The Apocalypse Regressor's All-Purpose Shelter

The electric truck loaded with the supplied firearms and ammunition headed for our shelter.

“Let’s go right now.”

But Junho did not return with it and decided to go to Deokso with Lee Seokjin instead.

Wheeeeeee...!

The electric motorboat carrying Junho, Lee Seokjin, and several soldiers cut through the current of the Bukhan River.

The Deokso unit no longer made much use of the Gyeongui-Jungang Line tracks.

Traveling a distance well over ten kilometers on foot every time was already a task in itself, and more importantly, the Gyeongui-Jungang Line had to pass through Dosim and Deokso Station.

The areas near Deokso Station and Dosim Station had many large apartment complexes, so Alphas and slaves were still swarming there, making it somewhat dangerous.

That was why it was far faster and safer to use a boat to reach Neungnae-ri, where the hydroelectric power plant was located.

Then, from there, they could take an electric cart along the bike path, pass Paldang Dam, and board the boat again at the riverside to move to the dock at Namyangju Hangang Park.

After mooring the boat by the riverside at the hydroelectric power plant park, Junho looked around the area.

“Major, this place and the nearby area have all been cleared now, right?”

“Yes. A couple of months ago. There are no more zombies or people.”

The hydroelectric power plant, which had held out until the very end, had long since stopped.

Even the emergency-shift staff who had been working there on the holiday when the infection incident broke out fulfilled their responsibilities until the very end, but after the power plant stopped, they left.

“With only professional technicians and some consumable parts, it could probably be restarted.”

At Junho’s words, Lee Seokjin, who was riding in the electric cart with him, gave a bitter smile.

“I already passed that along to the UDT. But they say they are short on manpower.”

“They are not short. They need those people on Jeju right now, so they do not want to send them.”

“...That is what I think too.”

The President was already dead, but the Prime Minister, ministers, and high-ranking officials were still alive in large numbers, and there was no way people whose top priority was still protecting their own skin would give up precious technicians.

And from the technicians’ perspective as well, they would not want to come all the way here when their safety was not perfectly guaranteed.

In any case, if they stayed on Jeju, they were safe. No one would risk their life to go to the mainland, where they could not even know how many people were still alive or how many zombies there were, and to a power plant in the capital region at that.

'But if this succeeds....'

The Jeju government would change its mind too.

If Paldang Dam, which supplied the capital region with an enormous amount of electricity exceeding three hundred million kilowatt-hours a year, was restarted, it would further increase the survival rate of the survivors in Seoul and the capital region who had stubbornly survived until now.

***

“That is....”

“Yes. It is ours now.”

As Lee Seokjin stared at the two gray helicopters landed on the lawn of Hangang Park, pride and satisfaction mixed across his face.

Marineon.

An amphibious maneuver helicopter modified from the Korean utility helicopter Surion for Marine Corps operation.

Its basic frame was the same as the Surion’s, but it had flame-retardant design and anti-corrosion treatment with maritime operation in mind, and because it used twin turboshaft engines, it could keep flying even if one engine failed.

It could also carry around ten troops, and helicopter rappelling operations such as Fast Rope descent could be conducted through the sliding doors on the left and right.

For the operation Junho had proposed—honestly, even now, Lee Seokjin was only half convinced—there was no aircraft more suitable than something like the Marineon.

Of course, Lee Seokjin was Army, and the Marineon was for the Marine Corps, but that had no meaning at all.

What mattered was that those two lovely helicopters would be exclusively for the Deokso unit for the time being.

'If we use only one, they said the fuel gives us around seven hundred kilometers, right?'

That was more than enough. More than overflowing, in fact, so Junho nodded in satisfaction.

“Then, Mr. Junho. You should meet the pilots first and at least introduce yourself. They are volunteers, so their resolve is quite impressive.”

“...No. I think it would be better not to meet them until right before the operation begins.”

“Excuse me?”

Lee Seokjin narrowed one eye.

No matter how much they were soldiers and had volunteered of their own accord, it was not proper courtesy toward people who had flown all the way here while risking their lives.

However.

“I expect one or two of them are not real pilots.”

“......!”

Lee Seokjin flinched, then soon wore a hollow expression.

“Right. Haa, why did I not think of that....”

At present, the Minister of National Defense and the military leadership were extremely curious about Junho.

So curious that they had accepted the absurd condition of helicopter support.

And yet they would be satisfied with merely meeting Junho once?

That was impossible.

One way or another, they would want to know what kind of person Junho was, what he liked and disliked, and what “weaknesses” they could use.

“Come to think of it... one of the pilots did not quite feel like a pilot. He did not feel like a Marine either.”

Lee Seokjin said this while recalling a captain around thirty years old among the Marineon pilots.

“Really?”

“Yes. Rather than a soldier, let alone a Marine pilot, he somehow smelled like suspicious ink.”

It seemed likely he was an agent sent by the Defense Intelligence Command or the National Intelligence Service.

