Ch.6Chapter 1. Human Unprotected Zone (End)

* * * * *

A long time after Johan left.

A military transport truck marked “On Mission” stopped on the road in the small village of “Mini Bell.”

The engine noise was loud and the exhaust fumes burned the throat, but the driver didn’t turn off the ignition. Instead, he flipped a switch to turn on all the attached lights. The area around the truck became as bright as day.

Soldiers in chemical protection suits disembarked in an orderly fashion. They were about a platoon in size. Their automatic rifles had flashlights attached that were too bright to look at directly. With visibility secured, the soldiers quickly moved to secure various parts of the village.

Shortly after, a person was thrown out of the truck. It was a filthy man wearing only underwear, handcuffed and shackled. His body was covered in bruises, yet there wasn’t a single cut. If you beat someone with a book as thick as a phone directory, and if you control it well, the skin won’t tear.

A man with a lieutenant’s insignia on his helmet was the last to disembark. He too wore protective gear and a gas mask. He was the one who had thrown the filthy man outside.

However, he didn’t even glance at the fallen man and walked toward a burned house. Two soldiers followed him. After searching for a while, they found only the remains of the burned house and charred zombie corpses.

The officer walked toward the thrown man. His pace quickened, suggesting he was excited. The man, who had been groaning from the impact of being thrown, screamed.

“No, I really don’t know anything about this! Do you think I’d set fire to it if I knew what was inside? That doesn’t make any sense!”

The officer showed no mercy. He kicked the man’s stomach and back indiscriminately with his military boots. The man, now in tatters, covered his stomach with his handcuffed arms.

“Please stop hitting me! I surrendered! I came to you on my own! Is this how you treat prisoners of war?”

Buzz. Buzz. The officer’s phone rang. With disgust, the officer climbed into the passenger seat of the truck and threw off his gas mask. He was a young, handsome man, but his face was contorted. When the driver shifted in his seat, the officer gestured for him to stay seated and answered the phone.

“Yes, sir.”

– Ah, Redeker. So. Aren’t you hungry?

An impatient voice. Lieutenant Redeker swallowed hard.

“…I’m fine, sir.”

– Haven’t you arrived yet? Your report is late.

“I apologize. Something unexpected happened. Huth, that bastard, the cabin where he claimed to have hidden the bag was found burned down. We’re currently searching the vicinity.”

– Is that so? What about Huth?

“He’s with us. He’s claiming to be a prisoner of war. In reality, he disguised himself as a civilian and then got scared of his suicide mission, abandoning the bag and everything else to run away.”

A light laugh.

– Our platoon leader seems very upset. Don’t stress too much. You’ll have to deal with many more like him. Since you’re already out there, use Huth as ‘bait’ and switch from ‘search’ operation to ‘cleanup’ operation. We’ve mobilized personnel and vehicles, and it would look bad in the report if we had nothing to show for it.

“Cleanup… sir?”

It was probably a reflexive action, but the driver looked at the platoon leader somewhat anxiously. He quickly returned his gaze to the front. Lieutenant Redeker decided to ignore it. He too found the ‘cleanup operation using bait’ distasteful.

“Understood. I’ll report if anything unusual occurs.”

– Good work.

The call ended before he could even salute.

“Um, Lieutenant. Change of operation, sir?”

He couldn’t scold the corporal for showing weakness after reaching that rank. The cleanup put the most burden on the driver. The argument that officers should take charge during cleanup operations still comes up occasionally, but it was practically impossible.

Redeker didn’t blame the driver. He didn’t want to be too harsh on the platoon members who had shared life and death situations since the outbreak.

“It’s not confirmed yet. Can you give me the key to the passenger compartment? Ah, thanks. This will do.”

A long vehicle maintenance spanner. Not too long, not too short, but heavy enough to break human bones. Redeker put his gas mask back on and got out of the vehicle.

‘Bait.’

Redeker comes from a noble officer family in the Eastern Römer Republic. Like ordinary Römers, he viewed citizens of other countries as inferior. That’s why he despised people like Huth the most, who blew up innocent lives while talking about “Elsa’s independence” and whatnot.

