Chapter 30

The Officers’ Quarters (2)

“This time, we move in squads.”

When heading for the quarters, we decided not to bring the entire unit with us. Moving more than a hundred people together would be too difficult

“Each squad leader who can use guild messages will take ten soldiers and move out.”

“We should organize them mainly around higher-level soldiers.”

“Three squads should be enough.”

“Three squads?”

At my words, the squad leaders looked puzzled.

“Corporal Seo Su-hyeok.”

“Yes. Corporal Seo Su-hyeok.”

“You stay here with the marksmen and hold this place.”

“…Hmm.”

Corporal Seo Su-hyeok seemed to think it over for a moment after hearing the order, then opened his mouth.

“Because of the noise?”

“Unfortunately, yes.”

At this point, the greatest firepower our unit had came from the marksmen’s bullets.

The marksmen’s bullets were on a level even stronger than the mages. But in this operation, they were likely to be of little help.

‘We’re already almost out of ammo.’

Their bullets had to be conserved at all costs. We couldn’t afford to include them in every fight. And on top of that, the sound of gunfire could end up drawing in more enemies. Unlike the mages, the marksmen’s firearms couldn’t adjust their output to reduce noise.

In open terrain, they would be able to fulfill their role as defenders. But for an operation exploring a new location, they weren’t suited.

After hearing my answer, Corporal Seo Su-hyeok rested his chin on his hand and seemed to ponder briefly.

“I think that’s a reasonable decision.”

He nodded and replied.

“Someone has to stay behind and protect the survivors anyway. I’m the right fit for that kind of mission.”

“Thanks for understanding.”

“There’s nothing to thank me for. From my perspective too, it’s simply the most efficient choice. Have a safe trip.”

Fortunately, Corporal Seo Su-hyeok didn’t seem dissatisfied. It wasn’t relief at being excluded from combat.

Just a clean, rational acceptance because it made sense.

‘So as long as I give rational orders, they’ll follow them. That does make things easier.’

In any case, with the decision made, me, Sergeant Lee Minjae, and Corporal Jeon.

The three of us each formed our own squads.

“I should probably be in this group.”

One more squad leader.

In Lee Sang-ah’s case, she decided to join my squad this time. She had been appointed as a squad leader, but She hadn’t been with the unit long enough to build relationships with the soldiers yet.

She wasn’t suited for command.

‘Instead, she’s one of the few people in our unit who survived in a ruined city.’

Her strength wasn’t leadership, but survival on the ground.

In fact, she might be better at it than anyone else in our unit.

‘There’s no way I’m letting that survival knowledge and know-how go to waste.’

Besides Squad Leader Lee Sang-ah in my group, there was also one survivor in each of Sergeant Lee Minjae’s and Corporal Jeon’s squads.

“Can we really trust criminals…?”

“We’ve reformed them for now, so let’s trust them this once. You guys better not cause any trouble either.”

“Hehe, just leave it to us, sir.”

“As long as you make us some snacks after this, we’ll do anything.”

The guys who had become the ‘permanent juniors’ after being former criminals. Thanks to the same measures we used on Lieutenant Kim, their loyalty toward me was at its peak.

Like Lee Sang-ah, they were familiar with the conditions on the surface.

Their survival knowledge should be helpful.

* * *

“Then, we’ll head out first.”

“Let’s meet near the quarters!”

Once each squad was formed and we finished checking the necessary supplies,

Sergeant Lee Minjae’s and Corporal Jeon’s squads departed first.

If about thirty people moved together, we’d be far too conspicuous. We planned to take different routes and meet in front of the quarters.

“We should head out too.”

After the other two squads disappeared from view,

Our squad also began to move, a rundown back alley that people rarely used. Soldiers carrying their gear began a quiet march, hiding their presence.

The quarters weren’t that far away, but that was only when traveling by vehicle.

On foot, it would inevitably take quite some time.

‘Might as well not waste the walk.’

In a low voice, I spoke to Lee Sang-ah, who was walking behind me.

“Squad Leader Lee Sang-ah.”

“Yes?”

“From what you said last time, it sounded like the survivors mainly operated in cities.”

The question that came to mind first after hearing about the city from one of the soldiers earlier.

“How did you… no, why did you operate there?”

