episode_0062

“Command and Control Center is transmitting. Personnel dispatched to the highway IC are currently gathering at the main square.”

As the chorus that began with, “Let’s spread it again,” continued to resonate, the old man’s face darkened.

“Ugh… This sucks.”

“Why, do you remember the old days? When I was a Sergeant?”

“It’s noisy, let’s go quickly.”

The old man frowned as if he didn’t want to hear it and hurried his steps.

I wanted to tease him more, but I decided to hold back since we were just talking about something like that just now.

“1st Platoon, squad personnel report.”

“1st platoon total 10 Excluded 1 Excluded content Cooking dispatch 1 Current members 9…”

As I followed the old man, I came across an empty lot that seemed to have been used as a parking lot in the past. There were about 30 people milling about in that empty lot.

“Ugh, that’s terrible.”

“This is a request that the old man accepted. Did someone put a knife to his neck? You have to endure it with your strength and your will.”

When I saw the old man suffering from PTSD, I couldn’t help but laugh. I clung to the old man and joked around with him.

“Wait!”

Sergeant Kim, who had come out to greet us earlier, saw the old man and ran over to him in a hurry.

“Do-Hoon, everyone has gathered and we just need to set off. The barge crew on the riverside has also reported that the boat is ready.”

“Sergeant Kim, do it. I’m just a guy who came here to pick up some beans, so there’s no need to report to him like a superior.”

“Don’t you think you’re a bit too big for someone who came here to pick up beans? Anyway, please take good care of me and my platoon members until the IC.”

“Okay.”

I wasn’t going to let it go if I had offended the old man, but seeing his reserved attitude, it seemed like my worries were for nothing.

I just leaned against the old man’s back and watched their conversation.

“Heavy.”

“It’s not that heavy. That’s a lie.”

“Ugh…”

What I said was the truth without a single lie mixed in, so the old man quickly backed down and gave himself over completely.

It was not quite as soft as a cushion, but compared to the cold, hard streetlights, it was like heaven.

“Okay, let’s go!”

The sound of boots echoed at regular intervals. It was reassuring to see that the people who had been busy chatting before departure were making no sound other than the sound of boots.

‘I guess I’ll get eaten up in no time for an escort request.’ I even had such expectations.

“Is there any point in setting up a base on the IC side? There are so many cars that you can’t move. There are also a lot of zombies. Even if you say you’re trying to find the opponent…”

“You’re probably thinking of clearing out the zombies and clearing a path. If you’re just going to set up a shelter, the people on the dam side should be enough.”

“You’re doing that without heavy equipment…? Ah!”

I realized too late that I didn’t need heavy equipment. I was reminded of the bone-headed girl who had shown physical abilities that seemed far beyond the realm of human beings.

Well, I guess we could do without those guys if we just had them.

“Yeah, there’s no lie in the story we heard… but that Brigadier General, that guy didn’t explain everything either.”

I wondered what the old man was drawing, so I quietly closed my mouth and listened to what he said. In the distance, I thought I could see the water intake building.

“Probably, to where the guys are, or as far as they can easily get back and forth. I don’t know how far that will go. From what I’ve seen, Danhwa, you and I are more likely to go to that shelter.”

“Ugh, this isn’t a story I’m particularly interested in.”

It really was. That bastard really seemed out of her mind. I was worried that she might end up in that den with that old man and those guys and not be able to get out.

Bam.

Before I knew it, the man’s hand was on my shoulder. I looked up to see what he was doing, and he was smirking at me.

“Don’t worry. It’s not like we have anything great. Besides, a group full of such monsters can’t possibly be poorer than us. They have no reason to harm us.”

“Well, that’s true.”

It was a good insight, not bad for an old man. If we approach it that way, it certainly leads to the answer that we are worrying for nothing.

It’s obvious, but I have a bad feeling about it.

From the moment I heard the name Hayura, I had an uneasy feeling that didn’t go away, as if a non-existent tail had been wagging.

My father told me not to worry, but I told myself not to let my guard down.

One, two, three, four…

I counted the number of special bolts inserted into the holder hanging from my thigh. I’ve been hit once before, so I won’t be easily hit, but this time, there’s an old man.

The march was fast. I didn’t think I was running out of stamina, but I was a little out of breath.

“If it’s hard, tell me. If you’re tired, it’s hard for me too.”

“Oh my gosh, not at all, ugh, I’m not tired at all.”

“You’re out of breath for something like that.”

“I used to… when I run, I would do this…!”

Why does this damn old man keep talking to me and making a fuss? It was quite important to maintain a breathing rhythm while running. Running also had its own inertia.

“Tsk.”

Suddenly my feet stopped touching the ground. It wasn’t hard to figure out what was going on. This damn old man was hugging me.

“I told you it was okay!”

“I’m not okay. Danhwa, I can’t feel safe if you’re tired. I have to take care of my own safety.”