If ordered to shoot Huth, he would have done so without hesitation. If ordered to shatter every bone in his body, he would have done it out of a sense of justice. But the order to “treat him as bait” evoked a revulsion that surpassed all of that.

Redeker couldn’t pinpoint exactly why he felt such revulsion. He only knew that it clearly contradicted the etiquette he had learned since childhood. ‘Greet your neighbors when you see them. People should help each other. You can’t survive alone.’

‘I need to get something out of him.’

The lieutenant steeled himself and crouched in front of Huth. Then he repeatedly struck Huth’s hands with the spanner.

“Argh! Aaaagh! My, my fingers, my fingers! Ah!”

“Where did you hide the bag?”

Redeker pressed. Huth could only make sounds like “ugh, urgh.” The lieutenant struck harder with the spanner than before. Huth’s right index finger bent easily like heated metal. Huth’s eyes rolled back.

“Know your shame, you vermin!”

Redeker shouted, unable to contain himself. The naked man curled up and groaned.

“When were you planning to carry out a bomb attack for that damn Elsa Liberation Movement or whatever! You ran away fearing for your life, got caught, and now what kind of nonsense is this!”

“I didn’t run awaaay!”

Huth cried out, tears streaming down his face.

“My mission wasn’t suicide bombing. My mission was just to deliver the bag and the mobile phone…!”

“Mobile phone?”

Redeker muttered. Huth gritted his teeth. It was a card he had been saving for the very last moment, but he had played it too soon.

“What’s this about a mobile phone?”

Huth trembled. Not from cold or hunger or torture. It was the helplessness of an animal facing a predator’s jaws. Unable to wait any longer, Redeker raised the spanner again.

“There was a clue in it!”

“What?”

“The Prime Minister assassination case! There were rumors that the first infected appeared then! I, I thought it was just a rumor until I saw it!

But in the video on that phone, it was clearly there! The first human to eat another human alive, a human cursed by the hungry goddess statue soaked in blood!”

“What nonsense are you talking about? Speak clearly! Does Hans know about this?”

“He knows the content and that there’s a video file on the phone! The network was too unstable to transmit anything other than calls and simple text messages! The spy app used by the organization was barely installed!”

“Where did you get that mobile phone?”

“I stole it, of course! Who in the world would carry their own phone when going to blow up someone else’s house! I stole one, installed the spy app to take control, and while looking around for anything interesting, I, I saw that.”

“You could have fled with the phone. Why did you abandon it along with the bag?”

“Because the spy app shows the location in real-time! If I went somewhere suspicious, I’d be caught! That’s why I kept it turned off!”

Either a well-crafted lie or a truth bordering on fiction. Redeker was conflicted. He knew that excessive torture makes the victim spout both real and fabricated information convincingly. It’s basic knowledge for any interrogator.

Just then.

“Lieutenant!”

Two soldiers walked over with heavy steps. They were strictly following the military guideline not to waste energy on unnecessary things.

“You should see this, sir.”

The soldiers were conscious of Huth potentially eavesdropping. ‘Smart guys.’ Huth felt a little better. The three men stood in front of the entrance of an intact house across the street. The warning sign <Human Non-Protection Zone> had been damaged with a knife.

< Bag for sale. Limited time special price. No calls X Text only O. Negotiable. – V. OOO – OOOO – OOOO. >

“You two stay here.”

Redeker returned to the passenger seat of the vehicle. With a gesture, he sent the driver outside and made a call.

– What is it? Found something?

“Commander. We found a trace. And Huth has provided additional testimony…”

Foolish truth as it is. Unbelievable truth as it is. Redeker answered honestly. Analysis and judgment are the commander’s responsibility anyway.

– Excellent, Redeker. As expected, someone from a noble family is different.

“Thank you, sir.”

Redeker was pleased. He had produced meaningful results. So now they wouldn’t have to do the cleanup…

– The search operation was successful. Now just finish the cleanup operation well.

With a sinking feeling, Redeker hesitated.

“Proceed with the cleanup, sir?”

– Military achievements are hard to come by. So when there’s an opportunity for gain, you have to push it to the limit. The search operation was successful, and if the cleanup operation is perfect too, what more needs to be said? However, keep Huth alive. You can use all your ammunition, but don’t waste it.

“Understood.”