Survivors mainly operated near cities…In a place like that city, how.

‘Why?’

“It was more like we didn’t have much of a choice.”

Sang-ah shrugged as she spoke, the reason was surprisingly simple.

“When you’re looking for food, you end up going to places where people used to be active. That’s where food is more likely to be.”

“Hm.”

“Monsters and zombies are scary, sure, but starvation is just as terrifying.”

Food naturally gathered where there was demand.

To obtain food in a society that had collapsed, they had to struggle to survive in cities like that demonic realm.

“Ever since joining the unit, I haven’t gone hungry once, and I can’t tell you how thankful I am for that. Before that, we had to risk our lives every single day just to get food. Honestly, days without food were far more common.”

“How did you move around and get food in a place like that?”

“The commanders say that those densely packed buildings block visibility and limit firepower, making it a penalty. But for us, that wasn’t the case.”

She turned her head slightly, glancing around at our surroundings.

“Compared to wide-open terrain like this, cities with lots of buildings you can hide in are better.”

“Why?”

“You can move around while staying hidden, and even if you’re spotted by a monster you can’t handle, you can use the buildings as obstacles to create opportunities to escape. In open terrain, you’d just get chased down and die.”

‘I see.’

What worked as a penalty for us became an advantage for survivors.

If that’s the case…

“Is there a high chance there are still people left inside the city?”

“Probably? Even back then, we ran into other survivor groups fairly often. There are probably still a lot of people hiding somewhere.”

Hearing that made my worries deepen. The reason we decided to go down to the surface was to secure resources and expand our power.

Just like Lee Sang-ah’s group joined our unit, we’d eventually have to grow our unit through survivors. But if we indiscriminately brought survivors in, criminals like those guys could mix in. And above all, the act of entering that city just to look for survivors was itself extremely difficult

‘This is giving me a headache.’

As I was lost in thought…

Pak!

Someone grabbed my arm.

“Wait a second.”

It was Lee Sang-ah walking behind me.

She spoke with a serious expression.

“What is it?”

“Shh, keep it quiet.”

She raised a finger to her lips and spoke in a low voice.

Lowering my voice as well, I glanced around.

‘…I don’t see anything?’

The other soldiers were also scanning their surroundings, but it seemed they couldn’t see anything either.

I looked at her with a puzzled expression.

She whispered.

“Do you hear it?”

“I don’t see anything. What are you talking about—”

“It’s not about seeing. You have to listen. Focus. You’ll hear something.”

Listen?

Following her words, I held my breath and focused on the sounds around me.

There was a faint sound I could make out.

Grrhh… grrhh…!

‘Ragged breathing?’

It wasn’t coming from any of the soldiers.

When I looked at Lee Sang-ah, she silently moved her lips.

The message she conveyed was simple.

‘Zombie.’

She gestured for us to stay put, then began moving toward something.

In her hand was a large pair of tailor’s scissors, which I hadn’t even noticed her take out.

Grrhh…!

A faint sound coming from what looked like empty surroundings.

Lee Sang-ah followed the sound.

She stopped in front of a small drain, a perfectly ordinary roadside drain.

But inside, hidden from view, there was something there.

At that moment…

Kraaah—!

A beastlike shriek rang out.

Slice!

At the same time, Lee Sang-ah’s scissors moved. The scream that was about to echo out was cut short in a final gasp.

“It’s done.”

Wiping cold sweat from her brow, Lee Sang-ah spoke. The way she casually took out a cloth and wiped the blood from her scissors was unnervingly natural, like she’d just finished something routine.

“What just happened?”

It might have been routine for her, but it wasn’t for us.

What in the world had just happened?

“Since you said you don’t really know much about zombies, I should explain properly.”

Lee Sang-ah calmly began to explain.

“Most zombies are weaker than monsters. Even if you’re generous, they’re about the level of an adult man. I even Awakened by killing a zombie.”

As she continued speaking, she placed her hand on the drain cover she had stabbed through.

“But survivors can never afford to underestimate zombies.”

Creeeak!

With an unpleasant sound, she lifted the drain cover.

Inside, a bloated corpse, its flesh swollen from soaking in water.

“This is why.”

