Chapter 135 – Stalker Report – Inland
This is the headquarters of the Goheung garrison. A sergeant and a captain are smoking together in the break room.
“Company Commander, what should we do with the welcoming ceremony for the three people who came over this time?”
The sergeant asked.
“Welcome ceremony? Are you kidding me?”
The sergeant was a signal soldier for the captain, but was forcibly promoted to noncommissioned officer during the infection war. Because of this, he treated them comfortably without mutual respect.
“Oh, um, sorry.”
The Captain, who is smoking heavily, is very low-pressure.
I thought I had made a contribution to the defection of the Yeosu soldiers at the supermarket, but this was quickly buried when an unidentified drone army appeared.
Goheung warlord leader Lee Man-cheol tried to use the defectors as mascots. It is a symbol that his control is so good that the soldiers defect to the hostile forces.
In this way, it was planned to solidify legitimacy and further add to the justification for marching to Yeosu.
The captain even imagined Lee Man-cheol, who looked satisfied, awarding him a medal, but everything came to nothing.
“In the current situation, who would be interested in holding a welcoming ceremony for defectors? It would be a good thing if we didn’t get laughed at.”
The Yeosu garrison received precious supplies from an unidentified force vs. The Goheung garrison with an increase of 3 low-ranking soldiers.
It is obvious which one will attract the most attention. Moreover, the support from a rival warlord made it uncomfortable for the higher-ups.
“Then what should I do? I already told you, so it seems like you’re secretly looking forward to it.”
The captain scratched his head.
“Just take the three of you and feed them something simple and delicious. Or at least take them with you.”
“I understand.”
Drone carriers appeared impressively, cutting through the clouds. Yeosu and its surrounding areas were in chaos due to this unidentified force.
The reaction was largely divided into two.
Civilians who were desperate to survive each day were eager to receive supplies. What was especially significant was that it contained a lot of medical supplies, including antibiotics.
On the other hand, those who had no problem with survival, especially those with military power, focused on the drone itself.
As the sergeant and captain were smoking cigarettes and thinking about trivial issues, a bloody atmosphere prevailed in the Goheung garrison staff conference room.
Unidentified drones and a huge airship are displayed on the conference room wall screen.
On the table lies a drone that was shot down.
“Mo, I don’t know. These are all types of models I have never seen before.”
The head of Goheung Drone Center spoke desperately.
The officers glaring as if they were going to eat me, and the black holster one of them was fiddling with, was so scary.
At the very back was Lee Man-cheol, sitting arrogantly wearing sunglasses.
“Look at this. We’re not asking for much, are we? You may not know one or two things. It must be a world where technological development is so rapid.”
“That’s right!”
A lieutenant placed his hand on his center leader’s shoulder.
“But does it make sense to say that you don’t know a single thing? You are the head of the drone center, right? “Aren’t you the person who knows drones best in Korea?”
“Ugh!”
When a strong grip was applied to his shoulder, the aged drone center director could not stand it.
“Tsk!”
Lee Man-cheol, who was just watching, clicked his tongue.
“Stop it.”
“Yes!”
Immediately the pressure disappeared from my shoulders.
“Please forgive my subordinate’s rudeness. Because he’s so energetic.”
“Oh, no.”
The head of the drone center gritted his teeth. I was disgusted by the obvious game of good cop and bad cop, but I had to endure it.
“It’s good to just know, so I’d like you to tell me step by step.”
Lee Man-cheol glanced at the drone carrier that appeared on the screen behind him.
The center director also winked at the young male researcher standing behind him.
Although he was the best in his position, it was actually due to his personal connections and the privilege of being a robotics engineering professor, and his younger friends had much more practical knowledge about drones.
“Excuse me.”
The researcher stepped forward. He looked pitifully at the center director who was running behind him, as if he was running away or hiding.
When the researcher stepped forward, the officers immediately changed to a friendly expression.
Since Lee Man-cheol’s army took over Goheung, the drone center was converted into a military factory, producing and repairing various drones.
This young researcher is a person who operates and repairs drones with soldiers on the front line, and has had the hardships of life together.
Because there were people whose lives were saved thanks to him, he was like half a comrade in arms.
The researcher approached the drone placed in the center of the conference room and closely observed between the rotor and the power unit.
“There is only one thing I can tell you right now. The point is that these drones were created by skipping several steps of the existing technological system.”
The researcher pointed to the rotor joint.