And Lee Seokjin’s guess was correct.

***

'Damn, it was hard as hell just to get a look at his face.'

Park Dohyun, who had worked in the counterintelligence department of the Defense Intelligence Command, walked briskly together with an older captain who was a “real” Navy Marineon pilot.

The pilot, who had roughly guessed Park Dohyun’s identity, neither acknowledged him nor spoke to him.

When they opened the door to the temporary situation room set up inside the outlet right beside Hangang Park where the helicopters had been landed, two other pilots and several members of the Deokso unit were already in their places.

“Oh, you’re here?”

“Yeah. I heard they suddenly wanted to see us? Did you hear anything?”

“I don’t know either. They just suddenly said the operation starts tomorrow at dawn.”

Listening to the conversation between the real Marineon pilots, Park Dohyun sat down right beside them.

“Really? Ah, fuck... I keep wondering what the hell we’re doing here.”

“Why are you saying that? You volunteered too, sir.”

“I did. But I never dreamed we would be carrying civilians.”

'That civilian was the greatest contributor to wiping out tens of thousands of zombies in one shot, gentlemen.'

Listening to the pilots, who knew nothing, Park Dohyun clicked his tongue inwardly.

But he respected the pilots, and he also understood them.

Unlike himself, who had been dispatched to see and observe this person called Lee Junho directly, they were people who had volunteered for an operation to come to this dangerous place right beside Seoul purely out of a soldier’s sense of duty.

But now they were being told to conduct an operational flight carrying some civilian and his companions, people they had never even seen before and who were not even Deokso troops. Of course it would seem absurd.

“The battalion commander is coming.”

At the words of a lieutenant who was still in his twenties but clearly bore the signs of having been through every kind of hardship, Park Dohyun and the pilots sprang to their feet.

Lee Seokjin was older than them, higher in rank, and most importantly, he was an outstanding commander who had secured and stabilized half of Deokso with only a battalion-sized force.

In the capital region, which could be called the front line, Lee Seokjin had gone far beyond struggling in isolation and had produced genuinely unbelievable combat achievements. He deserved to be respected as an officer of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces.

Step, step, step.

Soon, Lee Seokjin entered with the sound of combat boots.

“......!”

The eyes of Park Dohyun and the pilots widened slightly when they saw the man and woman following behind him.

It was not because of the short-haired woman in a multicam combat uniform, who was expressionless but quite beautiful.

Their gazes gathered on the man, who was about 180 centimeters tall and whose muscles, visible beneath his short-sleeved T-shirt, brought to mind a heavyweight fighter before a match.

'So that is Lee Junho....'

Curiosity entered Park Dohyun’s eyes, the only one among them who knew anything about Junho.

His face was ordinary, but the muscles knotted like constricting snakes, the scars covering him here and there, and his casually sunken eyes left a strong impression.

No. Park Dohyun’s experience, from years of rolling around as a field agent before entering the Defense Intelligence Command, told him something.

'That guy... has killed people.'

And not just a few. A great many, using multiple different methods.

Junho’s body and gait showed both the characteristics of someone who fired guns extremely often and the characteristics of someone skilled with knives.

And not only that, but that unique atmosphere was something only “his own kind,” people like Park Dohyun, could feel.

That was why Park Dohyun could only smile bitterly inside.

'Damn it. I got caught dead to rights.'

If he had recognized the other party, then the other party would recognize him as well.

Judging from how Junho’s gaze lingered on him for several seconds longer than it did on the other pilots, it was almost certain.

“First, I ask your understanding for calling you here at this late hour. But there is a reason for it, so I would appreciate it if you understood.”

“I heard that the operation begins tomorrow at dawn. Is this related to that?”

When the most senior of the pilots raised his hand and asked, Lee Seokjin nodded once and answered.

“That is correct. First, to explain the operational outline that all of you are probably most curious about....”

Soon, the room darkened, and aerial photographs of Deokso Station and its surroundings appeared on the beam projector. Lee Seokjin’s explanation continued.

Consciously trying not to look at Junho, Park Dohyun listened to the operational briefing for now as well.

And a little while later.

“...Major, forgive my discourtesy, but is this... realistic?”

The senior pilot asked, his eyes wavering.

The others seemed quite shaken as well, judging from how their faces were wrinkled as much as they could be, or how their lips had parted slightly.

And that was true of Park Dohyun too, who prided himself on having more “real combat” experience similar to what they had just heard than anyone else in this place.

With one eye narrowed, he looked at Lee Seokjin and Junho, who was clearly the planner of this operation.

At that moment, Junho, who had been standing silently, stepped forward.

“It is not that it is realistic. This is almost the only method.”

“Huh....”

At Junho’s low voice, which seemed to echo from inside a cave and somehow inspired even more trust because of it, everyone’s attention focused on him.

“And the pilots will not be in any danger at all. Please focus on the missions assigned to you. We will take care of the rest.”

