Hiding a House in the Apocalypse-Chapter 112.4: Faith (4)

There was a note wedged between plastic parts next to my name.

I read it.

There should be a red button painted with a marker. Press it!I pressed the button.

The robot vacuum paused for a moment, then turned its body and moved toward the dark street.

Clatter—clatter—

It’s just a guess, but this robot vacuum doesn’t seem to be a drone.

Literally just an appliance, the robot vacuum was sent as a kind of messenger, carrying only coordinates for us.

It’s a choice made to avoid the threat of a drone being traced back.

We followed the vacuum as it moved silently through the streets.

The vacuum’s speed wasn’t much different from what we usually see, so it was relatively slow, but it wasn’t a problem.

“There, and there. There’s a person.”

Cheon Young-jae, with faint light in his eyes, pointed out where people were hiding along the quiet, lifeless one-room buildings.

Some of the places I’d already sensed, but most were places I hadn’t noticed.

It was a residential area with people hiding everywhere, making it impossible to avoid the entire area like we did earlier.

We chose a path that stayed as close to cover as possible, hiding from people’s windows and staying out of sight.

As a result, our progress was about the same as the vacuum’s pace.

The vacuum led us to a building that didn’t seem much different from the other one-room buildings.

[Royal Imperial Class Bestville]

"Wow."

Cheon Young-jae let out a shallow exclamation as he saw the building name.

"Why are you so impressed?"

"Well, this country is like that."

The vacuum headed for the back of the building.

Following the debris of waste materials, we came across a doghouse.

The vacuum entered the doghouse.

"Even if the world ends, a robot vacuum doesn’t just enter a doghouse."

I peered inside the doghouse while listening to Cheon Young-jae’s comments.

It wasn’t just any doghouse—it had been completely remodeled.

A ramp, though crude, had been made to help the vacuum ascend, and there was a charging station, as well as basic waterproofing to protect it from the rain.

Next to the vacuum, a small drone was placed on a stand, clearly a last resort in case the vacuum couldn’t operate.

On the drone was a note written in magic marker that read "Underground."

"Looks like we found the right place."

I glanced around.

The buildings Cheon Young-jae pointed out, where people were hiding, were within a 150-meter radius, with at least five in total.

Two of them were within 80 meters.

Most of them were located near the road, so we wouldn’t be observed from this side of the one-room buildings, but we could be heard.

As Cheon Young-jae kept watch, I made my way into the basement.

There was no sound beyond the basement door.

True to Defender’s nature.

Until my identity was fully confirmed, there was a strong will to remain hidden.

I knocked on the door.

"It’s me."

There was no response.

I added, “It’s SKELTON.”

Finally, a sigh of relief came from the other side of the door.

"SKELTON."

"SKELTON! You came!"

Both Defender and their younger sibling were safe.

I looked at the door.

The door was badly warped.

It wasn’t the kind of door that could be opened just by shooting the lock.

"This is going to be tough with just a crowbar."

I had brought both a crowbar and a welding tool.

I had hoped to open it with just the crowbar, but knowing Defender’s thoroughness, I knew we’d have to use the welding tool.

I unpacked the backpack and took out the welding tool.

“Even wireless communication is being eavesdropped on?”

I spoke to the door while setting up the portable welding tool.

“Yeah. I saw it while eavesdropping on the signals. Electronic warfare is still at pre-war levels.”

Defender replied.

“The drones are the same. As soon as they’re deployed, they’re immediately checked.”

Defender’s younger sibling added.

“What’s going on? I saw soldiers killing each other.”

I asked for a brief summary of the situation.

“It’s probably Major General Pyo Du-won. He openly said he was going to kill General Kim Byeong-cheol. He might be in cahoots with the fanatics.”

“Is it just the fanatics and soldiers?”

Though the city has been destroyed, there are still remnants of prosperity left behind, so it’s unlikely that zombies or mutations are involved.

What I wanted to know was this:

“What about monsters?”

“I’m not sure. I’ve felt shockwaves several times. I’m not sure if they’re from the monsters or the fanatics.”

“You said there’s a socket?”

“Over there. Move that road sign that’s leaning against the wall.”

I plugged the portable welding tool into the socket.

The light came on perfectly.

“How’s the remaining power?”

“It should still be plenty. After being trapped here, we’ve barely used any electricity.”

“Good.”

The conditions were set.