The old man’s arms were firmly supporting me.

What the old man said wasn’t wrong.

Although it was a bit of a hassle, and I wasn’t that tired, it was a wise choice to do it if it would save some of my stamina.

Yeah, I guess I’ll have to be patient here.

As we walked together like this, honestly, it was a lot more comfortable. It was a great thing that I was able to keep up with my weight class.

At first glance, the average height of the current staff is easily over 180 cm.

But me? Even if I jumped in with my relatively short legs, the reality was that it was difficult to keep up with the old men or soldiers.

Yes, because all you have to do is be active in the field as much as you can.

I moved my arm and put it around the old man’s neck.

It wasn’t an action that had any special meaning. It was just that if I held it like this, my head would shake less and I could rest more comfortably.

And as I was doing that, the old man started to speed up. The soldiers also started to speed up to match the old man.

What the heck, why are you suddenly increasing the speed?

I felt a little bad. Did the sandbags fall? Was he giving me a hint that he had slowed down because of me?

I turned my gaze away from the old man. Although there were occasional gasps, they were quickly buried in the regular sound of boots and exhaled breaths.

The preconceived notion that the dam’s atmosphere might be somewhat indolent or comforting because of its peaceful nature was quickly dispelled.

Well, it seems like it’s something you do when you do it.

Separately from that, I wanted to express my bad feelings as they were, but I decided to just hold it in.

Right away, when I thought about leaving my uncle’s arms and going at this pace, I realized that it would be extremely difficult.

And there was no reason to go through all that trouble when you could have just chosen to be held by the old man.

This place definitely seemed like a good fit for me.

Well, this is my private seat. I even got to ride it last time.

Moreover, if he were to be carried by someone else, it would clearly be a nuisance to those who were mere soldiers, weaker than the old man.

Even though he received training in things like wearing military gear and performing sparring, he probably didn’t train with a girl on top of that.

It seemed right to anyone that the old man, who had only a strong body, was carrying me.

“Is it still heavy?”

I blurted out those words because I remembered something I had heard while leaning against the old man. The old man, who had been running forward without looking back, glanced down at me and made eye contact with me.

As I looked up at the man in my arms, I noticed his strong, bulging neck and jawline, which I usually didn’t pay much attention to.

Well, the old man isn’t a bad person. He looks manly. If you were to rate his likes and dislikes, he’d probably be closer to being liked.

“Huh? Haha, I was just kidding. Even if your shoes are heavy, how heavy can they be? Compared to my backpack, they’re just feathers. ”

“Feathers are bullshit, flattery should be kept to a reasonable level.”

I gave some advice to the stupid old man. The reason why he can’t date women all comes from this.

There is an appropriate level of compliments, and while they are certainly nice words, there is a line that the other person may take unpleasantly, but the old man didn’t know this.

What’s the point of panting because you like women? You can’t even take care of such details. If there wasn’t someone to coach you well, you would definitely grow old and die as a bachelor.

“Was it too much?”

“Well, it wasn’t bad to me. Don’t say that to others. You’ll get cursed at.”

“Still, it feels similar to me. It’s so light that you can tell you’re holding it.”

“Ahem, well. I guess that’s because I don’t eat much…”

Since my body is very fuel efficient, I ate less to conserve the shelter’s supplies.

Of course, it wasn’t for dieting or anything like that, but rather a way to maintain an appropriate weight.

“Then you’ll get sick. If you look inside my vest on my left chest, there’s dried fruit. Take it out and eat it. You’ll be bored on the way, so you should eat something.”

I lowered one of my arms from around the old man’s neck and felt his chest. Thinking it was dried fruit, I took it out and a sweet smell wafted out. Before I knew it, my mouth started watering a little.

It was like a tea party… I felt like I was getting a ride.

There’s something like, when you get a ride to a far place, you sit in the passenger seat and eat some snacks and feed the person who is busy driving.

The fruit was very sweet, as if it had been pickled in honey. I thought I should give the old man some too.

“Yes.”

I brought the deliciously dried peach to the old man’s mouth. The old man stared at the peach jelly.

“Eat, you need to recharge your sugar too, mister. If you get a ride, you get to eat things like this.”

“Okay, thanks.”

The old man chuckled, grabbed a peach flake with his teeth, and chewed it.

No, you don’t have to do that. You can just open your mouth.

I don’t know if the old man was worried that his lips might touch my fingers, but I’m not the type of person to worry about such trivial things, so it was okay.

“And then you drop it? I’ll put it in your mouth for you, so just open your mouth when you want to eat it.”

I felt someone watching me. I turned my gaze and saw the soldiers stealing glances at the old man.

Well, they must be jealous. While they are too busy running to even quench their thirst, the old man can enjoy the sweet fruit.

If they were jealous, they should train hard and become able to carry a person. Thinking this, she put her arm around the old man’s neck again.