35. Pyeongtaek U.S. Military Base. (3)

Sung Gyu-hyuk seemed to share the same thoughts as me.

“Beasts… eating those monsters?”

The muscular man frowned and looked up at Sung Gyu-hyuk.

“You call those non-human things monsters, don’t you? We just call them zombies.”

I call them human beasts.

There are various terms for them.

The muscular man said,

“And yes, beasts eat zombies. Not just zombies, but they also eat each other frequently.”

Sung Gyu-hyuk looked at me.

He must be feeling the same way as me.

No, probably all the Special Forces members feel the same.

Beasts.

I knew they had disappeared somewhere.

Birds, mice, dogs, and cats had all vanished from the streets.

I hadn’t seen or heard any since the apocalypse.

It seems my earlier guess was right.

The beasts were gathering to form waves.

While eating each other.

I looked at Sung Gyu-hyuk.

There’s more to learn.

Ask more questions.

Sung Gyu-hyuk, as if reading my expression, turned his head to look down at the muscular man.

“I have a few more questions. If beasts are rampant here, what are the U.S. forces doing? What preparations are they making?”

The muscular man shook his head and said,

“I already answered that. What the bastards are doing is their business, not ours. We just came here to get weapons.”

Sung Gyu-hyuk nodded and asked again,

“One last question. Why guns?”

The muscular man looked at Sung Gyu-hyuk and tilted his head.

Whether he was a farmer or a construction worker, the middle-aged man with sunburned skin looked quite intimidating with his frown.

“Why guns, what do you mean?”

Sung Gyu-hyuk answered calmly,

“Guns are loud. They will provoke and attract those things. Are beasts different?”

“No, they’re not. Beasts are also attracted to sound.”

“Then why guns? You have shovels, and it would be better to respond quietly, right?”

The muscular man’s expression changed strangely.

It looked like he was both smiling and tasting something bitter.

“…Clearly, you haven’t seen those beasts.”

Sung Gyu-hyuk waited silently for his answer.

The man said,

“Hey, government forces guy. Have you ever seen bats flying at night? They’re quite small and cute. About the size of a palm. Even the big ones are only about the size of two palms put together.”

The man’s smile faded from his face.

“Bats here are different. They have bodies the size of a person and wings spanning several meters. Dogs? They’re just strings. Cats? They roam around the size of trucks. Cats are no longer cats. Even tigers would be smaller. The only ones maintaining their size are birds and mice, but even they are changing.”

Sung Gyu-hyuk’s expression grew more serious as he listened.

The Special Forces members, Sung Ga-yeon, and even my expression changed.

Tigers smaller than cats?

Cars-sized dogs?

What the hell is that?

Sung Gyu-hyuk asked,

“Changing, what do you mean?”

The muscular man sighed and answered,

“Eating. The more they eat, the bigger they get. The first to grow were the four-legged carnivores, followed by the bats. Birds and mice are still maintaining their form, but it’s only a matter of time. They get bigger every day.”

The faces of the people kneeling on the ground grew darker.

Shadows formed under their eyebrows.

Sung Gyu-hyuk said,

“…The bigger they get, the more they eat… the people in the city… or rather, the monsters, are being eaten by the beasts and growing bigger, is that what you mean?”

“Yes. They also grow by eating each other. The more they eat, the more they become monsters, as you put it. What do you think would happen if a truck-sized dog stuck its head through your window?”

The muscular man bared his teeth in anger.

“Window bars are as good as toothpicks. The wall would be shattered. So tell me, how can we protect ourselves without guns and explosives?”

Sung Gyu-hyuk couldn’t answer and just looked down at the middle-aged man.

A truck-sized dog ramming into a window.

That’s…

Definitely not a normal thing.

Sung Ga-yeon, who had been listening, stepped forward and asked,

“You said the beasts eat the monsters, but are the survivors safe? Has anyone been eaten?”

The muscular man turned to look at Sung Ga-yeon and said,

“No, no one alive has been eaten yet. But it will happen soon. The number of zombies in the city is decreasing.”

The old man behind him spoke up.

“Not necessarily. The helicopter just brought a lot of zombies. The ones in the city might have been provoked and swarmed in. They might have filled the buildings again.”

The muscular man glared back and snapped,

“Quiet. We don’t know that. For all we know, the helicopter might have lured away all the zombies, leaving the city empty.”

