Hiding a House in the Apocalypse - Chapter 263



Only Krnovel

108. Swamp (2)

Valentine glanced at them.

For a moment he thought about it, then spoke loudly to the people beyond the wall.

“If you want to leave, leave now. Are you saying you want to get out from under Mr. Ryu?”

I immediately whispered to Valentine.

“Not in my territory.”

“I know.”

Valentine winked and spoke to the people again.

“You want to leave? Yes? You said you couldn’t stay under Mr. Ryu? Then leave now. You won’t have a chance later.”

After speaking loudly, Valentine dragged his luggage down the conveyor belt.

Since there was still a lot of luggage left, I stayed put and kept a close eye on my surroundings.

The man who had fallen on his buttocks finally came to his senses and got up from his seat, caressing his ear.

He no longer made eye contact with me.

Those holding the remaining weapons are also intimidated.

They even tried to sneak behind the pillar.

As the man called Mr. Ryu limped towards his group hiding behind a pillar, Cheon Yeong-jae approached me.

“What are you going to do?”

He looked at the people watching us from beyond the wall and asked.

“Do nothing.”

Today we came to pick up one Valentine.

I have never thought about accepting other people, nor do I have any intention of doing so.

Just because you’ve chosen group survivalism, blindly increasing the number of members is a shortcut to destruction.

Even if we form a group, we will only accept those who I recognize or who are helpful to us.

In this day and age, sympathy is not much different from the luxury goods that occupied the luxury section of department stores before the war.

“This is the last one.”

Valentine went down the conveyor belt carrying the last carrier.

Booooooooooooooooo—

The sound of a vehicle’s engine was heard from a distance.

“gasoline.”

Cheon Yeong-jae said.

It’s not our car.

Our trucks are powered by electric motors.

Booooooooooo—

A series of vehicle sounds mixed with static and tearing noises were heard.

It’s not just one or two.

There are at least 10 vehicles passing by.

“Valentine.”

Said to Valentine, who was coming down.

“By any chance, that noise? Are these guys a gang?”

Valentine shook his head.

“No. These people don’t have a car or any gas. They used up all their gas last spring.”

The sound of the vehicle stopped.

Cheon Yeong-jae and I exchanged glances.

The sound didn’t get any farther away.

That is, more than a dozen vehicles stopped in this area.

“Who could it be?”

Cheon Yeong-jae asked.

“It’s most likely a looter.”

“Do you think so too, senior?”

The condition of the vehicle was not good as could be heard from the engine noise.

It is believed that the vehicle was using the lowest grade synthetic oil and was not properly maintained.

If you drive like that, your car will break down soon.

This is something that is rarely seen in a legion that has a proper maintenance unit.

“Should I check?”

“Can you guess how many people there are?”

“You can’t tell here.”

He sent a signal to Cheon Yeong-jae to stay still and spoke to Mr. Ryu who was hiding behind the pillar.

“Hey. Over there.”

There is no answer.

But he kept talking.

“There’s a car outside. What is it? If you know anything, please tell me. That way I can get out of here faster.”

There is still no answer, but a faint whispering can be heard.

Soon, Mr. Ryu’s voice was heard from beyond the pillar.

“harrier.”

also.

“They are a group of robbers who drive around, kill people, steal things, and then steal more cars if they find one.”

“You don’t have any business here, do you?”

“That can’t be right. They didn’t even notice we were here.”

“Then why are you here?”

“What are you here for? You must have come to fetch water.”

“How long will you be gone?”

“2~3 hours?”

“Then we have no choice but to stay until then.”

There is no answer from the other side.

I guess he doesn’t like us staying too long.

But what can I do?

There is absolutely no reason to fight looters in a place like this.

With the sudden appearance of the looter, we began an uneasy and unexpected cohabitation.

The corridor beyond the second pillar from the conveyor belt is Mr. Ryu’s territory, and the other side is our territory.

To be sure of the information, we also asked Valentine about the looters.

“Hmm. Now that I think about it, I’ve heard car noises periodically. Sometimes even in the early morning.”

“Don’t you know what kind of guys they are?”

“I don’t know.”

Valentine whispered softly as he watched Mr. Ryu and his group glancing in our direction.

“Mr. Ryu’s gang tries to control every move of the people here. It starts with things like don’t go outside, don’t peek outside, don’t urinate at a certain time, put your head over there when you sleep, only wash once a day, etc. They try to interfere with everything and control everything in the palm of their hands.”

“You managed to contact me.”

“They ran the generator under the pretense of installing an alarm system and connected the satellite equipment. Otherwise, the computer would have been banned.”

Valentine’s joining Mr. Ryu’s gang was not voluntary.

