Chapter 68
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: Seventh California, Camp Roberts (5)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Dawn woke the boy.
From the tent entrance, a sliver of dusky blue sky seeped in. It was still too early to open his eyes. Winter moved his heavy arm to grasp his rifle first. He checked the magazine attachment, then slowly sat up.
It took some time for his physical functions to fully awaken. The past two days had involved excessively intense physical exertion, and without proper sleep, a great deal of 「Fatigue」 had built up.
The time he had been asleep was under automatic condition progression. If he had woken, there must be a reason. Winter felt mental exhaustion. When the Winter of this world dreamed, the Winter within that dream also rested. A quiet darkness enjoyed solely and purely, without regard for audiences from other worlds.
In battle, excess caution was meaningless. Winter first woke the soldiers in the same tent. Of course, those caught in the grip of deep sleep struggled to rise.
“Ugh…… What in the world is it, sir?”
“Arm yourselves.”
As his condition neared normal, Winter finally detected the dull warning of 「Survival Instinct」. A sensation like intermittent tingling at his nerve endings. The activation level was still low, but something threatening was definitely present.
‘It’s not at a lethal level, though.’
It hadn’t been much help at Camp Roberts itself, but with 「Survival Instinct」 entering the realm of genius, the chance of dying in his sleep without a cry was nearly zero. However, fatigue had delayed the response, so he needed to hurry a bit.
Sensing the unusual atmosphere around Winter, the soldiers—eyes wide—desperately roused themselves. Their trust in the boy officer now bordered on superstition.
Crack!
……That said, wasn’t slamming your own head with a helmet a bit much? The soldier who had struck both sleep and himself lay prone for a moment, mimicking an inanimate object. Winter approached and grabbed his shoulder.
“You okay?”
“I’m fine…….”
He didn’t look it, but he was ready soon enough.
The one staff sergeant and officer-rank soldiers sharing the tent moved quickly. Without specific orders, they spread the situation across the entire company. Reveille! Reveille! The repeated cries echoed through the damp wind as mountain reverberations. Soldiers from other company areas poked their heads out, wondering what was happening. Anxiety clouded their faces. It had only been a day since the night raid.
In the end, Winter unintentionally woke the entire battalion-level force. Amid light drizzle over faint mist, soldiers in ponchos scanned their surroundings in disarray. Not knowing why they had risen made them even more jittery.
In the meantime, Winter called the radioman and had him contact the sentries. To confirm if the camp perimeter was secure.
The company commander, tracking the source of this early reveille, asked Winter,
“What the hell is going on?”
When actually questioned, he had no good answer.
“I’m not sure how to put it…… Something just felt off.”
Captain Escher made a baffled face.
“It wasn’t just a bad dream, was it?”
No need to reply here. Gunfire from beyond the mist explained it instead. Winter frowned. His earpiece receiver suddenly flooded with radio chatter. Requests to confirm the situation poured in across battalion, company, and platoon channels.
Gunfire erupted again. Scattered bursts, followed by sustained fire. 「Combat Sense」 pinpointed the direction and approximate distance of the shots. The distance was a bit off, though—due to the mist. High humidity broadened the sound’s dispersion.
Captain Escher issued orders rapidly. He instantly divided forces to reinforce the perimeter, defend the camp, and deploy to the scene.
Winter joined the deployment. They moved by vehicle.
Upon arrival, Winter confirmed the engagement had already ended. Scattered variant corpses lay near the camp perimeter. Not many. Soldiers were performing confirmation kills one by one. Amid that, noise makers blared noisily. At least three directions, sounding simultaneously.
‘Not a coordinated attack?’
Winter surveyed the traces of battle. A late response would have been dangerous, but compared to the previous night raid, it was nothing.
Still, there were missing personnel. Two sentries posted at the breached section had vanished. The company commander responsible for that sector looked grim, his face darkened. Like everyone else from Camp Obispo, his expression was crushed by excessive stress.
“I thought it was finally over…… Why does this keep happening…….”
He rubbed his oily face dry, then called the radioman to radio battalion HQ. Requesting permission for a search. Winter asked him,
“I’ll take point.”
“You?”
They were strangers, but no one didn’t know Winter. The unfamiliar company commander pondered briefly, then nodded slowly. He showed no resentment at relying on an officer from another unit. No pride left to show. Not to someone like this, anyway.
Battalion HQ easily approved Winter’s involvement.
Finally, based on testimony from the soldiers who had relieved them, Winter followed the patrol route the missing pair would have taken, veering slightly off it.
The rain-softened ground bore many footprints. Grass obscured them, but that was no obstacle for Winter with grade-4 「Tracking」.
Too many was the problem. Even the overlapping boot prints from soldiers at different times made it messy enough; atop that, traces from variants that crossed the perimeter. Some dragged their feet in death, leaving smeared trails everywhere.
