Zombie Apocalypse Whiteout - 15
EP15 Welcome to Zombie World (7)
The next morning at 6 a.m., while everyone gathered for breakfast, Yu-bin raised three fingers.
“There are three major tasks we need to take care of today.”
He folded down one of the fingers and began his explanation.
“First, we need to deal with some of the zombie swarms…”
After observing the area for a full day, Yu-bin concluded that the biggest problem was the sheer number of zombie hordes wandering nearby. Some of them even showed up far too frequently. For a place being prepped as a negotiation site, neither of those things was welcome.
“…Then we need to manage the timing. And while we can’t go outside, we’ll build the table for the negotiations.”
Building the negotiation table was just as important as dealing with the zombies. In a worst-case scenario, that table might have to be flipped to serve as cover against gunfire. That meant it had to be heavy, sturdy, and large enough to serve its purpose. They’d only met the general and his aides twice so far, but it was clear they were itching to point their guns.
“There’s a table on the second floor that looks decent. Pretty thick and a good size. If we stack three of those and wedge in something like beach towels between them, it should be enough to stop 9mm rounds.”
Jin-woo offered the suggestion. After all, it wasn’t like they’d be dealing with rifles, just handguns. As he ate cold rice soaked in leftover ramen broth, the sheriff gave a dry laugh like he’d just remembered something.
“Heh. Why is it my life never changes? Still talking about work at the crack of dawn, even when the world’s flipped upside down.”
Back when he was dispatched from a temp agency to do manual labor, they’d often have breakfast at a hangover soup joint at dawn, discussing the day’s work, just like now. Though back then, it was usually the site supervisor doing all the talking, not Yu-bin.
“…Still, that’s probably what kept us alive.”
Yu-bin replied. If they hadn’t been at the welfare center that day in July… If they hadn’t had the right tools and skills… they might’ve ended up just like the zombies roaming outside now.
“When you say 'deal with them,' I’m guessing you mean the sprinty bastards…”
Jin-woo muttered through a mouthful of rice.
“How exactly are you planning to handle them?”
The "sprinty bastards" referred to a small group of about 300 zombies. They’d enter through the eastern parking lot, cross the campground, and loop back out at the north end of the swimming pool. The issue was how often they passed by.
Their patrol range was so short that they passed by every 37 or 38 minutes. Because of that, they were marked with two balloon types, Gold 6 and Bear. The bear balloon had originally been intended for a different group, but these guys circled back so fast it ended up being wasted effort.
“Speak of the devil.”
The sheriff pointed his chopsticks toward the campground. Just as he said, a zombie swarm was slowly moving south.
Whiiing!
The sight of gold ‘6’ shaped balloons and teddy bear balloons floating over the zombies’ heads confirmed it: the sprinty bastards were back. Yu-bin flipped open his notebook and jotted down the time, once again, the interval was exactly 37 minutes.
With zombies showing up this often, there was no way a military helicopter could land safely for negotiations. Sure, they could bring in reinforcements and start a firefight, but that was exactly what Yu-bin wanted to avoid. A negotiation needed to be quiet and controlled. Fewer people meant fewer chances for things to go wrong.
“I’m planning to merge them with the Yellows. That seems like the easiest option.”
The Yellows, first spotted from the helicopter, were the largest horde, now marked with yellow balloons. Their numbers were over 2,500, and they passed by roughly every 1 hour and 44 minutes. Judging by that cycle, their patrol range must’ve been 9 to 10 kilometers. Yu-bin wasn’t sure exactly which path they took, but he knew they entered the park through Seoul Forest, crossed the walking trail, and turned toward Jayang-dong just before the swimming pool.
They already knew from experience: when two zombie groups met, the smaller one would merge into the larger and follow its route. The real question was how to make that happen.
“How’re you gonna merge them? Their paths don’t even cross.”
The sheriff asked. The two groups were separated by the swimming pool, surrounded by a chain-link fence. The Yellows passed by to the south, while the sprinty ones turned at the north end. In a straight line, the gap was less than 200 meters, but that was still a long way when you’re talking about herding hundreds of zombies.
“We’ll trap the sprinty ones inside the pool fence and release them just as the Yellows are passing by. That way they’ll mix naturally.”
Yu-bin replied. The sheriff glanced at the fence with a skeptical snort.
“You think that’ll work? That fence is barely two meters. They’ll be over it in no time.”
It was true, the fence wasn’t enough to hold zombies for long. They weren’t smart enough to climb deliberately, but if one managed to throw its upper body over the top, it could topple over from its own weight.
“We just need to time it right. Trap them right before the Yellows come, then let them out. If a few get over early, that’s just how it is.”
Yu-bin answered calmly. Since the sprinty group came by so often, timing it within a few minutes would be enough. Of course, pulling it off would require immense firepower, like what Jin-woo, the sheriff, and Min-gu could bring.
