Chapter 93
“No, really, what’s wrong with you?”
I’m not the odd one here, am I? Frankly, who would want to ride on Shin Hae-jun’s motorcycle shouting, ‘Hey, get on’? With those goggles on, he looked like a seasoned motorcycle club member…
“What do you mean?”
Shin Hae-jun shrugged his shoulders, seeming completely oblivious to what he did wrong. Then, in a casual motion, he removed the goggles covering half his face. His eyes, which reflect the world with clarity, were revealed.
Those jet-black, opaque eyes stared at me as usual, their heavy gaze contrasting with his lightly tousled hair and the faint scent of cologne wafting toward me. I tried not to be affected as I turned my head away. Then, as if it were no big deal, he answered in a grumbling tone that made me feel awkward.
“Why would you ride a motorcycle when you have a perfectly good car? And on this bumpy road, no less.”
“It’s cool, isn’t it?”
“Wow, what an amazing reason. Top-notch.”
Despite my sarcasm, Shin Hae-jun chuckled and grabbed my arm.
“Anyway, hurry up and get on. We’re going to the Seoul shelter first, then leaving straight from there.”
“To Yeongwol?”
“No.”
His quick denial, as if it were obvious, made me furrow my brows slightly as I asked. Wasn’t the Yeongwol area marked with an ‘X’ on the map he showed me before? Then he said.
“We’ve located what seems to be a research facility. Conveniently, it also appears to be a den for the mutated infected.”
Is he saying we’re not going to Yeongwol, but somewhere else, after saying that? Is he trying to deceive me again? After everything that’s happened, I couldn’t help but be suspicious.
Perhaps sensing my guarded attitude, Shin Hae-jun let out an empty laugh and pulled my arm again.
“We can’t go to Yeongwol. It’s unavoidable. But I’ve found traces of the research facility in another location instead.”
“Why can’t we go? And where did you find the traces?”
“Just get on and I’ll tell you. This thing is louder than I thought, causing quite a ruckus. The sun is also setting.”
He gestured for me to hurry up and get on the motorcycle.
Despite Shin Hae-jun pulling my arm, I stubbornly resisted and looked up at the faintly setting sun in the sky. I also overheard some disturbing noises coming from behind. Ah, damn it. This guy brought the infected along. I was so put off by his “Hey, get on” remark that I missed those important sounds.
“Have you really lost your mind?”
So I went ahead and sat on the back of Shin Hae-jun’s motorcycle. With the infected coming in droves, dealing with them would just be a waste of time and manpower. Even if I had doubts, getting on this motorcycle and fleeing was the best option for now.
Hae-jun chuckled and tossed me a pair of goggles. I put them on and fastened the belt. The view of the road through the goggles was blurry. Without giving me time to adjust, Hae-jun revved the motorcycle’s throttle.
“Hold on tight.”
As he said, the deafening roar of the exhaust filled the air as the motorcycle lurched forward. Instinctively, I tightly gripped his waist. I could feel Hae-jun chuckling again, making my cheeks flush for some reason.
“That crazy bastard Yang Jun-tae didn’t just have one or two locations where he gathered the mutant infected.”
Amidst the booming engine noise and the whooshing of wind rushing past my face, his words weren’t entirely clear, but piecing together the scattered words, I could roughly gather the meaning.
“So? Are you saying the mutant infected are swarming in droves?”
“Correct.”
Sharply turning the handlebars, Shin Hae-jun stepped harder on the pedal as he continued.
“There’s been a major infected wave.”
“Oh no.”
I took a sharp breath with my chin resting on Hae-jun’s back, recalling the small-scale infected wave we encountered in the Cheongna area before. Back then, we fended it off together with the Cheongna shelter people. It wasn’t too difficult since the wave itself was small-scale and the terrain was manageable to stop them.
But Yeongwol…
“Those bastards are coming down from above. We can’t stop them.”
You’re right, if humans had occupied the mountaintops instead, it would have been a different story. But with the situation reversed now, stopping a large-scale wave coming from above is impractical. Especially since the military has essentially abandoned the Yeongwol area. They’re unlikely to deploy troops just to stop this wave.
Seeming to confirm my prediction, Shin Hae-jun said briefly.
“Forget about Yeongwol.”
I let out a sigh and rested my forehead on his back.
“How can you be sure there’s no information about Woo-joo there?”
“We’ll have to go by the process of elimination.”
“Huh?”
“We thoroughly investigate every suspected research facility location one by one. If we still can’t find anything, then we go to Yeongwol.”
He calmly stated that we would search through each of the candidate locations one by one. Quite remarkable.
“So, Lieutenant Min.”
———!
An infected lunged at us from the front, jaws wide open. Before I could draw my gun, Shin Hae-jun stepped on the pedal. Right, he just ran it over.
Kkkkiiiieeek!
We were going pretty fast, so hitting the infected caused the motorcycle to spin halfway. But our Hae-jun didn’t care, planting one foot on the ground to steady the handlebars as he turned. After the half-spin, we sped down the slope again.
“General, do you know the mortality rate for motorcycle accidents?”
“I guess that means we die together then. Isn’t that romantic?”
“Romance froze to death ages ago.”
———!
Another infected sound. I half-turned my body while still gripping Hae-jun’s waist. Aiming a pistol at the infected’s heads while on the wobbling motorcycle seemed impossible, but.
Bang! Bang!
It was possible for me.
I let out a chuckle seeing their pierced heads fling back. But I couldn’t let my guard down—more infected were swarming from behind.
Shin Hae-jun accelerated while I clung to him like a lifeline, firing the trigger repeatedly. The grotesque screeches of the infected, gunfire, and the roaring engine created a hellish symphony. Not a pretty picture at all.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Click!
After skillfully expending my last bullet, I snatched the gun from Shin Hae-jun’s holster as if stealing it. Then I aimed at the infected again.
“Lieutenant Min.”
Amid this, Shin Hae-jun called out to me. I didn’t bother responding, thinking he’d ask why I was using his gun.
“I’m also from the research facility.”
…I didn’t expect to hear that.
What?
🕂
At the Seoul shelter, the military provides food rations twice a day.
It couldn’t really be called proper food—just plain porridge without any vegetables or meat—but since many people couldn’t even get that, Jun always held Yeon’s hand and went to collect the rations.
Today was especially great because an aunty secretly gave him an extra bread roll, saying Jun looked adorable while taking care of his little sister. The rock-hard rye bread was a precious commodity in this world.
However, Jun didn’t eat the whole bread himself. He saved part of it not just for Yeon, but also for Yongcheol, the uncle who meticulously looked after the insignificant Jun. It pained him that a mere bread crumb was the most he could offer Yongcheol in return, but he tried to console himself recalling what the uncles and aunties said.
“Hey, kids are meant to be taken care of. Enough with the thanks already!”
“Aw, why are kids so mature these days. Makes me sad.”
Slowly, until he grows up, they’ll keep giving to him, Jun thought.
“Uncle, are you awake?”
Having settled his heart, Jun arrived at Yongcheol’s shop and looked around for him. But Yongcheol wasn’t there. Unfazed, Jun headed to the place Yongcheol was likely to be—the basement.
“Uncle?”
As expected, Yongcheol was in the basement, his large frame buried in a worn-out recliner shedding dust.
The massive body seemed ill-fitted for the small recliner, but… Jun didn’t care as he approached Yongcheol.
“Why are you like this? Did something happen?”
🕂
Thank you for reading! ♡
