episode_0064

My uncle and I got off under a bridge called ‘Changhwa Bridge’. When I listened to the explanation, I found out that it was one of the bridges connected to the inner ring road of the city, and that it was also connected to the highway IC.

“There was a reason why I came by boat.”

If we looked up from where we got off and glanced at the bridge, the end of the bridge was not too far away. At most, the distance was about 300m.

“Shorts, let’s get ready.”

“Okay…?”

The old man suddenly brought up that topic. I instinctively said I understood, but I didn’t know exactly what he wanted me to do.

“What, it wasn’t just going to end if we just went up from here?”

With this power, wouldn’t it be enough to just push it up to the IC…? I asked the question with that in mind.

To be honest, everyone was in good physical shape and the dominant thought was, ‘Do we really need to do this too?’

“If I thought that would happen, I wouldn’t have asked you to go with me.”

I was a little confused as to whether I should be offended or happy by what the old man said. First of all, the nuance seems to be that I have to take on a dangerous task…

Well, I came here to work anyway. There’s nothing special about it…?

“Sergeant Kim, can I just give you one gun?”

As soon as the old man finished speaking, a gun was handed to him. It was the gun I often saw in the media and such.

Although I don’t use guns very often, I have some stored in our shelter as a permanent weapon, so I have a vague idea of what they do.

“The silencer…? Ah!”

But then I asked a question because I thought the most essential part wasn’t there, and then I figured out what it was for.

A gun is an object that inevitably makes noise, and the moment you fire it, it’s obvious that all the zombies on all sides will come running.

So, it is an iron rule that a silencer must be installed and used, and not having one means that there is no use for the gun, or that you have to use the noise to accomplish something.

“It’s bait.”

“Bingo.”

“How long do we have to move? I think it’ll be a bit difficult if we keep talking until everyone enters the IC. Also, that crazy bitch? Didn’t she come out to greet us when we got there?”

At my words, the old man shrugged his shoulders and gave Corporal Kim a look. At the old man’s actions, Corporal Kim took a step toward me, coughed in vain, and began to speak.

“We have to get into the operation soon, so I’ll skip the small talk and just get to the point.”

A map emerged from his bosom. It was similar in shape to the one he had seen in the headquarters or division commander’s office, where the grumpy old lady had been.

By the way, is that where the military map is?

“You need to lure the zombies gathered at the exit of Changhwa Bridge to the other side of the bridge. When you are done successfully, please signal us with this radio and we will enter the IC through the path the zombies left.”

“Since you have so much, wouldn’t it be better to just push them away with firepower and leave? You say you’re building a shelter? They’ll keep coming and going. If you just clean it up this time, it’ll be better later, right?”

“As you know, the situation is not conducive to using the ring road, so we plan to blow up the bridge. Transportation will be done by barge in the future.”

I understood it in my head.

Even if you blow up the bridge towards the exit, the zombies on the bridge will just move under the bridge, so the story is that you lure them halfway and drown them all.

The problem is whether there is a concrete solution for how you and I can get out of there, but I feel like there has been very little or no consideration given to that part.

“Then how do we get out?”

When I looked straight into his eyes and asked, the person I didn’t know if he was Sergeant Kim or Corporal Kim was busy avoiding my gaze.

“Ahem, please take good care of me, Do-hoon.”

“I didn’t expect it.”

As if it had been planned from the beginning, the burden was naturally passed on to the old man.

The worldly wisdom of ‘It’s not my job to do it, so it’s none of my business’ unfolded before my eyes, telling me to take care of myself, to take care of my recovery, and to take care of dealing with emergencies.

There was no way they would have built a separate emergency route to prepare for something like this when building the bridge.

“Is there a wire?”

It was a little disconcerting. I couldn’t quite figure out why they were looking for the wire, but I could tell that our lives depended on its function.

But I didn’t like the way his voice spoke so calmly, as if asking if there was anything he could drink.

“There is, there is.”

“I know what you’re saying. This is how soldiers usually do things.”

“No, this is blatantly saying ‘Please die.’”

“This is how I was originally treated. And to this extent, I am a nobleman.”

I had nothing to say when the old man came out like that.

No, isn’t this because they don’t want to shed blood, so they pass on the most dangerous mission to others?

If it were me, I would have been so angry that I would have said I was going to go back right away. Should I have even mentioned that I was going to take on this kind of work in the first place?

What? There’s a group that’s been in contact with you, and you want me to find out what they’re up to? You crazy bastard. That’s a completely different story. If you go back, I won’t let you off easy.

“Wait… Normally? Have you been doing this all along?”

I was so angry that I almost missed something important.

“No, it wasn’t something that big. Just something simple? It was something that seemed a little dangerous if I didn’t do it. If it was that dangerous, would I have done it? Leaving you alone?”