We just needed to cut through the door with the welding tool.

I started the cutting process.

Screech—

The portable tool, capable of delivering 150A of current, was powerful despite being mobile.

But—

Bang!

Suddenly, the welding tool turned off.

More precisely, the inverter connected to the welding tool lost power.

I immediately checked the tool’s status with a tester.

It wasn’t a problem with the tool itself.

It seemed that the remaining power inside the building, which Defender had assured me about, was nearly depleted.

Defender, realizing this, spoke up.

“We’ll have to start the generator.”

But that wasn’t going to be easy.

A complete silence flowed through the entire one-room district.

The stillness was so overwhelming that even the smallest sound could be heard, mixing with the fear of those hiding and sending a chill through me despite the summer night’s heat.

If we started welding here, the noise would be heard from ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) every direction.

That meant the soldiers controlling the main roads would hear us too.

The problem was that the current battle around the city was a mop-up operation.

Any loud noise would certainly bring an execution squad.

“Do you have any other chargers?”

“This is the last one.”

“Starting the generator is risky.”

“Really? There shouldn’t be anyone around.”

“No, surprisingly, there are more people. Cheon Young-jae is here with us.”

“That was Young-jae’s voice?”

Having confirmed Defender’s siblings were alive, we still had mountains to climb.

Defender’s perfectionist nature had delayed the rescue, but had we arrived any later, it might have been that very perfectionism that saved them.

Bang! Bang!

We could hear soldiers kicking in doors all around.

“What should we do? Should we retreat for now?”

Cheon Young-jae asked.

Once in a while, this friend of mine has a challenging look in his eyes.

Now was one of those moments.

Though he acted light-hearted, Cheon Young-jae, a clear expert, looked at me with those eyes whenever a decisive moment came.

It was like he was testing my leadership abilities.

But, though Cheon Young-jae doesn’t know, I’ve faced such challenges thousands of times.

Professor.

Living at the top as an old-school hunter is always like this.

You’re always envied and watched by the younger, smarter, and more talented ones.

“...No.”

I answered calmly.

“So, what now?”

“We’ll start the generator with the gunfire and explosions.”

I signaled to Cheon Young-jae.

It was a signal to take up a defensive position.

Cheon Young-jae, with a faint smile, nodded and returned to his post.

He didn’t fully agree, but he was willing to wait and see.

“...”

I grabbed the welding tool.

And waited.

Tatata-tang!

The footsteps of the approaching beast, represented by the increasingly closer gunfire, echoed in my mind.

"Start the generator!"

Wheeeing—!!

With the command, the makeshift generator inside the building roared to life, a reminder of the power that once moved the world.

Screech!

The welding tool came back to life.

I could feel the blinding flash of light in my vision and quickly put on my sunglasses before resuming the cut.

Wheeeing—

The massive power draw from the generator made it groan louder, but—

Boom!

The tank's cannon fire drowned out everything else.

Amidst the echo of the explosion, I silently continued cutting through the warped metal door that separated us from Defender.

Clang!

I dismantled the point of impact.

I shook the door.

It was shaking.

The door, which seemed impossible to move, finally started trembling.

“Cheon Young-jae.”

“Yeah!”

“Push forward.”

“Got it.”

After stepping back together with Cheon Young-jae, we charged toward the shaking door at the same time.

Thud!

The door rattled loudly.

But it still wasn’t open.

We tried again.

Thud!

The door opened.

A faint smell lingered in the darkness as faces we hadn’t seen in a long time stared at us.

“SKELTON.”

Defender.

“SKELTON!”

And Da-jeong.

Defender looked much the same as in the pictures I had seen before, but Da-jeong’s face had grown considerably gaunt.

I cautiously asked as I looked at her.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine now! Don’t worry about me.”

I turned my head away from her eyes, which were moist with tears, and looked behind me.

“How much stuff do we have?”

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Defender was wearing the backpack she had prepared earlier, and Da-jeong carried a light bag.

I couldn’t help but smile slightly when I saw the obelisk jutting out from the Defender’s bag.

As expected, our bulletin board friends are just like that.

“We’re leaving right now.” freeweɓnovēl.coɱ

“Okay, let’s go.”

Even amidst the chaos of the mop-up operation, the battle continued.

Bang! Tatatatang!

Soldiers were getting closer.

And so was the tank.

