Walking Daddy

Hwang Ji-Hye looked around at the unfolding situation, not understanding what was going on.

"What’s going on? Why’d you send Do Han-Sol away when we’re not even done talking?”

- Do Han-Sol will bring the survivors of Shelter Barrier here.

"Okay? Wait, no… How many survivors do they have? Hmm… We\'re actually good when it comes to food… But why’d you make a decision without even consulting me, Mr. Lee Hyeong-Deok?”

She seemed stunned, but I had no time to answer all of her questions.

I opened my notepad and scribbled as quickly as I could.

- The Family will conduct a large-scale raid in a few days. Not only against Gunja-dong, but Shelter Silence as well.

Hwang Ji-Hye swallowed hard after seeing what I had written, then asked me in a flustered tone,

“What do you mean? A massive raid?”

- The members of the Family in Gwangjin-gu are gathering. I assume it’s because of the death of the Seongsu-dong leader.

“Regardless, I can’t let you get away with making decisions regarding issues like this on your own without even discussing it with me.”

- Either join forces so that we can fight off the Family, or perish fighting alone. Your call.

Hwang Ji-Hye bit her lips and stayed silent. She probably realized it wasn’t the time to argue about who was right or wrong.

Hwang Ji-Hye brushed her bangs aside and sighed. With a scowl, she asked, “What do you want us to do?”

- Do you have any explosives?

“...”

Hwang Ji-Hye hesitated for a moment after she read the word ‘explosives’.

I kept my gaze on Hwang Ji-Hye, who crossed her arms and looked away. However, it didn’t take long for her to reply.

“You asked about the crossbows before, right?”

I nodded, and Hwang Ji-Hye took a breath and continued.

“We got them from the survivors in Gangnam.”

I couldn\'t help but be surprised to hear her mention Gangnam.

Survivors, in Gangnam.

The Han River Bridge was down.

I thought all the bridges had collapsed, and there was no way to get into Gangnam anymore.

Hwang Ji-Hye bit her lip and continued.

“We, Shelter Silence, used rafts in the past in preparation for attacks by the members of the Family. Some people rendered us assistance back then.”

- And those people were survivors who were in Gangnam?

Hwang Ji-Hye nodded in answer.

She looked around quickly, then whispered, “This is a secret. Please don’t let anyone else hear about this.”

- May I ask why?

“The survivors of Gangnam… They have no intention of letting us join up with them. If the others find out about this, it’ll only create more chaos.”

- Yet they provided you with weapons, despite their intention not to accept other survivors from here?

“It was because the situation in Gangbuk was worse than in Gangnam. The people in Gangnam… They don’t completely trust us. They think of us as a buffer between the infected and the uninfected.”

I was so dumbfounded, I was at a loss for words.

I couldn’t believe that I’d been in the dark all along. I found myself getting unreasonably angry.

Something had seemed rather odd.

All the K2 rifles and magazines, grenades, and crossbows piled up in the warehouse felt like objects from another world.

I should have noticed it earlier…

I massaged my temples and let out a heavy sigh. Hwang Ji-Hye grimaced.

“My apologies for not telling you earlier. However, I do have some rather unhelpful information as well. The survivors in Gangnam have plenty of weapons. If we try to cross the river, they’ll fire upon us.”

- Then, the weapons. How did you get the weapons?

“On the third Saturday of every month, I go out into the Han River on a raft, between one and three in the morning. The survivors in Gangnam send out a boat as well. That’s when I receive the weapons.”

I mulled over Hwang Ji-Hye\'s story in silence.

I wasn’t sure if humans were naturally selfish, or if this selfish situation had corrupted humanity.

I couldn\'t blame the people of Gangnam for anything.

They weren’t accepting people from Gangbuk for the sake of their own safety. But they were supplying weapons out of a guilty conscience.

It would’ve felt far better to be able to denounce them freely, but the weapons they provided were so precious in our current situation that I couldn’t say anything bad about them.

I shook my head violently to banish my emotions, then desperately scribbled into my notepad.

