(Side Story) Zombie.
(Side Story) Zombie.
Ga-in was tied to a long pole, her eyes covered as well.
Yoo Min-seong, hanging upside down with his entire body torn as if from a whipping, confirmed Ga-in's state.
Major Im sat behind, watching in silence.
When Master Sergeant Kim gestured, the two soldiers holding the pole Ga-in was tied to laid it across the wide pool.
Then they positioned Ga-in directly beneath the hanging Yoo Min-seong.
"If you feel like talking, tell me to stop."
Water began to rise in the pool where Ga-in lay.
Ga-in, having come to, started thrashing. Seeing this, Yoo Min-seong yelled.
"What do you think you're doing?! Stop!"
Master Sergeant Kim looked at Yoo Min-seong, who was shouting at him, and spoke.
"You dragged this out way too long. I'll give you exactly two more chances to stop it. Start talking."
Yoo Min-seong wrestled with whether to reveal the Field Mice's information, but Master Sergeant Kim merely chuckled.
"You don't seem to grasp the situation?"
Ga-in's face was quickly half-submerged, and as the seconds passed, she thrashed in clear agony.
"From Guri! We came from Free Bio in Guri! Stop it!!!! You crazy bastards!!!"
Ga-in had already swallowed a great deal of water and was coughing it up endlessly in agony.
"Cough! Hrrk..."
All her life, Ga-in had trained under Kwak In-gu and always appeared completely emotionless.
The girl who had taken countless lives...
Having been brought right to the brink of death, Ga-in began to feel 'fear'—an emotion toward death she was experiencing for the very first time.
When Master Sergeant Kim pushed Ga-in's pole with his foot, the pole rotated, submerging Ga-in underwater.
And when he yanked her back out, her face was flushed bright red.
"Cough... hack... khhh... hrrk... s...save me..."
Seeing her reduced to nothing but a terrified child in the face of death, Master Sergeant Kim was surprised.
"Hoo... What's this? That demon brat actually knows how to beg?"
More startled by Ga-in's behavior than by Yoo Min-seong's information, Master Sergeant Kim repeatedly pushed her face beneath the water and pulled it back out.
Then he turned her head so she could breathe a little easier.
After coughing for a long while, Ga-in began to tremble uncontrollably.
"Please save me... I'm sorry..."
Yoo Min-seong screamed from where he hung beside Master Sergeant Kim, and the sergeant on guard struck him with a whip.
Master Sergeant Kim looked down at the trembling Ga-in.
"....."
Ga-in's face was bright red. As she begged for her life, looking ready to cry, Master Sergeant Kim spoke.
"That won't do... Think about the people you killed... you demon brat..."
Master Sergeant Kim shoved the pole Ga-in was tied to, submerging her face completely once more.
Bubbles gurgled up to the surface.
When the bubbles stopped and Ga-in began thrashing violently, Master Sergeant Kim rolled the pole with his foot.
"Cough... hack... I'm sorry. Can't breathe... hrrgh... puhah... I feel... feel like I'm dying..."
Before Ga-in could catch her breath, he shoved her beneath the water again. Yoo Min-seong thrashed wildly and shouted.
"You crazy fuck!!! What the hell are you doing to a kid?! Stop it!"
Major Im had his eyes closed the entire time, silent.
After seeing Yoo Min-seong's desperate struggle, Master Sergeant Kim pulled Ga-in out, then forced her under again.
"Hrrghk! I'm sorr— glub..."
When he rolled her back to her original position, Ga-in sobbed and trembled in extreme terror.
Yoo Min-seong's eyes reddened as he watched Ga-in hiccupping uncontrollably.
"You inhuman sons of bitches..."
"Us? Or her...? Let's finish the conversation we were having."
Finding the trembling Ga-in impossible to bear, Yoo Min-seong quickly spilled every piece of information.
Major Im handed him a communications device.
Master Sergeant Kim lowered Yoo Min-seong to the floor beside her. Yoo Min-seong pressed his face against Ga-in's trembling cheek.
"I'll figure something out somehow... Just hold on a little longer, okay?"
"Hck! I want to live..."
As what looked like tears and snot streamed down Ga-in's face, Yoo Min-seong pressed his forehead firmly against hers and said,
"Got it... I promise I'll save you somehow..."
Master Sergeant Kim, who had been watching this, spoke up.
"There's no need to give her false hope, is there? Depending on how well you cooperate, I might have let her live..."
Master Sergeant Kim glanced toward Major Im. Yoo Min-seong followed his gaze and addressed the major.
"Tell me... I'll do anything..."
"Mass-produce the vaccine. Every dose must be distributed exclusively through me."
"Fine..."
Major Im placed the communications device in the bound Yoo Min-seong's ear.
Yoo Min-seong started the call, and once his people grasped the situation, they had no choice but to give up the information.
After receiving all the information they needed, Master Sergeant Kim nodded.
Major Im reviewed the compiled information.
"Lastly, tell them that I will be coming to pick someone up, so have one researcher standing by."
After Yoo Min-seong relayed the message as instructed, Major Im nodded.
When the call ended, Major Im smashed the communications device.
"Ga-in... I hope it ends in one go..."
With a snap of his fingers, Ga-in began sinking into the water.
"What the hell is this?!!!"
As the water began rising, Ga-in let out a shriek.
"AAAAAAH!!!"
