Gunfire Over Ttukseom (1)
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang—!
It was just past two in the afternoon when Cho Cheol-woong and the special mission operatives slipped into the twenty-fifth floor of a high-rise apartment in Seongsu-dong. They crouched at the windows, staring out toward the Han River.
Whop-whop-whop-whop-whop—! Whop-whop-whop-whop—!
The steady crackle of gunfire that had been rolling in from Ttukseom Park had begun to thin out. In its place, the heavy rotor beats of helicopters now hammered at their eardrums from every direction.
What the hell is going on?
Cho Cheol-woong’s eyes flashed as he sank deep into thought. He couldn’t fathom why such a large force had been committed around Ttukseom Park in the first place, nor why they were suddenly preparing to pull back. The entire situation felt off-balance and bewildering.
One thing, however, he knew for certain: whoever commanded this swarm of Black Hawks and troops was not the same faction as the blood traders they had met before.
The officer directing the soldiers now occupying Ttukseom was far too green, far too sloppy. These men clearly had no idea how to fight zombies. They were cowards who, the instant the creatures appeared, simply hosed them down with lead before even trying to read their movement. As a result, zombies that had been heading peacefully elsewhere were now being drawn straight into Ttukseom Park by the noise and the heat of battle.
“We stripped off all unit patches so we can’t identify their affiliation, but they definitely don’t look like Brigadier General Kim’s men,” Master Sergeant Hong said, lowering his binoculars and turning to Cho.
Cho nodded. “No, of course not.”
Even though they were now suffering from severe supply shortages, the unit Brigadier General Kim had led was the one that had held Seoul for over a month during the worst, most chaotic phase of the outbreak. They had done it while building and running a shelter and protecting tens of thousands of civilians.
Veterans with that much hard-won experience against the undead would never move with such amateurish panic. Operating that recklessly, no matter how good their ammo supply, they would have collapsed in less than a week.
“Then it looks like these bastards have nothing to do with Yubin’s group,” Hong added.
Cho Cheol-woong gave a dry chuckle. “That much is obvious.”
Even among Brigadier General Kim’s seasoned troops, Yubin’s people were on another level. Comparing them to this sloppy mess almost felt like an insult.
“If they really have nothing to do with General Kim, then why are they here and what are they doing?” Hong asked.
It was the same question gnawing at Cho. Judging by the number of Black Hawks, these soldiers belonged to one of the five southern warlords. Yet what possible business did they have in Seoul? From their behavior they looked like madmen hell-bent on killing every zombie in sight, but no general would burn priceless helicopter fuel and ammunition on a mission that yielded zero strategic gain.
“Today was the scheduled trade day. Maybe something went wrong?” Hong offered.
It was a reasonable guess—some disruption during the blood exchange along the Han River. But the theory had too many holes.
“If something went wrong, why are they busy shooting zombies instead of each other?” Cho asked, cutting to the heart of it. If negotiations had broken down into open combat, they should be fighting enemy troops, not the undead.
“Hmm… I don’t know.”
Hong tilted his head, then fell silent. No matter how he tried to spin it, he couldn’t explain why a force this size would dig in and pour indiscriminate fire on every zombie that wandered past.
Another operative spoke up. “What if the negotiations haven’t started yet? Maybe they arrived but there were too many zombies to reach the meeting point, so they’re clearing the area first.”
Cho shook his head again. “Those people don’t choose negotiation sites that carelessly. It’s impossible.”
A month earlier, when he had flown over the plain for the trade, what had shocked him most was the complete absence of zombies. In a city crawling with more than ten million of them. Yet there had been no artificial barriers, no fortified positions. The only explanation was that Yubin’s group had used some unknown method to keep the dead away from that exact spot at that exact time.
He had no idea how they had managed it without a massive explosion, but one fact was undeniable: the people trading the immunizer’s blood were hardened veterans of zombie combat.
