Chapter 87
As Lieutenant Ahn and Seo-jun continued their debate, Gap-soo and Marco approached, apparently believing they had a say in the matter as well. But Seo-jun waved them off.
“No, no. We follow Yohan’s orders. No arguments.”
“Seo-jun!”
Lieutenant Ahn raised his voice in frustration. Seo-jun shot him a glare.
“And who the hell do you think you are, yelling at me?”
“Calm down, both of you,” Gap-soo interjected. “I agree with the Lieutenant. This place doesn’t seem safe. Why not go with his plan? We’ve defended against intruders before.”
“Yeah, because the recon team handled most of it,” Seo-jun scoffed.
“But we still fought too, didn’t we? They’re just like us—there’s no reason we can’t hold our ground,” Gap-soo countered.
As the argument continued, Marco chimed in.
“I agree with the Lieutenant as well. More than anything, this place is unbearable. People will lose their minds in less than a day, let alone a few days. The sleeping conditions are bad, but the real issue is the bathrooms…”
Marco glanced around as he spoke, and several survivors nodded in agreement. Seeing that support was growing, Lieutenant Ahn pressed forward.
“We should assign combat teams to each floor to prepare for an attack. We’re soldiers. These are just a bunch of thugs—”
Lieutenant Ahn couldn’t hide his unease about Yohan’s plan. This wasn’t a strategy—it was hiding and waiting for rescue. But what if help didn’t come in time? Then this so-called shelter would become a death trap.
With his calm and respectable demeanor, Lieutenant Ahn had earned a good reputation within the camp. The people were already leaning toward his side.
“Then shall we decide? Are we defending the building together?”
“Hold it! Who the hell put you in charge?!”
Just as their argument reached its peak, Jung-hwan’s voice crackled over the radio. Both men stopped talking immediately and held up their radios.
– Jung-hwan here. Is everyone evacuated?
“Yeah, Jung-hwan. What about Ah-young?”
– Found her. But I hear motorcycles. They’re here.
“What? Already?”
– Yes. Just like I told you—get everyone underground and don’t move. I mean it!
Seo-jun turned and smirked at the others.
“See? You heard him.”
“No! We need to take higher ground. We have to fight from an advantageous position!”
“Yeah? Then go die alone!”
“Seo-jun! That’s out of line!”
As tempers flared, Marco and Gap-soo joined the argument, turning the discussion into a full-blown shouting match.
Lieutenant Ahn suddenly turned to the other male survivors.
“What do you all think? Where are our best chances of survival? Do you really think we’ll be safe if they burn the building down while we’re trapped inside?”
He spoke as if it was already a certainty that the enemy would resort to arson.
With that, even among the survivors, a heated debate erupted—some urging caution, others convinced that hiding was more dangerous. The majority of the male survivors leaned toward going out to fight, wanting to protect their families, friends, or lovers.
Seo-jun let out a long sigh and shook his head. There was no time for this. He might as well get rid of them now.
“Fine. Do what you want. But only the combat team goes. The tech team stays put and hides. And if you lose—don’t even think about coming back down here. The door’s getting locked. Now get out. Move it.”
Seo-jun practically shoved the armed men out. Almost all of the camp’s fighters had chosen to leave. Even as he did it, he couldn’t shake the feeling that this was a mistake.
If Yohan or even Jung-hwan had been here, things would have played out differently. They always followed Yohan’s orders without question, yet they refused to listen to him.
Because they saw him as competition.
“Tch.”
As soon as they were out, Seo-jun locked every possible latch and barricade.
With dozens of men gone, the underground shelter suddenly felt a little less suffocating.
Seo-jun then cleared out a corner of the supply stockpile to create a makeshift toilet.
The displaced supplies were stacked at the entrance like a barricade. It wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing.
He grabbed the radio again, realizing he hadn’t heard from Jung-hwan in a while.
His gut told him something was wrong.
Time passed.
Then—an explosion thundered through the building.
The survivors huddled together in fear.
Screams followed soon after.
It was worse than they expected. No one here had ever wanted this—a full-scale firefight between survivors. Zombies alone made life unbearable, so why had it come to this?
The shelter filled with quiet sobbing.
Seo-jun paced near the locked door, nervous. Before long, family members and loved ones of those who had left gathered near the entrance.
He stood his ground.
That door was never opening. If he could, he’d weld it shut right now.
Then—
Bang! Bang!
Someone pounded on the metal door.
“Help! Please, open the door!”
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”
Seo-jun’s expression twisted in anger.
How many times had he told them not to come back?
Now, they’d just advertised to the whole damn world that survivors were holed up in here.
They might as well put out a TV commercial.
“Marco? Marco!”
Suhee rushed forward at the sound of the familiar voice. Other survivors grew anxious, shifting nervously. Seo-jun blocked them.
“Don’t even think about opening that door! Do you all want to die?!”
“But Marco’s out there! Our camp leader is out there!”
“My son is outside!”
“My boyfriend—!”
