Infected - Chapter 54



Only Noblemtl

Episode 53

Finance got out of bed.

Outside, dawn was breaking.

After hearing the manager’s explanation yesterday, I ate, showered, and just passed out.

Maybe it was because the tension was relieved, but I slept like the dead without waking up even once.

My whole body ached and hurt.

The fatigue and stress that had built up from multiple near-death experiences could not be relieved overnight.

Finance shook his head with a slight headache.

Then I went out of the barracks to change my mood.

The small barracks set up on the edge of the soldiers’ quarters were just the right size for the finance officer to live in alone.

I rolled up the tent covering the entrance, sat down on a chair, and drank some water.

Clean drinking water and the sound of people’s voices heard from afar.

It was peaceful.

The world beyond the distant outer wall was probably still the same, but I didn’t want to think about it even for a moment.

Finance stretched and repeated itself, telling itself that it was safe.

‘You can’t leave the barracks for three days.’

That’s what the manager said.

They said there would be a waiting period of three days.

He said that he had an important operation scheduled for the day after tomorrow and that he had no time to worry about finances.

So, they said that the combat uniforms and equipment to change into would all be provided later.

Now that one day has passed, there are two days left.

I had to stay in this barracks all day today and tomorrow.

It would be nice to just sleep quietly, but I was still bored.

Why does the peaceful time I suddenly gained feel unbearably heavy?

The soldiers who had returned from their morning drill were busily beginning to distribute meals.

Distribution started from the tower.

Once a day, several large trucks emerged from the tower, loaded with food.

After passing through the guard fence and entering here, distribution was carried out in an orderly manner by platoon.

What’s unusual is that trucks carrying half the remaining food pass the unit and move on to the next area.

And then after a long time, it came back empty.

I wanted to go and see.

I wanted to go to the border and meet the group.

Even though we only met for a day, it felt like we hadn’t seen each other for a very long time.

Although he didn’t show it, I felt like I had really grown fond of him without realizing it.

After all, since we went through life and death together, even though the time we spent together was short, the depth was bound to be different.

Faces came to mind one by one.

Lee Beom-sik.

You little punk.

But he’s a better guy than I thought.

The more I look at him, the more I like him.

A person who wants to kill someone, but somehow feels a bit sad.

A long, model-like body, a beautiful face that women would be charmed by, and a beast-like personality and outstanding physical ability hidden within.

Beomsik was a tiger in wolf skin.

Kang Young-man.

An exotic-looking face with a beard that covers half of his face.

Thick double eyelids that don’t suit Koreans and a physique rarely seen in people of the past.

His booming voice was as loud as a firecracker, and his boldness in making decisions surpassed that of a young person.

Agile movements and quick wit that show no trace of the passage of time.

He was a soldier through and through.

Kang Min-young.

A doctor with a strong spirit of sacrifice.

A doctor full of humanity.

But the decisiveness to make a cool-headed decision at a completely unexpected moment.

The dogmatism and unexpected cruelty of putting one’s own thoughts into action.

Yet, he is a person whose heart is incomprehensible and whose hands tremble like an aspen tree just by hearing the stories of infected people.

A person who kills for everyone, overcoming his guilt.

She was a truly elusive person.

Anna.

Archery skills that could almost be called divine.

A natural archer who might have broken the world record much earlier if not for his injury.

It certainly seemed that way to Finance.

He’s more choleric than most men, and once he gets into something, he goes all out.

Although he seemed easygoing, he also had a weak side and gave up quickly in times of crisis.

Lee Hyun-soo.

An ignorant guy who swung a frying pan without even realizing that his finger bone was broken.

A humane person who was sadder than anyone else about the death of Kim Chae-min, whom he had not seen for a few days, because he had a lot of affection for her.

A prankster who appears to have a quick mind, but often says nonsense that feels like nonsense.

But somewhere, there seemed to be a darkness that contained pain.

Along with the five faces, the face of the dead man also came to mind.

Anyway, I entered the safe zone.

Finance kept his promise to the party, and everyone was safe.

Of course, this wasn’t the end.

It was clearly another beginning.

There was no guarantee that the safe zone would last forever, and there would be mountains of problems to solve in the future.

Still, it was better than outside.

No, it’s a thousand times better.

No more smelling the rotting corpses, no more anxiety about who might show up, when, or where.

There were no infected people tearing people alive, and no dust storms created by them gathering together.

It’s not perfect, but it’s a little different from what I thought.

Still, it was a safe zone.

Jaejae, who was walking around the barracks with a slight sense of satisfaction, decided to do some exercise that he had not been able to do for a while.

I looked down at various parts of my body.

Although he didn’t pay much attention to himself, he had a firm body without an ounce of fat.

Moreover, since he had not eaten properly for nearly a week, his body was reduced to nothing but muscle and skin.

I started doing any exercise I could do in a small space, like push-ups and sit-ups.

After a while, Jae-jae, who had been wiping away the sweat, took a rest while feeling the cool breeze.

When I thought about it carefully, I felt a little annoyed.

It’s like telling me to wait because it’s nice to hear, but isn’t it the same as telling me to stay put because it’s annoying?

I’ve almost finished smoking cigarettes.

Finance stuffed the few cigarettes he had left into his pocket.

As evening came, Jae-jae, who had not said a word all day, spoke out on his own.

It sounded awkward, like someone’s throat was parched.

I hadn’t spoken in just a day, but my throat felt really weird.

I went outside the barracks and looked up at the night sky.

I couldn’t believe it.

All around was a different world.

It was the first time in my life that I saw so many stars in Seoul.

It wasn’t like this even when most of the world’s factories were shut down for a while because of a pandemic.

