Nuisances and Villains
The three of them had been lying under a parking lot wall for about ten minutes, launching mini drones to monitor their surroundings. Finally deciding it was safe, they slipped away from the area.
"To think we couldn't even make it to Meolmoe Intersection for nearly a month..."
Meolmoe Intersection was about a hundred meters away from Sosa Station, and a little over three hundred meters in a straight line from the parking lot where they had just been hiding.
"At least we made it past the Community Center," Han Ah-reum said, her eyes scanning their surroundings restlessly as they walked. "Seriously, if it weren't for the ones on the roads and in the cars... Why are there so many zombies out here instead of inside the buildings?"
"I think they're Oego Nobi—out-of-house slaves—sent out by an Alpha."
At Choi Hyun-woo's words, Han Ah-reum's eyes went wide. "That many of them?"
"Yeah. It probably keeps half of them in the building it occupies and sends the other half outside, rotating them."
"Crazy... How is a damn zombie so smart?"
"Hyung-nim told us, didn't he? They're as smart as, if not smarter than, the highly cunning predators you see in animal documentaries. This is basic for them."
"Wait, there are actually animals that do that?"
"Yeah. I saw on a documentary that wolves and hyenas send out scouts to monitor and lure prey. We have to assume Alphas are the same."
"I agree," Kim Tae-young added. "They send some outside to watch for humans or movement. Once someone steps into their territory, they pounce. They're incredibly smart."
"Sigh..."
Han Ah-reum took off her helmet briefly, scratched her short hair, and sighed before putting it back on. "Is that why the military couldn't do anything?"
"Most likely. They say Alphas can communicate with each other, right? Just driving tanks all the way here is hard enough. But even if they do, if a few Alphas let them pass for a few hundred meters and then mobilize their entire horde to ambush them, there's no way out."
At those words, Han Ah-reum recalled the "Busan Incident" video Choi Hyun-woo had found on a PC in a house.
It was filmed by someone living in a high-rise officetel along the road, showing a military unit passing through the outskirts of Busan in armored vehicles and military trucks. The poster's voice, which had cheered quietly at the sight of the soldiers, turned into despairing sobs in just five minutes.
Because of the abandoned cars and debris from helicopter attacks, the military unit couldn't speed up and had to move slowly. Within five minutes of entering the downtown area lined with shops, mixed-use apartments, and officetels—having traveled less than five hundred meters—they were completely wiped out by zombies pouring in from both sides of the road.
The wall of fire from rifles and heavy weaponry was incredibly powerful at first, but there was a limit when zombies swarmed by the thousands from all directions. Gaps inevitably formed, and once one spot was breached, it collapsed like dominoes.
Of course, the soldiers inside the armored vehicles, rather than the trucks, were safe initially. But once the road was blocked, they were trapped with nowhere to go. They could only hold out in the vehicles for three or four days at most. Thus, a force of seven to eight hundred soldiers in about thirty vehicles was literally "annihilated"—not as a figure of speech, but in reality—by the zombies controlled by several Alphas.
"And there's at least one or two of those Alphas for every thousand people," Choi Hyun-woo said. "Even if a lot of them have died by now, we have to assume there are still about two to three hundred in Bucheon alone. Even if we run our hope circuits to the absolute maximum, there are at least a hundred."
These real monsters controlled at least dozens, if not hundreds, of zombies each. In other words, in Bucheon alone, at least twenty to thirty thousand, and potentially over a hundred thousand zombies were under the control of Alphas, hunting for survivors. Of course, these were all estimates, but the three of them, having read Jun-ho's notebook, believed that about ten percent of Bucheon's population had become zombies controlled by Alphas.
"At least it's a relief that Alphas don't always get along. Ha, they really are just like wild beasts, just like Jun-ho said."
Wild beasts do not tolerate intruders in their territory, even if they are of the same species or bloodline. Alphas were the same. They would even kill and eat other Alphas, taking over the zombies controlled by the loser. Like social animals that form packs, they sometimes cooperated and fought together, but at other times, they fought and killed each other.
And because of this characteristic of Alphas...
