Three Out (1)
Since then, I’ve stopped by the elders' house from time to time. Not often. I just acted as if I were passing by and decided to drop in. While I was at it, I’d hand over things like cigarettes, soju, or cooking oil. The two grandfathers were Choi and Park. I don’t know their full names. That was all I knew. The two grandmothers were called Icheon-ddaek and Sosan-ddaek. I suppose they must be from those regions. People in the old days used to call grandmothers like that.
Choi’s house had groundwater, too. It’s fitting for an old house. Come to think of it, there’s a well in the backyard. Of course, it’s not used at all now. But the fact that there’s a well means groundwater is flowing. That’s why water still comes out even in this state where all electricity and water supplies are cut off. As expected, water is an absolute requirement for human survival. No matter how often it rains these days, it’s hard to live just by collecting rainwater.
Anyway, I had to time my visits well. If I went near mealtime, I’d get caught and have to eat. Honestly, the food there is delicious. Even without a single piece of meat, it was just good. Back in the day—before the world ended—it would have been rare to find a Korean restaurant that tasted that good. Why is it so tasty when they just toss some vegetables with seasoning? I don’t know. I guess there really is such a thing as "the touch of a hand." It’s easier to just think that way.
The problem was that it was delicious. For someone like me, who eats nothing but preserved rations every day, that kind of meal is an unbearable temptation. However, since the ingredients are packed with growth promoters, it’s not something I can eat recklessly, no matter how good it tastes. If I had rice from the past, and if there were someone who could analyze the two compared to the current rice, I could figure out the changes caused by the growth promoters. And how it affects the human body? Unfortunately, I’m not at that level. And it’s impossible to find such an expert in this world right now. Besides, I don’t have a lab, and it would be hard to get old rice. Stockpiled rice? Should I look for that? Even then, it would only be 3 or 4 years old at best. Thinking about that, I probably can’t get rice from before the growth promoters were sprayed. No, wait. Is there? There’s the Seed Vault, right? And it’s in Korea, too? There is a Global Seed Vault in Bonghwa, Gyeongsangbuk-do. They store every kind of seed there. So, if I grow the rice from there and compare it to the current rice, I could find out what kind of changes the growth promoters caused. Hmm. That’s a decent idea. Of course, that’s assuming the Seed Vault is still intact.
But the problem is always people. What if there are survivors at the Seed Vault? If so, there might be an expert there. Come to think of it, there’s a high probability that place is fine. It’s a facility prepared for the future, after all. I’d imagine it has electricity and water, too. Anyway, since I can’t do anything about it right now, the most important thing is to avoid consuming it as much as possible. Still, eating it once in a while should be fine. Hmm... it’ll be fine, right? I shouldn’t be getting soft like this. This kind of weakness is what creates openings.
Anyway, while doing that, I look for survivors. Finding survivors is easy. I just have to find places without zombies. Zombies and survivors cannot coexist. Zombies attack crazily the moment they spot a human. In other words, a place with zombies is a place where survivors cannot exist. I exclude those areas and fly my drone. They say the radius is 5 kilometers, but that radius is surprisingly wide. I’ve scanned it over and over, but new things always pop up. So, I look carefully. And that’s how I found a small change.
There was a place that originally had about 10 zombies, but I discovered a spot where all those zombies had vanished. If the zombies that were there have disappeared, there’s only one cause. A human appeared. Maybe that person dragged all the zombies away, causing them to disappear. Or perhaps that person made all the zombies invisible to thermal cameras. The only way to verify whether it’s the former or the latter is to keep watching. And I confirmed it was the latter. There were survivors. Three of them. Two men and one woman. The location was a golf course. The country club clubhouse. A fairly large place. Why on earth would they go to a place swarming with zombies? There seems to be no reason to go there. Then it suddenly occurred to me that it was a golf course. If it’s a golf course, there’s bound to be a lot of water. A water intake facility is essential to water that vast grass, after all. If they chose the clubhouse to get water easily, it’s not a bad choice. Most clubhouses probably have good facilities, too. Maybe they even have a generator. Since there’s no one else around, they’d be relatively free from noise. Come to think of it, it’s not bad. It’s worth making a base. So, I understood why they went there. It’s somewhat reasonable.
So, I observe them further. The most important thing is whether they have guns or not. Even though Korea is a place with strict gun control, in this situation, you can get them if you really want to, right? You can get them easily if you go to a police station or a military base. The problem is that I have to fly the drone only at night, so it’s not easy to confirm if they have guns. I don’t want to fly the drone during the day, no matter what. Having the drone discovered is equivalent to increasing the alertness level by 2 million times.
