The White Porter and the Wizard's Gun (1)
“Waaah?”
The witch shot to her feet in shock at Yubin’s words.
“Yu! You’re leaving too? …Why?”
If this one-armed bastard disappeared as well, she would be left alone with Jack the Ripper. That meant… there would be no one left to stop the knife-wielding maniac when he decided to do something horrible.
“Sit down!”
Mingu snatched up the backpack Yubin had prepared earlier and barked the short, low command while glaring at the witch.
“Hic…!”
The witch let out a frightened whimper and dropped back into her seat. Then she bit her lip in self-loathing for obeying so instantly. She had always thought that kind of submissive posture was something only the underlings did, yet after enduring the terrifying pressure from this man all day, she felt completely broken in. Her pride was wounded, but… that was reality.
“Hyung, keep watch for us! Take the radio!”
Yubin handed the bag to Mingu and reminded him once more of his task. They had already discussed it, but it never hurt to be sure.
“Mm.”
Mingu nodded at Yubin, then opened his knife bag.
“Hands behind your back.”
After ordering the witch, he pulled out a roll of blue tape. With only the two of them left, he had to tie her up before going up to the roof to keep watch. Otherwise there was no telling what kind of trouble she might cause.
Tear—!
The sound of tape being ripped off made the witch’s face turn even paler.
Execution. This is an execution!
A warning siren blared inside her head. This was exactly like the gory horror movies she had watched until she was sick of them. The killer offers rope to the pure, beautiful victim. Terrified, the innocent victim lets herself be bound without resistance, and then… the cliché of a horrific slaughter begins.
“Don’t do that! Please don’t!”
The witch’s eyes went wide as she screamed, yet her hands were already moving behind her back, assuming the perfect “at ease” position for easy binding.
“Quiet.”
Mingu gave the order without a shred of mercy or compassion and wrapped the tape tightly around both her arms.
“Please! I already surrendered! Don’t kill me! Shit! Don’t tie my legs! I won’t run! Never! Hey, please…!”
The witch’s terrified voice followed them through the closed door. Leaving her desperate, tear-filled pleas behind, Yubin hurried down the stairs.
Tap-tap-tap-tap—!
When he neared the first floor, Yubin flipped the power switch on his prosthetic arm.
Whirr—!
A soft motor sound hummed to life and the yellow LED indicating remaining battery power lit up. Two bars left. Even though it was a waste of battery, he needed both hands in an emergency like this.
Swish—!
Before stepping out of the theater, Yubin drew his pistol. He hadn’t seen any moving zombies from above, but no one could guarantee that one or two wouldn’t suddenly burst out from between the cars.
Whooooosh—!
Instead of a zombie’s roar, a fierce wind filled his ears. A sign that the street was peaceful. Bracing against the biting midwinter wind, Yubin quickened his pace toward Gunja Station. If he missed this perfect window when the zombies weren’t moving around, it would be difficult to finish preparations before the meeting time. After walking two blocks and turning the corner, he spotted the Sheriff and Jinwoo standing at the subway entrance, raising their hands.
“Hey! Over here!”
“Oh, yeah! You guys okay? You took forever.”
Yubin holstered his pistol and quickly ran over to them, checking both men carefully. They were covered in dust, but fortunately neither seemed injured. Samsuk-i was fine too, of course.
“It’s… only two stations, but after that it got insanely hard to breathe. That’s why it took so long. We had to keep stopping to use this to catch our breath.”
The Sheriff set the oxygen tank and mask down on the ground. Yubin opened his bag while asking,
“You guys hungry? Thirsty?”
He was worried the two might be suffering from hunger or thirst after their nonstop adventure since morning, including the trip to Costco.
“Dude, we’re the ones who went to Costco. Why would we be hungry?”
The Sheriff gave a dry laugh, then suddenly looked puzzled.
“Wait, why’d you come out? We could’ve just gone up.”
“If we want to get ready at the bridge in time, we need to hurry. If you’re not hungry, let’s go.”
Yubin checked his watch again. 5:07. Less than an hour remained until the 6 o’clock meeting with the Special Forces major. Reaching the agreed location, setting up the signal and radio, then finding a suitable waiting spot would take at least thirty minutes. Factoring in possible surprises, they had almost no time to spare.
“Huh? You’re actually going? You’re meeting that guy? I thought you were just saying whatever to brush him off.”
The Sheriff’s eyes widened in surprise. Jinwoo wore the same doubtful expression.
“Weren’t you planning to stand him up and ditch him?”
“We made deals with the dictator generals too. Why not deal with someone whose face we know and who has some connection to us? One of them even helped save Terra. That’s more than enough. Besides… do you really think they’ll just let us walk away that easily?”