“The reason most drones use four rotors is that it is easy to increase flight stability. If you use two rotors, you can secure much stronger output and mileage, but stability is very poor. The chance of falling increases. But this one has two rotors.”
This time, he pointed to the five sensors attached to various parts of the drone.
“These sensors may be the secret to achieving balance with only two rotors. “Visual information, wind direction information, and shaking of the fuselage will be detected and transmitted to the control system.”
Dalkak.
He pulled out one sensor that had been shattered by a bullet. It resembles a dandelion.
The black, round body, reminiscent of an attack helicopter radar, has dozens of hairs like cat whiskers.
When I put my index finger on it, the cat moved to avoid his finger, as if raising its whiskers.
The cross-section of the broken body contains rotting body tissue mixed with copper wires.
“Do you see it? It is a sensor that is a mixture of inorganic and organic matter. “I have never heard of such technology.”
Lee Man-cheol’s face, as he was listening, became increasingly nervous.
I wanted to give an answer, but even this trustworthy researcher friend couldn’t give me a definitive answer.
I even felt displeased with the way he seemed to be satisfying his desire for personal exploration rather than reporting to his superior.
“You can take that drone if you want. “You’ll need some time to look into it, right?”
Contrary to his intentions, Lee Man-cheol spoke gently, and the researcher nodded. So the meeting was dissolved.
The military base in Yeosu was also confused, but they felt much more relieved than anxious.
Supplies dropped in a timely manner, and the forces that can provide such supplies are supporting them.
This is because these two things greatly raised the morale of the soldiers. The order in the unit, which had been in disarray due to desertion, was immediately straightened out.
It is also significant that the distribution situation has improved somewhat and citizens’ complaints have subsided.
Of course, the executives couldn’t be completely happy.
“Who on earth… Where and why are they supporting us?”
In the strategy conference room, Lee Seong-bong is confused whether he is talking to himself or asking everyone.
The staff all became completely dumb.
“Isn’t there really something inland?”
An officer said.
What he is talking about is not the Shelter of Jinsu and Artemis. I’m talking about nonsense that inevitably spreads around in this difficult world.
In an era when glaciers melt and the entire world is submerged in the sea, ‘they say there is dry land somewhere that is not submerged.’
In a world destroyed by nuclear war, ‘somewhere there is a land uncontaminated by radioactivity.’
In a world destroyed by the zombie apocalypse, ‘they say there is a safe city without zombies somewhere’.
That kind of hopeful rumor. It was also floating around in southern Korea, which was hit by an infectious disease disaster.
“What are you talking about? It’s complete hell.”
“The government is across the water, and the units have all been mixed up and pushed all the way here. Is there anything left up there?”
Negative reactions came out right away. This is because they vividly saw how inland cities were destroyed.
Form a defense line in Seoul and protect it, but if you are pushed back, draw a new line below it, and then if you are pushed back again, draw a line below it again.
The history of the infection war was to repeat this infinitely and reach the southernmost tip.
They clearly saw that the city they were protecting became a den of monsters every time they were pushed one space at a time.
It was impossible to believe that a capable group would remain active in those ruins.
“Why weren’t air-raid shelters popular in preparation for World War III? “I saw advertisements for places built for personal use, for families, and even on a village scale.”
The officer, intimidated by the unexpectedly fierce opposition, muttered as if making an excuse.
“Shouldn’t we report it first?”
The operations officer said.
“Speaking of the mainland… I’m sorry.”
Seongbong Lee glared at the operations officer.
“On Jeju Island.”
“Hold it for now.”
“Yes?”
“Don’t report it. “Even when I contacted them asking what happened on Jeju Island, they ignored me.”
When Lee Seong-bong, who always acted according to the FM system, did not act according to the reporting system, everyone looked at him with suspicion.
“I will report directly next week. Bastards! “I ask you to experience even just 1% of what we feel, what it feels like to be a neglected child.”
“I understand.”
It seems that Lee Seong-bong was also overcome by evil because he suffered under such harsh conditions.
Still, there are forces supporting them in a situation where they are isolated from everything, including the government, rival warlords, infectious agents, and the cold.
It was a great comfort to everyone in the Yeosu operation conference room.
Meanwhile, the parties who were the focus of attention from many people were interested in something completely different.
* * *
“Shall we look inland this time?”
I scrolled the touch panel.
The sight of southern survivors hunting, harvesting, and rummaging around was truly a battle for survival.
However, the inland records obtained by the robot exploration team were also interesting.