‘A bit short…….’
「Insight」 recommended 「Tracking」 beyond expert level.
Using experience resources on it felt like a half-measure skill. Of course, having it helped. In the wild, detecting animal traces was a huge advantage for survival.
But opportunities to use it were limited. The apocalypse hadn’t progressed to where hunting provided sustenance, nor did incidents like this happen often.
He had trained it few times to begin with. Low 「Talent Advantage」 meant poor efficiency.
Considering new variant appearances and rising difficulty, Winter wanted to invest in more versatile skills.
He had gained substantial experience over the past two days. More from influence on others than combat rewards.
Enough to push 「Movement」 into superhuman territory.
However, saving ten later couldn’t replace saving one now. Even if virtual personalities and lives, to avoid losing himself in this false world, better to uphold his way of life.
Winter set aside regret and boosted 「Tracking」. With each grade up, the augmented reality info changed qualitatively.
“This way.”
At Winter’s gesture, the platoon formed up and followed a few steps behind. Three platoons advanced cautiously, spread at intervals.
Civilian protection took priority, so committing more troops was tricky.
The rainy dawn forest path felt gloomy. Raindrops hanging from trees fell heavily onto leaves, striking nerves like percussion. Even for Winter, the noisy environment wasn’t ideal. If something lurked in the woods, its sounds would muffle too.
Even if sounds spread easily in rain, drops drowned out anything small or similar.
Noise makers blared sporadically too. Camp defense measures.
The search followed a faint side path. Downward-sloping foothills. As the valley neared, mist thickened. Visibility shrank to 30 meters eventually. Dense trees cast blurry shadows in the fog. Jumpy soldiers mistook those for variants.
In such conditions, even thermal scopes were useless. Fog swallowed heat. Wary of variants prone in leaves, even Winter couldn’t advance quickly.
Wind blew.
Winter raised a fist.
Soldiers dropped to kneeling positions, scanning around.
As dense fog swayed, Winter glimpsed—briefly—two human shapes on the ground.
The corpses seemed bait.
Amid thick water-scented air, two smells: one blood-iron. The other,
‘Unwashed stench.’
Sour and repulsive.
This stink differed slightly from typical variant rot. Overcoming immune rejection meant only 「Ghoul」. Winter whispered into his radio.
“Found missing personnel bodies ahead. Both dead. Suspected ghoul pack nearby. Possibly in trees—stay alert.”
Rustling sounded. Several soldiers edged from tree trunks. A platoon leader and radioman reported to HQ. Faces soured; all sentries dead.
Sudden whoosh of slicing wind. Winter fired reflexively.
Ting-!
Unknown projectile sparked and snapped. In two pieces, it spun and thunked into leaves. Nearby soldier freaked. Winter signaled: check it. The soldier low-crawled, groped leaf piles, glancing around.
His hand grasped a handle. He held it up for all.
A half-severed kitchen knife.
The platoon leader, frozen mid-radio, muttered in shock.
“Variants using weapons?”
Considerable agitation spread. Primates used basic tools, and body-snatching variants might too—but seeing it was new.
Picked up from abandoned cities, apparently.
Dozens more knives followed. Winter intercepted some, but conditions sucked. Bursting from close range through fog.
Beast growls, roars, rapid footfalls jumbled in.
Tense soldiers fired wildly or lobbed grenades.
Aimless shooting yielded little. Vietnam stats: U.S. troops used 20,000+ rounds per NVA killed in similar conditions. Let alone tougher variants—reinforced ghouls.
Grenades same. Wide blast radius, but terrain folds and trees reduced lethality.
Mocking them, monster noises persisted.
‘Trying to exhaust our ammo? Unusually smart…… Beta ghoul?’
Hard to gauge numbers. 「Insight」 from sounds, but pack hunters divided roles.
Tough to charge relying on ability alone.
Watching sluggish fog like another world’s creature, Winter had an idea.
“Platoon leader.”
“Hm?”
“Does the grenadier have flares?”
U.S. infantry platoons got one 6-shot M32 per squad, plus underbarrel single-shot launchers. Ammo types varied, including flares.
Small size limited serious use. Platoon leader pointed it out.
“Flares? Those are for signaling. Who to?”
Radio HQ, right? Winter shook his head.
“No. Literally for lighting.”
Pointed at fog while speaking.
“Still dim around. Fog’s thick. Bright light—won’t variant outlines or shadows form in it? Then hit with volley fire.”
“Lasts just 7 seconds per shot…… Better call support?”
“What if that’s what they want?”
“Huh?”
“Using missings as bait to lure us, us as bait for more troops, then exploit the gap? Could be a trap.”
Platoon leader flustered. Winter persuaded.
