfectly from here. Is that Gahyeon-ri over there?"
Yoon Seol-hee, who had arrived at the outpost adjacent to the secret passage near the industrial road under Jun-hyeok's guidance, asked as she looked down at the village in the distance.
"No, that’s Samjeong-ri. There are about a hundred households, I think? That way is Gahyeon-ri. This is the lower village."
"Ah…."
It certainly felt more developed, with many villas and mansions of three stories or more, along with buildings that looked like factories or warehouses.
"My brother built this here because it allows us to monitor both the industrial road and the lower village of Gahyeon-ri with absolute certainty."
"He has an incredible eye for these things."
"It’s hard to see this place from the road, right?" Kim Ji-min, who had come along, asked, and Jun-hyeok nodded.
"Yes. We’ve even camouflaged it thoroughly, so unless someone examines it in extreme detail with binoculars, they won't spot it."
"But it’s clearly visible to the naked eye from here, and using that makes it even clearer, doesn't it?"
"Exactly."
As Yoon Seol-hee pointed to the high-performance PTZ Camera installed in the outpost, Jun-hyeok nodded. Then, Kim Ji-min, who had been checking the monitor screen, asked a question.
"The other monitor seems to be showing standard CCTV footage. Where did you install these?"
There were two monitors in the outpost; one was dedicated to the PTZ camera, and the other showed a four-way split CCTV feed.
"There’s a secret passage on the industrial road and a closed tunnel at the corner down there. That’s the front of it. The other two show the paths leading to this outpost."
"Whoa…."
"It’s perfect. Are the turrets linked to the cameras?"
"Yes. There are three of them, and the effective range is about 200 meters. One is for defending this outpost, and the other two are installed to cover the firing angles of the tunnel and the industrial road."
"Wow! This is seriously insane."
"I see."
While Kim Ji-min was openly astonished, Yoon Seol-hee nodded calmly. However, she was genuinely shocked as well. This was military-grade—no, it was even better. Even the front-line barbed wire fences had only started actively introducing drones linked with CCTV a few years ago.
'He did all of this….'
Thinking of Jun-ho, who had planned and executed all of this, Yoon Seol-hee couldn't help but click her tongue inwardly. She had already heard the story about his 'precognitive dreams.' But who in the world could earn tens of billions of won in less than three years, and then, without wasting a single penny, pour it all into building a shelter and preparing things like this? Not to mention traveling to the U.S. personally to receive tactical training and hone his combat skills.
"Then, that is…."
Just then, Kim Ji-min pointed to the corner of the outpost with eyes full of curiosity.
'Right. There were those, too.'
Yoon Seol-hee, who looked toward that direction, couldn't help but nod in admiration again.
"Yep. Those are our shelter’s pride and joy—the attack drones."
Looking at the two drones waiting in one part of the outpost, Jun-hyeok puffed out his chest proudly. While other outposts only had turrets installed, he had brought one G1 and one A1 Drone to Outpost 1, which was the furthest from the shelter and the only one adjacent to the road. If anything were to happen in this vicinity, the turrets and drones would buy time until combat personnel arrived.
"But in my opinion, unless hundreds of people launch a surprise attack, I don't think they’ll be able to break through the drones and turrets."
"Hmm…."
Yoon Seol-hee recalled her days in the Special Forces and imagined a situation where she and her team members were capturing this outpost. She then spoke to Jun-hyeok.
"It’s certain that even if a Special Forces team attacked this place, they would suffer significant damage. First of all, it’s difficult to pinpoint the turret locations, and those flying drones would be a massive headache."
"And you can't even hear them, right? You’d have to know where they’re firing from to do anything about it. It’s truly insane."
"That’s right, isn't it?"
Jun-hyeok, his shoulders puffing up even more, pointed to a building on the PTZ camera screen and continued.
"But the effective range of the turret installed above the tunnel only reaches up to here. So, we need to install a turret on this building today."
It was the very villa where one of the safe houses Jun-ho had built in the past was located. Yoon Seol-hee examined the villa, the aerial map of the vicinity, and the real-time footage sent by the reconnaissance drone currently in the sky, alternating between them.
"We should install it so that crossfire is possible with the turret above the tunnel. Then, when a situation breaks out, we can go out through the secret passage on the industrial road and move like this…."
