Chapter 65
When asked if there were no infected around the power plant, Ahyeon confidently replied.
“Probably… not. They said they’ve been guarding that area every day.”
“It’ll be fine. There’s a plain right next to it, and the ocean after that. How could any infected get there? It’s a place where nothing has happened for four years, so we don’t need to worry about it.”
Ahyeon’s words were likely not lies. Indeed, it would be difficult to find infected beings around the area where the power plant was located.
But why were there infected inside the power plant?
Not just one or two, but dozens of them.
And they were all mutated infected.
Shin Hae-jun recalled how they had ‘thought’ and acted.
As soon as the infected realized Shin Hae-jun was alone, they moved in unison towards the town center where more humans were, ignoring Shin Hae-jun right next to them rampaging.
This was because they ‘thought’ it more rational to go towards the place with more humans rather than deal with just one human—albeit a strong one.
‘This is getting annoying.’
The talk about mutant infected had only been heard recently. However, that information wasn’t in the reports from a few months ago. It meant the virus had evolved over the past couple of months. Shin Hae-jun furrowed his eyebrows, pressing his fingers against his temple.
“Jun-tae.”
Then he looked down at Yang Jun-tae, who was sweating profusely and trembling.
“Why aren’t you answering?”
He pulled out the cylinder of the revolver, rotated it, then reinserted it, loading the chamber.
“Do you really want your head blown off? Well, if you want to die that badly, I can’t stop you.”
“No, no, no! That’s not it!”
“Not what?”
“I don’t want to die!”
Yang Jun-tae, trembling, raised his voice. Shin Hae-jun nodded slightly.
“I-I did give explosives to the revolutionary fraction, yes. It was to lure out the infected. I thought that by using the infected, we could kill all the revolutionary soldiers!”
“Lieutenant Min, did you hear? This bastard is a real piece of shit.”
Shin Hae-jun chuckled and spoke to Ahyeon, who stood behind him, and Ahyeon responded by clenching her fist in anger.
“So, that’s why I gave them the explosives. But I didn’t anticipate the infected coming all the way to the city… It was an accident, a mistake!”
“Haa. Jun-tae. Yang Jun-tae.”
Letting out a soft sigh, Shin Hae-jun stood up and squatted right in front of the kneeling Yang Jun-tae, lifting his chin with the pistol’s front sight.
“What was my question?”
“Y-Yes?”
“Why were you gathering the infected?”
“Ack!”
Grabbing the back of Yang Jun-tae’s head, Shin Hae-jun shoved the muzzle into his mouth. Since the hammer was already cocked, if Shin Hae-jun pulled the trigger, Yang Jun-tae’s head would explode. Yang Jun-tae was now sobbing and trembling violently.
“If you keep babbling nonsense and trying to dodge the question, did you think I’d just let it slide? Huh? Did I seem that stupid to you?”
“N-no, it’s not like that…!”
“Answer me.”
In Shin Hae-jun’s jet black pupils was an unfathomable abyss. One could not discern what dwelled within it, but one thing was clear—he possessed a merciless nature.
“Why. Did you gather them.”
Gulp.
Yang Jun-tae swallowed his dry saliva. His trembling hands, numb from shaking so hard, were tightly clasped as he gasped for breath.
“The reason for gathering the infected…”
He tightly shut his eyes.
“One day, some people suddenly showed up.”
Now that it has come to this, he cannot hide it. No, he could not have hidden it from the beginning. He had already been caught gathering the infected, and his attempt to use them to kill the revolutionary fraction had also been exposed, so no lie would work here. He could only recite the truth.
“Th-they made me a proposal. The proposal was that if I just gathered the infected, th-they would provide the necessary supplies to Gangneung.”
As Yang Jun-tae continued speaking, he suddenly raised his voice, as if choking up for a moment. Then he glared at Shin Hae-jun with blazing eyes.
“H-how could I refuse that? You see? Most of our people are already starving due to lack of production resources…! If just gathering a few infected could solve that, why shouldn’t I do it?”
If one only heard such arguments, could Yang Jun-tae be considered a great mayor who cares for the citizens, willing to take risks and gather the infected for their sake?
However, Ahyeon could not take Yang Jun-tae at face value, because of the expensive leather sofas, plush carpets, wooden furniture, and gleaming lights in her view. Selling just those could have fed dozens of citizens, could it not?
Human nature is truly ugly. Even with death looming, they cling to lies to justify themselves.
Well, it wasn’t surprising that Yang Jun-tae pleaded like that. It wasn’t a matter of one or two days. However, what concerned Ahyeon was the ‘people’ who made the proposal for Yang Jun-tae to gather the infected.
It bothered her. She had a gut feeling that she needed to find out who ‘they’ were. Approaching ‘them’ might provide answers to the current problem and perhaps to what Ahyeon wanted.
After a brief silence, Ahyeon strode towards Yang Jun-tae.
“I’m curious about something.”
She asked, looking straight into Yang Jun-tae’s eyes.
“Who were the ones who made the proposal?”
“Lieutenant Min, hold on…”
Though Shin Hae-jun tried to stop her, Yang Jun-tae answered first.
“I don’t really know either. But… they did mention something about ‘research’, I think.”
Ahyeon’s eyes widened. Her intuition had been right. She urgently opened her mouth.
“Do you know where they a—!”
Bang!
But before Ahyeon could finish her question, Yang Jun-tae was in no state to answer. He had fallen backward with a hole blown through the center of his head. Ahyeon stared blankly at Yang Jun-tae for a moment, then at the blood and brain matter oozing from the back of his blown off skull, then at his desperate final expression, before finally turning to the revolver still emitting smoke from the barrel—and to Shin Hae-jun holding that revolver. His expression was devoid of any emotion as he spun the cylinder with his trigger finger, perfectly calm.
“…General.”
Ahyeon opened and closed her mouth repeatedly, unable to comprehend the situation. So Shin Hae-jun killed Yang Jun-tae, despite clearly guessing that he knew some information.
Ahyeon ground her teeth and shouted.
“He mentioned the…. research facility.”
“I know.”
“That means we could have found out where my brother is!”
Shin Hae-jun remained silent, and Ahyeon’s eyes trembled with the prolonged quietness.
“Why…?”
Suddenly, Ahyeon realized she had obtained no information at all from Shin Hae-jun. She realized that while he had grasped the ‘thread of the research facility’, she still did not know about it, and would only find out after this mission ended. Only then did Ahyeon understand.
“Were you planning to betray me?”
He could have betrayed me.
“You never intended to share the information about the research facility from the start.”
“Lieutenant Min.”
“Why?”
Ahyeon chuckled bitterly and murmured.
“Why are you hiding? Why? What are you concealing?”
After holstering the revolver, Shin Hae-jun slowly stood up and strode over to Ahyeon. She looked up at him, staring directly into his deep, piercing eyes.
His eyes, filled with sinister glares and dominating demeanor, were truly terrifying yet conveyed a sense of clear authority. It was as if he was dictating what needed to be done.
“Lieutenant Min.”
Shin Hae-jun spoke in a chillingly calm voice.
“I’ll share the information after the mission ends. That hasn’t changed.”
“But then why Yang Jun-tae?!”
“Sometimes.”
He placed his hand on Ahyeon’s shoulder and gripped her tensed shoulder firmly.
“There are things you’re not meant to know.”
Ahyeon suddenly looked down at the floor. Yang Jun-tae’s lifeblood was seeping into her shoes.
A faint creaking sound echoed through the office as the window rattled. The relentless night was finally coming to an end, but Ahyeon couldn’t bring herself to embrace the beginning of the morning.
🕂
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