Yubin gestured toward the Jungnangcheon direction as he spoke. Their counterparts were the Republic of Korea’s elite soldiers. If the major decided to search the area around Myeonmok Station where they had met Jinwoo and the Sheriff, it was only a matter of time before he found their trail. They had already seen the mirrors hanging in the subway station, so of course they would check the tracks, and the tracks would still have their footprints.
Of course, they could stand him up and use the two-hour gap to sneak off in another direction, but that decision would be extremely inefficient. Finding a new hiding place at this hour, with the sun already setting, would be incredibly dangerous. Any move to a new shelter had to wait until dawn tomorrow.
And Myeonmok Station was… close enough to clearly see the helicopter flying to Costco. Rather than keeping such a massive threat right next door and constantly worrying, it was better to make a clean deal and turn them into allies. The fact that they had met by chance and parted without major trouble already gave them plenty of hope.
“I’m still thinking about where we should move once we leave the theater… but even if I’m planning to scam that major and ditch him, we still need the bullets.”
Yubin’s eyes gleamed as he muttered the con-man line. There were still two and a half days until Grandpa Paul’s helicopter arrived, but their ammunition was steadily decreasing, and enemy forces were stationed just one station south.
Jinwoo had probably burned through hundreds of rounds during the Costco run, so resupply was truly urgent now. That was why he had demanded fifty thousand rounds as an advance payment from the major.
They needed live ammunition for their own survival and for the people of Chungju to get through the winter. The best outcome would be a deal that left everyone satisfied. If not, they still had to come out at least a little ahead.
“Hey, hey, Yubin. I’m warning you in advance—don’t even think about scamming him. That guy… if you screw him over, he looks like the type who’d chase you to the ends of hell. His obsession is seriously fu— whoa…!”
As they walked side by side toward Jungnangcheon, the Sheriff shook his head in dismay. Yubin glanced at him.
“Oh, right. What kind of person was he? You talked to him personally?”
“He’s… a total soldier. Super serious, ridiculously stubborn, and a bit of a show-off… but he’s good enough with a gun to pull it off. Watching him and Jinwoo take down zombies from the roof, he’s got guts too. And most importantly… he’s head over heels for this bastard!”
The Sheriff pointed his thumb at Jinwoo and spoke in an exaggerated tone.
“He hugged him so warmly and kept patting him! ‘Park Jinwoo! Park Jinwoo!’ I seriously thought the guy was Jinwoo’s dad.”
“Bullshit! Did you ever hug your dad like that?”
Jinwoo snorted and scolded him. The Sheriff answered flatly, shaking his head.
“I didn’t. You think I don’t know my dad has zero affection? You’re lucky if he doesn’t suddenly smack you on the back, right?”
“Same here, you idiot. What kind of father hugs his grown son like that? And the son too…”
At first it had been a lighthearted joke with no real emotion, but as he spoke, Jinwoo’s chest tightened and he swallowed the rest of his words. Their father-son relationship had never been particularly warm, but he hadn’t expected it to end so abruptly. If he had known, he would have talked more with his father during that last meal before enlistment…
Tututututut—! Tututut—! Tutututut—!
Gunfire from the south scattered Jinwoo’s thoughts. Jinwoo and the Sheriff instinctively lowered their postures and asked Yubin,
“Hey, where the hell are they shooting from? Is it okay for us to be walking around like this?”
“Ah, I know it’s somewhere near Children’s Grand Park, but not the exact spot. Can’t see it from the theater roof. So they probably can’t see us either.”
Yubin replied casually. When the gunfire had first sounded within a kilometer, he had been extremely tense and frightened, but after half a day of it continuing without getting any closer, he had grown numb. Those people definitely weren’t in any position to advance.
“So it’s not a building right by the main road. Hey, but… if you can’t see them, how do you know it’s near Children’s Grand Park?”
“The zombies are walking along that big road.”
Yubin pointed at Neungdong-ro.
“When the front line of zombies reaches around Children’s Grand Park, the gunfire starts. So that means they’re nearby.”
“He’s not barking and just staying quiet, so they’re not that close.”
Jinwoo stroked Samsuk-i’s neck as he spoke.
“Then that guy’s words were spot on. He said they’d holed up inside Children’s Grand Park.”
The Sheriff narrowed his eyes sharply and wiped his mouth. Yubin looked at him.
“He said that? He pinpointed the location exactly. That means there are people watching from the opposite side too. That’s worrying. Or maybe… the ones over there are actually that Special Forces major’s subordinates?”
Yubin tilted his head, considering another possibility. Jinwoo immediately waved his hand.
“If they were Special Forces, they wouldn’t be panicking and running around like that. The gunfire wouldn’t be that loud either.”
“True… Last night, I didn’t hear any loud shooting even when they were taking down zombies.”
Yubin accepted it immediately and asked the Sheriff again,
“Then did he tell you roughly how many people are over there?”