"Oh? A three-sided encirclement?"
"Yes. Anyone who comes in front of the tunnel will be attacked from three directions."
"Whoa! As expected of you, Noona, you’re on another level."
"I’m not 'Noona'… *sigh*, anyway, let’s hurry."
"Yep."
The three soon left the outpost and went down to where the multi-purpose electric vehicle was waiting.
"No, I’m serious! When I was in high school, I skipped academy and went all the way to Gwangalli just to see Blossom…."
Jun-hyeok clicked his tongue at Baek Su-ho, who was spitting as he talked to the Blossom members.
"Su-ho, Su-ho. Stop talking nonsense and get ready to go, man. Do you want me to tell Seul-gi?"
"Ack!"
Baek Su-ho, startled, laughed sheepishly and said, "Hey, Hyung, you liked Blossom too, didn't you? My sister knows it too, right?"
"Is there a man in South Korea who didn't like Blossom? Oh, wait, there is. My brother."
At Jun-hyeok’s words, the Blossom members, who had been giggling, widened their eyes.
"Really? Jun-ho Oppa didn't like us?"
"Well, it’s not that he didn't like you, he just didn't have any particular interest. It wasn't just Blossom; ever since he was in school, he strangely had no interest in celebrities."
"Ah…."
Yoo Ji-hye, the youngest member of Blossom who was still a minor as her birthday hadn't passed yet, asked, nodding as if it were a relief.
"But where did Jun-ho Oppa go? When is he coming back?"
"He went quite far away for some work, but he’ll probably be back in a few days. Maybe even tomorrow."
"Ah, he must be doing some difficult work again."
"I’m worried…."
Recalling the work Jun-ho did when he came to the resort and what he did in Deokso, the Blossom members looked pitiful, assuming he was going off to fight while risking his life again. However, Jun-hyeok, sitting in the driver's seat of the multi-purpose electric vehicle, smirked.
"It probably won't be that this time. It’s not even that difficult, so he’s probably having an easy time. Alright, let’s go."
Since he had been told that most of the route leading to the lower North Han River and Paldang Lake had already been cleared, Jun-hyeok started the engine without worrying about his brother at all.
* * *
"Hyung! Over here! Look at this!"
Park Deok-cheol, who had been keeping his guard up while constantly watching the surveillance drone screen, raised his voice.
"Yeah?"
Jun-ho, who had been helping with the cleanup of the work installing repeaters on the streetlights on the Bukhangang Bridge and setting up turret boxes underneath them, hurried over.
"……!?"
The moment Jun-ho narrowed his eyes while looking at the tablet screen, Akina’s voice followed through his earphone as if she had been waiting.
Anomaly detected. Personnel presumed to be human are approaching from the direction of the Yangseo 4 Tunnel on the Bukhangang Bridge.
On the screen, a person was indeed seen just coming out of the tunnel and running toward the Bukhangang Bridge. But.
"…Huh? What is this again?"
Gu Jeong-mok, who had been looking at the tablet together, widened his eyes and looked at Jun-ho.
"It looks like they’re being chased, doesn't it?"
"That’s how it looks."
Jun-ho examined the screen where the chase was taking place with sunken eyes. About 50 meters behind the person who had come out of the tunnel first, five men were chasing them.
All targets are armed. No firearms detected. Distance approximately 430 meters.
"What should we do?"
At Gu Jeong-mok’s words, Jun-ho looked at the bridge. On the other side of the bridge, about 20 vehicles were standing in disarray, having collided or slammed into railings or median strips. Because of that, they wouldn't be able to see their group from over there right away.
"Deok-cheol, Mr. Song Ki-jun. Take the people who were working and go back the way we came. Deputy Gu, wait for the shot behind that SUV over there."
"Yes sir!"
"Will you be alright? Wouldn't it be better if I stayed with you?"
Song Ki-jun, who was also the person in charge of the Gahyeon-ri Search and Destroy Squad, asked, and Jun-ho shook his head.
"No. Just me and Deputy Gu are enough. And this… it might be a bit dangerous."
"Ah… anyway, I understand. Let’s go, everyone."
