The Leader (3)
Thank goodness!
The moment Yubin heard the three syllables of the name Yoo So-jin, he let out a silent sigh of relief. Jinwoo's face beside him relaxed noticeably as well.
Yoo So-jin was the name of the female military officer the witch had impersonated. These soldiers knew neither the missing woman's real name nor her true identity.
That meant Cho Cheol-woong wouldn't learn the truth of the incident until this interrogation ended. It also meant they wouldn't have to engage in any unnecessary power struggles with him over the witch.
They had prepared Jinwoo as a contingency, but Yubin himself had no desire to part ways with this man—after building such a connection—by pointing a gun at his chest.
"Strange..."
Cho Cheol-woong muttered quietly, stroking his chin.
"It doesn't add up. You were ordered to find a female officer who had recently turned into a zombie? Was that truly all? There was no mention of needing to recover any special personal effects belonging to Major Yoo?"
"No, sir. The additional orders were simply... since they needed to confirm the corpse's identity, the use of grenades or explosive rounds was prohibited. There were also instructions not to open fire indiscriminately before verifying her face."
Lieutenant Seong, who had been savoring what remained of his cigarette, answered.
"Hmm... Very well."
Cho Cheol-woong glanced at Jinwoo's face, ground his cigarette out beneath his combat boot, and asked Lieutenant Seong again.
"Did you hear anything about why Major Yoo So-jin had come to Seoul recently, or how she ended up turning into a zombie?"
"Not at all... Helicopters did launch early in the morning for two consecutive days, but our company was only mobilized today for the first time, so..."
Lieutenant Seong shook his head. He had received a sudden deployment order the previous night and had been dragged along without knowing their destination. That was everything he knew.
"Then it's highly likely Major Yoo So-jin met with her accident yesterday. Let's review today's events in sequence."
"Understood..."
Lieutenant Seong slowly recounted the day's incidents. When he reached the part where, after landing north of the Han River, they had witnessed Major Oh and Captain Lee arguing beneath the bridge, Cho Cheol-woong raised a hand to cut him off.
"Hold on. Repeat that."
"Pardon? Which part, sir?"
"The part where this Captain Lee dragged Major Oh to the bridge and explained something."
"Ah, that part..."
Lieutenant Seong swallowed hard and began again.
"When we saw the bodies of our unit's soldiers scattered around the park stairs, Major Oh became extremely agitated."
"So those soldiers' bodies appeared to have arrived and died before your group, not alongside you?"
"Correct. However... Captain Lee claimed he had eliminated the enemy forces in yesterday's engagement, but he couldn't specify the exact location and grew visibly confused..."
"How could that possibly be confusing? There should have been bodies. Even if the enemy had dragged the corpses away, bloodstains would remain, wouldn't they?"
When Cho Cheol-woong asked in disbelief, Lieutenant Seong nodded with a hollow expression.
"That was precisely why Major Oh was furious. Captain Lee insisted the enemies must have fled after being shot and turned into zombies, but as far as I could see, there weren't any bloodstains at all... Besides, the area was under the bridge, so there was no chance of rain washing them away..."
"Then is this Major Yoo So-jin the enemy commander?"
"It's possible. In any case, afterward Major Oh cursed Captain Lee and called me over to issue separate instructions. He told me to find Major Yoo So-jin in her female military uniform. Um... There's a high chance she became a zombie, but she could also be dead or still alive and hiding somewhere, so we were to search the entire area thoroughly..."
"Was there no information on the scale of the remaining enemy forces besides Major Yoo So-jin?"
"That... I don't believe there was. No, there definitely wasn't. Our only target was Major Yoo So-jin."
Lieutenant Seong, retracing his memories to organize his answer, shook his head with a puzzled look. At the time, fear and confusion had kept him from realizing it, but now it seemed truly odd. Why had there been no orders to watch out for possible ambushing enemy troops? Captain Lee, too, had seemed solely concerned about zombies...
"And after that?"
Cho Cheol-woong pulled Lieutenant Seong from his reverie.
"After that, we joined Captain Lee in searching the area around Ttukseom Park subway station. While checking the round building and the subway station, we discovered a massive pile of zombie corpses in what looked like an underground passage—a tunnel of some sort. Someone had clearly moved them there to hide them, but the strange part was... many of the zombies hadn't been shot. Their heads were crushed or their necks severed. It looked as if they'd been beaten to death with some extremely heavy blunt instrument or beheaded... Ah!"
Merely recalling the scene was enough to turn his stomach. Lieutenant Seong, who had been frowning slightly, suddenly exclaimed. The memory of the large man who had saved them when the truck stopped—smashing zombies with a hammer—had connected with the crushed skulls inside the tunnel. The fact that these two clues had only linked logically now spoke to the overwhelming stress he had endured as commander.
"We dragged out every zombie corpse in that pile to check for Major Yoo, but found nothing. After that, with helicopter support, we advanced once more..."