Just like the Chinese army had done in their city, the faction’s warlord was trying to erase the entire city, one building and room at a time.

“Here it comes! It’s really close! Damn it.”

Cheon Young-jae’s voice was heard.

“Everywhere! The enemies are everywhere!”

“It’s not everywhere.”

More precisely, we had an escape route.

It was toward the southwest, the direction we had come from.

But the path didn’t directly lead southwest, and the bullets were reaching us from far away.

“Hah, senior.”

I turned on the communication device for the first time in a while.

“Yeah, Park Gyu.”

“VIP secured. I’m leaving now, so please support with drones.”

“Roger that.”

It was time to escape.

Cheon Young-jae and I took the lead and cleared the path.

A face peeked out of a window.

It seemed to be one of the survivors we passed earlier.

Defender was about to aim their gun.

“Just a warning.”

No need to kill.

But I didn’t hold much hope either.

Defender had always been that way.

The expected gunfire didn’t sound.

I looked back at Defender.

When our eyes met, he gave me a faint smile.

“You said just a warning, right?”

So, he had changed.

Even the cold-hearted person who justified everything for his own survival had changed.

Countless experiences I didn’t know about must have caused this change.

It wasn’t a negative change.

I thought about it and quickened our pace.

“There!”

The soldiers’ shouting echoed.

Bang! Tatatatang!

The gunfire was getting louder.

The only thing we could trust now was this.

“Change the route. Head east. The soldiers are coming over the main road.”

It was Hah Tae-hoon’s drone.

A drone, positioned at a high altitude, used thermal imaging equipment to tell us the locations of the enemies.

Following Hah Tae-hoon’s instructions, we navigated through the maze-like streets.

But—

Bang! Bang!

The gunfire was getting closer.

They weren’t chasing us.

It was just that the number of soldiers joining the mop-up operation had increased.

But at this rate, it was only a matter of time before we were caught.

To make matters worse, it seemed Hah Tae-hoon’s drone had been detected.

“Damn. A surface-to-air vehicle is heading this way.”

“A surface-to-air vehicle?”

“M60 machine guns mounted together. It looks clumsy, but once they pinpoint our location, they’ll shred anything.”

At this point, we wouldn’t even be able to get support from Hah Tae-hoon’s drones.

“...”

There was only one solution.

A forced breakthrough.

“Can we abandon the gear?”

I asked Defender.

“The gear?”

“Take care of your sibling instead.”

We broke through one side of the encirclement and sped forward with full force.

We only needed to reach the vehicles.

They might call in helicopters, but would they really go that far?

While Defender unloaded the gear, Cheon Young-jae and I discussed the plan.

“That side is the thinnest.”

Cheon Young-jae pointed toward the east.

Automatically, a map formed in my mind.

“When we turn the corner, we’ll reach a two-lane road.”

There’s nothing more foolish than engaging elite soldiers in combat.

But with two elite hunters launching a surprise attack, we could wipe out a squad in no time.

“Park Gyu.”

While I was moving extra magazines to an easily accessible pocket, I heard from Hah Tae-hoon.

“I’m listening.”

“I just received a transmission.”

“Briefly.”

“I think a monster has appeared.”

“A monster?”

Before his words even finished, the familiar nightmare’s sound came from the northwest.

Boom!

Shockwave.

The heartbeat of the monster.

“Retreat! Retreat!”

At the same time, we heard the voices of the soldiers we were planning to ambush.

We also heard the hurried footsteps fading away.

“It’s a long road ahead.”

Cheon Young-jae grinned.

“I never thought a monster would become our savior.”

I corrected him.

“That monster will try to kill us eventually.”

Monsters and saviors can never coexist.

A monster is an entity that cannot live in harmony with humans.

Bang! Tatatatang!

Gunfire rang out from the northwest.

“Move quickly. Senior, you still have the drone deployed, right?”

“Ba, Park Gyu.”

Hah Tae-hoon’s voice was shaky.

I could feel something ominous coming and waited for his next words.

Before Hah Tae-hoon could even respond, we sensed the sign that was making him tremble.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Multiple shockwaves.

I thought for a moment.

This wasn’t a monster, but something that resembled a human with monstrous traits.

“It’s the fanatics! The fanatics are heading straight for us!”

At that moment, Defender and I made eye contact.

It wasn’t intentional, but it was inevitable.

It was the result of his actions.