Chapter 469 The Walking Dead 9
Phut!
Clang!
"Good job!"
We set up empty cans and were practicing shooting.
"Like you said, oppa, when I hold my breath for a moment and then shoot, it seems to hit better."
"Right?"
"It’s fun! Can I do it a few more times?"
"Sure."
Indeed, the .22 LR rounds had low recoil, and with the suppressor attached, the sound wasn’t loud either. Thanks to that, Clem was enjoying shooting practice like she was playing a game.
"Now that the sun has set, let’s stop."
"That was fun... Do you think I can take down walkers now? Empty cans aren’t walkers."
"Yeah. There is a difference from real situations. But now that you’ve learned how to shoot, if you keep practicing, it will help when you face walkers too."
"I’ll practice hard."
Clem engaged the safety as I taught her and put the gun back in her holster. Perhaps because of the [Teacher] ability, Clem was learning to shoot faster than expected.
I thought about cutting her annoying hair like in the original, but I just tied it up for her. It seemed like just tying it up would be enough without having to cut it.
"I don’t have an appetite."
"That’s why I told you to eat snacks in moderation. Starting tomorrow, you can only have one bag of snacks per day."
"Okay..."
"And brush your teeth well before bed."
"Okay..."
The next day, a walker was wandering on the road, so I figured it was a good opportunity and told Clem to shoot it.
"Don’t be nervous."
"Got it."
Phut!
Thud! Thump!
"I did it!"
"Good job!"
Clem missed a few shots, but eventually hit the walker’s head precisely and was able to take down her first walker directly.
"But don’t get too cocky. Just now, I was constantly giving you distance with the car, so you had room to breathe. In real combat, there aren’t many situations where you can fight that comfortably. It’s important to always know your own abilities and not push yourself too hard."
"Got it."
After that, I continued to teach Clem various things she needed for survival while we traveled. From how to observe your surroundings to how to avoid danger and how to conserve supplies and food—as I taught her one thing at a time, we eventually arrived near Savannah.
I spread out the Savannah map I had gotten from the rest stop and checked the location of the hotel where Clem’s parents had stayed with Clem.
"Do you happen to remember the name of the hotel your parents stayed at?"
"I don’t remember well. My parents always stayed at the same place. I’ve been there once too, but it was so long ago I can’t remember the name."
"Really? Then what about the building’s appearance or anything specific you remember?"
Clem thought for a moment and said.
"It was in the city, and I don’t think it was that big of a hotel. And they had really delicious desserts there. It was called... M... M... what was it..."
I looked at the map and pointed to one spot with my finger.
"By any chance... Marsh House?"
"Yes! That’s it!"
Clem’s face brightened immediately.
"Hotels sometimes name their signature desserts or dishes after the hotel. Let’s head to the ’Marsh House Hotel’ first."
"Okay. Let’s do that. When we get to the hotel, I’ll be able to recognize it right away."
But there was one problem. Savannah, being a tourist city along the river and the sea, had an enormous number of walkers.
Fortunately, the Marsh House Hotel was located on the outskirts near the river. We moved along the outer roads with the fewest walkers possible, then took the riverside road and approached the Marsh House Hotel.
"We can’t go any further by car. There are too many walkers. So let’s hide the car here, avoid the walkers, and move quietly on foot."
"Is it, is it going to be okay?"
Clem seemed scared looking at the gathered walkers. I looked at her and smiled.
"Don’t worry. I’ll get you there safely."
We hid the car well in a corner of a park and began carefully crossing building by building.
Swoosh!
Thump!
"Hic!"
"Quiet."
"Okay..."
As I swung the Vector and quietly disposed of walkers to clear a path, severed bodies spilled entrails and heads rolled on the ground—a rather gruesome scene unfolded.
Clem seemed quite startled by the sight too. But screaming or making loud noises here could attract nearby walkers. Clem tried hard to hide her startled expression and kept her mouth firmly shut.
Since there were so many walkers on the streets, we used the insides of buildings and crossed over rooftops where possible, gradually moving forward.
It took quite a while, but we finally reached the building right in front of the Marsh House Hotel. We looked at the hotel across the street through the window.
"Is that the hotel?"
"Yes, that’s it! That’s the hotel I came to. Now my parents are..."
But Clem suddenly stopped talking as she looked at one spot outside the window.
"Mom... Dad..."
At the place where Clem couldn’t take her eyes off, a middle-aged female and male walker were wandering the street.
I knew right away from Clem’s expression. Those two walkers were apparently the parents Clem had been searching for all this time.
Clem couldn’t hold it in any longer and sank to the spot, sobbing. I said nothing and quietly held Clem in my arms, patting her back.
Actually, I already knew because I had played the original game. If a zombie apocalypse broke out in a tourist city of this size, surviving itself wouldn’t have been easy. The more populated an area, the faster the infection would spread.