The old man fell silent.

The muscular man sighed.

“If that happens, it’s all over. The beasts will attack the homes of the living when they run out of food.”

The man looked up at Sung Gyu-hyuk and bared his teeth.

“We need weapons. Guns! We need guns to survive!”

…That’s why they aimed at the helicopter earlier.

If a zombie wave occurs, the city might become empty. They thought they would all die in that case.

Sung Gyu-hyuk was biting his lip.

I felt the same way.

These people aimed at Sung Gyu-hyuk’s comrades and me, and even pulled the trigger.

Normally, we would just kill them after getting the information.

Ah…

The taste in my mouth is bitter.

I took out a cigarette, lit it, and looked down at the ground, sighing.

Smoke rose into the air.

I could feel their gazes.

Looking up, I saw Sung Gyu-hyuk and the Special Forces members watching me.

…I get it.

I was the one who got shot at and subdued them.

They are silently agreeing to leave the decision to me.

I took a drag on the cigarette and looked at Sung Gyu-hyuk.

Suck.

Huff-

…Tsk.

I spat on the ground and said,

“Next time, just put down your guns when told. Don’t wave them around at people. If you do it again, I’ll cut off your heads. Got it?”

I turned and walked past the Special Forces members.

The Special Forces Leader nodded at me and gestured for the men to return their guns.

Click, click.

Glancing back, I saw the Special Forces members removing the magazines and bullets from the guns before returning them.

Some of the members were still aiming their guns at the survivors.

They were warning that if anyone tried to reload, they would shoot immediately.

The people took their guns and shuffled away.

Those without guns just shuffled away.

Sung Ga-yeon followed me and said,

“Just letting them go? They could be dangerous.”

“Just let them go.”

I chuckled and said,

“What can I do? I’m just a guy full of compassion and love.”

Sung Ga-yeon’s face twisted in disbelief.

I shrugged and said,

“I warned them, so they probably won’t be stupid again.”

“What if they come back?”

“Then… what…”

Someone came to mind.

I chuckled.

“Maybe I’ll cut off both their arms and gouge out their eyes.”

Sung Ga-yeon frowned and said,

“…If you’re going to do that, just kill them.”

“Just killing them would be better?”

“Compared to cutting off arms and gouging out eyes, yes, just killing them would be better.”

Really?

Hmm.

I think differently.

I believe those who ignore warnings and act recklessly deserve more than just death.

I shrugged.

“We’ll see about that.”

Footsteps came from behind.

The survivors were walking away.

The Special Forces members, keeping watch, were walking towards me.

“Where are you going now?”

“To the U.S. military base. We need to find out why they’re not giving out weapons and what they’re doing inside.”

Even though this is a foreign country and they are U.S. forces, the situation seems quite bad from what the survivors said. They’re giving out weapons like charity.

What are the U.S. forces doing?

If they’re being so selfish, thinking it’s all theirs and refusing to share, we might just have to wipe them out and call the helicopter.

While walking down the runway with these thoughts, Sung Gyu-hyuk came up beside me.

“Seong-hun, do you speak English?”

…Huh.

I stopped walking.

Sung Ga-yeon must have read my expression.

She sighed and patted my shoulder.

“I’ll translate. Let’s go.”

Oh.

I moved my feet and looked at Sung Ga-yeon.

“You speak English well?”

“I lived in Canada with my brother when I was young.”

Oh.

“A goose father?”

Sung Ga-yeon chuckled and shook her head.

“No, we immigrated. My father was in the Air Force. He was recruited as a pilot by a Canadian airline, so the whole family moved. We thought we’d just live there. But my brother went crazy and wanted to be a soldier. He couldn’t in Canada, so he gave up his Canadian citizenship and came back to Korea to become one.”

“…And you?”

Sung Ga-yeon shook her head and shrugged.

“I just went crazy too. I could have stayed there.”

Sung Gyu-hyuk, who had been listening, laughed and said,

“If you had stayed, you would have lost contact too.”

Sung Ga-yeon fell silent.

I asked carefully,

“Have you lost contact with your parents?”

Sung Ga-yeon nodded.

Then she said,

“It’s not just us.”

…Right.

I lost contact with my parents and younger sister after the apocalypse too.

Suddenly, I had nothing to say.

We walked in silence down the runway.

Walking to the end of the runway,

The U.S. military base came into view.