“I was at Shelter 152. It was on the outskirts of Bucheon. It was okay. The shelter director was young and capable. We were able to survive the winter without much difficulty, even when so many people froze to death. But you know, wherever you go, there are people who think they would do better if they were there, and who can’t do without that place.”

Shelter 152, which had about 1,500 people, was dismantled.

The withdrawal of the Legion Faction, the rebellion moving in various places, and other major changes in the environment played a large part in the cause, but Valentine thought that the direct cause of the end of the shelter was Mr. Ryu.

“His name is Ryu Hyun-bu. He was a high school vice principal before the war, but he never said which school. I’m sure he was the apartment complex representative. Everyone here is from the same apartment complex. Anyway, it seems like the shelter director position looked good to him. He’s been plotting to become the director since last year. He has his people slander and slander him, and he finds fault with everything the director does, causing trouble.”

Cheon Yeong-jae, who was listening from the side, snickered.

“Oh, those guys.”

He looked at Cheon Yeong-jae and asked.

“There are a lot of shapes, right?”

“They’re everywhere. Those guys who seem like they’ll do well once they’re in power. But they always end up getting screwed.”

Valentine nodded in agreement.

“In the end, Mr. Ryu pushed the director out. The director was a capable man, but he had problems with women. I think he had a relationship with a woman. It was a coercive relationship. Morally speaking, it was wrong. He deserved to be punished. But these are not the right times, are they?”

The shelter was divided into two.

Even though the director committed a crime, those who believed in his abilities and leadership followed him, while those who did not followed Ryu Hyeon-bu.

Out of 1,500 people, about 1,000 supported Ryu Hyeon-bu.

The remaining five hundred decided to still follow the former commander.

Valentine chose Ryu Hyun-bu.

It is because we thought it would be better if there were more people since it is a large-scale disaster prevention project.

At that time, he didn’t know much about Ryu Hyeon-bu.

The first thing Ryu Hyun-bu did after taking over as the new leader was to move the shelter.

As the fanatics’ power was expanding, Ryu Hyeon-bu’s idea was to abandon his current location and go to Seoul, which was close to the Legion’s headquarters, to receive support from the Legion.

The plan was amiss from the start.

A group of unknown, possibly cat-mutated, swarmed the procession during the night, and to make matters worse, the Legion’s artillery rained down on the procession.

The Legion’s observers mistook them for rebel troops.

It didn’t take long for the thousand to be reduced to a hundred.

Half of them died and the other half cursed Ryu Hyun-bu and returned to their original shelter.

The ones who followed Ryu Hyun-bu until the end were his existing supporters, the residents of the same apartment complex, and people like Valentine who had no choice but to follow him.

“The looters are always looking for us, what can we do? The moment we disperse, we will become prey.”

Near Seoul, Ryu Hyun-bu saw a swamp and ruins standing on top of the swamp.

“There it is. That would be nice.”

He probably can’t explain clearly why it’s good there.

Like any ordinary person who is motivated, he will present only one argument.

Because it looks safe.

It was actually safe.

But that was all.

In the age of destruction, even if only one person survives, many considerations are required, but Ryu Hyeon-bu chose the ruins in the middle of the swamp as his hideout simply because it was safe.

The resources brought from the shelter were sufficient to sustain them for a while, but soon sanitation problems arose and disease spread.

A lot of people died.

The body had to be thrown into the swamp.

As summer approached, supplies began to run low.

Those who supported him are now openly complaining.

Ryu Hyun-bu distributed guns to his loyalists and began to control the people.

The swamp he had chosen was now slowly sucking everyone, including Ryu Hyun-bu, deep inside.

“······But that person never thinks he did anything wrong. He thinks he was just unlucky.”

As the story was coming to a close, a roaring engine noise was heard from outside.

The sound is getting further away.

The looters are leaving.

Cheon Yeong-jae headed towards the gap to check.

“Oh. They’re gone. They’re all gone.”

“Where are you headed?”

“west.”

“good.”

It’s time to leave.

There is no need to stay here any longer.

I saw Ryu Hyun-bu and his group behind the pillar, conscious only of us.

At that moment, my eyes met with a man in military uniform who happened to be sticking his head out.

I asked him, “Is this fate?”

“What legion are you from?”

“7th Corps.”

“Was it the Eastern Front? Over there.”

“is it so.”

That’s a lie.

Before the war, the 7th Corps was assigned to operational missions in North Korea after the collapse of the 1st Army Reserve.

Elite soldiers like Diesirae were in charge of maintaining order in North Korea, and soon after, in disillusionment and contempt, they were slaughtering North Koreans like pigs and dogs.

No one knows how many North Koreans died.

In the realm of monsters, humans and monsters are not that different.