“Didn’t seem like that many. The way he was bragging that they could handle it themselves…”
“Should we really let them? …If you love Jinwoo, prove it! Take care of all those guys for us!”
While Yubin muttered the theatrical joke, sporadic gunfire continued to echo.
Tututut—! Tutututut—! Tututut—!
“They must have a ton of ammo. Can they really afford to waste it like that?”
Even though it wasn’t his own ammunition, Jinwoo grumbled as if it pained him.
“They’ve probably stockpiled a huge amount. …Hyung! Can you hear me? There aren’t any zombies on the way to Jungnangcheon, right?”
Yubin pressed the transmit button on the radio and asked. Mingu’s reply came immediately.
—Chik! Mm, just a few wandering around the stream. Chijik…!
In that case, they could let the Sheriff handle them. Or Jinwoo could take care of them quickly while the gunfire from the other side masked the noise. Yubin felt relieved and picked up his pace.
“Keep watching the Jungnangcheon side and alternate with me. I’m counting on you.”
After finishing the transmission while walking along the car-filled road, the Sheriff suddenly looked curious.
“Hey, what exactly are we going to do? What’s this ‘preparation at the bridge’ you mentioned?”
“What do you mean? First we need to leave the radio at that bridge from yesterday. Then move to a high enough spot where we can see it and contact them to come over. That way it’s safer.”
Yubin tapped the radio. Hearing his answer, the Sheriff stopped dead in his tracks.
“Ah, to leave the radio! …Then we don’t need to go all the way to the bridge. We can just wait at the meeting spot in advance.”
“Huh? Why don’t we need to go to the bridge?”
“This bastard has a radio that connects directly to that guy.”
The Sheriff pointed at Jinwoo with the end of his hammer. Thinking it might be a joke, Yubin looked at Jinwoo, but the latter didn’t deny it.
“What are you talking about? What do you mean, a radio that connects directly?”
Yubin blinked in confusion. Jinwoo rummaged through his backpack and pulled out a radio.
“This… the major took it off his own tactical vest and gave it to me. Said to contact him anytime if I wanted to talk.”
“…He gave you his own radio? Really?”
Yubin accepted the powered-off radio with a dumbfounded expression. It was definitely a different model from the ones they used. Handing over equipment that could let them eavesdrop on the other side’s entire communications just by matching the channel… that was something you would never do unless you considered them allies.
Beep—! Beep-beep—!
Still, just in case, he turned the radio on and cycled through the channels. He could hear Special Forces members communicating.
—Chik! Seongsu-dong support forces are ready! We can deploy immediately upon orders. Chiiik…!
—Chijik! This is Seongsu-dong. No change in the target stationed at Children’s Grand Park. Intermittent suppressive fire ongoing. Chik…!
“Whoa!”
Yubin let out a small exclamation at the unfamiliar voices. It was good to gather information about what was happening where, but there was also a strange thrill, like eavesdropping on someone else’s phone call. After returning the channel to its original position and turning off the radio, Yubin marveled.
“That guy must really like you. This is basically… ‘please marry me’ mode.”
“Crazy! What marriage? He just wants me to join as his underling!”
Jinwoo denied it with a serious face. Either way, they no longer had to walk all the way to Jangpyeong Bridge just to install the radio. They simply needed to find a safe spot with a clear view of the bridge, away from zombies, and wait there in advance.
“Suddenly… we have way too much time.”
Yubin looked up at the darkened sky. The distance to the Jungnangcheon walking path was only about five hundred meters, and there was still over fifty minutes until Cho Cheol-woong arrived. More than enough time to pick a suitable building and hide.
“But Yubin, why did you ask for so much in advance?”
As they walked toward Jungnangcheon at a more relaxed pace, the Sheriff asked. He still couldn’t understand why Yubin had demanded fifty thousand rounds upfront.
“Because it would take them a long time. We can’t have them arriving before you guys. No matter how fast they are, going to some ammo depot on a mountainside and bringing back that much would take at least forty minutes round trip.”
Yubin answered. Now that he heard it, the condition did make sense. However…
“That’s fine, but how are we supposed to move fifty thousand rounds? There’s only three of us. Me, Jinwoo, you.”
The Sheriff pointed at himself, Jinwoo, and Yubin in order. Yubin gave his reason without hesitation.
“That doesn’t matter. We can hide it for a while and move it little by little. The important thing was making them think we have enough manpower to handle fifty thousand rounds.”
Even if the bluff would be exposed the moment they met, creating that impression at the time was crucial. The moment you’re underestimated in a negotiation, it’s over.
“Oho, so that’s the trick you had hidden… Anyway, this bastard is so sly.”
The Sheriff ruffled Yubin’s hair with an impressed look. Even though it now resembled a bird’s nest, Yubin paid it no mind and looked back at his friends.
“But… that guy. He’ll actually have the bullets, right? I hope he doesn’t show up empty-handed.”