“But it’s not just the Yellows and the sprinty ones out there.”
Jin-woo pointed out the most obvious, and maybe most dangerous, flaw in the plan. So far, they’d identified eight distinct zombie swarms roaming the Ttukseom Hangang Park area. Their combined numbers exceeded 5,000.
The patrol cycles and movement patterns were chaotic. Safe windows for moving outside never lasted more than 35 minutes. If they mistimed it and got caught mid-operation, they’d be the ones trapped in the pool, ripped to pieces.
“That’s why I’m going to try merging the Greens and Blues too. That should give us a lot more breathing room for outside work. Luckily, those two share part of the same trail. With about a 40-minute gap in their cycles, we should be able to catch the overlap if we time it right…”
Yu-bin continued his explanation while scribbling numbers into his notebook with a ballpoint pen. Min-gu, still chewing on a piece of spam, quietly studied Yu-bin’s face. He already knew the guy was odd, but watching him now made that impression feel fresh all over again.
The very idea of classifying the hordes of monsters roaming freely, and then even planning to regroup them as needed, just that starting point set him apart. Most people would be too overwhelmed by the sheer chaos to do anything but run. And even if someone did dream up a plan like this, actually carrying it out would be a whole different story. But this guy just makes it happen.
“So, are we heading out now?”
The sheriff, who had finished his meal first, stretched as he asked. The area was currently in a lull, with only a dozen or so zombies wandering nearby. If they dealt with them quickly, they could get to work right away. It was pretty much the ideal condition for their operation.
“No, let’s watch a little longer. I haven’t finished the calculations yet.”
Yu-bin, frowning deeply and staring at his notebook with a serious expression, shook his head. The sheriff gave him a puzzled look.
“What’s left to calculate? You’ve marked everything and even figured out how often they show up.”
“Yeah, I’ve got a rough idea. But that’s just it, it’s rough. It’s not certain. And that’s what’s bothering me. There’s something nagging at me, but I can’t quite put my finger on it.”
Yu-bin scratched the back of his head with the end of his pen, mumbling with that signature worrywart tone. His notebook was filled with zombie movement patterns, estimated numbers, and appearance times, all color-coded. He’d been observing and recording everything from around noon yesterday until early this morning.
But something… some vague, uneasy feeling was still gnawing at him. Had they gathered enough data? Was it really okay to act based on just this? Yu-bin couldn’t answer those questions with confidence. The sheriff leaned back in his chair and shrugged.
“Then keep watching. We still have three days.”
“Yeah. Let’s start by making the table.”
Jin-woo put down his plastic spoon and nodded. There was still a mountain of work to do anyway. Just gathering and hiding the corpses of the zombies they’d killed since yesterday would take at least half a day.
The reason they needed to get rid of over a hundred corpses was simple, the enemy could use them to figure out their movements. The meeting location had to remain a secret until the moment they stepped off the helicopter.
“Alright, I’ll go bring up the power tools and materials for the table. Might as well take the legs off and move it in pieces, right?”
Just like when they built the barricade last night, the sheriff was already set on using brute force. Jin-woo calmed him down.
“No, we should test it first and then build.”
He unzipped a duffel bag and pulled out a Glock and a pair of goggles. There was no point spending all that time taking the table apart and setting it up only to find out it couldn’t stop a bullet. First, they needed to test how much stopping power the table actually had.
“You always wear that thing, huh?”
The sheriff chuckled as Jin-woo put on a helmet after strapping on his goggles. Jin-woo gave his helmet a couple of taps.
“Yeah. It’s a habit now. Feels weird without it.”
Pant pant!
As soon as Jin-woo and the sheriff started walking toward the stairs, Sam-sik reflexively followed. Jin-woo stopped and gently held the dog’s face, shaking his head.
“No, stay here. I’ll be back soon. I’m shooting, so it’s dangerous.”
Sam-sik was smart enough not to run in front of gunfire, but there was still the risk of ricochet at close range.
Whine…
Understanding Jin-woo’s words, Sam-sik let out a pitiful whimper and slunk back to the rooftop. Wanting to cheer him up, Yu-bin raised a bubble gun and called to him kindly.
“Come here, buddy. I’ll do the bubbles. You like this, remember?”
Brrrrr!
When he pulled the trigger, dozens of soap bubbles shot into the air, but Sam-sik didn’t seem interested. He simply returned to the spot he’d been lying in and plopped down. Right before settling in, he even gave a dismissive snort. It was a complete contrast to the wild excitement he’d shown yesterday evening playing with the sheriff.
“You little punk, I’m only doing this so you won’t feel left out!”
Yu-bin shouted in disbelief, but Sam-sik just gave him a bored glance, like he was asking, You really think I’m going to play with someone like you?
“…Yeah. I’m beneath you, you little jerk.”