They had probably accumulated an enormous variety of battle experience while building and running the shelter under Brigadier General Kim. Experts like that would never be stupid enough to pick the middle of a zombie swarm as a negotiation site.
“Ah, copy that. Keep watching.”
Hong finished his radio check with the scouts on the roof, pulled the receiver from his ear, and turned to Cho. “They just confirmed that part of the enemy force has infiltrated near Children’s Grand Park.”
“Infiltrated? You’re certain it’s them?”
“Yes, sir! After the infantry went in, the escorting Black Hawk touched down briefly before heading back toward the Han River.”
“How many?”
Cho stroked his chin. The string of bizarre actions was puzzling, yet he sensed a pattern beginning to emerge.
“Buildings are blocking the view, but they estimate twenty at most.”
“Map.”
Still deep in thought, Cho held out his hand. Hong pulled a folded map from his tactical vest, opened it neatly, and laid it where Cho could see.
“They’re hammering Ttukseom Park like they want to kill the world, but their infiltration team went here? Why?”
Cho traced the map, frowning. A sudden appearance with a large helicopter force, wild suppressive fire across the Han River, then an infiltration at an apparently unrelated location. The Black Hawk that had skimmed low over Jungnangcheon earlier— what had that been about?
“Aha!”
After turning the problem over and over, Cho let out a small sound of realization. Staring at the map had finally let him glimpse the opponent’s hand. That low-altitude flight had given him the final clue.
“What is it, Lieutenant? I’m curious too.”
Hong wore an eager expression. Cho raised two fingers.
“Two hypotheses. First, their information leaked.”
“Leaked how…?”
“Someone learned in advance where the next trade would take place.”
“Ah…!”
Hong nodded. If the radio operator had been captured, it was entirely possible. It might even have been a betrayal.
“So they came early to set up an ambush? They plan to hit Yubin’s people the moment they step off the helicopter?”
“It’s possible. This area around Konkuk University—wasn’t that where General Kim’s shelter operated before?”
Cho tapped the map and continued. “In other words, it’s ground they know well. It’s plausible they would have chosen it as the negotiation site.”
“That tracks,” Hong said, rubbing his chin as he studied the map. They didn’t know which warlord was behind it, but the idea that they had obtained the location of the next trade and quietly positioned troops at nearby Children’s Grand Park made sense. Insurance like that would give them leverage at the table and guarantee their safety. Generals, after all, were often secret cowards.
The two recent billboards in Busan had been bought by Lieutenant General Park and Lieutenant General Jeong, but that didn’t mean the suspects were limited to them. Lieutenant General Jeong, having already completed one trade, might have grown greedy.
“Then was the Black Hawk we saw earlier searching to see if Yubin’s group had already set up an ambush somewhere around here?”
“That wouldn’t be strange at all. The second hypothesis… has lower odds, but it’s possible someone came for the trade today and was kidnapped. These men are now frantically searching for that ‘someone.’”
Cho folded one finger. Hong’s eyes widened at the word kidnapped.
“Kidnapped? With all those Black Hawks hovering right there? How?”
“Remember our own negotiation terms. Only one helicopter could land. Maximum five personnel. And the radio only rang after all helicopters had left visual range. If you don’t care about consequences, kidnapping or killing is easy.”
Cho reminded them of the memory. Even a single platoon in ambush could overpower five people standing in the open in seconds. No matter how fast an emergency signal went out, the vanished helicopters would need minutes to return—more than enough time for disaster.
“I believe the kidnapping happened right here.”
Cho drew a circle around the Konkuk University area on the map.
“The Black Hawks that returned late probably caught their last signal near Ttukseom Park. That’s why they’re tearing every building in the area apart. The rest are firing nonstop to cover the search teams from approaching zombies.”
“Then what about the team that infiltrated Children’s Grand Park?”
“They must have found another clue during the search. I’m laying all this out, but even I think this hypothesis is weak.”
“It sounds pretty solid to me. Why do you keep calling it unlikely, Lieutenant?”
