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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Xrecker
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“A nuclear-powered aircraft carrier…”
The words escaped my lips like a groan.
It didn’t sound like my own voice.
Sung Ga-yeon turned to me and whispered,
“Sung-hoon, what should we do? It doesn’t seem like we’ll get their cooperation. Should I contact the President?”
“Don’t you think the special forces leader is already reporting this?”
“Ah.”
Sung Ga-yeon nodded in understanding.
Right.
The special forces leader wasn’t the type to just stand around smoking.
He would already be making his report.
Just then, the US military commander said something.
I looked at Sung Ga-yeon.
She asked me,
“He said, ‘You said you’re from the government, which means the President is safe. Given the circumstances, it’s hard to say congratulations. I hear you came to Camp Humphreys on a special mission. What is it?’”
Hmm…
A smile played on my lips.
How should I put this?
I could easily end up in the same position as the local survivors.
I thought for a moment and said,
“We thought this base was empty. We thought we could supplement our firepower here to reclaim Korea and rescue people.”
The US military commander smiled wryly and said something.
“I suppose you’re disappointed that we’re still alive.”
Hmm.
Cynical.
I shook my head.
“That’s not what I meant. I’m glad to see that so many people are still alive at the Pyeongtaek base. How many survivors are there?”
“Many have died.”
Sung Ga-yeon translated the US military commander’s words.
“Not many of the officers’ families are still alive. Many of the enlisted men have also been lost. There are about four hundred of us left.”
Sung Ga-yeon seemed slightly surprised and asked something.
The US military commander answered, but I didn’t know what he said.
Sung Ga-yeon whispered to me,
“There were about thirty thousand people here, including non-combatants and civilians. He said they had to kill them all.”
Hmm…
This young commander in front of me.
He said he had shot his own superior in the head with his own hands.
They had all survived by killing their own colleagues and families, the people they had trained with and eaten with.
It was the same for everyone these days.
But still, four hundred people…
That was a lot.
My hypermarket group and the Seorae Village group combined would be less than half of that.
As I was thinking that, the US military commander spoke.
“You’ve come a long way. It’s a blessing to be alive in such difficult times. But unfortunately, I must give you the same answer I gave the local residents. We cannot provide you with anything.”
While Sung Ga-yeon translated for me, the US military commander took a brown cigar from his breast pocket, cut it with a cutter, and lit it.
A signal that the meeting was over.
The US military commander waited for Sung Ga-yeon to finish translating and then gestured to the young American soldiers behind him with his chin.
The soldiers approached.
I said,
“I have one question.”
Sung Ga-yeon translated.
The US military commander looked at me silently.
I crossed my arms and asked,
“It’s been over two months since the apocalypse began. But you’re still here. The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier should still be in the East Sea, but you haven’t moved. What’s the reason?”
Sung Ga-yeon stared at me.
Why was she looking at me like that?
Her expression was strange.
And then, I realized.
I had never said the word “apocalypse” out loud before.
This was the first time.
Sung Ga-yeon asked,
“Apocalypse… Do you really think so? That this is the apocalypse?”
Hmm.
This question.
It was a little complicated.
Sung Ga-yeon, no, everyone else probably thought of this as a global crisis.
A crisis that could be overcome with effort.
But the word “apocalypse” carried a different weight.
No one I had met so far had used that word.
As if, by saying it, they would be admitting to an insurmountable, uncontrollable situation.
They may have been unconsciously avoiding the word.
Because if you admitted in your heart that it was beyond your control, there would be no hope.
I looked at Sung Ga-yeon.
I didn’t think this was the apocalypse.
I just knew it was the apocalypse.
The messages had told me so.
But I couldn’t say that.
I looked at Sung Ga-yeon and slowly nodded.
“I do. But we’re alive. And we will continue to live. Don’t you think so?”
Sung Ga-yeon slowly lowered her gaze.
Then she turned and translated my words to the US military commander.