Yu-bin gave up on coaxing him and accepted reality. As far as Sam-sik was concerned, Yu-bin was clearly at the bottom of the pack, his underling, basically. Even with a bubble gun, that status wasn’t changing. Honestly… in a one-on-one, Yu-bin probably would lose, so maybe it wasn’t entirely wrong.
While Yu-bin and Sam-sik engaged in their subtle battle for status on the rooftop, down on the second floor, Jin-woo and the sheriff were prepping to test the table’s stopping power with their backs to the entrance.
“This thing… doesn’t feel all that sturdy.”
Jin-woo tapped the side of the table, which they’d laid on its side and stacked in three layers. It seemed a bit too light for its size and thickness, he wasn’t convinced it could actually hold up.
“Step back, Sheriff. Just in case it ricochets.”
Jin-woo flipped off the Glock’s safety and pointed his thumb behind him.
“Come on, man. It’s not steel or anything. You really think the bullet’s gonna bounce back?”
The sheriff mumbled in disbelief, but still moved behind him as told. Once Jin-woo confirmed he was clear, he raised the gun and fired.
Bang! Bang, bang!
Jin-woo fired at three different spots on the table. Even if the tables looked the same, their structural strength might vary depending on where you hit. But then,
CRACK!
The moment the gunshot rang out, the glass window on the opposite wall shattered with a deafening crash, loudly confirming that these tables were utterly useless as cover. The bullets had ripped through the plywood in an instant and smashed straight through the window.
“Great. As if it wasn’t cold enough already, now there’s another damn hole for the wind to come through…”
The sheriff clicked his tongue and shook his head. But that wasn’t even the real issue.
“This thing’s way too weak. Ah… of course, it’s particle board.”
Jin-woo ran his fingers over the bullet hole in the table and bit his lip. It was nothing like the heavy-duty tables made from layered wood at the Taeyang Group headquarters. This one was flimsy, made from loosely compressed material. Just slapping on a few layers of beach towels wouldn’t do a damn thing.
“Should we try using metal plates again? Like last time, with some towels on top?”
The sheriff offered casually.
Back at the welfare center, where they’d first negotiated, they had wedged metal sheets between thick wooden tables, it had worked surprisingly well. Jin-woo shot him a skeptical look.
“You see any metal sheets lying around here?”
“No idea. We’ll have to look. I mean, come on, in a place this big, there’s gotta be something. As long as the size and thickness are close enough, I can hammer it flat.”
“Everything here is either glass or plywood.”
“Then we’ll just flatten some frying pans or something. This used to be a restaurant, right? Bet there’s a ton of them around.”
The sheriff looked around like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Jin-woo stared at him, jaw dropping slightly.
This bastard… how big is he planning to make this mess?
He flashed back to last night, when the guy had wasted hours trying to build a wind barrier. That had been a pain, but this? This would be ten times the disaster. Sure, the man could probably crush or flatten frying pans with his bare hands, he really was a beast, but we’re talking about making a metal plate the size of an entire table. Jin-woo had zero interest in draining all his energy on that first thing in the morning.
“Hey, can you not get ahead of yourself and maybe check with Yu-bin first, ”
Before he could finish, the sheriff was already through the kitchen doors.
“Nice! This is all metal! Should we rip this off? We could just do a bit of work on it and, oh! That over there could work too!”
Each overly excited shout only made Jin-woo more uneasy. What the hell was he looking at and calling “usable”? Surely he wasn’t thinking of dismantling a refrigerator…? That thing was massive, it’d be a whole construction project just to haul it up to the third-floor rooftop.
“This one! Right here!”
When Jin-woo stepped into the kitchen, he found the sheriff grinning like a kid, pressing his hands down on a large stainless steel table. The kind you’d see in the prep area of a Western-style restaurant, about 180 centimeters long, with three levels. But despite the size and weight, the metal itself wasn’t particularly thick.
“Step back for a sec.”
Jin-woo pulled the prep table forward and tipped it onto its side. Then he stepped outside the kitchen, leveled his gun, and pulled the trigger.
Bang, bang, bang! Tiiing! Ting! Ting!
Hiding behind the door, he fired three rounds. A moment later, the sound of bullets ricocheting off tile echoed from the other side. They had pierced clean through all three layers of stainless steel and shattered the floor tiles.
“Yeah… this isn’t gonna cut it either. It’s too thin.”
Jin-woo inspected the bullet holes and shook his head. If 9mm rounds did this much damage, .40 caliber rounds would blow straight through like paper. Sure, if they stacked the plates tightly enough and layered them right, it might work better, but just thinking about cutting and assembling all that to the right size made him sigh. There had to be an easier way…
“Then what if we rip off the fridge door?”
The sheriff started again, eyeing the commercial fridge, but then suddenly clapped his big hands together.
“Ah! I’ve got it! There is something that can stop bullets!”