I'm Going to Kill Them All
"U-um, excuse me. I know it’s shameless of me to ask, but do you happen to have any water? I’m so thirsty…."
"……."
Jun-ho silently tossed a plastic water bottle to the man, who was casting a desperate, pleading look his way.
"Gah…!"
The man downed half the bottle in one go, wiped his mouth, and spoke again. "Thank you so much. But, um, could you please help me out?"
"Me?"
Although he was armed with an air rifle and a Commando Dagger, Jun-ho wasn't wearing his tactical gear today; he was dressed in black work clothes. He had deliberately taken off his helmet, making him look like nothing more than a survivor in a work uniform, so the man didn't seem to view him as a major threat.
"Y-yes. My wife and daughter were captured by those bastards earlier. I barely managed to escape on my own… *sob*!"
The man wiped his eyes repeatedly with his dirty sleeve. Jun-ho looked at him with a feigned expression of pity.
"I’m sorry to hear that, but I can’t help you. I’ll give you the water, so just go on your way. The other side of the bridge is my territory, so don’t come back this way. Goodbye."
Jun-ho turned away coldly. As the man wiped his tears, his eyes flickered, and his expression shifted in an instant.
Turning one's back on someone when it wasn't yet clear if they were friend or foe was a blatant violation of the "Apocalypse Survival Rules." In other words, Jun-ho’s current appearance made it easy for the man to judge him as a rookie who had luckily survived thanks to the air rifle.
"H-hey! Please! I’m begging you, help us!"
The man shouted loudly and knelt on the spot. "There are many others besides my wife and daughter who were dragged off by those guys! They have food and fuel there, too! If you save them, we’ll give it all to you!"
'You guys?'
It was just as he had expected. The man and the ones pretending to chase him were all in on it together, and it was clear they already knew Jun-ho wasn't alone.
"……!"
Jun-ho flinched as if genuinely surprised, stopped in his tracks, and turned around. "Food and fuel? How much do they have?"
"A-a lot. There are several drums of oil. There’s rice, ramen, and plenty of canned goods. Oh! And they have cows. A huge number of them!"
"Cows? You mean the 'moo-moo' kind?"
When Jun-ho showed significant interest, the man spoke even faster. "Yes, yes! The base where those guys are is a cattle farm. They must have wiped out the farm owner's family and taken it over. They have over a hundred cows roaming around; even if you only slaughter one a month, you can eat your fill."
If you cross the bridge and pass through the Yangseo Tunnel, you reach Yangpyeong-gun. And Yangpyeong-gun is adjacent to Hongcheon-gun, which is famous for its Hanwoo beef. While Hongcheon Hanwoo was particularly famous, Yangpyeong also had quite a few cattle farms.
"Hmm…."
The answer was essentially a foregone conclusion, but Jun-ho pretended to deliberate for a moment. Then, he asked the man cautiously, "Those guys back there, they have other partners, right? Does anyone have a gun?"
"N-no. They only carry knives, axes, and spears."
A blatant lie. But Jun-ho nodded with a look of slight relief. "I see. Then let’s do this. I’ll help you… by the way, what is your name?"
"I’m Kim Tae-su. I ran a pension in Yangseo-myeon."
"I’m Lee Jun-ho. Anyway, Mr. Kim Tae-su. You know where their base is and how many of them there are, right?"
"Yes, yes. I do."
"First, come with me and show me where it is. I’ll see it for myself before I decide."
"Let’s do that. Thank you so much. *Sob*…."
"Don't cry. I’m doing this because I need the supplies, too. Lead the way."
Jun-ho, who had feigned comfort for the man squeezing out tears, made Kim Tae-su walk in front.
Walking about ten meters behind Kim Tae-su in a ready-to-fire stance, Jun-ho spoke in a low voice.
"Designate the guy in front of me and the others hiding as hostile targets. Akina, monitor the guys inside the van. Assistant Manager Gu, keep your aim on that side."
- Confirmed.
- Understood.
The van where the two looters were hiding was about 200 meters from the SUV where Gu Jeong-mok was positioned. The effective range was tight, but with the AI’s targeting correction, it wouldn't be a problem. Soon, they approached a spot littered with various vehicles, including the van.
Jun-ho took a shooting stance, acting as if he were extremely tense, and moved forward while shifting the muzzle of his air rifle back and forth. Just as Kim Tae-su was about to pass the first sedan, which had crashed into the guardrail by the river:
- The hostile target inside the van has drawn a firearm. Lowering the vehicle window. Shooting angle: not yet clear.
Hearing Akina’s warning, Jun-ho shouted loudly. "Hey! Are there any zombies in that car over there?"
"What? Oh, no! There aren't. There weren't any when I ran away earlier, either!"
"Are you sure? Just in case, check one more time."
"A-alright."
Kim Tae-su peered into the vehicle, pretending to look inside. Jun-ho moved craftily, ensuring other cars were positioned between him and the van where the looters were hiding so they couldn't get a bead on him.
"There’s nothing! I checked, and there’s nothing!"
At one point, Kim Tae-su shouted loudly.
"Really? Are you sure there’s nothing?"
"Yes! I told you, there’s nothing!"
The moment Kim Tae-su shouted back with a hint of irritation, Jun-ho signaled Gu Jeong-mok and stepped to the side, firing his air rifle at the rear window of the van.
Thwip! Thud!
The Tungsten Pellet pierced the glass and embedded itself in the face of the looter, who had been frustrated because he couldn't get a clear shot at Jun-ho.
Thwip! Thwip!
Jun-ho fired two more shots at the other guy in the car, then ran with all his might.
"Argh! Aaaah!"
He sprinted past the terrified Kim Tae-su, who was in a panic from the sudden gunfire, and threw his body toward the rear window of the van, which was now riddled with spiderweb-like cracks from the tungsten pellets.