And so another day passes.

The last day of waiting has arrived.

After eating and showering as usual, I started worrying about the day.

What should I do, what should I think about to make time pass quickly?

Jae-jae was not the kind of person who lived a life of leisurely spending time like this.

I have always been pressed for time and have lived a complicated and difficult life.

You have to care about someone who challenges you, and at the same time, you have to think about your own direction and future.

So the current calm and leisure were maddeningly painful.

Now I can’t sleep and I don’t feel tired.

A feeling of lethargy that went beyond fatigue was weighing on my limbs.

That was when.

Thud thud.

The sound of boots being kicked was heard.

Someone came to see me after two days.

Finance jumped up from his seat and looked outside.

In front of the barracks stood Corporal Kim, who had given Jae-jae a cigarette on his first day.

“Oh, Kim Chanyeol.”

“Don’t be bored.”

“Of course not. Come in.”

“yep.”

Corporal Kim took two drinks out of his bulging bread bag.

A smile appeared on Jae-ui’s face.

“What is it?”

“I took some time out secretly. Aren’t you bored?”

“I’m going crazy, honestly.”

“It must be boring to just sit there with that big body. Well, even if it weren’t for that, I think I’d go crazy.”

“How do you know?”

“When we were new recruits, we also had to wait in the headquarters platoon. We would wait for a week at a time, and all we did was sit and watch TV all day. Even if our seniors talked to us or poked us, we were not allowed to respond, and we could only smoke during the permitted times. We had to ask permission to go to the bathroom.”

“I’m not even a new recruit, why am I doing this?”

He spoke as if the finances were unfair.

“Senior, aren’t you a rookie in some ways? Even though you’re a rookie, you’re still a rookie. And these days, I’m so busy preparing for operations that I feel even more so. Please understand.”

“This guy is calling himself a soldier. How can a reservist be a new recruit?”

“I see… But what unit are you from, senior?”

“Me? There is. A huge place you don’t know about.”

Corporal Kim burst into laughter while drinking his beverage.

“What? You don’t believe me?”

“My father said so. All the people who say that are from the defense force.”

“This kid is talking nonsense… … .”

“Isn’t that because you didn’t tell me?”

“Don’t try to know too much. You’ll know everything when the time comes. But what kind of plan are you preparing?”

Finance asked, crumpling up the can of soda.

“Don’t try to know too much. When the time comes… … .”

“But this is real!”

“No, you can’t even joke around?”

“Where did you come from to play a prank on your senior? Get lost.”

Corporal Kim, who had been smiling awkwardly, poured out the rest of his drink and opened his mouth.

“There’s an operation to expand the safe zone in a few days. But before that, we need to go out for a reconnaissance. We need to figure out the route and make sure it’s safe. That’s for today. We’re going to reconnaissance the mart area and the gas station, but since it’s in the center, there will be a lot of zombies. There will definitely be a lot of deaths as we clean it up. It seems like the operation from above is trying to reduce that number as much as possible.”

“You’re saying that you’re moving while killing all those things one by one?”

“Isn’t there no other way? And now I don’t have many bullets. But if I kill them with a broadsword, if I stab one, three will rush at me… I don’t know. I’m going out soon, but I wonder if I can come back alive… And… … .”

“and?”

Finance looked at Corporal Kim’s serious face.

Corporal Kim slumped his shoulders and sighed deeply.

“Our platoon leader is the division commander’s only son. Now that all the generals are missing, the division commander is the de facto commander-in-chief.”

“Then isn’t that a good thing?”

“No. Many of them died because they changed the operation or carried it out forcibly, saying they would gain merits just by going outside. But they still haven’t come to their senses and are acting like this… It’s frustrating. They don’t know anything about combat, and to us, they just seem like children absorbed in playing war games. After all, they don’t fight themselves.”

“What are you ordering?”

Finance asked with a serious expression.

If, as Private Kim said, the child was really absorbed in playing war games, it was not something to laugh about.

It’s not like there’s anything the finances can do, but how frustrated must you be to say something like that to someone who’s locked up?

“They just force you to do whatever they want. They ask you to bring a lot of things. They mainly tell you to take the jewels on the zombies’ bodies as loot. I thought they were dead zombies, so I tried to touch them, but many of them died. There’s more than that. Anyway, I have nowhere to talk, and I came because there are only people who don’t have time under me.”

“Are there no sergeants?”

“Are those kids even human? What kind of operation would you conduct with people who still can’t figure out the situation and are talking about the last days? Of course, not all of them are like that.”

“You must be having a hard time.”

Corporal Kim was silent.

The two of them looked around in silence for a while.

After some time had passed, Jaejae, who had been feeling bored with just sitting still, was the first to get up from his seat.

“But what can I do? I have to come to my senses and survive. It’s not like I’m going to die, right?”

“Are you calling that comforting now?”

“No, that’s right. What if there’s no other way? You just have to live for now. Straighten your shoulders, Inma.”

Finance patted Corporal Kim’s shoulder as if to comfort him.

“Yes, yes. I understand. But why don’t you smoke and pizza today?”

“It won’t be long. I’ll get it for you later.”

“Okay. Smoke this.”

Corporal Kim placed a pack of cigarettes neatly on the bed.

“Oh, take it. Do you know who this beggar is?”

“Do beggars smoke? I can’t live off debts to others. That’s what I came here to give you. I thought there was nowhere else I could get it. Thank you for your hard work. I’ll see you when I get back.”

With those words, Corporal Kim left the barracks.

Jae-jae, left alone, looked down at the cigarettes lying on the bed.

“The kid is not at ease.”

Although I felt uneasy, I had no choice but to put the cigarette in my pocket.

Infected people