“Low odds, sure. But not zero—that’s key. Camp has thousands of civilians. Battalion CO got burned two days ago; won’t risk even a little. Responsible for thousands. Might just say abandon bodies.”
Platoon leader agreed. Fire flares, advance to cover, suppress fire, secure remains.
Grenadiers bustled. Unloaded mags, reloaded singles. White, green, red flares had uses, but ignored now. Ground-burst anyway.
Winter designated azimuth and distance for clustered grenadiers awaiting.
“When I signal…… One by one, staggered, three shots each from here to there. Distances 20, 40, 60. Lots of obstacles.”
立体 positioning for flares.
“Fire!”
Thud-thud-thunk!
Mid-flight, Winter locked five targets. Rotating shadows in fog like sundials; he snapped aim to centers, squeezed trigger five times in one breath.
‘Missed one.’
Scream trailed long. Hit but not dead. Winter already charging; blasted silhouettes amid offset flares and tree shadows.
Shooting overlapping shadow centers yielded shrieks and pained roars invariably. Varied flare colors amplified. Soldiers hit surprisingly well.
Advanced over 10 meters in 7 seconds, emptying one-and-a-half mags.
“Next!”
Another flare salvo. In tricolor-glowing fog, humans with range dominated variants with firepower.
Third round: advanced soldiers secured bodies. Confirming no mutation, rest unilaterally pushed reduced ghoul pack.
Their screams, beast scrambles faded fast.
“We did it!”
Platoon leader thrust fist high, joyful. Winter approached body-retrievers.
“Bodies okay?”
Double meaning: intact? Infected? Squad leader nodded.
“Stabbed by knives. Bait from start…… Honestly chilling. Not the dumb variants anymore.”
“No choice. We adapt.”
Winter clapped his shoulder.
Recovering bodies en route back, sun rose vividly beyond mist.
Battalion CO ordered full move-out only after mist cleared somewhat. 20km to Camp Roberts. Yesterday split same distance afternoon; smooth, lunch there.
Too long focused. Winter needed rest. Hoped rest quiet. Boy propped elbow on Hummer frame, chin on hand, eyes closed.
============================ Author's Note ============================
1. The word '장해' used last chapter isn't a typo. For insurance or pension from physical impairments, they use the 'Impairment Grade Classification Table'. Calculates impairment rate by degree of disability or defect, reflects in payout.
2. Met publisher yesterday too. Fun stories.
2-1.
Editor-in-Chief: A female author first recommended The Little Prince of the Columbarium.
Author: Wow.
Editor-in-Chief: But title has 'Little Prince'. Male authors don't usually.
Author: I see.
Editor-in-Chief: So I thought it was BL.
Author: ...?!
Editor-in-Chief: Read it, wasn't—kinda shocked. Haha.
2-2.
Editor-in-Chief: If publishing, thought of extras?
Author: Yes. Translating U.S. Army Survival Manual for bonus. Public domain, no copyright.
Editor-in-Chief: Huh? We're officially publishing that soon?
Author: ...?!
Author: (All my effort for nothing... Aaaaaah...)
2-3.
Editor-in-Chief: Our publisher doesn't cling to money.
Author: Yeah, heard you're the brave one pushing even unprofitable.
Editor-in-Chief: Hahaha. E.g., ○○○○○○○ sold under ○○○○ copies. (Blinded title/sales per editor. :) (2016.08.02)
Author: ...?!
Editor-in-Chief: No matter. Boss is rich!
Author: ...?!
3.
Q. silentrabbit: Using 'in life' means Winter isn't currently alive?
A. Even someone with just a brain, clearly alive, can be treated as dead socially, institutionally, culturally—that's what I wanted to express.
Winter, raised in such society, sees self as good as dead.
Treated as merchandise same context.
I.e., respecting humanity is humanity's role...
Obvious in hindsight. For a society where obvious is obvious, this great old thing strives today too. Tekel-li-ri tekel-li-ri
Q. KindFool: @Annoyed at coupon skips during maintenance, bought 90-day... Not specifically for Columbarium tho
A. I did pull all-nighters writing.... B-but not writing for KindFool specifically.
Up this late, mind foggy. Slept two hours yesterday. Haha.
Q. YakaruVita: @Hope you go premium. Author earns big, buys tons of chicken...
A. Yesterday's editor strongly urged premium too, but decision made—no takebacks.
Chicken... yeah, want some.
Q. PotatoPeel: @Jermis free game... Still impressive. Everyone, Civ5 on sale! 80% or 90%! Play Civ! Author... :)
A. Author.... why skip? I love Civ. Since Civ1.
Waaah.
Q. PeachGarden: @Don't cry! Author. Your time brings joy to thousands!
A. Wanna sacrifice thousands' joy for my own!
I'm an extremely evil author.
How evil?
Hm...
Got ten legs.