I'd Rather Smash Than Think
I had ended up inside a zombie apocalypse novel. Even so, the reconnaissance continued, wrapping up just as the sky was beginning to darken. During that time, Noh Changhun had been hard at work devising strategies, filling up nearly half his notebook. But he mentioned that most of those plans would likely be scrapped if the situation didn't align, which left me feeling a bit overwhelmed. No matter how often reality refused to follow his wishes, it was hard to accept that all that effort might end up being wasted.
I guess I'll stick to not using my head.
“Huh.”
“It's better to just smash whatever you tell me to, man.”
Noh Changhun stared at me with eyes as cold as ice. His look seemed to say that surely I needed to use my brain in everyday situations too. But I stood my ground confidently. After all, I could just think fast when it really mattered. There was no need to rack my brains all the time. If something could be solved with force, that was always the best option.
“But, Yeji.”
“Yeah?”
“Are you any good at chopping wood?”
“...Why are you asking that out of the blue?”
“We'll need to cook when we get back, and it looks like we're short on kitchen staff.”
“So you want me to handle the wood chopping?”
“If you can manage it?”
“Sure. It's a friend's request, so why not?”
“Huh?”
Noh Changhun's mouth fell open in a daze, as if he hadn't expected that response from me. I carefully readjusted my grip on Beopbong, pondering how hard I should hit this guy to snap him out of it. So that's what this was about. He thought I'd try to dodge the task because chopping wood sounded like a hassle.
“You're really a rotten bastard, Noh Changhun.”
“No, I figured you'd come up with some excuse to get out of it.”
“Really? Have I ever slacked off on something just because it was annoying when I was with you?”
“Well... now that you mention it, no.”
“Then act like you know that, you idiot!”
I gave Noh Changhun a light punch in the side. Since it didn't hurt my fist this time, he must not have hardened his muscles. Yeah, he probably felt bad about assuming the worst. If he had tried to block it, I was ready to hit him much harder.
The two of us made our way back to the defensive line in a strangely harmonious mood. The soldiers were still standing guard there, but their faces had changed, suggesting they had rotated shifts. Since the names Noh Changhun mentioned were different too, it was pretty much confirmed. But something felt off. It was almost dinner time, so I assumed they had eaten before coming out... but the soldiers were munching on energy bars and the like.
Seeing that, a wave of anxiety hit me. The military was still the military, after all. They weren't exactly known for treating their soldiers well.
“You guys didn't eat?”
“There can't be any gaps during shift changes. Food is scarce too, so we usually just make do with these.”
“I see...”
“Don't worry. We eat properly when we have the time.”
“That's a relief.”
“...Did you think we'd be eating like that?”
“...Huh? O-of course not?”
I averted my gaze. Even without him saying it, I could tell what he was implying. Fortunately, he let it slide this time, and before long we arrived back at the high school.
“Wow...”
The high school presented a completely different scene. Unlike the campus, there were so many people that they had lit bonfires everywhere and were cooking all sorts of things. Some had large cauldrons hanging over fires making rice, while others were preparing meat from hunted animals. It was exactly the apocalyptic scene I had imagined.
Of course, even after checking all the cooking and dining areas, I didn't see any officers around...
“The officers must be eating somewhere else? What's on their menu? Do they handle it themselves?”
“That's right. Fresh food has to be eaten before it goes soft without the spider webs from the Spiders anyway.”
“I see...”
“Honestly, I thought people wouldn't eat it, but quite a few say it's better than nothing. That works out well for us.”
“Why?”
“The officers aren't supposed to be out here in the first place.”
“Heh. That's a funny joke.”
Even though I didn't have much connection to the military, I remembered that saying. Our true enemy is the officers, or something like that. It seemed that hadn't changed even in the apocalypse. I chuckled for a moment before looking around again.
Noh Changhun had mentioned chopping wood, so I thought the cooking was just starting. But it looked like most of the cooking was already wrapping up.
“Don't I need to chop wood then?”
“No, you do. It's for tomorrow.”
“I see.”
“It takes quite a while to prepare the food, so chop some in the meantime.”
“What about you?”
“I'll be carrying stuff from now on.”
