We Must Unite as One
It was a clear winter morning, the harsh winds and heavy snowfall of the previous night having vanished without a trace.
"Is there an empty spot there?"
"It's full here! Take it toward the gymnasium!"
Early in the morning, despite the freezing temperature of minus 3 degrees Celsius, the survivors at Gahyeon Elementary School were hard at work, their white breath billowing as they labored regardless of gender.
Hundreds of corpses, too many to count, were piled high in one corner of the schoolyard, and stretchers carrying more bodies were being moved incessantly.
"Ugh!"
"Blegh...!"
Many of them gagged repeatedly, but the survivors continued their work, their faces deathly pale.
"Oh, Yeong-jin! Oh my...!"
"Mom, Mom...! *Sob*!"
Those who discovered their family members among the countless bodies wailed in grief. Just a day ago, they would have clamped their hands over their mouths in terror, fearing the zombies might swarm them, but now that there was no such worry, people comforted and consoled one another.
However, those who didn't know exactly what had happened the night before, or those who hadn't yet grasped the situation, scanned their surroundings with fearful eyes.
"You don't have to look like that."
"Y-yes?"
"Over there."
A middle-aged man, who had been working while looking terrified and ready to bolt at any moment, turned his gaze toward where a nearby person was gesturing with their chin.
"......!"
The middle-aged man flinched as he saw a dark figure leaning against the railing on the roof of the main school building. Furthermore, his gaze caught something that looked like a tiny dot floating high in the distant sky.
"That's a drone. They said there are a couple more floating around besides that one. They’re watching the whole area, so if a zombie appears, they let us know right away."
"R-really?"
"Yeah. Even at dawn, the drone spotted dozens of zombies coming this way, and that person took them out with a gun. You know, *bang, bang*?"
"A real gun? But I didn't hear any gunshot sounds..."
"I don't know much about it either. I guess they must have used a silencer. And that person has several guns. They say they killed a ton of zombies with them. All those things over there were killed by that person and their friends."
"Whoa..."
The middle-aged man’s jaw dropped as he pointed to the zombie corpses laid out in neat rows in the corner of the schoolyard.
"Anyway, that person and their friends also took care of the gangsters who raided this place and killed all the zombies. Come on, let's hurry."
"Ah, yes. My apologies."
The middle-aged man hurriedly apologized and went back to loading and moving bodies onto the stretcher. However, his eyes kept glancing back at the figure in all-black clothing, who was still in a shooting stance on the rooftop.
***
Perhaps because there were so many people, the task of collecting and sorting the bodies was finished in just an hour.
- The residential area is also almost completely cleared. Jun-hyeok is on his way there with Song Ki-jun and a few representatives chosen from the people there.
"How is Jun-hyeok?"
- Brother, I'm really okay. It hurt like hell earlier, but after taking painkillers and using an ice pack, it just feels numb now.
When Jun-ho first heard that his brother had been hit by a pistol shot fired by Han Chang-sik, his heart had plummeted. But thanks to the Level 3+ tactical vest equipped with composite ballistic panels capable of stopping 7.62mm rounds, his brother was safe. Still, once today’s work was finished, he would need at least a week of rest.
"Good. Just don't overdo it."
- Dr. Choi did a remote diagnosis via camera and said it would be fine as long as I don't push myself. But he says I should come over quickly so he can take a look in person.
- Tell him I'll be there before lunch.
- Yep.
Jun-ho spoke while carefully watching the tablet displaying the footage captured by the drone currently hovering above the elementary school. "It's fine here, but are the zombies okay over there?"
- Yeah. There are absolutely no zombies in the residential and townhouse complex. I'm on my way there now, and there aren't any on the roads either.
- I killed a ton of them while charging the G1 and delivering air tanks twice last night. You can consider everything cleared except for the ones trapped inside houses or buildings.
After all, two G1 drones, each capable of firing 200 rounds at once, had been recharged and resupplied twice. Including what Jun-hyeok and Park Deok-cheol had killed, it was safe to assume they had eliminated nearly 1,000 zombies. Since Jun-ho had taken care of nearly 600 of them at Gahyeon Elementary School with the drone over the past two hours, it was practically the same as resolving 70 to 80 percent of the zombies in the Jung-dong area of Gahyeon-ri last night.
- That's what I think, and Akina’s judgment agrees. We assume the rest are trapped inside houses, right? I think the best move is to organize a Slayer Squad and take them out one by one.
"Right. Anyway, Yeong-su, keep monitoring, and if anything unusual happens, let me know immediately. I know you're tired, but hang in there a little longer."
- Hehe. Can I compare myself to you and Jun-hyeok? Anyway, the people at the shelter are all on standby, so we can head out the moment you say the word.
"Got it."
Jun-ho cut the connection and scanned the rooftop. Two G1 drones, positioned on the water tanks of the main building and the gymnasium respectively, were constantly rotating their muzzles, guarding the area within a 200-meter radius of Gahyeon Elementary School. When the sun had just risen, they had used tungsten rounds to take out zombies that wandered nearby or rushed out late after hearing the noise made by the survivors working. But as Yun Yeong-su had just said, it seemed the zombies that posed a threat in this vicinity had been wiped out; the G1 attack drones had stopped firing for nearly an hour, only occasionally rotating their muzzles in sync with the flight drone's wide-angle camera.
About five minutes later, a voice came through the earpiece again.
- Boss. Jun-hyeok and Song Ki-jun are arriving soon.
- Brother, I'm heading in now.
A moment later, as the men who had been guarding the school gate—already alerted by Jun-ho—flung the gate wide open, the Bionic 5 armored car passed through and slowly crossed the schoolyard. The survivors who had been finishing their work in the yard stopped in their tracks, startled, before scattering to the left and right like an ebbing tide. The armored car crossed the yard silently and came to a stop, and Jun-hyeok and Song Ki-jun stepped out.