As the water rose right under her nose, Ga-in sucked in as much air as physically possible to survive.
Just then, the door burst open, and Kwak In-gu stormed in, having knocked out every single soldier outside.
Kwak In-gu took in the scene and immediately began trembling with rage.
"What the fuck... What the hell are you doing to a kid?!!"
Kwak In-gu threw a massive uppercut right into the face of Major Im, who was standing directly in front of him.
Major Im's body lifted into the air and he went out cold. While the panicked soldiers were still drawing their guns, Kwak In-gu dashed to Ga-in and tore off every restraint holding her.
"Ga-in!!! These crazy bastards laid hands on a kid?! You still call yourselves the Trees?! Huh?!"
Ga-in, who had been coughing violently for a long moment, finally burst into tears.
Waaaaaah.
Her loud sobs filled the room. Once her blindfold was ripped off, Ga-in lunged at Kwak In-gu and clung to him tightly.
Kwak In-gu stroked Ga-in's soaking wet hair as she pressed herself against him.
"Turn your guns around, you pieces of trash."
Master Sergeant Kim aimed his gun at Kwak In-gu and spoke.
"Bullshit... You don't understand the situation. Put your hands on your head, Kwak In-gu, unless you want a hole through your skull."
Major Im, who had regained consciousness, tried to stand up, but he collapsed as if the strength had completely drained from his legs.
Soldiers hurried to help Major Im up.
"Hey, Im Jeong-hyeok. This is a lot different from what you told me. Didn't we agree to protect the children, you son of a bitch?"
Whether the blow had landed badly or not, Im Jeong-hyeok was bleeding from the mouth far more than expected.
"Ptui... Even so... hasn't Ga-in killed far too many people...?"
As Im Jeong-hyeok turned his head, the stitch marks on his temple became visible.
"You... created a monster under the pretense of just protecting a child."
Holding Ga-in in his embrace, Kwak In-gu glared straight at Im Jeong-hyeok.
"Does she look like a monster to you? When all that shit happened because of that psycho, what did you say to me, you motherfucker?! What did you say when you looked at Ga-in, who was only two years old?!!"
"....."
"You said that in this fucked-up world, you'd deal with the even more fucked-up adults, while I raised every child to be strong enough to survive alone. You said we would weed out that kind of human garbage."
The soldiers, hearing this for the first time, began to exchange uneasy glances. Major Im, as if strength had finally returned to his legs, pushed away the hands of the soldiers supporting him.
"That's right... In the past, that's what I said... But do you know what?"
Kwak In-gu stared at Major Im.
"Even if we do the weeding, this world is overflowing with human garbage... Just because they're the weak doesn't mean they aren't scum... You couldn't possibly imagine the things that happened in this department store..."
"....."
"A weak authority that respected everyone's dignity was nowhere near enough to restrain these piece-of-shit adults, just as you said. It simply wasn't possible."
"And you think that excuses what you did to Ga-in and that man?"
"I'm sorry to that man, but Ga-in has killed far too many people... She has become a killer..."
Ga-in just kept sobbing, showing absolutely no intention of letting go of Kwak In-gu. Watching that, Im Jeong-hyeok's pupils quivered slightly.
"It never occurs to you that she became that way because you people made shitty judgments and acted on them, does it?"
"....."
When Kwak In-gu handed Ga-in over to Yoo Min-seong, she clung to him just as tightly, as if she felt the same sense of safety as being in Kwak In-gu's arms.
As Kwak In-gu pulled the pistol from his hip, the surrounding soldiers all aimed directly at him.
"Hey, Jeong-hyeok, you completely fucked-up mess. By that logic, I've killed as many people as Ga-in. So settle for me."
Kwak In-gu kicked the pistol across the floor, sliding it toward Im Jeong-hyeok.
"....."
"And after you kill me, put a bullet in your own skull too. The number of decent people who died because of you is so huge it makes what we did look small."
Im Jeong-hyeok, who had been staring at the pistol, let out a long sigh.
"If I'm gone... this world won't function..."
"Bullshit. It ran just fine back when you weren't around."
"There are too many children's lives that depend on my hands..."
"So is that why you tried to kill Ga-in?"
"...If the children grow up, Ga-in will kill them..."
"You've become completely rigid in the few years I haven't seen you... So shoot me. I might kill the children you raise once they grow up too."
"....."
Im Jeong-hyeok clenched his jaw so tightly the veins in his head bulged. Then, as if he'd finally come to a decision, he let out a heavy breath.
"Haah... I'll apologize later."
Once Im Jeong-hyeok left the room, the others who had been looking around uneasily followed him out.
Master Sergeant Kim remained last, keeping his gun trained on them for a long moment before withdrawing.
Ga-in came to her senses with her eyes squeezed shut and realized she was in Yoo Min-seong's arms. She immediately kicked him away.
"Ghk!?"
Ga-in turned her face away, blushing as if deeply embarrassed.
When Kwak In-gu tried to stroke her head, Ga-in slapped his hand away. Whack!
Kwak In-gu just smiled at her reaction. He tapped his knee as if to invite her over. Ga-in averted her gaze, but then slowly trudged over and sat down.
As if completely drained, Ga-in fell fast asleep right there in Kwak In-gu's arms.
Carrying Ga-in, Kwak In-gu headed toward Min-ji and Ji-seong.