– Good work. When you return, wash up and have some canned food.

The call ended again. Redeker sighed and ordered.

“Bring out the cage.”

The platoon members thought it was fortunate they were wearing gas masks. They didn’t have to show their grimacing faces to the platoon leader. Though he was kind for an officer, he was more of a young pedant than other nobles.

The soldiers pulled out an iron cage from under the truck, just big enough to hold one person. It was a relatively dense triple-layered mesh that was filthy beyond description. If one got scratched by it, they might get tetanus. Despite its appearance, it had quite sturdy wheels underneath.

“No, no. Please, please not that… please not that… please. Please. Oh, God…”

Huth crawled and begged, but the soldiers didn’t even look at him. They silently connected the four-wheeled cage to the back of the truck with a thick iron chain.

“Connection complete, sir.”

“Huth. You won’t die here. You’ll return alive. But you weren’t… honest with us. So you must pay the price. Put him in the cage.”

There was a clear displeasure of ‘I’m not doing this because I want to,’ but Huth didn’t understand. The soldiers’ rough hands put Huth into the cage.

Redeker took out a military knife from his tactical vest and made a long cut on Huth’s leg. As if that would stop the bleeding, Huth let out a tearing scream.

“If you stay still and don’t struggle, the bleeding will stop sooner than you think. It’s not a life-threatening area. Now your life is in your own hands.”

“May you be cursed!”

Huth shouted from the now-locked cage. Red blood dripped from beneath the cage.

“The Goddess of Hunger will curse you all! If you were human, you couldn’t do this. If you were human offspring, you shouldn’t be doing this! Not only did you invade our country as you pleased, but now you’re even drawing blood…”

He couldn’t hear what was said beyond that. Redeker gave the order to board. But this time, instead of the passenger seat, he got into the transport compartment with the other soldiers.

“Move out! Sound the siren!”

Redeker knocked on the cargo area. The driver sounded the siren and turned on the emergency lights. Red and blue lights flashed, illuminating the unit name: “8th National Military Police Special Task Force.”

The truck started moving. The iron chain tightened. The cage rattled and was dragged by the truck. Though the road was almost flat and paved, blood flowed out whenever the cage bounced up and down.

“Slow down! Reduce speed!”

The truck moved at a pace similar to a slightly fast run. How much time had passed? Dogs, cats, and humans crawled out from the sides of the road. Their eyes were white like dead fish, and their flesh was all rotten.

Zombies. Awakened by the siren sound and hungry from the smell of blood, they gathered around the vehicle. Redeker sighed deeply.

“Prepare to fire, single shots!”

Redeker and the soldiers all aimed their rifles in all directions. Zombies were gathering from everywhere. Huth was screaming his lungs out, and when a fast-moving zombie tried to grab the cage but narrowly missed, he made a sound like a pig being slaughtered.

“Increase speed!”

The truck moved a bit faster.

“Commence firing!”

It was a slow, meticulous, and therefore more noisy cleanup.

* * * * *

At that same time, at the command tent of the 8th National Military Police Special Task Force.

Despite it being night, the command post was extremely busy. Information doesn’t wait for convenient times to be delivered. There was an overflow of data to analyze, the shell casings used as ashtrays were full of cigarette butts, and the liquor bottles had been empty for a long time.

But the Special Task Force Commander didn’t lose spirit. Instead, she leaned back deeply in her chair and lit a new cigarette. Under the dim light, eerie purple eyes flickered. Dark red lipstick stained the white cigarette filter.

“Interesting fellow. Bold enough to think of selling the bag.”

He’s not in the Special Task Force’s information network. He might be a Western Republic spy, or an information broker who stumbled upon a lead, or in the worst case, an agent from another Römer or Elsa intelligence agency.

Loyalty competition among intelligence agencies is quite intense. Sometimes one agency sabotages another. People in the know said that if it weren’t for the Special Task Force Commander, they wouldn’t have even been able to capture the amateur Huth and hand him over to the military police.

“I need to find out who this person is.”

The commander rose from her chair. The standing lamp flashed brightly and then went dark again. The nameplate reading “8th National Military Police Special Task Force Commander Virginia Helford” momentarily gleamed. In the darkness, the burning cigarette glowed like a viper’s eye.