CRASH!
"Gah…?! Ugh!?"
Protecting his face with his forearm—which was reinforced with a hard plastic guard—Jun-ho smashed through the van’s window. He threw a punch at the looter, who was writhing in pain after being hit in the shoulder by a tungsten pellet.
CRUNCH!
With a sound of shattering bone, the guy’s nasal bone and one cheekbone were completely crushed. After clearing the van, Jun-ho stepped out and fired at the other guys hiding at the end of the bridge.
Thwip! Thwip! Thwip!
The distance was just over 100 meters, and since he had already pinpointed their locations via the drone, the bullets fired at the looters—who were hiding in the brush but not behind proper cover—hardly missed.
Having hit five out of six shots in an instant, Jun-ho slung his air rifle over his shoulder, drew his Commando Dagger, and sprinted again.
Slash, slash, slash, slash!
"Ugh… huff!?"
"Ack!"
As he closed the distance in under ten seconds, the looters who had been writhing in agony from their gunshot wounds were struck with terror. Jun-ho delivered a soccer kick to the face of the guy closest to him.
Thud!
The guy’s head twisted nearly 180 degrees, killing him instantly.
"Huuuh!?"
The moment another guy nearby, who had been bleeding profusely from a gunshot wound to the shoulder, stood up in surprise, Jun-ho closed the distance and slashed with his Commando Dagger.
Shhhk!
With a single stroke, the looter’s throat was cut halfway through, and he collapsed without even being able to scream. Jun-ho sprinted past him toward where the remaining looters had been hiding. But the other three were already dead, their foreheads and faces pierced by tungsten pellets.
"……."
After confirming the looters were dead, Jun-ho finally wiped the blood off his Commando Dagger with the clothes of one of the fallen men, turned around, and walked away.
"Ugh? Ughhh…."
Kim Tae-su, who had been sitting in the middle of the bridge, scooted backward on his buttocks as he saw Jun-ho walking toward him after finishing the massacre. His pants were soaked and soggy, not with sweat, but with the urine and feces he had involuntarily released.
Thud.
Kim Tae-su, pushed back by sheer terror, hit his head against the bumper of a car, ending his pointless flight.
"……."
"Ugh… ugh."
Jun-ho, who had been looking down at Kim Tae-su with cold eyes, finally spoke. "Is it true?"
"Ugh? W-what? Yes?"
"The cows. I’m talking about the cows. Are they really there?"
"Yes…?"
Even in his terror, Kim Tae-su was incredibly bewildered. Wouldn't it be normal to get angry first in a situation like this? Or, even if he wasn't going to kill him, shouldn't he be tortured to reveal where the others were or how many more there were? But the monster-like man in front of him acted as if none of that mattered. Feeling like he might have his throat slit by that terrifying blade at any moment, Kim Tae-su answered hurriedly.
"Y-yes, they are! The cows, the cows are really there!"
"How many?"
"A-about a hundred or more. We’ve eaten five or six so far, but there are still a l-lot left."
"Good. Get up and lead the way."
"Yes? Oh, yes, yes."
Kim Tae-su barely managed to stand. His legs were shaking uncontrollably, and his backside felt heavy with his own filth, but he didn't care and started walking. After about five or six steps:
"I’ll warn you one last time. If you try any more bullshit, you die. If you look back, you die."
"Yes! Yes!"
It was the first time he’d given such a warning, but Kim Tae-su just nodded frantically.
"Assistant Manager Gu, follow me while maintaining a distance of about 50 meters behind. You have the mini-drone I gave you, right? Send that into the tunnel."
- Ah, understood.
Listening to Gu Jeong-mok’s voice, which sounded somehow exhausted, Jun-ho followed Kim Tae-su toward the tunnel.
As expected, the tunnel was empty, save for a few abandoned vehicles; there were no zombies or people. It was clear that the guys he had just killed and their gang had already cleared it out and claimed it as their "territory."
After passing through the long tunnel and coming out the other side, Jun-ho followed Kim Tae-su off the highway and along a cracked country road. After passing a few seemingly empty houses and moving for another 20 minutes, Kim Tae-su stopped.
"I-it’s over there. If you go over that hill, there’s the cattle farm."
"Really? That doesn't look big enough to raise over a hundred cows."
"I-it’s true. This land and the mountain all belong to the farm owner. After the world changed like this, we just let all the cows loose. They graze on their own outside and come back in when the sun sets."
"……."
Jun-ho nodded silently, having heard similar stories before. "Keep leading."
"Yes, yes. B-but, if you go over that hill, you’ll see the barn and the owner’s house right away… there are always a few people there…."
"Just go up until we can’t be seen."
"Y-yes, sir."
Kim Tae-su took shaky steps again, and Jun-ho checked his air rifle and the air tank he had already swapped out, speaking in a low voice.
"Assistant Manager Gu, bypass through the forest over there and find a shooting position. Be careful, as you won't have drone reconnaissance support."
- Yes, don't worry.
Watching Gu Jeong-mok quickly pass the field and enter the dense forest of trees and brush, Jun-ho quickened his pace and stuck close behind Kim Tae-su.
"Don't make a sound and listen carefully."
"Hic!"
When Jun-ho’s ice-cold voice came from right behind him, Kim Tae-su froze in place.
"From now on, I’m going to kill everyone in that farm. So, I’m asking just in case: are your family members really inside there?"
"……!!!"
For a moment, Kim Tae-su’s shoulders shook so violently that he staggered, and then he collapsed to the ground.
"Kuh-huh…! H-huff, huff…."
"……."
Although Kim Tae-su had been in league with the looters and tried to lure him out with lies, it seemed that at least one thing he said had been the truth.