A Familiar Face
“We can’t go that way……”
Jinwoo muttered the same words over and over. The sudden presence of those special forces soldiers had turned what had been a harmless zombie migration route into a critical problem.
The Haenim zombies had just crossed the Gunja Bridge and entered the Eastern Arterial Road. Though their pace had slowed slightly as they threaded between the stalled cars, they kept moving without pause, as always.
That meant…… in roughly fifteen minutes, the head of that zombie horde would enter the soldiers’ line of sight.
“Ah, damn it……”
Faced with an unexpected variable, Jinwoo clenched his teeth. The special forces soldiers must not see those zombies. If they spotted the thirty or so balloons still dangling with nitrogen in the air, they would immediately realize humans were nearby.
“Haa……”
Jinwoo steadied his breathing and organized his thoughts, then pressed himself flat against the PGM338 once more. Through the scope, the soldiers remained in similar positions, maintaining their watch. Yubin had asked him to avoid killing them if possible, but if they were still there in fifteen minutes…… he would have no choice but to pull the trigger.
Tick—! Tick—!
With every passing second, Jinwoo’s face grew tighter with tension. Dozens, hundreds of voices overlapped inside his head.
Are you really going to shoot them? They’re not even in combat. What did those soldiers do wrong?
Are you joking? Why do you think they’re here? They came to flank us during the negotiation. The moment they see you, they’ll shoot without hesitation.
But if we never cross paths, no one has to die. How would they even find where we’re hiding?
Look at their gear and uniforms. Those are special forces. Elite among elites, trained for covert infiltration and rapid elimination. The second they spot the balloons on those zombies, you’re all dead.
Still…… the odds of them actually finding us are extremely low. Those zombies have an activity radius of over ten kilometers. Ten kilometers! They can’t search that much ground.
Bullshit. Do whatever you want, you spineless bastard. You’ll regret it later, just like with Lieutenant Ha. You’ll be hugging your bleeding friend and sobbing…… By the time you squeeze out those hypocritical tears, it’ll be too late. The dead don’t come back. Never……!
“……Damn it!”
Jinwoo ground his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut. He never wanted to feel that kind of regret again. He didn’t even want to imagine it. He would rather become a cold-blooded killer and bear the guilt alone than go through that again. That would be a hundred, a thousand times better.
Thud—!
Having made up his mind, Jinwoo swung the PGM rifle toward the advancing zombies and tracked their vanguard through the scope. They continued marching steadily along the Eastern Arterial Road and through the reed-covered fields.
There were no side paths they could take. At this rate, the zombies would collide with the special forces soldiers with 100% certainty.
“Huu……”
Jinwoo took a deep breath and steeled himself.
He had set his deadline at 400 meters. Once the lead zombies came within 400 meters of the soldiers, even their close-quarters day/night sights would be able to spot the balloons.
“Around there?”
Jinwoo slowly panned the scope, estimating the distance by eye. The large parasols set up along the Jungnang Stream near the gas station—if the zombies passed that point, they would enter the soldiers’ view.
Should I call Yubin and talk it over first? ……No. No.
Jinwoo stopped his hand as it reached for the radio. There was no other option but to kill them anyway. He didn’t want to share this guilt with Yubin.
……That must be their commander.
Jinwoo turned the scope back toward the special forces and centered the man in the jungle hat on the crosshairs. He would be the second target. The first was obviously the rubber boat. Removing their means of escape would drastically reduce the chance of any survivors.
Whoosh—!
A cold wind swept past, cooling the sweat on Jinwoo’s forehead. His body remained perfectly still, yet every sense had sharpened to an extreme degree. Even the low breathing of Samsuk-i dozing beside him sounded heavy and distinct.
Swish—!
From time to time, Jinwoo shifted the muzzle to check the zombies’ progress. Their vanguard had already closed to within 600 meters of the soldiers, showing no sign of stopping or changing direction. At their current speed, they would cross the deadline in less than three minutes.
Beep—!
Jinwoo set the G-Shock timer on his wrist to three minutes.