This is because stalker robots were used for indoor investigations where drones were difficult to operate, and were achieving tremendous results.
Although its value as a material or technology is low, useful data was poured into understanding the social situation during the infection war.
CCTV footage, communication records, personal diaries, records left on cell phones, medical logs, military orders, confidential government documents, etc.
Artemis put them together and reorganized them into a form that was easy for me to understand.
Shall we give an example?
At the height of the infection war, when social order collapsed, the first thing the government did was control broadcasting.
In Korea during this period, ‘control’ meant sending soldiers loaded with live ammunition.
An internal guard post was set up at the broadcasting station in the name of search and defense for infected people, and armed troops were also deployed to important facilities such as studios.
For reference, at the time, although there were few variant infectious agents, the contagiousness was ridiculously high.
Naturally, cases occurred within the broadcasting station as well.
Although it didn’t flounder around like a zombie screaming ‘Keeeee-!’, There was enough time to identify it before it completely mutated due to discoloration of the skin and eyes.
Bang!
Thanks to this, unprecedented broadcasting accidents involving gunfire during news broadcasts occasionally occurred.
[An infected person appeared on the main street outside the broadcasting station, but it was eradicated by the military. We apologize for any inconvenience caused.]
The middle-aged announcer said.
In reality, the janitor who showed early signs of infection in the 4th floor hallway bathroom was killed.
The camera rolled as always, 5 meters in front of the announcer who spoke with a neat expression.
Four meters away from him, in a place not shown on camera, a rifle loaded with live ammunition was pointed at his temple.
The soldiers were wearing gas masks, but the soldiers themselves did not seem to have much confidence in their effectiveness.
The announcer, who only read the fabricated script as instructed by the military, was ‘replaced’ after a week later when symptoms of infection were confirmed.
His position was taken over by another person who was an assistant. The soldier who was pointing his gun throughout the broadcast was also ‘replaced’ three days later.
At this point, it would have been the right decision to close the broadcasting station, but higher-ups thought differently.
It seems that they calculated that it would be more profitable to periodically dispose of on-site infected people and maintain manipulated broadcasts.
New soldiers kept arriving from somewhere, and broadcasting staff were being replaced one by one.
What the higher-ups didn’t expect was that if the changes were repeated, a smart person would appear at some point.
[Fellow citizens! This is all a lie!]
The announcer with a young face spoke with exaggerated hand gestures.
Unlike the four people who replaced him in front of him, he didn’t seem particularly enthusiastic about self-defense.
[That damn guy!]
The captain, who was using his phone outside the studio, ran like the wind and shouted.
Either way, the announcer is ready to tell the people the truth.
First, a photo of a soldier handing a script to an announcer while pointing a pistol was broadcast.
Since then, the most damning data that the government tried to conceal has come out. For example, a video of the president tied up in a white straitjacket.
[Geooooo-!]
The president had become an infectious agent.
There is also a picture of the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense pointing at him and talking in a serious tone.
[What? That guy spoke to the public just this morning?]
A soldier watching the video said.
The date displayed at the bottom of the video was two weeks ago.
This means that whether that video was manipulated or whether this morning’s public address was fabricated, one of the two is false.
Everyone at the scene was convinced that the latter was a hoax.
[Hey you bastard! What are you doing if you’re not shooting?]
The captain shouted to the soldier inside the studio.
The gun was still pointed 4 meters away from the announcer, but there was no sign of firing.
[Viewers, please turn down the volume for a moment! It will get noisy soon!]
The announcer said with a bright smile.
At the same time, the captain pulled out a pistol and ran into the studio.
Bang!
The moment the captain kicked in the door, what he encountered was the muzzle of a rifle pointed at him. He was clearly aiming at the announcer before he entered.
The muzzle burst into flames, and 5.56 mm lead balls pierced the captain’s body and shattered the studio door.
Ping! Ping! Ping!
Bullet casings passed in an arc in front of the announcer’s face as he blocked his earholes with both index fingers. They were broadcast and sent to viewers’ televisions.
Only then did the extremely nervous staff realize that the soldiers around the studio were divided in half.
There are soldiers pointing guns and soldiers raising both hands after disarming.
The staff’s heads turned furiously. Whose side is pointing the gun?
If they were on the dead captain’s side, he might get them involved and all of them would be killed. The question was quickly resolved.
Ta-ta-tang!
This is because a soldier with a gun confirmed the death of the captain’s body.
