Lucky Break
"D-damn it... Ugh, gurgle."
The leader of the group, a man in his early twenties who had plastered his hair down with gel or wax even in the middle of the apocalypse, collapsed after a blade pierced his chest diagonally for over a hand's breadth. It was easy to finish off the others, who couldn't even stand properly after being blinded by the flashbang followed by the tactical light. Jun-ho, thinking that he would often have to fight like this when dealing with 'humans' inside buildings depending on the situation, flicked his machete, which was stained with blood and gore, to clean it off.
"......"
Since this was where the top dogs lived, it seemed there were no other threats besides these four. Still, he had to check every room, including the bathroom, so Jun-ho swept through the partially open interior quickly but thoroughly. After finishing his check of the living room and kitchen, he stood before the only closed door: the master bedroom.
"Can you check the master bedroom with the drone?"
Hold on. Uh... I think there are people in there? Two in the corner by the window? No. Three of them are huddled together. Judging by their build, they look like women?
At Yun Yeong-su's words, Jun-ho kicked the doorknob. CRASH! The locked door flew open with a roar.
"Aaaah!"
"P-please, spare us. Please."
"We were wrong! Please, please spare us!"
The three women huddled together on the large bed by the window were terrified. No, looking closer, it was one adult and two girls who looked like high school students. "W-we were dragged here. It's the truth. Please, please..."
"Spare us. Sob. Huuuuh..."
As the two young girls sobbed, tears and snot running down their faces, the only adult woman, who looked to be in her early twenties, stepped in front of them and said, "I-it's true, we were d-dragged here. They're just st-students."
"......"
Jun-ho silently observed the three. While they were certainly quite dirty and disheveled, they were dressed in casual clothes. In particular, the two girls were wearing the wide-legged, thin gray sweatpants and black-and-white Adidas t-shirts commonly worn by female students their age. If they just put on hats and masks, anyone would see them as ordinary local students heading to an academy or a study room.
"Huuuuh... Sob! Mom..."
"Waaaaah..."
Seeing that their pants were pulled down to their hips and their tops were torn or stretched out, it was clear they had been moments away from being violated by the bastards who had just died. Jun-ho lowered the machete he had been pointing at them.
"Tell me where you were dragged from and how."
"W-we were hiding in the academy's study room. Some boys who were there with us said there was lots of food here. They said they wanted to join, so..."
"P-Park Sang-bum, that bastard, he sold us out! That crazy son of a bitch, he should've just gone himself, but he told them we were hiding... Sob, sob."
From their reaction, Jun-ho could piece together the situation. While they were a minority, there were indeed 'victims' who had been forcibly dragged here like this. Of course, none of the bastards he killed today were victims. Especially with women, you could tell immediately by whether they were wearing makeup or how they were dressed.
"Don't come out; stay in this house. I'll be back later. Wash your faces and put your clothes on properly."
"Y-yes!"
"Th-thank you, thank you so much. Sob..."
Jun-ho left the three, who were thanking him as if they were about to bow even while trembling and crying. As he walked out, he suddenly turned his head and said, "Oh, there are corpses of the guys who lived here in front of the entrance. Be careful not to step on them when you go to the bathroom."
"...Y-yes, yes."
Seeing Jun-ho's attire, which would have originally been black but had already turned dark red, and his machete still glistening with blood, the three gulped.
***
All fifty or so delinquent thugs were dead. Except for the ones holding out in Room 301 with the front door locked. Jun-ho briefly considered just forcing the door open, but he thought of an easier way.
"Jun-hyeok, shoot the air rifle and break all the windows in Room 301."
Got it.
Though he wondered what his brother was trying to do, Jun-hyeok followed his instructions and shot the air rifle, shattering all the windows of Room 301. The sound was quite loud, but most of the zombies near the mansion had already been dealt with by the thugs, and Jun-hyeok had killed the rest with his air rifle that day, so there were no particular dangers. Jun-ho wrapped the thugs' clothes around the baseball bats and iron pipes they had been carrying and soaked them thoroughly in the gasoline from the fuel tank used by the top dogs in Room 302. Then, after lighting them, he threw them into the windows of Room 301 and tossed the remaining fuel tank through the broken living room window as well.
Wow, strike!
Since two or three improvised torches had been thrown into each window, the window area of Room 301 was blazing within minutes. It was certain that the fire would quickly spread throughout the entire room. Sure enough, less than five minutes later, the door to Room 301 opened, and the guys inside came bolting out, coughing like crazy.
"Cough! Cough!"
"Kueee... Kuek!"
Jun-ho, who had been waiting by the stairs wearing a mask, struck down the guys popping out like cockroaches hit with insecticide one by one with his machete. And just as he raised his machete toward the last guy, who was crawling out with great difficulty...
"Aah! N-no!"
The woman in her early twenties, whom he had clearly told to stay inside, came out the front door and shouted, "He was dragged here like us! Yeong-jun!? Yeong-jun, are you okay?"
"Cough, cough! S-Seul-gi teacher? Cough! Ugh! Ughhh..."