Cho tapped the chest of his tactical vest. “Because they removed all unit patches. People coming for a legitimate negotiation have no reason to hide their affiliation so thoroughly. Therefore these men…”
“Planned an ambush from the start. Same objective as us?”
“That seems far more likely.”
As Cho nodded, one operative raised his hand.
“Lieutenant, everything makes sense, but what are they going to do with all those zombie corpses? From the air they’ll be even more obvious.”
Just the bodies visible between buildings here already numbered in the thousands. An accumulation that large would be impossible for Yubin’s group or any arriving force to miss.
“Aigo, you’re killing me! You’re worried about that? They’ll use bulldozers to push them somewhere out of sight or just dump them in the Han River. They brought this many Black Hawks—there’s no way they didn’t bring the right equipment.”
Hong answered for Cho and gave the man a light smack on the shoulder.
“Ah… right.”
The operative rubbed his shoulder and asked again.
“Then when do you expect Brigadier General Kim’s people—Yubin’s group—to arrive? And what size force?”
“Hard to say with no solid data…”
Cho tilted his head but ran the numbers seriously.
If he were ordered to prepare a site that zombies would avoid for a set time, he would request at least six days and two platoons. They were probably similar. But because they were true specialists, they might shave two days off that timeline with the same manpower. The fact that the gap between Lieutenant General Jeong’s and Lieutenant General Shin’s trade days had been only a week supported the possibility.
“I predict two platoons in five days.”
He added one extra day to his estimate. Though the operatives wore expressions that said they weren’t sure it was even possible, they accepted Cho’s judgment without question. Their trust in their leader ran far deeper than mere logic.
“What’s our role, Lieutenant?” Hong asked, face solemn.
This wasn’t the original plan, but they had nevertheless gained another chance to meet Yubin’s group. The fruit of waiting through muddy waters had finally appeared.
Yet to claim it for themselves, they first had to neutralize the Black Hawks turning Ttukseom into a shooting gallery and the unidentified force at Children’s Grand Park. Fortunately, suppression was exactly what they did best.
“Everything I’ve said is speculation. To prepare for every possibility we need to move fast. Split the team here into two groups.”
Cho folded the map and handed it back to Hong.
“The two on the roof stay here and continue surveillance. The rest return to base with me.”
Leaving only two men so close to the enemy bothered him, but fighting their way to the Taereung light-rail station would require at least five guns including his own. The rooftop of a twenty-five-story apartment was relatively safe once the door was secured.
“After sunset we’ll send reinforcements by boat to support the rooftop team. The infiltrators at Children’s Grand Park will be neutralized five days from now—right before General Kim’s negotiation team arrives and comes under attack.”
That way they could secure the immunizer’s blood and speak with Yubin’s group in a friendly atmosphere.
“You heard the Lieutenant! Move fast! Let’s go!”
Hong clapped silently, urging the men on. Assigned a proper special-forces mission for the first time in a while, he looked visibly excited.
“Will it be all right?”
Right before descending the stairs into Sangbong Station, Sheriff glanced back at the Costco with a worried face, like a man leaving his lover behind.
“Of course it’ll be fine. We packed it solid with ice… Stop wasting time and let’s move.”
Jinwoo tugged him forward. They had filled more than seventy percent of the thirty-six-liter cooler with ice, sealed it tightly, and moved it into a shaded spot out of direct sunlight. It would hold for at least two days.
Whoever came here next for Grandpa Paul’s helicopter could restart the refrigerator and make another half-day’s worth of ice. Terra’s blood would return to Big Island still fresh.
“Still, it feels good to have finished it properly. If we’d gone back to the theater like Yubin wanted, we’d be worrying ourselves sick right now. Wondering if Terra’s precious blood was rotting away.”
Sheriff flicked on his headlamp and strode down the stairs, chest puffed out. Jinwoo didn’t answer aloud, but his own thoughts were much the same.
Today’s hard push had been the right call. Now they only needed to head back along a far safer route.