[A bastard like this is quick to point a gun at a person’s face. Fuck you, the person I killed was just a cold patient! Because of you, I became a murderer!]
Ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-tang!
He fired bullets until his remaining magazine was empty. The captain’s head was chopped into shapeless pieces.
[Sergeant Kim, what happens now? Will the 5th generation kids be here soon?]
A private asked.
[Somehow I have to jump out. Just finish this broadcast. I felt like I was going to throw up because I was so disgusted with the bullshit being talked about every day. Tell them to hurry up and send it all out.]
[I understand.]
The soldiers moved around busily.
[Please include us too.]
Soldiers who had surrendered with both hands up also applied to join in one by one.
Because it was such a serious rebellion, trustworthy people came together to fight it, but basically, all the soldiers here hated the captain. There are also vicious orders from the captain’s superiors.
[Everyone hurries up!]
Following Sergeant Kim’s instructions, the soldiers and staff moved in perfect order.
“There was no need to rush.”
Because it was a record from the past, it was a shame that I couldn’t tell those amazing soldiers, ‘You can move easily.’
Now, the stage of the story moves to a nearby military base.
Normally, a 5-minute standby team would have been dispatched there to suppress the rebellion and stop the broadcast.
That was according to the confidential government document ‘Unrestricted Control Guidelines’ that Artemis and I obtained from the relevant military unit.
But that didn’t come true. The reason was found out while searching the base’s CCTV and communication records.
There was a lieutenant who was yelling and pointing at two soldiers at the parade ground.
Right near them, a Doonban truck is waiting, ready to go. The luggage compartment is full of armed soldiers wearing gas masks.
The lieutenant repeatedly pointed to the luggage compartment and urged them to get on, but the two soldiers did not move.
The lieutenant, who was angry with a red face, took out his cell phone, and the call details are as follows.
[Lieutenant Kim, you son of a bitch! What are you doing? If you don’t stop those bastards from the broadcasting station, it’s the end for you and me!]
Contrary to what the soldiers had expected, the lieutenant, who had taken a bowing stance, pulled out his pistol as soon as he turned off his cell phone.
Bang!
One of the two soldiers who refused to go to the order to massacre civilians collapsed.
And the pistol was pointed at the other person.
The soldier appears to have been a kind and simple person. Instead of trying to resist with the weapon he was holding, he just turned around and tried to run away.
Bang!
A pistol bullet hit his thigh and he fell to the ground.
The shadow of a pistol appears on the face of a soldier begging for his life.
He paused for a moment and looked at the truck bed. All the soldiers on board were watching this skit.
It seems that the lieutenant wanted to set a clear example for the country in an emergency.
A performance of his own charisma and summary execution. It seems that they believed that these two things would help control the soldiers in the difficult operations ahead.
He pointed his pistol alternately at both the corpse and the soldier begging for his life and shouted something to the soldiers in the luggage compartment.
The soldiers responded immediately.
Ta-ta-ta-ta-tang!
More than 10 yellow flowers bloomed in the dark luggage compartment. The lieutenant, who instantly became a mop, did the dance of death and collapsed on the parade ground.
The soldiers poured out of the luggage compartment and dragged out the driver and the sergeant in the passenger seat.
Some stopped the bleeding of a soldier who had been shot in the thigh, while others stormed into the command and control room.
The commanding officer on duty, who was trying to open the lock with the key to the gun box, fell down covered in blood, and the battalion commander held a sit-in in the battalion commander’s office with the door locked and his pistol in hand.
The soldiers did not take the risk of breaking down the door.
The window of the battalion commander’s office was shattered by gunfire, and a grenade rolled in through the crack.
[I just can’t understand. Do those commanders think that their armed subordinates will be completely obedient under any circumstances? Where does that unreasonable faith come from?]
Artemis pursues control based on logic and reason. It seems that it is difficult for her to understand the officers who are frequently fretted for treating her soldiers unreasonably.
“This is the secret to my longevity while working in the field for a long time. “Treat your men with guns like your own children.”
[On the topic of using a ladder and throwing it away.]
“…”
You cowardly stab at the facts.
In any case, mass desertion occurred in this unit where the command system collapsed.
The soldiers each took their weapons and necessary items and disappeared.
Those who remained, dumbfounded and unable to do anything, were swallowed up by the wave of infections that came shortly afterward.
Although they were all tragic and troubling incidents, they were nothing particularly special.
During the infection war, really strange things happened in the inland.
The material brought by the stalker robots was full of comedy, tragedy, and sometimes black comedy.
