Into the Prophet's Territory
Getting out of the zombie apocalypse novel hadn't been easy. Not that anyone had been thrilled to see me go. There were plenty of reasons. Lee Yeji and Kang Jinhyuk had wanted me to stay just a few more nights. The students and kids insisted they still needed an older sister like me around. Noh Changhun's subordinates hoped their boss's relationship would work out, while the adults reluctantly let me leave, knowing I'd brought some life back to the community. It was the first time something like this had happened. Before, people were usually glad when I left. No one had ever seemed sorry to see me go. It made me think my life had been pretty damn pathetic, but it wasn't a bad feeling. It was proof that I'd actually changed.
So for a while, I just talked with everyone and caught up. Captain Han Daewi gave me as much support as he could within his authority. Stocking up on supplies wasn't much of a concern. I received so much that Jeokto's storage space was nearly bursting, enough that I wouldn't have to worry about food for a long time.
Preparations didn't take long. Before I knew it, I was straddling Jeokto, ready to leave the military base. Only Noh Changhun came to see me off. Partly because I'd asked him to, but also because the route I was taking hadn't been scouted yet and was dangerous. He'd gone through the trouble of throwing a send-off, even if it was just the two of us. Of course, ordinary zombies weren't a match for us, so wherever we started from, it wouldn't have been a problem.
"See you later."
"Yeah."
Noh Changhun didn't say much. He'd already told me everything he needed to say over the past few days... and he probably didn't want to get caught being embarrassed. If he said anything more, the awkwardness would show. I bumped fists with him one last time, then started pedaling slowly. He was embarrassed, but so was I. If I said anything else, I'd probably end up being the one teased. Besides, neither of us was going to die easily. Just like we'd promised, I'd finish my business in Nam-gu and come back to the base. Then Noh Changhun would be waiting for me at the front lines.
The brief sentimentality didn't last. I kept pedaling. Soon, Noh Changhun disappeared into the distance. I picked up speed, crossed the bridge, and headed toward Nam-gu. Finding my way was still difficult, but at least it was manageable now.
"Ah, shit!"
Of course, finding the direction was manageable. Actually traveling the road was another story. Noh Changhun had said that at my speed, I'd reach the center of Nam-gu in fifteen minutes. But one look at the road conditions shut me up. Well, it was the apocalypse. I hadn't expected smooth cycling conditions. Still, this place had crossed way too many lines.
For starters, cars were abandoned haphazardly all over the road. I had to keep getting off Jeokto whenever I hit a blocked section, push it through, then climb back on. That alone would've been tolerable. But then there were the plants obstructing passage and piles of garbage. The roads were so bad that walking would've been faster. It pissed me off. And that wasn't even the end of it.
"Get lost!"
"Grrraaah...!"
A zombie with bluish-gray skin glanced around for a weapon. It had probably been hiding under a car to ambush survivors. The moment it crawled out and saw me, it froze like that. It knew it was at a disadvantage without a weapon. If it was that aware, it should've just backed off instead of making things annoying. Eventually, it lunged at me while I was moving Jeokto, so I smashed its head in with Beopbong and burned the body.
I'd only made it as far as Gwangalli Beach, but I'd already spotted over ten zombies like that. The situation was seriously messed up. Even with a cult running rampant, I never imagined the zombies would be this poorly managed.
"No wonder the roads are terrible."
The zombies were deliberately making the paths treacherous, so of course there weren't any decent roads left. On top of that, there was no way to scavenge food nearby. Thank god I'd stocked up at the base. Without that, I'd have been in real trouble. I let out a long sigh and checked the map Noh Changhun had given me. At least around Gwangalli Beach, movement should be easier. If I followed the coast on Jeokto, things would work out somehow.
But that hope died quickly. I hadn't gone more than a few minutes before I found boats overturned and blocking the shoreline. Someone had deliberately sealed off the coast. These weren't small boats. Some were large enough to carry dozens of people, propped up like barricades.
"Fuck."