Lieutenant Seong's recollection continued through their cautious advance from there all the way to Children's Grand Park. It was a horrific tale of soldiers trembling in fear and dying one by one, but it contained little valuable information. Cho Cheol-woong listened quietly for a while before interrupting again.
"During that search, did Captain Lee say anything strange or issue any orders that were difficult to understand?"
"Captain Lee's mood was so foul that he kept muttering curses to himself the whole time."
"About Major Oh?"
"He did that too, but mostly... he cursed Major Yoo So-jin. Said that damn bitch should have just died on her own, but those bastards kept making things difficult... or, um... what else did he say... Oh, that's right! As expected from a crazy bitch, she made innocent people suffer right to the end..."
"Interesting...!"
Cho Cheol-woong leaned forward with clear interest, resting his chin on his hand.
"This Captain Lee seems to have known quite a bit about Yoo So-jin. From what I hear, they weren't even from the same unit."
"I don't know how well they knew each other... but it didn't sound like vague slander about a stranger."
"Fine. We'll set that aside. But why did you specifically follow the subway line? Did you find some clue and track it?"
"We found no clues. It was simply... Captain Lee insisted we had to pretend to search as far and as safely as possible so we could return. We followed that order and moved in a straight line. He also said that if Major Oh asked, we should claim we had thoroughly searched the entire area."
Lieutenant Seong answered in a hollow voice. He had expected it, but hearing it confirmed made the story truly pathetic. In other words, these soldiers had simply pushed forward in fear for no real purpose whatsoever.
"You said that was enough to kill time, but why did your platoon remain here?"
When Cho Cheol-woong asked, Lieutenant Seong bit his lip hard.
"When it passed 1400 hours, I radioed to ask if we could return... The reply ordered us to spend the day around Children's Grand Park, find safe cover, and establish a defensive position..."
The memory still made anger surge through him. His voice trembled slightly as he explained. Cho Cheol-woong thought that if a helicopter hadn't been watching from above, this man might have put a bullet in the back of Captain Lee's head.
"Though I considered it a dangerous order... we had no choice but to follow it. I suggested we first move to the safest possible location... and while aerial support remained, we could requisition food and cold-weather gear from the vicinity... But... Captain Lee ordered us to enter the Children's Hall building."
"Of all the buildings available, why the Children's Hall?"
Cho Cheol-woong asked in an incredulous tone. The Children's Hall had numerous entrances, windows, and staircases—an open structure that was hardly ideal for defense. Its low height made it even worse. It was also quite far from other buildings, leaving it vulnerable to isolation, and civilian supplies would be difficult to obtain. In short, they had chosen the worst possible position for a siege.
"It was close to our position at the time, but more than that, I believe it was because a Black Hawk could land on the empty lot right beside the building."
"What does a Black Hawk landing have to do with anything? Did you need resupply?"
"Not that... Captain Lee begged the helicopter pilot, saying he absolutely had to board it. He claimed he would return to the temporary command post on the Han River, meet Major Oh in person... and persuade him to take us along as well. So we just needed to wait here safely for a little while... That's what he said as he boarded the helicopter..."
Lieutenant Seong ground his teeth. His expression made it clear that while he could forgive others involved in today's operation, he would never forgive Captain Lee. Having read between the lines, Cho Cheol-woong lit a second cigarette and offered one to Lieutenant Seong as well.
"Here, have another. So after that, he left only your platoon behind and returned south?"
"Yes... Thank you."
Lieutenant Seong accepted without hesitation. The cigarette smoke curled upward, but not even the ever-cautious Yubin worried that it might attract zombies.
With the addition of the rooftop team from Seongsu Intersection and the arrival of further reinforcements, twelve fully armed special forces operators now occupied this building. Jinwoo, who had received an entire box of ammunition, was with them as well. Even if a thousand zombies swarmed, they could handle it in under ten minutes.
Besides... the cigarette smell already ingrained in Cho Cheol-woong and Sergeant Choi's bodies was far stronger and thicker than the fresh smoke rising now.
"The response that finally came back much later was merely permission to move to a safer hiding place if we found one. And that a return helicopter would arrive before noon tomorrow, so until then... we were to monitor zombies passing nearby and, if we spotted any that might be Major Yoo So-jin, secure it by any means necessary... But by then, the zombies had already gathered in force..."
Lieutenant Seong turned his head and took several quick, deep drags from his cigarette before continuing in a voice heavy with regret.
"We barely managed to escape the Children's Hall but couldn't get far. As you know, we were immediately trapped inside that billiard hall again."
"Didn't you feel it was unfair that only your platoon had to remain in Seoul?"
"At the time, I didn't even realize only our platoon had been left behind. I simply assumed... that troops must be stationed throughout Seoul. But no matter how many radio calls we made... there was never any response..."
The tears Lieutenant Seong had been holding back with clenched fists finally spilled over.
"I kept regretting that I had followed Captain Lee's orders. I was furious that my judgment had cost all those innocent platoon members their lives. I thought we were going to die for sure... Thank you for saving us like this. I don't know how to repay this debt. Hic!"