- So are you saying you can get explosives? Do the Gangnam survivors have explosives?

“These are the people who blew up the Han River Bridge. They’ll have some.”

- Can you get them by tomorrow morning?

“That’s impossible. At all times other than the third Saturday of every month, they consider any living creature floating on the Han River as an enemy. The third Sunday of this month passed just last week. We’ll have to wait for another month at least.”

Since we were in an emergency, it probably wasn’t worth risking our lives for something that wouldn’t work.

I had to scrap the plan that employed explosives and come up with another one. I flipped to the next page of my notepad and wrote down a question.

- Do you have a map?

“A map of Seoul?”

When I nodded, Hwang Ji-Hye told me to follow her and led me to the third defense line.

There was a large tent set up in front of the third defense line.

As we entered the tent, I saw the guard leader, along with a couple of guards.

They quickly got on their feet when they saw Hwang Ji-Hye. She ordered them to vacate the tent for a moment, and the guards obediently followed.

However, the guard leader narrowed their eyes and asked, "What… What is going on, group leader?”

“Do you have a map of Seoul?”

The guard leader retrieved a large map from the corner and spread it on the desk. They then crossed their arms and gestured at the map with their chin, subtly hinting that they would be staying to listen in on what was going on.

There was no time to fight this battle, so I looked at the map of Seoul and opened my notepad.

- Shelter Silence is well-hidden. However, it’s not suitable as a defensive base.

“What do you mean?”

- Look at the terrain around the shelter. There are wide roads, single-story buildings, not enough places to take cover, and nothing to block the enemy\'s line of sight once they come into range. This means that they’ll have an advantage when they launch a full-scale attack.

“We’ve made it up to this point…”

- Well, this attack will be on a totally different scale. How long do you think this place can hold them off when they’re crashing in from all sides like a tsunami?

"Then what’s your plan?”

- We have to deploy all our forces outside.

Hwang Ji-Hye’s eyes widened as she read what I had written. The guard leader gave my note a sidelong glance, and immediately flew into a rage.

“What kind of bullshit plan is this?!”

I schooled my features and looked at the guard leader. The guard leader grew hesitant and backed off slightly. However, their glare remained, as if their anger hadn’t totally abated.

All the guard leader could do was get angry, since they didn’t have the courage to dispute me.

The guard leader was pathetic.

I pointed to Seongsu 1-ga, 2-dong and Seongsu 2-ga, 3-dong with my finger. Hwang Ji-Hye looked at the areas I had pointed out and asked, “Are you saying we should mount our defense in these areas?”

- I scouted the terrain in these areas on my way to get medicine. Zombies are physically different from humans. Also, the physical abilities of underlings change depending on the strength of their leader.

Hwang Ji-Hye nodded as she carefully read the sentences I wrote.

- The areas I pointed out are suitable for urban warfare. They won\'t be able to run at full speed in cramped alleyways. They\'ll get tangled up, scraped, and squashed together, and ultimately get in the way of each other.

“Hmm… You do have a point….”

- The surrounding villas are also extremely close to each other, so the rooftops can be used as an escape route for survivors to escape.

“How likely is it for them to take over the rooftops? If they take over the rooftops… The tables will turn right away.”

I raised my eyebrows at her.

- Have you forgotten about me, Hyeong-Jun, and Do Han-Sol?

Hwang Ji-Hye quickly nodded in acknowledgment.

I continued to write in my notepad.

- You and Hyeong-Jun will be in charge of Seongsu 1-ga, 2-dong and Seongsu 2-ga, 3-dong.

“And what are you planning to do?”

- I will be in charge of Seongsu 2-ga, 1-dong in the south with Do Han-Sol.

"Got it. Is there anything else you needed?”

- I\'d like to have some grenades. If the Family brings mutants, there’s no way of getting rid of them other than grenades.

Hwang Ji-Hye wet her dry lips.

“Are the mutants that strong?”

- Zombies with red eyes are like radar stations. They have zombies as underlings and have excellent mobility. And the mutants… You can think of them as armored vehicles advancing into enemy lines.