I couldn't hold back the curse. It was obvious the zombies had blocked it on purpose. The meaning was clear without needing to think: don't take the open coast where dangers are easy to spot. Come into the city instead. So they could ambush me with sudden zombie attacks and eat me.
"What the hell were the survivors even doing?!"
I was furious. Sure, I hadn't expected a clean city like the campus or the base. But at the very least, they should've stopped the zombies from roaming around like they owned the place. It wasn't like I was telling everyone here to die. Still, getting angry wouldn't accomplish anything. Yelling would only alert more zombies to my presence, and it wouldn't magically clear the road. Better to take my anger out on the zombies themselves.
So I dragged Jeokto away from the coast and headed into the city.
"..."
The city was even worse. From outside, it had looked bad enough, but once I was inside, it was beyond description. Plants had grown thick everywhere, as if no human hand had touched the place in decades. Dried blood and pieces of corpses littered the streets. Every single store was trashed. Any glass that existed was shattered. Even buildings that looked intact from the outside had plants sprouting wildly inside. And now I could feel eyes watching me from somewhere. The sensation of being observed with interest made my skin crawl.
It didn't take long to figure out why. It was probably because of the General's Secretion Pouch. They were wary of me. The fact that no high-ranking variants had shown up yet meant things weren't completely hopeless. At least it suggested that Generals or Officers were off somewhere else fighting survivors. Even so, I couldn't relax. I quickly mounted Jeokto and started pedaling again.
Luckily, the city center was much easier to navigate than the outskirts. They'd tried to block it completely but hadn't quite succeeded. There was still enough space for Jeokto to slip through. I kept pedaling, pushing forward. The whole time, I could feel the eyes on me. I spotted Givers and other annoying variants. Hunters moving busily, Pointers and Markers staring at me. But none of them attacked recklessly. That only made me more uneasy.
The General's Secretion Pouch was like a monkey's paw. It repelled weak variants but eventually drew stronger ones. After all, a strong host was incredibly useful for zombies trying to survive in different ways. This silence wouldn't last long.
"Ah, shit."
I scratched my head and sped up. Something felt very wrong. The Nam-gu described in the novel hadn't been like this. Before Yahweh's Paradise took over, survivors had gathered in decent numbers. Regardless of religion, they'd helped each other and resisted the zombies. They wouldn't have let zombies roam freely like this.
"Goddamn shut-ins are always the problem."
Now I was genuinely annoyed. If I ever got the chance, I'd love to smash that Prophet or whatever they called themselves over the head with Beopbong. Sometimes violence really was the answer. But complaining wouldn't make the shut-in appear in front of me. So I pedaled harder, speeding up while scanning my surroundings.
Thankfully, I wasn't attacked even after going deep into Nam-gu. I could still feel the zombies' gazes, but that was it.
"...No."
But there was one problem. This was the center of Nam-gu. Yet every church cross had been smashed to pieces. I looked around in disbelief. There were no traces of survivors. Plenty of traces of zombies. At least there were no signs of a fierce battle. If there had been, it would've meant something far worse.
Zombies grew stronger through mutation. Mutation required calories. Humans weren't the most efficient source, but large numbers of them provided decent energy. So if the church faction had been wiped out and enough time had passed, it wouldn't have been strange to find a Baron here.
"So it's a relief, then. They evacuated."
It roughly matched the original story. Around this time, the church faction had been expanding into Dong-gu. It was to save more survivors and secure food. But after the over-immersed shut-in barged in, they'd apparently fled to Dong-gu instead. I wasn't sure if the cult had fully taken over yet...
"They probably wanted to stay near Kang Siwoo. To control him."
Since they knew the protagonist's location, going to Dong-gu made sense. Otherwise, they wouldn't have abandoned everything they'd built here. I stared blankly for a moment, then pulled some food from Jeokto's storage, chewed on it, and drained an entire bottle of water. After parking Jeokto nearby, I prepared for the fight ahead.
These bastards had apparently called in some pretty reliable variants. My body had been heating up slightly for a while now. Better to deal with them here before moving on.