Since it was clear that Jun-ho’s mention of 'dangerous' referred to them, not himself, Song Ki-jun immediately agreed and hurried back the way they had come with the others.
"Ready."
Jun-ho, who had nodded to Gu Jeong-mok, who was resting his modified air rifle on the hood of the SUV, said in a low voice.
"Akina. Lower the drone altitude and scan the vehicles in front of us with thermal imaging one more time."
Confirmed. Thermal reaction detected. Two individuals are waiting inside a 2015 Orance van. Normal body temperature. They are human.
"…I knew it."
Jun-ho muttered a meme line to himself. There were about 20 vehicles on the Bukhangang Bridge, but there wasn't a single zombie. Of course, there was a high possibility that there were zombies inside the vehicles, but since the closest car was over 200 meters away from the point where his group was trying to install the repeaters, cameras, and turrets, he had left them alone without dealing with them. Besides, unless they made a loud noise, the chance of them being detected was low, and leaving the zombies in the cars on the other side of the bridge was useful as a 'biological alarm.' Because if someone came running like this, the zombies in the cars would definitely pop out.
But that didn't happen. Because.
"It’s a classic tactic. It’s been a long time."
Jun-ho, who muttered in a low voice, passed by the SUV where Gu Jeong-mok was waiting to fire and said to him.
"Deputy Gu. Keep the radio channel open. When I give the signal, fire immediately. The code word is… 'It’s right here'."
"Yes? Ah, yes."
Although he was curious about what it meant, Gu Jeong-mok nodded for now. Jun-ho, carrying the modified air rifle, headed in the direction where the man and his pursuers were running.
300 meters entry. High probability that Master Lee Jun-ho has been spotted.
"Yeah. I can see them too."
Seeing the man approaching from afar, Jun-ho stopped in his tracks as if he were surprised to see him. And after performing a look of confusion as he turned around, he then took a stance of aiming with his air rifle as if he had made a decision, and slowly moved forward.
200 meters entry. The pursuers have also confirmed Master Lee Jun-ho.
"Please, help me…! Help me!"
Hearing the desperate cry of the fleeing man, Jun-ho raised his voice while approaching in a shooting stance.
"Freeze! If you come any closer, I’ll shoot!"
"Do, don't shoot! Please, help me! Those guys behind me… please!"
The man had already entered within 100 meters, and the five pursuers who had been chasing him stopped in their tracks as if surprised by the air rifle Jun-ho was holding. The distance to them was roughly 110 meters. It was well within the effective range of the modified air rifle, and while he could hit a bullseye at this distance, *Pa-ang! Pa-ang!* Jun-ho intentionally missed. He made sure the bullets embedded in the ground between the fleeing man and the pursuers.
"Yikes!"
"G-gun…!"
The scream was from the fleeing man, and the latter was the shout of one of the pursuers. And as if they were truly surprised and terrified, they scurried back the way they had come. Meanwhile, the fugitive ran breathlessly to within a stone's throw of where Jun-ho was.
"Do, don't shoot! Help me! Please!"
"If you come any closer, I’ll shoot! Stop!"
"Yes, yes! Do, just don't shoot!"
The man, who looked to be in his mid-to-late 30s, was in a pathetic state. He was drenched in sweat, and the clothes he was wearing were ragged. Although he was holding a short, one-meter-long spear made by attaching a kitchen knife to a pole, anyone could see he was a survivor who had barely survived after suffering all sorts of hardships in the apocalypse. However.
"Drop your weapon and come here slowly!"
"Ah, I understand. Thank you so, so much for helping me."
The regressor, who was in his second round of the apocalypse, could tell at a glance that the man approaching with a terrified face was not a 'typical' survivor.
'No bag, no secondary weapon. And the dirt on those clothes and shoes.'
If you wear the same clothes and shoes for a long period, they never have dirt and dust on them like that. Those were clearly traces of dirt applied just moments ago. As if to make himself look like a pitiful survivor who had been running away from looters after suffering all sorts of hardships. Why would he do such a thing?
The pursuing personnel have moved behind the vehicles at the end of the bridge. They are hiding. The individuals inside the van have started to move. Both are armed. One is in possession of a firearm. They are all in cahoots, and they intend to lure other survivors in this manner, murder them, and then loot them.