Zombie Apocalypse Whiteout

Zombie Apocalypse Whiteout - 5

EP.5 One Month Ago (2)

Knock knock—!

As someone tapped on the radio room door, Alex’s voice came from inside.

“Yeah, come in.”

He continued what he was doing without pause.

“This is Dr. Alex from the Korea branch! The code number is 82, foxtrot, 21, charlie, yankee! Any JL top sider hear this message, answer! We got the big clue of the November! I repeat! We got the big clue of the November! We need your cooperation…!”

Clutching the mic of the large radio transmitter tightly, Alex spoke loudly, clearly enunciating every word. It was nearly the end of November, and he was still wearing the same old t-shirt, cargo shorts, and a white lab coat. But that was acceptable—the luxurious research facility on Big Island was comfortably warm inside.

“You’re still hung up on that radio?”

Yu-bin sat down with Terra in one of the empty chairs. For nearly three straight months, Alex had sent the exact same message every single day. Even though it was in English, Yu-bin could almost recite it from memory by now. The reason Alex referred to "N" only by its initial was because it stood for Null Kid—in other words, Terra.

“Well… the truth is, we’re just too short-handed to handle this on our own.”

Turning off the mic, Alex responded. Yu-bin, having interpreted the comment from Terra, spread his arms a little.

“When you first found out Terra was the Null Kid, you made it sound like you guys could develop a vaccine all by yourselves.”

“We can. The problem is time. Unfortunately, I’m not a genius like Jenkins, so I can’t push through every obstacle quickly. When I hit a wall…”

Alex spun his finger in the air as he continued.

“…I have to keep analyzing, testing hypotheses, running experiments again and again before I can move on to the next step. That’s why I need skilled collaborators. Also for security. Jim’s rescue team is excellent, but just eight people aren’t enough when it comes to firepower.”

“That’s fair. Still, in all this time—three months now—you haven’t gotten a single reply.”

“You never know. Maybe for some reason the other labs were temporarily abandoned. In any case, this equipment records everything automatically, so even if it’s later, once another JL lab gets back online, they’ll hear the message and respond. That alone makes it worth it. The system itself is still operational. And look at this.”

Alex picked up one of the satellite phones resting in its charger on the desk. Only the top-level JL staff had the numbers to these emergency phones.

“The fact that this emergency satellite phone still works means someone out there is still managing the communications satellites. Not just Iridium—Inmarsat, Globalstar, they’re all still up. That’s a hopeful sign. The comms infrastructure near the equator is probably in even better condition than ours.”

The signal was so weak that even on this island the satellite phones only worked sporadically and would often cut out. But the important part was that they still connected—sometimes.

“I hope you’re right. Anyway… Alex, we’re heading out tomorrow.”

Yu-bin nodded and got to the point. Alex rubbed his forehead, his brow tightening.

“Now that you mention it, it’s the 23rd already. Right, I remember you telling me about this. Is the schedule the same as last time?”

“Yeah. Eight days total—four before the deal, and four after. Once everything’s done, we’re stopping by Chungju via helicopter. Same as before, there’ll be four of us, including me. Min-gu is at Thetis until tomorrow but said he’ll be back early in the morning.”

“And the meeting location changed again?”

“It has to—for safety.”

Yu-bin responded as if it were obvious. Once a location had been used for negotiations, it could never be used again. The military commanders would’ve sent out a full sweep immediately after the deal, searching the surrounding area thoroughly. They might even still have troops stationed there. Showing up by helicopter would be a one-way ticket to becoming a prisoner.

“You are sure they’ll keep their promise, right? To send back blood donations in exchange for the live ammo?”

Mass-producing the zombie vaccine required a large amount of blood. Unlike traditional vaccines cultured from egg proteins, this one was built on a different foundation altogether. And in this zombie-ridden world, a human’s blood might actually be more valuable than an egg.

“Yeah, no worries there.”

Yu-bin confirmed it with certainty. He had already settled everything with Captain Moon in Chungju. By now, Moon would’ve secured approval from his superior, Brigadier General Kim, too. Alex, twiddling a slipper with his toes, asked:

“Well, in that case the deal does make sense. But… the areas you’re going to—are they excluded from zombie migration patterns or something? Like, the eye of a hurricane?”

“Is there any place in Seoul like that anymore?”

Yu-bin chuckled and shook his head.

“There are zombies everywhere. Last time we went, there were even ones that had wandered down from the north.”

Back in October, when he negotiated with General Shin, there had been over a thousand zombies roaming around Taereung. He assumed they had drifted down from Gyeonggi Province. It probably wouldn’t be much different this time.

Just herding those zombie hordes away and securing the area around the rendezvous point would take at least two full days. Without Jin-woo, the Sheriff, and Min-gu, it wouldn’t take days—it would take a month, if it were possible at all.

“Zombies everywhere, huh…”

Alex sighed, repeating Yu-bin’s words with his fingers interlocked.

“Honestly, I just don’t get you guys. Why do you keep going out to such dangerous places? This isn’t the same as parking a helicopter and quickly raiding a warehouse. You have to survive a whole week among the zombies. Aren’t you scared?”

Even the elite JL Rescue Team, made up of former Delta Force operatives, wouldn’t dream of spending a full day isolated in the field. The staggering level of danger in a zombie-ridden world hardly needed to be explained.

“I am scared.”

Yu-bin answered with a calm, innocent expression.

“Even now, whenever I close my eyes, I still dream of being surrounded by zombies. Honestly, that nightmare is even worse than the day I lost my arm.”

He raised his left hand, which had a prosthetic bionic hand attached.

Whirr—!