“Shut up! You should’ve stopped them from leaving in the first place!”
As the survivors clung to Seo-jun like leeches, he struggled to shake them off. What the hell was wrong with them? Why were they so desperate to die? He couldn’t understand it.
“Please! Open the door! I’m going to die! There’s no one near me right now, I swear! Please!”
Gunfire rattled in the distance, sending chills through everyone. The voice outside kept pleading—insisting they were alone, that there were no enemies.
Seo-jun’s eyes flicked toward the desperate faces of the survivors pressing against him. His hand moved toward the pistol at his waist.
If it comes down to it, I’ll have to threaten them…
Then, the survivors shoved him aside.
With brute force, they yanked the door open.
Marco, bleeding from his forehead, stumbled inside, gasping for breath.
As he turned to shut the door, they saw Gap-soo at the stairs, helping an injured fighter down.
Survivors waved frantically, urging them in.
Just as Gap-soo and the wounded soldier made it through—
A gunshot rang out.
Screams erupted. Survivors collapsed in panic.
Before the iron door could fully shut, a figure wedged itself between the frame.
Dressed head to toe in black armor, an intruder pushed his head inside.
Seo-jun cursed.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me…” (T/N: Fuck these bastards. Yohan should do a purge after he comes back.)
—
[20 Minutes Earlier – Gae Baek-jeong’s Main Force]
Gae Baek-jeong’s thirty-man unit sped past Gangseo District Office, heading straight for the Bucheon Highway.
Navigating an urban area always carried risks, but at this point, they were accustomed to it.
At the front, Gaeko and one of his men led the way, clearing obstacles. The main force followed closely behind. At the rear, two men deliberately created noise to lure zombies away, ensuring a relatively safe passage.
To account for potential surprises, they had split into additional squads, bringing extra ammo and supplies. Every ten minutes, they were to check in over the radio while moving through the highway.
For three weeks, they had been planning to raid the Women and Family Foundation Camp.
Though unexpected resistance had emerged, the sweeter the fruit, the harder the battle.
Gae Baek-jeong was convinced that before reaching their true target—the fortified refugee camp barricaded by buses—they would have their fill of spoils.
But when they arrived, what greeted them was unexpected.
“What the hell is this?”
The main road between buildings was blocked by large buses and vehicles, while smaller alleys were sealed off with barbed wire.
Gae Baek-jeong kicked the metal barricade and turned to Jeanie.
“This the setup the scout reported? Didn’t they mention construction noises from the east?”
“Must be. I wasn’t expecting another camp here, though. Interesting.”
Gae Baek-jeong was genuinely impressed.
Someone had built an artificial barrier right in the middle of the city. And it was sturdy—someone had put real effort into this.
From the top of the barricade, Gaeko shouted down.
“It’s bigger than expected!”
Gae Baek-jeong and Jeanie climbed up the wrecked vehicles for a better view.
The enclosed area was quite spacious.
But something was off.
Not a single person was in sight.
“What about the people?”
“None visible.”
“Hmm…”
As Jeanie pondered, Gae Baek-jeong waved Gaeko forward.
“Go take a lap inside.”
A section of the barbed wire was torn down, and motorcycles rolled through.
Jeanie turned to Gae Baek-jeong.
“Honey, this isn’t the Women and Family Foundation Camp. That’s just one of their outposts. This is a whole separate camp.”
“And?”
“That means there are more survivors.”
“So?”
“Let’s search the place.”
Gae Baek-jeong frowned.
“You got time for that? This place looks abandoned. If there are people, they’re long gone. And we don’t have the luxury of standing around.”
Jeanie clicked his tongue in frustration.
Gae Baek-jeong was right. Without knowing exactly where to look, combing through this place would take an entire day.
Right now, time was critical.
Still, something felt off.
Neither Cola Bear nor Mad Dog had checked in for some time. They had lost radio contact multiple times in the last ten minutes.
They had fought plenty of factions before, but this battle felt different.
Not just because the enemy was strong—
But because too many unexpected variables kept surfacing.
Standing atop the barricade, Jeanie scanned the surroundings from a high vantage point.
Then—
Oh ho…
A glint of realization crossed his eyes.
Gae Baek-jeong raised an eyebrow, intrigued.
What kind of twisted idea had just popped into that scheming little brain of his?
After a moment of thinking, Jeanie turned to one of Gaeko’s men, who had just returned.
“Size?”
“Took about fifteen minutes to circle the whole place on a bike.”
“Pretty big, then. What about Gaeko?”
“He says he smells women and wants to keep looking.”
“That degenerate.”
Jeanie scoffed. Gaeko’s obsession with women was ridiculous, but he had a knack for sniffing them out.
Not that he did it alone—his tracking dog, Swallow, did most of the work.
“Let’s sum this up.”
Jeanie folded his arms.
“There are survivors here. And quite a lot of them.”
“How can you tell?” Gae Baek-jeong asked.
“Look at the size of these walls. You don’t build something this big for a handful of people. There must be multiple camps connected to this one.”