A young-looking boy wearing horn-rimmed glasses similar to Yun Yeong-su's, his hands and face covered in soot, vomited while lying face down. But Jun-ho was still aiming his machete at him. The woman called Seul-gi quickly wrapped her arms around the boy and pleaded pitifully, "Pl-please. Yeong-jun is an honor student. He's a student who came to the academy to study from the morning of the holiday. He was really dragged here too. Please. D-don't kill him."
"...Lift your face."
At Jun-ho's words, Seul-gi quickly lifted the boy's horn-rimmed glasses. Looking closely, the frames were broken and taped together, and the area around his mouth was torn and swollen. Since it was clearly a sign of beating, Jun-ho finally lowered his machete.
"Bring the girls out too. The fire might spread to 302, so bring them down quickly."
"Yes! Yes! Thank you! Yeong-jun, wait a second."
Seul-gi, who had bowed her head several times, left the horn-rimmed boy and went into 302.
***
Whoosh... Leaving behind the mansion that was the only place in the darkness spewing red and yellow flames and black smoke, Jun-ho returned the way he came with the four victims and survivors. The two girls and one boy were students at the same high school, and the only adult, Lee Seul-gi, was a student on leave working a part-time job as an assistant teacher at the academy. The three high schoolers were honor students who went to the academy early in the morning even on holidays, and Lee Seul-gi had also gone to the academy at dawn despite it being a holiday to study for a certification, so she had met the apocalypse there.
"Huff, huff..."
"Hang in there, Yeong-jun. Does it hurt a lot?"
"I'm okay. I can endure it. Huff..."
Even while sweating like rain, Oh Yeong-jun limped up the mountain road, and Lee Seul-gi, who was supporting Oh Yeong-jun—who was thin but of average height—looked just as exhausted. The other two girls looked okay, but because of Oh Yeong-jun and Lee Seul-gi, their pace had slowed. 'Tsk.'
Jun-ho clicked his tongue inwardly and said, "Hey, get on my back."
"Y-yes?"
"I said get on my back. We'll be out all night because of you. What are you doing?"
"Ah, yes..."
Jun-ho, who had easily hoisted Oh Yeong-jun—who was thin but probably weighed at least 55 kilograms—onto his back, climbed the mountain road faster than the two high school girls and Seul-gi.
"Whoa..."
"That's insane..."
Even in this situation, the three surprised people widened their eyes. "Aren't you coming quickly? Should I just leave you behind?"
"N-no! We're coming!"
"We're sorry!"
They immediately bowed and followed Jun-ho diligently.
***
Somehow, every time you go out lately, boss, you pick up people.
"No. I'm not picking these ones up."
Huh? Then where?
"Hanalreum Nursing Home."
Aha.
Whirrr... The multi-purpose electric vehicle, carrying the three masked male and female high school students and the assistant teacher in the cargo bed, quickly passed the shelter entrance. The vehicle, which had backtracked along the path connected to the secret passage behind the shelter mountain after crossing the stream inside the closed tunnel, exited the secret passage leading to the industrial road and headed toward the relay station. About 10 minutes later, the vehicle arrived at the side road leading to the nursing home, and Jun-ho had the four people get off and removed their masks.
"Ugh..."
Because they had been riding in the electric vehicle, which had poor ride quality and left them unable to see, for nearly 20 minutes, all four of them were deathly pale.
"Here, take one of these each."
Jun-hyeok, feeling sorry for the four, handed them each a 500ml bottle of water, and they emptied them all at once like starving people.
"Then everyone follow me. It's only a short walk. Hyeok, you wait here."
"Okay."
"Y-yes, yes."
Honestly, they wanted to rest a little, but the four, having witnessed the massacre Jun-ho had committed, were still trembling and followed his instructions, moving their feet with difficulty. When they had walked for about 10 minutes like that. Rustle. The moment the four realized they heard some sound. WHOOSH! Jun-ho pulled something from his belt and threw it in the direction of the sound with such speed that they couldn't even see it properly.
Kieee...! Something appeared on the mountain path, leaping and bounding while letting out a horrific scream.
"Aaaah!?"
"Hick!"
While the four were startled out of their wits, the creature, which was thrashing about with a throwing knife buried deep below its neck, was a water deer. Kieee! Keee! The water deer thrashed about like crazy for about 10 seconds, then limped and collapsed. Jun-ho approached it, pulled out the knife, and examined it carefully.
"It's a full-grown one."
If they cooked it as a side dish, 10 people could eat for three or four meals. If they soaked it in salt water or vinegar to draw out the blood and stewed it in soybean paste or soju, the gamey smell would be removed, so they could eat it quite deliciously. Of course, not at our shelter, but at Hanalreum Nursing Home. Jun-ho took out some aluminum foil meant for maintaining body temperature in emergencies from a pouch attached to his tactical belt, wrapped the water deer carcass in it, and slung it over his shoulder. Then he said to the four, who were watching him with their mouths agape.
"You're lucky. You guys can eat meat tomorrow."
Seeing them nod with their eyes wide and mouths open, it seemed they were quite happy too. Unaware that it wasn't because of the water deer meat, but because they were shocked by the near-supernatural knife-throwing skill he had just demonstrated. Jun-ho, feeling a bit better about being able to provide fresh meat instead of just handing over 'burdens' to Hanalreum Nursing Home, took a light step forward.