But I couldn’t tell Clem that, when she had come all this way with the sole thought of finding her parents. I couldn’t crush the hope of Clementine, who had always missed her parents.
"Are you feeling a bit better now?"
"Yes..."
"I’m truly sorry about your parents. Still, your parents would have wanted at least Clem to survive. In the voice messages too, they kept worrying about Clem being left alone. So for your parents’ sake, Clem needs to work hard to live on from now on."
"Okay... I’ll try."
I took out a handkerchief and wiped Clem’s face, which was covered in tears and snot, then prepared to leave again.
"Let’s go now."
"Okay."
Going back the way we came was easier than expected. Since we had already cleared the path on the way in, we didn’t need to deal with many walkers. Fortunately, the hidden Scorpion MRAP was still there.
In the original, there was a survivor camp called "Crawford" in Savannah, but I had no intention of contacting them. They had started as a decent survivor group, but as time passed and resources ran low, they gradually lost their sanity.
Eventually, they became a messed-up group that mercilessly killed or expelled children and the elderly who couldn’t work properly to save food. There was no need to get entangled with such a group and put Clem at risk.
We started moving north along the road again. Clem sat in the passenger seat with her head down, silent, as if the shocking sight of her parents having become walkers still lingered in her mind.
Our next destination was a small island near Brunswick called "Ziking Island"—a tourist spot with a water park and resort facilities, mainly visited by tourists looking to play golf.
In addition, thanks to its abundant wildlife ecosystem, it was also a great place for nature exploration like hiking, biking trails, and kayak tours. Above all, there was essentially only one road connecting it to the mainland, so if access from the outside was controlled, it was practically a natural fortress.
"Oppa Jin, there’s a huge wall over there."
After traveling for two days, we arrived at Ziking Island. But as soon as we entered the road leading to the island, an unexpected sight unfolded before us.
It was a massive wall.
The wall was made of reinforced concrete and appeared to be nearly 20 meters tall. Moreover, it surrounded the entire island, giving it a grandeur reminiscent of the Great Wall of China.
"What kind of wall is this..."
We drove along the road and arrived at the island entrance. There, robot-type androids in military uniforms were standing guard with rifles, guarding the entrance like a fortress.
"Welcome, Captain Jin. We’ve been waiting for you. We were told to inform you not to be too surprised from above."
"Is that so?"
The robot-type androids said that briefly and opened the entrance. As we entered the walls, we saw a large plaza and several buildings under construction. Clem looked around curiously at the sight.
"You can go to the ’Wall Rose’ wall over there."
When we arrived at the plaza and got out of the car, a robot-type android came and guided us.
"Wall Rose... Wait, is the outer wall called Wall Maria?!"
"How did you know... Anyway, yes. And the innermost wall is..."
"Wall Sina, obviously. It’s obvious without even seeing it."
"Yes..."
This definitely seemed like something my clones had built. Otherwise, there’s no way they would have come up with such an idea. Since my clones also had [Matter Creation], [Matter Manipulation], and [Matter Copy] abilities, making something like this would have been simple.
Anyway, we passed through Wall Rose and entered the interior. There were numerous housing complexes. But there wasn’t a single person in sight. It seemed we were the first to arrive.
"You can stay in the second house on the left over there. We’ll take care of your vehicle."
"Got it."
After the robot-type android said that and left, Clem said in amazement.
"Wow... Such a place existed. Can we bring the motel people here later?"
"I don’t know... I’m not sure. Let’s go inside for now."
"Okay."
The houses inside Wall Rose were all three-story buildings of similar size. To use space efficiently, buildings were closely packed on both sides of the road like Manhattan in New York.
But when we actually went inside, it was decorated much more impressively than expected. Not only basic furniture, but daily necessities were also provided, and there was even a small yard in the back.
’What have these guys been doing while I was gone?’
While I was thinking this, Clem found the bed and sat on it.
"The bed is really soft."
"It looks that way. We can take a bath and sleep comfortably today."
"Yeah."
Clem said she wanted to take a bath and went straight into the bathroom, and I sat on the sofa and rested for a while.
Then I heard a vehicle pulling up outside. Then came the sound of something being installed near the front door, so I went outside to see what was going on.
The robot-type android had not only brought the Scorpion MRAP as promised but was even attaching a nameplate to the front gate. The nameplate read "Jin Harris."
"If you have this bracelet, you can freely pass through to Wall Sina. And this one is for the girl who came with you. She can enter up to Wall Rose. They’re waterproof and durable, so you can wear them while swimming or bathing."
After finishing the nameplate installation, the android handed me two bracelets. My bracelet was purple, and Clem’s was blue. When I checked with [Enhanced Vision], there was a small chip embedded inside the bracelet, containing information such as the wearer’s appearance, rank, and name.
"From above, they said to rest well today and meet tomorrow."
"Got it."
Looking at the bracelet, I nodded. It seemed the clones had anticipated my arrival and prepared everything.