While watching them like that, something happened that led me to guess they didn’t have guns. A wild boar appeared. And it was a wild boar of enormous size. A wild boar seen through a thermal camera is truly terrifying. Its huge, bright red body caught on screen looks like some kind of monster. At first, I even thought it was a cow just by looking at its size. If they had guns, they would have shot it dead immediately. Even if wild boar meat doesn’t taste good, they aren’t in a position to be picky right now. There’s no way they wouldn’t shoot when such a specimen is loitering around their base. In fact, if they were men, they would have thought it was a good opportunity and shot it openly. How great is that? It’s a living target. And a huge one at that. Human males have an instinct for hunting. Unless they are really extraordinary people, it would be the normal flow of consciousness to shoot if they had such an opportunity. It’s a weak logic to be certain, but I think it’s enough of a basis.
So, I’m going. I have to deal with them, whether I send them to Choi’s house or use them as my experimental materials. Which one it will be depends on them. I prepare thoroughly. They are the ones who dealt with 10 zombies. Of course, for an adult male, dealing with zombies isn’t that difficult. It’s not like their strength becomes incredibly powerful just because they become zombies. It’s not like they can jump 3 meters high. It’s just scary that they rush at you without feeling pain or agony. So, if you have violence that can overwhelm that, dealing with them isn’t difficult. The guys at that country club have decent builds, so that much wouldn’t have been hard. I pack guns and taser guns and head to the country club.
I could have hidden and gone, but I went openly. That way, they’ll be less aggressive, too. I ride my combat vehicle up to the country club. Coming here in person, the feeling is different. This place isn’t bad for defense. The road itself is a single path. So, if you just block this place, it’s hard for anyone to come up from the outside with a vehicle. Plus, surveillance is easy. Well, it’s not like people coming to do bad things would come up the road openly, but mountain paths are surprisingly hard to travel. Besides, since it’s all flat ground near the clubhouse, even if they came up that way, the surroundings are wide open, so it’s meaningless. I went to such trouble to build my bunker for nothing. I could have just acquired and renovated a failed country club like this one.
Coming up like that, I see sights different from what I saw with the thermal camera at night. The places that used to be wide-open rounding fields are already packed with weeds. It’s hard to distinguish where the fields were. Moreover, the water pooled in the hazards doesn’t feel very clean. It would be impossible to boil and drink that. Even if I purified it, it would be questionable. Come to think of it, it would have been impossible even when it was well-managed. They must have sprayed a ton of pesticides and fertilizers to manage the grass. Since that water absorbed all of that, it would be unsuitable as drinking water. I think there’s a high probability that those guys were disappointed when they actually arrived. Still, the fact that they remained means there’s something to gain here, right?
Is it because the car came quietly? None of the bastards are jumping out. So, I honked the horn. And I wait a little. I don’t get out of the car. No one came out. That’s to be expected. They don’t know what it is, so why would they come out? Instead, I hear a man’s voice from the second floor. "Who is it!" I look toward where the sound came from. Then I see a head. I agonize over what to say, but I roll down the window and shout as I intended. "Is there anything you need!? I came for a trade!"
Even after shouting that, I felt so pathetic. Really. It’s frustrating to do something I’ve never done before. Even I think this is a really inefficient thing to do. It’s a stupid thing to do. So, I vowed never to do this again. What is this. Having to leave the situation to the opponent’s personality, level of goodwill, and luck. It’s really a job I can’t do twice. "I’m coming out! I won’t hold anything in my hands, so you don’t have to be too wary!" I shouted that and stepped out of the car. Yeah. It’s a stupid thing I started, so let’s finish it this time. If I back down like this, their wariness will only grow. So, this is better. If I’ve drawn the sword, I have to at least slice a radish.
All sorts of thoughts crossed my mind. What if they suddenly shoot me? A car and the items I have would be theirs for free. But that won’t happen. They know nothing about me. In fact, I can say that the only thing I’m trusting is that one thing. An unknown opponent. A situation where they can’t act recklessly. Building trust starting from zero. It’s a completely different opponent from Choi’s group. So, this can also be called an experiment. An experiment where I put myself on the line. And that experiment has passed the first gate.
A man came out from inside. Holding a pipe in his hand. Well, it would have been better if he came out empty-handed, but I’ll let that slide. I should think of it as minimal self-defense. But the guy had a tattoo. And it was Irezumi, at that. Ah. That’s not very good. One out, for now. If it were a simple tattoo, I wouldn’t know, but Irezumi is intense. Then, can that guy prove himself?