"It looks like the Alphas are waging war in the stretch from Sosa Station to Bucheon Station, right?"
"Yeah. Plus, the survivors over there are mixed in, making it a complete mess."
The three of them thought they might find an unexpected opportunity.
"Wow. That Bucheon MZ Family Gang or whatever they're called. Is that why those gangsters had such an easy time at Bucheon Station?"
"Probably. Anyway, let's head home for today. Starting tomorrow, let's move into the building, stay there for a few days, and keep monitoring with the drone. I think the Alphas will make a move in a few days. What do you think, Coach?"
"Hmm. I agree," Kim Tae-young replied. "It'd be best to pack about a week's worth of food and water from home and head to the building. That way, we can use the drone to see all the way to Sosa Station."
The "building" Choi Hyun-woo and Kim Tae-young referred to was the Bucheon Urban Integrated Control Center across the street from the Bucheon Sports Complex. It was about twice as tall as the standard apartments right behind it. At first, the three of them hadn't even thought of going there. A building of that scale would surely have at least hundreds of zombies.
However, while the Urban Integrated Control Center looked fine on the outside, it was actually unfinished. It was scheduled for completion and occupancy in the second half of 2025. Because it was a government office, there was no one inside during the holiday weekend when the apocalypse began.
Having discovered this by chance while passing by several times, the three of them prepared thoroughly and entered the center. After scouting almost all day, checking every floor where doors were open or could be opened, they confirmed there were no zombies or humans inside. Since then, they had been using the top floor and the rooftop as a forward observation post or safe house.
"If only those apartment complexes weren't right next to it, it would be great to just move our base here."
"That's the catch."
It was the tallest building in the area and completely empty, making it a great place to live, but the fatal flaw was that apartment complexes and houses were only dozens of meters away.
"Let's bring the air rifle and crossbow too."
"Got it."
The three of them steeled their resolve. Some might call them foolish for roaming around outside when they could just hunker down in a safe house. But they desperately wanted to save their families and those who were as precious to them as family. Even Jun-ho, who was practically a passing acquaintance, had left behind massive preparations for their survival. They felt that doing nothing for their own families would make them less than human.
"How far along is the progress?"
"We've completed work up to Defensive Line 5. We plan to wrap up 6 and 7 by tomorrow."
Five days had passed since that day. It was morning, and Song Ki-jun answered Jun-ho, who had visited the elementary school. Kim Seok-hwan, the former village head of Gahyeon-ri who was accompanying Song Ki-jun, chimed in.
"We've finished searching most of the houses and buildings along the national highway. We rescued about fifty more people. And just as you said, there were three children who survived all alone after their parents died."
"Good work. How is the condition of the rescued people?"
"Don't even ask. They haven't eaten or slept properly... Sigh, at least one in three is on the verge of a mental breakdown."
One of the common misconceptions people who consume apocalyptic media have is that food and health will be the biggest issues when the apocalypse hits. Of course, that's not wrong. Food, health, and energy are indeed the most crucial elements. But an equally big, if not bigger, issue is mental state—psychological health.
Even someone who enjoys horror movies will lose their mind if they are forced to watch gore or real-life massacre videos and photos twenty-four hours a day for months. But what if a real-life situation far worse than those videos is happening inside or right outside their own home? What if they can't stop hearing the screams even if they close their eyes? Moreover, what if they could fall into the same fate at any moment?
They gradually lose their sanity, and most eventually go mad. It wasn't for nothing that survivors who had managed to hold out for a month or two after the outbreak frequently took their own lives.
"Please take good care of them. Trying to force comfort on them will only backfire. Just make sure they go for walks twice a day. It's also a good idea to pair them up with gentle dogs or cats that are used to human contact."
"Oh, really?"
"Yes. If possible, have them walk around when the kids are playing or when people are working outside. It'll make them feel like they're back in their daily routine from before the outbreak."
Jun-ho's instruction to rescue children wasn't just out of adult responsibility or humanity. When normal adults see children surviving in a world like this, they see "hope" alongside responsibility. Of course, there were selfish people who didn't care about anyone else, whether child or adult. But Jun-ho would weed those people out eventually. For nine out of ten people, living alongside children and animals would slowly but surely heal their mental wounds.