The US military commander’s eyebrows twitched slightly.
“Apocalypse. That is a kinda accurate word for our… Current circumstances.”
The US military commander smiled wryly and continued.
Sung Ga-yeon turned to me and said,
“He says that ‘apocalypse’ is a rather fitting word for the current situation. To answer your question, yes. You are correct. We have made several attempts to leave, but we have failed. For the same reason the local residents are worried.”
…I see.
I asked quietly,
“…You mean the animals. Are they that strong? So strong that even a heavily armed military base can’t break through?”
The US military commander tilted his head slightly after hearing the translation.
“You know about the animals. It is because of the animals, as you said, but it’s not just because our forces can’t break through.”
The US military commander tapped his cigar on the ashtray and put it to his lips.
Then he was about to say something but stopped when he saw me.
I was just taking a cigarette out of my pocket.
He was smoking so deliciously that I wanted one too.
The US military commander looked at me and then took a cigar from his breast pocket and offered it to me.
Oh, a cigar.
No reason to refuse.
As I put it to my lips, he cut the end of my cigar with a cutter and even lit it with his Zippo lighter.
I took a deep drag and exhaled.
The smoke, with a deep, rich taste of burnt wood, filled my lungs.
This was good.
I heard in the movies that cigars were from Cuba.
I muttered,
“Is this from Cuba too?”
Sung Ga-yeon, who was watching me, translated.
The US military commander smiled and said,
“Actually yes. It’s Cuban.”
“Yes. It’s from Cuba.”
I held up the cigar and smiled.
Then I gave him a thumbs up and said,
“Good smoke!”
The US military commander smiled and said,
“I also think this is the apocalypse now. The day may come when we can no longer get these Cuban cigars we are enjoying.”
He rested an elbow on the table.
“I believe that a day will come when we can return our lives to normal. Even if we can’t solve all these problems, the survivors can gather together and rebuild civilization. That’s why we have to go back. We will save and gather as many of our people as possible. You probably came to us for the same reason.”
The US military commander tapped the ash from his cigar and continued,
“We can break through the animals. They are getting bigger, but we haven’t seen one we can’t handle yet. The problem is that it’s difficult to protect our civilians.”
I smoked my cigar and listened to Sung Ga-yeon’s translation.
I slowly nodded and looked at the US military commander.
The US military commander continued,
“They are animals. If they got bigger and slower, they would be good targets, but they seem to be getting faster as they get bigger. I don’t know if their momentum is increasing. When the flying and land animals start to gather from all sides, our soldiers with heavy weapons will hold out, but their families won’t. So it took quite some time to train the people who could fight, including the women and other civilians. Besides.”
The US military commander sighed softly.
“If we leave this place, we will be completely exposed. We have four hundred people, and we can’t all take cover in the farmland. We can’t move rashly because we don’t know how the local survivor groups will react.”
Hmm…
The animals and the survivor groups.
Both were enemies to these people.
I nodded and asked,
“So, what do you plan to do?”
The US military commander crossed his arms.
His expression was slightly dark.
“To be honest, and I know this may sound selfish, I was hoping that the local residents would help us get back to the Lincoln. That’s why I gave them the weapons. But as you saw earlier, we failed to get their cooperation.”
The US military commander put down his cigar in the ashtray and crossed his arms.
Then he looked at me.
“We have trained almost all of our civilians. We will be leaving here soon. And if we clash with the local residents in the process, we will point our guns at them as well. Along with the animals.”
Sung Ga-yeon’s face grew darker as she translated.
My expression probably wasn’t much better.
The commander had said it gently, but this was what it came down to.
…If you get in our way, we will kill you all.
…Hmm…
As dark as Sung Ga-yeon’s expression was, the president and Sung Kyu-hyuk’s reactions to this news would not be good either.
But me?
It was none of my business if these people got themselves killed by being stupid.
I came here for weapons.
I looked at the US military commander.
And said,
“I have a proposal.”
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