“Let’s go.”

Valentine quickened his pace.

“I don’t know if I can be of any help, but I have been indebted to you many times, Skeleton, so I will definitely live up to your expectations.”

“No. I am the one who needs to take good care of it.”

Before leaving, I saw the people beyond Ryu Hyun-bu’s group.

Despite Ryu Hyun-bu’s threats, people of various ages and genders were looking at us longingly.

“······.”

I have no intention of accepting them.

And I don’t have the capacity to accept it.

But they are people too.

I looked around.

I held my nose and tried breathing again.

A pervasive stench is a breeding ground for disease.

In this swamp, everything dies and rots.

Everyone will die under Ryu Hyun-bu.

There is no room for theory.

Going outside doesn’t give you a high chance of survival, but it might give you a glimmer of hope rather than dying here.

I asked Cheon Yeong-jae, wishing them good luck.

“Is there a place around here that accepts refugees?”

“Wonju or Gangneung are the places to go. If you follow the road, there’s a chance you’ll run into the Legion faction. The Legion faction is a bunch of bastards, but they don’t kill civilians. It was just bad luck that we got shelled before. No, is it reaping what you sow? They move in groups of a thousand.”

“If I meet the Legion Faction, I can survive, right?”

“maybe?”

This one also doesn’t seem to be certain.

Those are the times.

But it’s better than not doing it.

“wait for a sec.”

He put down his gun and approached Ryu Hyeon-bu with his bare hands.

Ryu Hyun-bu’s gang was wary of me, but they knew I was unarmed and didn’t point their guns at me.

I went back beyond the pillar and found Ryu Hyeon-bu.

Ryu Hyun-bu looked up at me with a timid face.

With a look of “Why?”

I told him.

“If we stay here, we’ll all die. What are we going to do?”

“You don’t know.”

“That’s true, though.”

I saw people beyond the wall.

“Those people have the right to choose.”

Although Ryu Hyun-bu’s impression is distorted, he is an ordinary person.

That’s not all.

The same goes for the rest of the men who wore armbands and exerted oppression on his people.

They can’t even show their courage in front of us, who have proven that they have fighting power.

“there.”

He said, looking at the people beyond the wall.

“If you want to go out, let’s go together. I’ll put you on the raft first.”

“Who cares?!”

Ryu Hyun-bu shouted.

I approached him.

The gun was pointed at me, but I didn’t move an inch.

“Mr. Ryu Hyeon-bu.”

He looked at Ryu Hyeon-bu and spoke clearly.

“I’ll leave it up to those people.”

Ryu Hyun-bu trembled and avoided eye contact.

When I glared at the men pointing guns at me, they hurriedly put their guns away and turned their heads.

After confirming that the intruder was gone, I spoke to the people beyond the wall.

“Go. You are free.”

I can’t guarantee them their future, but I can guarantee them the freedom to make their own choices.

If it were a country of the past, I would have ignored it and passed by, but the past and the present are different.

“senior.”

When I returned to Cheon Yeong-jae, he whistled.

“Are you doing it well?”

I saw people.

“······.”

The moment I saw their faces, I felt like I knew the future of this group.

“Professor Ryu.”

“Mr. Ryu, don’t be intimidated.”

“We are not leaving.”

“There have been many things going on, but thanks to Mr. Ryu, I’ve come this far!”

“Hey you guys! Just go away! Why should we trust you?”

“That’s right. What should you believe in and follow?”

I thought that these were people who believed in Ryu Hyun-bu and were oppressed by him in various ways, and now had no other choice but death.

It seems my thoughts were a little different.

Those people are taking Ryu Hyun-bu’s side.

Amidst the growing cheers and criticism of us, Valentine approached us, shaking his head.

“······You kept chewing on it like that.”

Valentine looked at the people with a dumbfounded expression.

“Why is it really like that?”

There is no need to understand, and no time to do so.

“Let’s go.”

There’s nothing more to see here.

I gave them the right to choose and they chose to stay.

Swish swish-

While Valentine pulled the rope and moved the raft towards the shore, Cheon Yeong-jae and I quietly watched the swamp where the sunset was already setting.

It is said that originally this area was a sports park, not a swamp.

A few random variables turned this place into a swamp.

That swamp probably wasn’t created by someone alone.

It must have clay that doesn’t drain, it must be deep enough to not turn into a lake, and the inflow of water must be neither too little nor too much.

How many of these difficult conditions must overlap to create a terrain called a swamp?

Ryu Hyun-bu’s group is also like that.

Several accidental or inevitable causes came together and caused them to sink into the swamp they had settled into.

I will never come back here again, but if I ever do, I won’t bother looking back at those ruins.

In a sense, they are already part of the swamp.