I recalled the times when shelters were not yet abundant, when there were still many shortcomings in the shelters. Every time the old man went to the dam, sooner or later, the shelters would add one or two things.

Indeed, did such things come into existence just because I ran a simple errand?

I now understand the overly strict attitude of the dam people.

It is only natural that he would feel that way, since the old man did everything that his colleagues and family members would have had to go through.

“Talk to me later.”

“Danhwa, you’re not misunderstanding, are you?”

Misunderstanding, what kind of misunderstanding is this? I barely managed to hold back the question I had been trying to put off by the old man’s words.

“It’s not what you think.”

“Let’s talk later.”

Bringing it up now would only make me angry. I needed to deal with the immediate issue. Holding someone accountable would come later.

At my words, the old man also kept his mouth shut and moved forward. Only the soldiers did not move and remained in their positions. It seemed that they intended to stay that way until we gave the signal.

Seeing that made me angry again.

This damn old man, how much has he hidden away? I thought that next time something happened at the dam, I would definitely have to tear it apart and stop it.

There’s nothing to hide. It’s been four years since we started living together, and it’s ridiculous to think that I’m telling my partner such an important story.

In the midst of all that, I sighed. It was because I could clearly see what excuses the old man would make when I asked him questions later.

Ah, I shouldn’t have reacted like that this time. I regretted it later. It was obvious that the old man would try to somehow get away with it by taking advantage of my reaction this time.

To be honest, I didn’t think I could win if the old man talked about his unfortunate past and appealed to my emotions. I started to dislike myself a little bit for that.

“Danhwa You, there’s a wire, so it’d be better to go up to the top of the cable tower. I’ll take care of the manning from below, so if it seems dangerous from above, you can provide appropriate support.”

The old man pointed to a structure towering over the bridge before he charged in. It looked like a place where the wind would blow a lot.

There was no need to worry about the arrows flying away since it wasn’t a very windy day, but there was still a possibility that the arrows’ accuracy would be slightly reduced.

You should shoot a few shots in advance to see roughly how much it will affect you, and then shoot taking that into account.

“Then, shall we go?”

‘Bang!’ A gunshot rang out. Perhaps because it was an open space, the sound echoed far away.

As if in response to the noise the old man had made, creepy screams began to be heard from all directions.

I had already fired the wire towards the top when the old man spoke. As soon as I confirmed that the anchor was properly installed, I activated the drive without hesitation and my body soared into the sky.

A feeling of buoyancy and weight from facing gravity head-on came over me.

When I glanced down, my heart sank, but when I saw the sky getting closer and the zombies moving further away, I felt a sense of relief. A dual emotion took over me.

I climbed up the tower with a slight bounce from a position where I was hanging in the air.

Sure enough, Hyeji was good at making things. Even though I’m light, I can’t believe she’s able to support a person…

‘It’s designed to be able to withstand up to 100kg, although it may be difficult to withstand up to a ton! As a side note, please be careful not to let the wire get hot or wet!’

If only the materials had been a bit better, if only the tools had been a bit better, and so on, then the specs would have been better.

Of course, it wasn’t my concern. After I fired my arrow at the protest, I looked down at the old man struggling.

There were a few screamers and some unidentifiable monsters.

The old man managed to avoid being surrounded by those guys and continued to advance diligently towards the center of the bridge.

I held my breath. The drop from here to where the old man was was at least 15 meters. The range would be a little longer, but as the distance increased, the accuracy also decreased.

It was better to shoot the guys following the old man than the guys at the place he was going.

Since the old man is a bit fast, he could easily get into an accident.

The moment an arrow hit the head of the guy trying to run over the car, he fell over and several zombies following him fell over as well.

In that moment, the Screamer, who had discovered my location, let out a loud scream, but unfortunately, he had no ability to do anything to me from a distance.

As if to replace that guy, a zombie of a type I had never seen before tried to climb up by grabbing onto the cable connected to the part of the tower I was on, but the width was too narrow for him to climb up with his clumsy movements.

‘with a plop!’

There was an unintentional suicide.

I don’t know if the word suicide is acceptable for a corpse that is already dead, but the unidentified monster hid its identity by falling under the bridge.

And at the same time, several gunshots rang out. The screamer who had been screaming at me fell to the ground with gunshot wounds to his body.

The guy fell to the ground, screaming as if he was dying, and the zombies around him responded with howls and started chasing the old man again.

Perhaps, the old man saw me in the meantime. There was no need to worry so much. The guy who was trying to climb up also fell and died.

Even if he had climbed up well, if I had shot him in the head or torso with an arrow, he would have fallen into the river due to the recoil.

He let go of his hand during the protest. While the old man was distracted by his gun, the head of the guy who was approaching him was shattered like a watermelon.

The arrow wasn’t that strong, but it seemed like it was quite corrupted.

I saw the old man give me a thumbs up. I couldn’t help but chuckle.

Sir, at that time, you should take care of the front.