"In a month or two at the latest, they'll probably be the ones asking if there's any work they can do."
"Right, that's how it should be. Even in a world like this, the living must go on living."
"Yes. Anyway, it'd be best to clear out everything inside the defensive lines before the New Year, so let's push a little harder."
"Ah, come to think of it, there are only a few days left of this year. Good grief, it's already going to be 2025..."
"Indeed. Who would have thought 2024 would end like this? For the world to fall apart so completely..."
"I know. Sigh..."
Song Ki-jun and Kim Seok-hwan exchanged bittersweet looks. Jun-ho spoke calmly to them.
"Regardless, we should have rice cake soup on New Year's Day."
"......!?"
"R-rice cake soup? Where would we get the rice cakes for that? We're short on rice, and where would we even find meat..."
"I have plenty of rice cakes."
He had hundreds of kilograms of rice cakes vacuum-sealed, placed in airtight containers, and frozen.
"What...?"
"Would a hundred kilograms of rice cakes be enough, including the share for The First Apartments? I'll also give you a generous forty kilograms of beef. Eggs... might be a bit tight, but I can still give you about two hundred. I'm sure you have plenty of soy sauce and garlic here."
With over twenty tons of rice in The Shelter alone, and the Nonghyup Warehouse in Yeongho-ri waiting to be raided soon, rice would be overflowing. There was absolutely nothing to worry about until next year, when the Gahyeon-ri survivors would properly farm and harvest.
"Wait, you actually have all of that?"
"I do."
"Ha, haha..." Kim Seok-hwan let out a bewildered chuckle. Jun-ho turned his gaze from him to Song Ki-jun.
"Bring the residents of The First Apartments to Gahyeon Elementary School on New Year's morning. Distinctions like Sang-dong or Jung-dong don't mean anything anymore. And if possible, before spring comes..."
"You want us to move over here, right? Leaving only the essential personnel behind."
Jun-ho nodded at Song Ki-jun's quick-witted response.
"Yes. Though of course, we'll have to clear out Edu Town first."
Jun-ho looked in the direction of The First Apartments and Edu Town, and the other two naturally followed his gaze. Now, the only major force in Gahyeon-ri that didn't belong to the "destiny community" Jun-ho had designed was Edu Town. If they could just absorb or "clean up" those people, who had the highest concentration of nuisances and villains...
"Once we deal with Edu Town... Gahyeon-ri will be completely safe."
And Jun-ho had already established his final plan. After all, that was the very reason he had set up a "safe house" on the top floor of the Edu Town apartments.
The year 2025 arrived.
The members of The Shelter and the Gahyeon-ri community actually ate rice cake soup with beef. Never in their wildest dreams did they think they would eat proper rice cake soup in a world like this, so the community members were deeply moved.
Jun-ho even handed out clothes and daily necessities he had collected from abandoned houses in Gahyeon-ri as New Year's gifts. The clothes had been thoroughly washed and dry-cleaned in The Shelter's laundry room, and the daily necessities still had plenty of shelf life left, making the residents incredibly happy.
Furthermore, Song Ki-jun and Kim Seok-hwan made sure everyone knew this was all thanks to Jun-ho. It was a form of "propaganda." Not only had he saved them from gangsters and zombies, taught them the means to survive, and executed those plans with them, but he had also recreated an atmosphere reminiscent of the peaceful past. The vast majority of the people were immensely grateful to Jun-ho.
But there are always exceptions.
"This is my land! I've been using this as a vegetable garden for thirty years! How does it make sense for you to just take it?!"
"I don't care if the world has gone to ruin, how can you just swallow up a perfectly good building? You should at least pay rent!"
"If you want to use the factory equipment, you have to pay for it. Later, when the government—or, you know, the police or military—comes back and things return to normal, are you guys going to compensate me?"
One person claiming ownership of an empty lot meant for a greenhouse, another demanding rent for a thirty-year-old building, and yet another demanding compensation for using factory machinery when they didn't even have the fuel to run it themselves. The nuisances and villains of the apocalypse had finally reared their ugly heads.