I gave Clem her bracelet, and we rested well that day as the android suggested. Then late at night, I heard Clem sobbing—I had thought she was doing a little better, but she wasn’t there yet.
The next day, the androids came to the house.
"Please come this way."
We followed the androids to the harbor between Wall Sina and Wall Rose. After waiting for a while, we saw a barge entering the harbor in the distance. We took that barge out to sea.
After sailing for a while, we saw two massive aircraft carriers and several warships stationed on the sea. One of the aircraft carriers was the Gerald R. Ford nuclear aircraft carrier I had brought, and the other was the George H.W. Bush nuclear aircraft carrier.
’When did they get this one?’
We moved to the side of the aircraft carrier and boarded via a simple boarding platform. Clem seemed to be seeing an aircraft carrier for the first time, looking around and taking in the sights.
On the carrier deck, there were far more aircraft than I had provided, and androids were moving busily around. Not to mention the many aircraft, the number of robot-type androids was far greater than the 100 I had brought.
I headed to the commander’s office to hear what the clones had to say.
"Welcome, Captain Jin. We’ve been waiting for you."
The clone had transformed into a stern middle-aged man and was wearing a commander’s uniform. Beside him, 2B and A2 stood in military uniforms as if guarding him.
"Captain Jin Harris, reporting."
"The reason I called you here is that we’re having difficulties developing a vaccine. We’ve been trying various methods, but they keep failing."
He paused for a moment, then continued with a serious expression.
"According to the researchers, they need someone with natural antibodies. So we need to find such a person."
"So you’re saying I need to go outside and find someone with antibodies?"
"Yes. I’d like to entrust that task to you. We’ll provide all the support you need."
"The reason for developing Ziking Island is..."
"That is the beginning of New America. We plan to open a trading post to let survivors trade among themselves, revive the economy, and accept technicians to rebuild the nation. So making the vaccine is absolutely necessary."
"I see."
"I know this won’t be easy in this situation. It might take several years. But I hope you’ll find them no matter what."
"Understood."
"Also, this is classified, so it’s difficult to discuss in front of civilians."
At that, 2B led Clem outside for a moment.
As soon as Clem left, the clone guided me to the laboratory. Entering the lab, the first thing I saw was Tyrants sleeping in aquariums. Those Tyrants appeared to be at least 4 meters tall and had gray skin, giving them an appearance similar to the Engineers from Alien: Prometheus. Moreover, the Tyrants’ weakness—the heart protruding from the chest—wasn’t exposed.
"Oh, those are just in case we might need them. We installed a chip inside the head to replace the brain, so you can just copy them with [Matter Copy] and use them. Think of them as a kind of bio-robot."
When I looked at the Tyrants closely, the clone explained. Then he showed me the viruses they had created and continued his explanation.
"About the zombie viruses—we’ve made three types. One is a virus that combines all the characteristics of the Dawn of the Dead, Black Wall Seed, and The Walking Dead viruses, making it extremely powerful and dangerous. If the virus is dispersed through the air, it would spread across the entire world in an instant, causing all organisms on Earth to mutate into monsters like the Hunters from Biohazard. We didn’t know a virus like this would exist, but if this virus spreads, any civilization would be destroyed within a week. We named it the DGW virus."
It seemed he had named the virus by taking the first letters of the world names.
"The second virus is also bizarre, but this one might at least be survivable. We made it by mixing the characteristics of Dawn of the Dead and Biohazard’s T-Virus. This virus creates running zombies, so you can think of it as a T-Virus. But the creature occurrence rate is higher than the T-Virus, and the Tyrant occurrence rate is also higher. Based on calculations, it was about one in ten thousand. We named it the DT virus."
"I see. Then what about the last virus?"
"The third virus is the weakest. We mixed the characteristics of the T-Virus and The Walking Dead virus. It spreads through the air and has a high creature and Tyrant occurrence rate like the DT virus, but the zombies don’t run, and the creatures and Tyrants are somewhat weaker. You could say they’re manageable with standard firearms. The name is the WT virus."
It seemed they had worked hard to make them, but honestly, aside from the third virus, the others seemed unusable. After all, people need to be able to survive to do anything.
The clone also showed me something else.
"This one isn’t exactly a zombie virus, but it’s a version that removes the side effects of the Progenitor Virus. It immediately triggers genetic mutation in the recipient, granting powerful strength and some regenerative ability, but the power gained is somewhat weaker than the standard Progenitor Virus, so you can’t become as strong as Wesker. There’s no infection either, so think of it as a lower-tier version of a super-soldier serum."
"Really? That’s incredibly useful."
"Instead, the genetic mutation process is quite painful."
"Well, since I’m not the one using it anyway, the person receiving it can deal with the pain themselves."
I had thought the clones had just gone wild doing things I never told them to—like bringing more aircraft carriers and developing Ziking Island—but surprisingly, they had done quite a lot of virus research.