“What is this supposed to be…”

“Some zombies retain traces of human habits, but there are many that behave in ways you can’t predict, like this.”

A zombie crawling into a roadside drain. That was definitely hard to anticipate.

“In some ways, they’re even worse than monsters.”

“If we hadn’t noticed and walked over it, what would have happened?”

“Zombies are fundamentally hostile to humans. If we’d been lucky and gone around, maybe nothing would’ve happened. But the moment someone stepped over this without noticing, they would’ve been attacked.”

Cold sweat ran down my back.

Calling this a zombie…

‘It’s basically a booby trap.’

Even if the soldiers had grown stronger through Awakening, it would be hard to detect an attack coming from right under their feet.

“And that’s not the only danger they pose. The moment you get bitten even once by a zombie, the area around the bite starts rotting away.”

“…”

“Eventually, that person dies with their whole body rotted, and turns into another zombie.”

“If you’re bitten, is death inevitable?”

“Not necessarily. You can amputate the bitten part. But in a world like this, losing a limb is practically the same as dying.”

Her expression darkened noticeably as she said the last part. Maybe she’d had a companion who’d gone through that.

“Then is there any way to deal with them? If they hide this thoroughly, there’s no way to notice them…”

“You heard it just now, didn’t you? Their breathing.”

Ah.

“Zombies basically have rough, ragged breathing. If you focus with an Awakened person’s hearing, you can detect it in a quiet environment.”

“I see.”

So the only method was auditory detection. It sounded absurd, but at least there was some method. Better than walking into ambushes without knowing anything.

“Be careful. It’s better to die to monsters than to get bitten by zombies. People bitten by zombies never die cleanly.”

Once again, I realized just how lucky we’d been that zombies hadn’t appeared up in the mountains.

The lizards that attacked our unit had already been more than strong enough. On top of that, if fallen soldiers had turned into zombies like this, zombies were troublesome, but we couldn’t just sit around worrying about them.

We needed to come up with some kind of countermeasure.

‘Hmm.’

I casually reached back and touched the pack on my back…Heavy and slightly cold to the touch.

‘This might be the countermeasure.’

After the encounter with the zombie ended,

We resumed our march toward the quarters. We ran into another zombie hiding in a similar way along the route, but this time, the soldiers were already focusing on sounds.

Graaah…!

Slice!

Argh!

“At least you can hear them if you focus.”

“Well done.”

Somehow, we managed to deal with it. And so we finally arrived at the quarters of our unit.

“There, I can see the quarters!”

* * *

“So you’re here, Young-jun.”

“What, am I the last one?”

“We just arrived as well.”

The three squads, having taken different routes, rejoined at the open space in front of the quarters.

“How does it look inside?”

“So far, it’s quiet.”

Hearing Minjae’s answer, I looked at the quarters buildings in front of us.

The quarters were residential spaces for officers.

Out of roughly a hundred officers in our unit, more than half, around sixty, lived in the quarters. And since our unit was stationed in a remote area, it was difficult to go in and out of the base, so for convenience, soldiers often waited in the quarters before and after leave.

Taking those soldiers into account, even if it was the weekend and fewer people were present, there should have been quite a number of people staying in the quarters.

But now, it was unnervingly quiet. It would be a relief if everyone had evacuated safely, but,

‘That’s unlikely.’

I had already steeled myself for that possibility.

I looked at Minjae and Gwang-il.

“You heard about the zombies, right?”

“Yes. We took down a few on the way here.”

“I heard the basics from the kid. You said we have to focus on sounds, right?”

“Good.”

Since the other soldiers also seemed to know how to deal with zombies, there was no need to waste time…I gave the order.

“Move in.”

“…Yes!”

The soldiers were tense before the battle. Leading them, I approached the outermost quarters building.

“We’re opening it. Don’t forget to detect enemy positions by sound.”

“Yes!”

Creeeak…!

The moment we opened the door to the quarters and stepped inside,

Grrrhh…!

We heard the familiar rough breathing from all around us, that much was expected. The problem was…

Grrrhh…

Krahh…

Khrr. Kkh…

“…Ha, the soundproofing here is awful.”

There wasn’t just one or two of those sounds.

Inside the quarters building where our unit members had once stayed, the air was filled with dozens of ragged breaths.