Seeing Jun-hyeok and Song Ki-jun enter the main building under the gaze of over a hundred survivors, Jun-ho gathered his firearms and equipment and headed down from the roof.
***
Click.
As the door to what used to be the principal's office opened, the eyes of the people already inside turned toward the door in unison. Four men and one woman. The men appeared to be in their 40s to 60s, and the only woman was a young person around 30. Under the tense gazes of the five, Jun-ho, Jun-hyeok, and Song Ki-jun entered the office.
The survivors' representatives couldn't take their eyes off the brothers, who were armed with AR15s and KP9s while wearing identical black bike suits and tactical vests, as well as Song Ki-jun, who was armed with a crossbow and a machete while wearing the winter-grade grayish-brown Gore-Tex workwear and protective gear provided a month ago.
Step, step...
Jun-ho walked not to the empty seat of honor, but to the desk the principal had used, and sat on the edge of it. Jun-hyeok and Song Ki-jun stood to his left and right, as if acting as his bodyguards.
Clack.
"Nice to meet you all."
As Jun-ho slung his AR15 across his chest, the five people flinched. All of them had seen with their own eyes Jun-ho using that gun to shoot down the gangsters and zombies that had raided the elementary school. They had also clearly witnessed him using the large, dark knife in the sheath on his thigh and the dagger at his side to stab and split the heads of zombies. Even though he had saved them, they couldn't help but feel an instinctive fear not only of Jun-ho, who had displayed such terrifying combat prowess that it was hard to believe he was human, but also of the two other men with their unusual appearances.
"Are you five the representatives of the people here?"
"Y-yes, we are."
The man who appeared to be the eldest, a man in his 60s with graying hair peeking out from under his hat, answered.
"My name is Lee Jun-ho. These are my colleagues."
At Jun-ho's introduction, Jun-hyeok and Song Ki-jun, standing to his left and right, bowed their heads slightly in silence, and the survivor representatives hurriedly bowed their heads as well. Then, the man in his 60s wearing the hat spoke cautiously.
"I am Kim Seok-hwan. I am the former village chief of Gahyeon-ri."
"Yes, Village Chief Kim Seok-hwan."
Jun-ho knew Kim Seok-hwan. No, although this was his first time seeing him in person, he had heard about 'what' happened to Kim Seok-hwan before the regression. Originally, as the former village chief of Gahyeon-ri, he was a person who shouldn't have been able to talk to Jun-ho here. Because he would have died last night.
"I'm not the village chief anymore... Ah, that's not important right now. Anyway, first of all, I would like to express my gratitude to Mr. Lee Jun-ho first. Mr. Lee Jun-ho, thank you so much for saving the people here. I am sincerely grateful."
"Thank you."
"Thank you. Thank you so much, Mr. Lee Jun-ho."
As if to show that they were not people who lacked shame or manners, Kim Seok-hwan and the survivor representatives bowed to Jun-ho one by one, expressing their sincere gratitude. Jun-ho, having received their greetings calmly, looked around at them and said.
"First, perhaps some of you have guessed why I wanted to select representatives and have a conversation."
Then, Kim Seok-hwan stepped forward cautiously.
"By any chance... is there something you want from us? We do have some rice and flour. Um... Mr. Lee Jun-ho, I'm really sorry, but since we have so many people here, if you could just look past our situation..."
"I don't need food. I know that you don't have enough to eat yourselves."
"Ah..."
A look of relief washed over the faces of the survivor representatives.
"On the contrary, I have the intention to help you all."
"Y-yes...!?"
"As you know well, from last night until this dawn, I saved you from the attack of the gangsters who came down from the residential and townhouse complex, and from the zombies in this vicinity. Also..."
Jun-ho explained everything, starting from breaking the windows of the school cafeteria and warehouse to buy them time to warn and prepare, to the fact that he had helped the men fighting in the schoolyard escape safely to the villa next to the school, and finally, how he had dealt with the gangsters and the zombies that had swarmed the gymnasium, all appropriately polished.
"...And my colleagues struck the base of the gangsters who raided you."
"The, the residential and townhouse complex you mean?"
"Yes. These two here and others went there and took care of all the gangsters. We also killed almost all the zombies that were there. So, the people who were held captive there and the residents who were hiding nearby are all safe now."
"......!"
At the news that he had saved not only themselves but also the residents of the residential and townhouse complex, where at least 500 to 600 people lived, the survivor representatives widened their eyes in disbelief.
"W-wait a minute. Then, according to Mr. Lee Jun-ho, does that mean this Jung-dong area has become safe?"
"And those monsters are gone too?"
"Yes. I don't know the exact number, but we eliminated at least 1,000 zombies last night."
"Gasp!?"
"Oh my...!"
Kim Seok-hwan and the survivor representatives were struck with astonishment. Looking around at them, Jun-ho continued his words coldly.
"Of course, I cannot say it is one hundred percent safe. There might be groups of zombies trapped inside houses or buildings, or hiding somewhere. Furthermore... only this Jung-dong area has become a little safer; there are still many zombies in Sang-dong, where the apartment complexes are, and in Ha-dong down below. And besides those gangster bastards, there might be others who kill people and steal their food."
"Ah..."
The expressions of the survivor representatives darkened in an instant. That was right. The apocalypse, where monsters that ate people alive roamed free and trash who killed the same kind to rob them of what they had were rampant, was still ongoing.
"......"
"So."
The joy was brief; Jun-ho's calm voice reached the ears of the survivor representatives, who had immediately realized the cruel reality.
"Including you, the people who have survived here in Gahyeon-ri Jung-dong must unite as one."
"......!"