Hwang Ji-Hye nodded and let out a sigh. It seemed like her mind was slightly overwhelmed.

The guard leader who had been listening in to our conversation closely, approached me with a rather strange expression, as though he’d figured out some secret plan that I’d been hiding, even though I really didn’t have any.

“Hold it right there."

The guard leader carefully examined the map, then frowned.

“You want to use us as human shields?”

This guard leader had clearly dropped all pretense of being respectful, and was merely blurting out whatever came to mind.

I frowned in disagreement and tilted my head, and the guard leader pointed to the map with a finger.

“They’ll stop by Gunja-dong and then enter Seongsu-dong. Then, of course, all the forces will be concentrated on Seongsu 1-ga, 2-dong and Seongsu 2-ga, 3-dong located in the north. And you’re saying that you will be in charge of Seongsu 2-ga, 1-dong in the south?”

I nodded calmly.

The guard leader clicked his tongue violently.

“So you’re saying your underlings are more important than our lives? This son of a bitch….”

The guard leader grabbed my collar, and Hwang Ji-Hye shouted, "Stop!"

Her voice was truly unique. It boomed like a foghorn. She closed her eyes gently and took a deep breath.

After a moment, she opened her eyes and looked at the guard leader, then at me.

“Lee Hyeon-Deok, you’ll have to explain this part of your plan.”

I appreciated her calmness. Shelter Silence was fortunate to have her as a leader.

I picked up my notepad again and wrote down my explanation.

- I’ve calculated how fast zombies move. In the case of my underlings, it takes them around ten seconds to run a hundred meters. Since my underlings aren’t limited by their physical abilities, it’ll take them less than two minutes to get from Jayang-dong to Seongsu-dong.

The guard leader swallowed and frowned.

Judging by the look in the guard leader’s eyes, they didn’t seem dissatisfied with my explanation. Rather, it seemed like the speed at which zombies could move had scared them. Considering that the national record for the men\'s hundred-meter dash was just over ten seconds… These zombies were moving at incredible speeds.

- The first enemy leaders to enter Seongsu-dong will probably be the dong leaders of Jayang-dong and Guui-dong. Where do you think they’ll be entering from?

“It has to be from the south, where you’re in charge.”

Hwang Ji-Hye’s reply was immediate, as though she’d been waiting for the question. She already knew what my plans were.

However, it seemed like she had asked me to explain it to her and the guard leader one more time, because the guard leader couldn’t help antagonizing me.

I nodded and continued to write.

- We cannot let them surround us. If that happens, we won’t stand a chance against them. I’m planning on getting rid of the dong leaders of Jayang-dong and Guui-dong first, then make my way around the south.

“Make your way around the south, as in go through Gunja-dong to intercept the members of the Family entering through Seongsu-dong, right?”

I nodded at Hwang Ji-Hye\'s question.

- The dong leaders of Junggok-dong and Myeonmok-dong will scour through Gunja-dong and go through Hwayang-dong to get to Seongsu 2-ga 3-dong, where you’re in charge. While you buy time using a full-scale battle, I’ll go after their leaders.

Hwang Ji-Hye nodded and looked at the guard leader, who was next to her. The guard leader kept silent, clearly left with nothing to rebuke me with.

“How long are you going to stay like that?” asked Hwang Ji-Hye.

“Sorry?"

“Did you not hear the plan?”

"Oh… I did."

“Then get on it!”

Hwang Ji-Hye bolstered her order with a fierce glare, and the guard leader rushed out of the tent.

As the guard leader disappeared, Hwang Ji-Hye sighed and placed her hand on her throbbing forehead.

I knew this was a good opportunity to ask the question that had been lingering on my mind for so long.

- Why did you choose that person as the guard leader?

“There weren’t that many people here when I made my decision. And if I removed the guard leader now… All the officers loyal to them will probably go against me.”

I smacked my lips and patted Hwang Ji-Hye on the shoulder.

She seemed to be going through a lot.