Noh Changhun flexed his muscles. I nodded slowly. It was obvious that lifting those massive cauldrons would require more strength than the average person had. Noh Changhun immediately started helping the kitchen staff carry the cauldrons. I watched for a while before heading to the woodpile with help from a nearby kitchen soldier.
And then I realized.
“This is just a mess.”
There were chunks of wood scattered around that barely qualified as firewood. No wonder I hadn't seen any of the ornamental trees that had been planted along the way. They must have chopped down nearby trees with axes to use as fuel. Then they broke them up roughly and left them wherever there was no moisture.
At least I could intuitively tell what needed to be done, which was a relief.
“What I had in mind was a bit different.”
You know... the wood chopping you see in creations. I thought it would be splitting logs or something, but when I actually did it, it was manageable. They didn't give me a proper axe, just a military shovel or something, but there was a good stone to use as a base. Other than struggling a bit at first because I lacked the knack, it was fine.
It was good enough that I even considered carrying a hand axe as a secondary weapon. I split the wood into appropriate sizes, stacked them neatly, and went outside.
There were more people gathered outside than I expected. Ages and genders varied, but one bittersweet thing stood out. Even the children had some kind of weapon strapped to their bodies for self-defense. Yeah, Lee Yeji and Kang Jinhyuk were the strange exceptions.
But still.
“Damn it.”
It felt incredibly uncomfortable. It's not like I was the one who caused this situation, but seeing kids with weapons was more devastating than I thought. It weighed on my mind, making it hard to breathe just looking at it.
In the end, I didn't think I'd be able to get any food down my throat like this. So I washed my hands and looked around to see if there was anything I could help with. Before long, I spotted Noh Changhun wearing an apron with a bear drawing on it.
“Pfft.”
“Don't laugh.”
“Wow, that's cute. Who gave it to you?”
“Your gift?”
“...Huh?”
“It's a gift for that little kid Lee Yeji.”
“Ah, right.”
Noh Changhun set down the table he was carrying. Soon after, the kitchen staff brought out various rice balls. The onigiri were made with quite a variety of ingredients. They must have seasoned the near-expiry items with salt and such. Honestly, under normal circumstances, I wouldn't have given them a second glance. It was just throwing whatever together and calling it rice balls or bibimbap.
You could tell just from the soldier sneaking a look at the rice balls. The fact that he was pulling out combat rations confirmed it. But in this situation, this was probably a luxury that some people couldn't even get. People quickly started lining up. The little kids were sucking on their fingers while staring at the trays, and the older children had their eyes fixed on this side too. In just two months, everyone had adapted to this kind of diet.
Seeing that, I couldn't stand it anymore. I walked over to Noh Changhun and said,
“Is there anything I can do?”
“If you're not hungry, help with serving. Did you wash your hands?”
“I did.”
“It's about time a pretty person helped with serving. I've been the only one suffering until now.”
“Exactly! It's about time a pretty person showed up.”
“You're not denying the pretty part?”
“Hmph, why would I refuse a compliment?”
“Right.”
There was one more reason I decided to help with serving. Now that I looked, people seemed intimidated by Noh Changhun. The soldiers knew our Lieutenant Noh wasn't that scary, but it seemed different for others. They were standing at attention automatically, which was stifling even to watch. It was uncomfortable seeing even the kids being so well-behaved.
So I put on a nearby apron, slipped on some plastic gloves, and started helping with the food distribution. Honestly, serving wasn't that difficult. There was one person strictly maintaining order, and a few kitchen staff stuck by my side to help. I just had to give different numbers of rice balls based on people's age and gender. Everyone was already used to it, so the distribution ended before long. The bowls used to hold the rice balls were all completely emptied.
“...Ah.”
Come to think of it, it seemed like we hadn't saved any for ourselves. Just as I was wondering if we'd have to go hungry, Noh Changhun quietly raised his hand and pointed to the corner. There were a few more bowls of rice balls there, covered with plastic to keep them fresh.
“Ah, haha...”
“Who's the freeloader now?”
“Freeloader? You bastard, if anyone heard that they'd think I don't do anything but eat!”
“Well. Don't you?”
“Today alone I went on reconnaissance with you twice. And you still call me a freeloader?”
“I don't know about that.”
“Ugh!”
Since we both knew it was just joking around, the atmosphere didn't get too heated. Our banter continued like that for a while.