……Three, four, five.
He moved the scope back to the soldiers and counted them one by one. All five remained, barely moving as they maintained their perimeter. They showed no intention of retreating either.
What kind of mission could possibly keep them stationed in a place like this?
Jinwoo couldn’t understand it. Why were they so diligently guarding a bridge that held no apparent strategic value?…… Regardless, the moment the alarm sounded, he would have to pull the trigger.
“Huu……”
Jinwoo steadied his breathing and ran a mental simulation, placing each target in the scope in order.
Target one: the rubber boat. Target two: the right leg of the man in the jungle hat, standing about ten meters away. Target three: the left leg of the man standing immediately to the right of the jungle hat……
He had chosen legs instead of heads to avoid leaving evidence of a sniper. If he crippled them and left them to be overwhelmed by the zombies, any search party sent later would never realize his group had been involved. It was an inhuman method, but it was the best way to ensure his and his friends’ safety.
Once the simulation finished smoothly, Jinwoo rested his finger on the trigger guard and made minute adjustments to the muzzle, following the jungle hat’s movements. All it would take now was 900 grams of pressure on the trigger, and those men would cease to exist.
Grind—!
The moment he saw the jungle hat turn to his subordinates with a bright smile, Jinwoo clenched his teeth again, forcing down the weakness trying to surface.
The rain-soaked reeds surrounding the five soldiers…… reminded him of the night the Samcheok Power Plant collapsed. His chest grew heavier. Tonight, they too would meet the same powerless death—because of the bullet he would fire.
Gurgle—!
Master Sergeant Hong’s stomach let out a loud protest. He hadn’t eaten dinner properly while bailing out the muddy water and moving equipment to higher ground, so hunger was only natural.
“What time is it?”
Hong rubbed his tired eyes and asked. The soldier wearing night vision goggles, watching westward, let out an incredulous snort.
“You came out without a watch, Master Sergeant?”
“I wore one. Just don’t feel like looking at it.”
Hong replied shamelessly. Before the two could drag their unfunny banter any further, the soldier on Hong’s right answered quickly.
“23:57.”
“Then let’s go. The water’s not blocked anymore. I cleared it pretty well.”
Without waiting for a response, Hong strode toward the rubber boat. The order from Cho Cheol-woong had been to monitor the water flow until 00:00, but leaving a few minutes early shouldn’t cause any real problems. This wasn’t the kind of operation that required precise timing between both sides.
“Aren’t you getting in? I’m starving, you bastards! Untie the rope and let’s go eat!”
Already seated at the front of the boat, Hong raised his voice and patted his stomach.
“Boarding now!”
The soldiers quickly climbed aboard, untied the knot from the tree, and took up the oars.
Splash—! Whoosh—!
With four men rowing in perfect unison, the rubber boat spun once before slowly advancing upstream along the Jungnang Stream.
“……What?”
Startled by the unexpected change, Jinwoo blinked slowly.
After standing like stakes for the past two and a half hours, the five special forces soldiers had suddenly climbed into the boat and begun rowing…… He couldn’t make sense of it.
Did they already spot the zombies?
But that was impossible. On this pitch-black night with no artificial lighting, identifying zombies over 500 meters away on flat ground—especially ones moving between cars and reed fields—was out of the question.
“Then why……?”
Jinwoo swallowed dryly as he steadied his breathing. While he racked his brain, the jungle hat group rowed diligently, moving the rubber boat northward at a considerable speed. Concluding they weren’t coming back, Jinwoo quietly lifted his finger from the trigger.
Beep—! Beep—! Beep—! Beep—!
The moment he removed his index finger from the trigger guard, the watch alarm rang softly, signaling that three minutes had passed. The signal to pull the trigger……
Sniff—! Sniff—!
Samsuk-i, who had been dozing, woke at the sound and looked around as if he had never been asleep.
Beep—!
Jinwoo disabled the G-Shock timer and pressed his eye back to the scope, studying the face of the jungle hat sitting at the very front of the boat, MP5 in hand.