"I see. Thank you for your cooperation, Lieutenant."
After comforting Lieutenant Seong, Cho Cheol-woong turned to Yubin.
"Hey, Schemer. What about you? Anything else you want to ask? Causing this much trouble just to find one zombified officer is a truly strange incident, isn't it?"
But you already know the full story, don't you? Because you're deeply involved... His expression asked the silent question. Yubin scratched his forehead casually, pretending ignorance, and spoke.
"You mentioned a transport helicopter is scheduled for tomorrow... From everything we've heard, this Captain Lee doesn't seem particularly trustworthy. Do you believe him, Lieutenant Seong?"
"Ah... Yes. I naturally assumed it would be true. They still haven't found... Major Yoo So-jin, after all."
Lieutenant Seong nodded without hesitation. The desperate sight of Major Oh grabbing Captain Lee by the collar and screaming for him to find Yoo So-jin had been utterly sincere. No one under normal pressure would reveal such a desperate, ugly scene in front of his subordinates.
"...I see."
Yubin trailed off, sinking into thought. If a force the size of today's arrived here again tomorrow, what exactly should they do? They could simply move their base far away as originally planned, but could they truly silence these soldiers' mouths? The world was full of all kinds of people. No matter how much they owed them their lives, expecting all eighteen of them to keep their existence secret was asking a lot.
"If there are no more questions, let's let this man rest here and talk among ourselves for a moment."
Cho Cheol-woong rose from his chair and beckoned Yubin to follow. As Jinwoo opened the door and stepped out alongside Yubin, Cho Cheol-woong let out a short laugh.
"Hey, Private Park. You don't need to follow him around like a guard dog. Do I look like the kind of man who would harm the benefactor of my comrade-in-arms?"
"What? No... I didn't mean... Ah, I just wanted to participate in the meeting..."
Jinwoo, whose true intentions had been seen through, offered an awkward, stiff excuse. Seeming to find his poor lying skills amusing, Cho Cheol-woong smiled bitterly while rubbing his forehead.
"I don't know what secrets you have that make you so wary of me, but we have no intention of harming you. If I said I'd do such a thing to the people who saved Master Sergeant Hong... my own men wouldn't acknowledge me as their leader."
Cho Cheol-woong spoke sincerely. Handing over precious serum to others was an act of kindness on an entirely different level from saving lives with warning shots. He owed them a tremendous debt, and these men had become no different from blood brothers. Of course, these wild-animal-like fellows still didn't seem particularly eager to lower their guard and open up...
"Follow if you want. I'm not forcing you."
Cho Cheol-woong patted Jinwoo's shoulder and opened the door to the office across the hallway. He set his helmet on the table, sat down, and gestured to the other chairs.
"You two sit as well. This conversation will likely be long. And raise those headlamps a bit. Staring at them from so close is blinding."
Scrape—!
Yubin pulled two chairs over to face Cho Cheol-woong and sat down beside Jinwoo. Cho Cheol-woong ran a hand through his short hair and began.
"He didn't seem to be lying. Do you agree?"
"Ah, yes... From what I can tell..."
Yubin replied. They would need to hear Sergeant Kim's report from interrogating the other soldiers in the next room, but the current account was enough to roughly piece together the situation. Besides, after being so cruelly betrayed, Lieutenant Seong had no reason to protect any secrets for Captain Lee.
"I don't know whether you plan to rescue those men or not, but it's clear the helicopter will sortie again tomorrow. They may even mobilize more troops than today... What do you intend to do?"
The offer to evacuate them to the Taereung base they had prepared was implicit in his words. At the same time, his tone confirmed that Yubin's group was the root cause of this incident. Yubin shrugged.
"I'll have to think about it starting now."
"Right... The night is long, so there's plenty of time to consider your options."
After checking his watch, Cho Cheol-woong suddenly changed the subject.
"I heard the serum was administered with a very strange syringe. From what Sergeant Kim described, it looked completely different from the blood pack I saw before."
I expected him to ask about Yoo So-jin's identity first...
Yubin thought curiously but nodded.
"Yes. That's correct. It's a specialized syringe."
"That would be something the technological capabilities of General Kim's forces could never produce."
"Um... Yes."
Yubin readily admitted it this time as well. Claiming that the Chungju forces—who fought daily for survival without sufficient ammunition and spent their time cultivating fields—had manufactured such advanced medical equipment would convince no one.
"It seems you people are hiding far bigger and more numerous secrets than I vaguely suspected. Am I wrong?"
Cho Cheol-woong stared intently at Yubin and continued.
"But demanding that you reveal everything right now would be a foolish request. Trust hasn't been established between us yet. That's right. If I were in your position, I would have made a similar decision."
Cho Cheol-woong smacked his lips as if agreeing with himself, then leaned back in his chair.
"So... I'm going to show my hand first. Listen to everything, then make your judgment. Whether to join hands with me... or not..."