“......!”

At the statement, arrogant beyond measure, everyone’s eyes widened.

But as helicopter pilots, not personnel actually participating in combat, they had no choice but to accept it.

At the same time.

'They must have sent us here because there is something, right?'

There was no way they lacked awareness. They were veteran Navy pilots and, at the same time, “military survivors” who had survived until now.

'Especially since they sent even that suspicious-looking guy along....'

That was especially true of the captain who had roughly guessed Park Dohyun’s identity.

They had enough helicopters but were short on fuel.

Even so, this matter had been carried out by the direct authority of the Minister of National Defense, and they, who had been waiting on an island in the Ongjin Peninsula, had come all the way to Namyangju together with someone they suspected was an intelligence agent.

This operation and that man named Lee Junho were extremely important, and there was clearly “something special” there.

***

Dawn, when there was still more than an hour before sunrise.

“Rotor brake release confirmed.”

“Rotor rotation beginning.”

“Vibration within normal range.”

“NR rising. Rotor RPM locked at one hundred percent.”

“Landing gear load reduction confirmed.”

Bab-bab-bab-bab-bab-bab-bab...!!!

The thunderous noise of the helicopter rang out along the Bukhan River, and the four-blade main rotor traced a massive circle before lifting from the ground.

The area was safe for a radius of nearly two kilometers, but the pilots, whose fear of the thousands or tens of thousands of zombies had not yet completely disappeared, instinctively scanned the dark riverside.

“Hover stable. Left-right deviation is minimal.”

Soon, the massive body, weighing nearly seven tons, pushed against gravity and lowered its nose slightly.

“Transitioning forward. Entering ETL.”

“Engine parameters all green. Climb complete.”

The ground rapidly fell away, and the Marineon flew into the high sky.

But the flight did not last long.

After following the Han River, turning around Dosim Station, and crossing Geumdae Mountain, the Marineon arrived above the rooftop of the tallest apartment building near Deokso Station and began hovering high in the air.

And a little while later, the sliding door opened, and a high-strength nylon rope fell in an S shape onto the apartment rooftop.

“Go!”

Conscious of the wind curling upward from below, Junho leaned his upper body slightly back and conducted a fast descent.

Shwaaaaa... thud!

After Junho reached the concrete rooftop and found a position while keeping watch on the surroundings, Yoon Seolhee and Gu Jeongmok, both experienced with rappelling, descended in order.

Boxes and backpacks containing various equipment also came down one after another.

Once every descent was complete, the Marineon retrieved the rope and quickly flew back toward Hangang Park.

And a short while later.

—Boss! Delivery coming to your location in thirty seconds!

Yoon Youngsu’s voice came through.

Soon, five transport drones that had departed from the water leisure sports center arrived above the apartment rooftop where the three of them were and lowered boxes.

And what was inside them was....

Clack! Clatter!

Several air tanks for modified air guns, and boxes of tungsten rounds.

Two K15 light machine guns, and boxes of standard ammunition and armor-piercing rounds.

Several days’ worth of food and drinking water, portable solar panels and electrical devices usable on an apartment rooftop, and so on.

They were another set of supplies prepared by our shelter.

That was right.

For a long time, Junho had planned to use this very apartment rooftop—where neither zombies nor people had been visible—as a “base” and sweep away the Alphas and slave zombies in the surrounding area.

—Large numbers of heat sources appearing at Points One, Four, Five, and Eight. Heat sources have also appeared on the ground within a three-hundred-meter radius centered on the current point. All are zombies.

This was Akina’s report: after hearing the thunderous noise of the helicopter, zombies had begun swarming from this early dawn on the nearby apartment rooftops and on the ground.

As expected, the Alphas in this area were also aware of powerful weapons such as helicopters, tanks, and armored vehicles.

They knew they should not move out carelessly and should surge in only after watching the situation.

It was also clear that they knew those weapons could not operate for long because their fuel was not sufficient.

That was why they were moving after the helicopter had stayed in “one place” and then left.

But no matter how cunning and experienced the Alphas were, they would not know what was about to begin.

Beep.

Junho powered on his night vision device and spoke in a low voice.

“Let’s begin.”

Perhaps because of caution, or perhaps curiosity, the glowing heat source of an Alpha that had climbed onto the rooftop of Building Two, thirty to forty meters away, while leading several dozen slaves, came into view.

He was truly grateful for the floor-area ratios and building coverage ratios of Korean apartments.

So subsonic rounds with suppressors?

This time, they were not necessary.

Tu-ta-ta-ta-ta...!!!

The powerful energy of the armor-piercing rounds burst the heads of the slave zombies protecting their master and shattered even the skull of the Alpha that had too little experience—or too much curiosity.

And at the same time.

“......!!!”

Park Dohyun’s mouth fell open as he watched the field situation through the military drone sent by the Deokso unit.

As he saw it, Lee Junho was simply a special kind of lunatic.