“Thank goodness. For you…… and for me too……”
Jinwoo wiped his sweat-drenched forehead and murmured with genuine relief. The soldiers had been spared, yet it felt as though he himself had been saved.
“Hey, Jinwoo! Must’ve been tough keeping watch, huh?”
A short while later, the rooftop door opened and Yubin appeared, rubbing his eyes.
“How’s it going? Nothing happened?”
Yubin asked in a voice still thick with sleep. From his face, it looked like he had only managed about two hours of rest before dragging himself up. Jinwoo shook his head calmly.
“Yeah, nothing happened.”
There had been immense internal conflict and pressure, but physically, no incident had occurred.
“Haaam…… Really? Are those soldiers still over there?”
Yubin walked over and stretched. Jinwoo shook his head again.
“No. About ten minutes ago they got in the boat and headed upstream on the Jungnang Stream.”
“Good. Then we don’t have to worry about gunshots anymore. Anything else?”
“Just…… the usual. Some zombies passing by. Those…… Haenim balloon zombies are moving along that route.”
When Jinwoo pointed toward the Jungnang Stream, Yubin’s eyes widened in alarm.
“Eh? Then did those special forces guys see them?”
Even right after waking, Yubin’s mind was already spinning with calculations. The moment he heard that the balloon zombies must not be shown to other military groups, he understood immediately…… Jinwoo stood up, slinging the PGM rifle over his shoulder.
“They didn’t. The timing was off.”
“Wow…… That’s a relief too.”
Yubin ran a hand down his face and patted Jinwoo’s back.
“Must’ve been rough on you. Go down and get some sleep. You need rest if we’re leaving tomorrow morning.”
“Yeah.”
Jinwoo exchanged a light high-five with Yubin, then descended the stairs with Samsuk-i after handing over the watch. He wanted to insist on staying longer, but physical limits couldn’t be ignored.
Looking back, he had been shooting, running, and dodging under constant tension since dawn. The fact that his eyes felt heavy now was simply from the excess adrenaline—his body was already exhausted…… For tomorrow’s sake, he needed at least a few hours of proper sleep. This fight would continue for another four days, maybe even a week or more.
Creak—!
When he opened the door to the fourteenth floor, the Witch, who had been dozing beside the Sheriff, jolted awake and cracked her eyes open.
Thud—!
Without acknowledging her, Jinwoo grabbed a bottle of water and walked to the armchair on the opposite wall. He leaned the PGM338 against the wall, propped his legs on the table, and felt the fatigue he had been suppressing with sheer willpower wash over him.
“Haa……”
After sharing the water with Samsuk-i, Jinwoo placed both hands on the K2 rifle strapped to his chest and closed his eyes.
Grrr—!
Samsuk-i, curled up beside Jinwoo’s legs, bared his teeth and let out a low warning growl. As if to say no one should approach the firearms…… The Witch, who had been carefully rising without making a sound, swallowed hard.
“……Good boy! Don’t do that! Nice, right? Shh! Shh! Don’t glare like that. Sit down!”
Even when she tried to soothe him in a frightened voice, Samsuk-i didn’t stop growling. The dog that usually fawned over any woman was acting this way, which meant she really was a terrible person.
“……Why? I…… was just going to the ladies’ room. Hey, you! Gunman! Cool your dog down. Or tie him up somewhere. It’s dangerous, a Rottweiler that big……”
Having failed to placate Samsuk-i, the Witch pleaded with Jinwoo. He had no idea what lie she was trying to tell this time, but he wasn’t in the mood to deal with her. Without turning to look, he replied.
“He won’t bite. As long as you don’t do anything suspicious.”
“……Shit!”
The Witch cursed under her breath and sat back down right beside the Sheriff. Only then did Samsuk-i relax and lie down again. Feeling the dog’s warmth against his calf, Jinwoo closed his eyes.
The helmet…… I should probably take it off to sleep……
The thought crossed his mind, but he no longer had the strength to move. Soon, he slipped softly and gently into sleep. Into the brief rest granted by this long, long day……