Each time he moved his fingers, the latest JL-model bionic hand emitted a faint motorized hum. It was a high-end piece of tech, costing eighty-five thousand dollars, and while Yu-bin had grown somewhat accustomed to its movements, it still wasn’t a real hand. Every day when he showered, he had to stare at the stump of his severed wrist—a pain that required far more courage to endure than one might expect.

“Yeah, I agree it’s scary,” Alex said, nodding. “Even though I’ve never set foot outside since the outbreak. What I’m curious about is why you keep throwing yourself into places that terrifying. You could stay safe and comfortable here, with good facilities and beautiful friends.”

Yu-bin answered plainly.

“Exactly because it’s so terrifying and horrific—because of that—I can’t ignore the tens of thousands of survivors in Chungju. Telling them to survive the coming winter without any help is basically the same as telling them to just die slowly. And the same goes for us. We can’t live here forever. You risked your life chasing down the crew of the Thetis when they fled by ship, didn’t you?”

“You’re right,” Alex admitted. “But still… they were strangers, weren’t they?”

“One of those ‘strangers’ spent last summer with us. We weren’t lifelong friends, but she’s not someone I can just pretend not to know. Without her, I wouldn’t have met Terra. And if that hadn’t happened, the three of us wouldn’t even be sitting here talking right now.”

As he spoke, Yu-bin thought of Lim Su-jeong. Terra nodded seriously as she translated his words into English. Yu-bin began folding each of the fingers on his prosthetic hand as he continued.

“There are plenty of others I owe, too. If someone hadn’t fired that tank round for us, we wouldn’t have been able to break into that fortress-like Taeyang Group building. And Min-gu only survived thanks to the soldiers there. They also protected Gyu-yeong and the rookie.”

“...I owe my life to far more people than that,” Terra added quietly in English.

She thought of the kind soldiers at the Jamsil shelter who’d gladly given up their Choco Pies, fruit juices, and crackers for her. Of the many mothers who’d shared warmth and hope with her. Of the children who had smiled like little angels. All of them had relocated to Chungju. Ignoring them now simply wasn’t an option.

“I know, Terra. I get how you feel. That’s why we’re doing everything we can to help,” Alex said gently. “Most importantly, you’re sharing your precious blood with us.”

Then he turned to Yu-bin, a serious look on his face.

“Listen, leader. To be honest, I don’t feel any particular affection or attachment toward you.”

“Alex! You can’t say something like that!” Terra objected immediately, clearly upset.

Alex held up a hand to calm her down.

“No, Terra. It’s just the cold, hard truth. Translate it as-is. Sure, we’ve gotten closer over the past three months. But the fact is, I still don’t really know them. However…”

He emphasized the “however” by wiggling his fingers dramatically, then pointed at Yu-bin.

“Without you, these two beautiful girls—especially Jenny—get anxious. And when Jenny gets anxious, Terra’s stress level shoots through the roof. If just being gone from this island for a few days causes that, imagine what would happen if something serious went wrong. That’s why I need you all safe and sound.”

“I’ll be as careful as possible.”

Yu-bin nodded with a firm but calm expression. He had just as strong a desire to survive as anyone else. He simply wanted to make this horrific world into something better—something safer. He knew full well they couldn’t hide forever in a bubble.

“Good. I’ll have everything you need for the trade ready by tomorrow morning. You’re the leader—your call. And you’ve done a great job so far.”

Alex ran a hand through his long, wavy brown hair, then added a final word of caution.

“I’ll never forget the look on Terra’s face the first time we met. Even though she was completely exhausted, she insisted on performing surgery to stitch you up first. Her face was pale as a ghost, but she wouldn’t listen to a word I said. I never want to see something that terrifying again. You understand what I’m saying, right? You’re smart.”

“I understand. We’re not doing any more of these trades for a while. No long missions either. At least not until spring. Honestly, I only ever intended to do three trades.”

Yu-bin stood up, gave Alex a playful tap on the arm, and wiggled the fingers on his bionic hand again.

“I won’t let my guard down. I’ve got this expensive reminder to teach me every day.”

“Right. And learning your lesson is a valuable thing. Oh, one last thing—”

As he stood to see them off, Alex raised a finger as if suddenly remembering something.

“That guy in Busan—the one handling the military contacts. Are you sure he won’t betray you? Like… tip them off about the meeting location and lead you into a trap?”

He was referring to the man in Venus, the Busan hostess bar, who handled their radio contact. Since it was impossible for them to go to Busan for every single deal, they had carefully chosen a stand-in and given him a detailed response manual. That man was Lieutenant Kang, the one they’d rescued in Konkuk University.

“They’ll never find him. And he’s not the type to betray us.”

Yu-bin shook his head and stepped out of the room.

Lieutenant Kang was the kind of man who, even while lying injured from a gunshot wound with no proper medical treatment, had been more concerned about the civilians at the Konkuk University shelter than about himself. There was no way someone like him would ever make a choice that could lead even more people to their deaths.

“Still… it really is dangerous, isn’t it?”

As the door closed behind them and they stepped into the hallway, Terra spoke in a soft, regretful voice. Yu-bin nodded without hesitation.

“It is.”

Seoul had become a city swarming with zombies—so much so that even the military had abandoned its defenses and pulled out. One moment of lost focus could mean being surrounded and killed before anyone even realized what had happened.

Terra took Yu-bin’s right hand in both of hers and held it tightly.

“When you go out there, please be really careful. If anything happened to you or the others…”

She would never be able to forgive herself. She owed so much to these people—so much, and she had given nothing in return. And just imagining how devastated Jenny would be was enough to make her chest ache.

“Nothing’s going to happen.”

Yu-bin gently tousled her silky black bangs, cutting off her worry with a quiet confidence.

“Don’t forget—there was a guy who walked all the way from Gangwon-do to Seoul just to find someone. We’re only going out for a week. We’ll be careful. We’ll do fine.”