After the female zombie left and safety was confirmed, Junho took a short break beneath the overpass with the other two.

They had just crossed a little over three kilometers in roughly fifty minutes while carrying nearly forty kilograms of gear each.

Even someone with strong baseline stamina like Yoon Seolhee or Kim Jimin needed rest and recovery after that.

“But about that zombie earlier. Why did you let it go? At that distance, with your skill, Junho, you could’ve killed it even with a pistol.”

Quietly asking the question while eating an energy bar, Kim Jimin watched Junho carefully fold the wrapper before answering.

“Because I figured there was probably an Alpha nearby. Killing it wouldn’t have been difficult, but then the Alpha would’ve realized we were here.”

“Ah....”

“I said this before too, but inside cities you can’t recklessly kill zombies preemptively. You only do it if you’re certain it’s an ordinary one, or at minimum when there’s no suspected Alpha within thirty to forty meters.”

“You mean the landmine thing you talked about before?”

At Yoon Seolhee’s question, Junho nodded.

“Yeah. Remember the Alpha near the D-Mart in Moku-ri? The one that turned its entire territory into one giant trap.”

“Ugh, how could I forget.”

Kim Jimin visibly shuddered as he recalled the Alpha that had controlled a zombie horde numbering in the thousands while chasing their electric truck and armored vehicle.

“That thing could either directly control its slaves or perceive through their eyes within a radius of around forty to fifty meters.”

“Ah! So that’s why the Alphas....”

“Exactly. That’s why they establish territories in dense building areas like entertainment districts, commercial zones, and apartment complexes. Usually there are at least three or four buildings within a forty-to-fifty-meter radius. They scatter slaves around like landmines. So they’ll know immediately if one gets triggered.”

Whether it was some biological mechanism of the alien virus or a form of supernatural ability, Junho didn’t know.

But through that power, an Alpha could see what its dispersed slaves saw throughout the buildings.

So when one of those slaves died, the Alpha knew immediately.

A landmine and an alarm system at the same time.

That was why Junho had gone to such lengths while crossing the Gyeongin Expressway, using drone cameras, night vision, and even his own “sixth sense” to verify there were no nearby Alphas before killing any zombies.

“As time passed after the outbreak... not just Korea, but militaries in other countries have probably figured out ways to fight zombies too. And yet they still haven’t succeeded easily.”

“Because the Alphas evolved too?”

“Yeah. Exactly.”

They possessed intelligence.

And they coiled themselves throughout cities while controlling hundreds, thousands, some even tens of thousands of slave zombies like extensions of their own bodies.

As time passed, they learned how to fight armed humans and military forces.

They understood the terror of firearms and heavy weaponry.

The Alphas still surviving in cities in places like China or Russia—where massive bombardments had been launched early in the apocalypse regardless of civilian casualties—were probably even worse.

“Maybe not to that extreme, but any Alpha still surviving in a city like Bucheon probably controls at least five hundred slaves. If one slave dies, the Alpha knows. Then all the other slaves know too. And on top of that... there are dozens of things here as strong as, or stronger than, the Alpha from Moku-ri.”

“Ha... this is seriously insane.”

“Whew....”

Kim Jimin and Yoon Seolhee both shook their heads.

Only now, after actually entering Bucheon itself, did they truly understand why Junho—despite his superhuman physical abilities and all his advanced weapons and equipment—had been so unbelievably cautious and repeated his warnings over and over.

“We should get moving.”

“Yes.”

With expressions carrying controlled tension and hardened resolve, the two rose to their feet again.

***

Unlike before, this time Junho launched the surveillance drone over a hundred meters away from their position.

Just like earlier, another Alpha and its slaves reacted to the drone, but they couldn’t perceive something that immediately shot high into the night sky.

Having secured another fifty minutes, Junho left drone operation to Kim Jimin and crossed the overpass before entering the road leading toward Yeowol-dong.

Unlike the wide and enclosed Gyeongin Expressway, the ordinary four-lane road cutting through the city was chaotic and horrific.

Countless corpses—too decomposed to tell whether they had once been humans or zombies—lay scattered everywhere.

Cars and motorcycles were abandoned haphazardly amid the debris and garbage of the ruined city.

'About 1.5 kilometers to the house.'

The Bucheon residence—their final destination—was only about half the distance of the expressway route they had just crossed.

Even so, Junho expected it to take roughly the same amount of time.

This was the direct territory of tens of thousands of zombies, which meant they needed to move far more quietly and carefully.

Fortunately, the three of them possessed not only the drone’s thermal camera, but panoramic night-vision goggles as well.

To them, the chaotic apocalypse city looked almost as bright as daytime.

With external battery packs mounted behind their tactical helmets, the systems could operate for over twenty-four hours straight.

So the three carefully avoided stepping on debris that might make noise, moving slowly but steadily.

And because Junho had personally scouted these areas dozens of times back before the apocalypse, he had already selected the safest possible route.

As a result, the group crossed roughly eight hundred meters of densely packed villas, mansions, and commercial buildings in the Yeowol-dong residential district in barely twenty minutes, successfully reaching the edge of Chunui Mountain in the center of Bucheon.

***

Whoooosh...!

Wind swept through the thick leaves overhead while insects chirped loudly around them.

Gathered together in the forest, the three quietly discussed their next move while maintaining vigilance.

“How’s the drone thermal camera look?”

“Nothing unusual besides small animals. But the mountain’s so densely wooded that visibility’s terrible.”

Naturally.

Chunui Mountain wasn’t tall, but its forest was thick and well-developed.

“We’ll leave the drone in follow mode and rely on the night vision from here onward. Stay sharp, everyone.”

“Yes.”

Though not as dangerous as the area they had just crossed, a mountain in the middle of the city was still risky.

Survivors often hid in mountains to avoid zombies, and Alphas or zombie groups might already know that.

“Check your weapons and move immediately.”

Clack, clack.

After once again checking the chambers and magazines of their KP9s, the three climbed Chunui Mountain in formation.

It had been a very long time since Junho last came here, but he navigated naturally.

Back when he lived in the Bucheon house, he had climbed this mountain countless times and knew nearly every path by heart.

Avoiding the old hiking trails and walking routes people used before the apocalypse, Junho led them through routes known only to him.

About twenty minutes later, they reached the ridgeline.

And through the brush, they could see a familiar house standing silently in the darkness.

“So that’s....”

“Yeah. The house my brother and I lived in for about two years.”

Speaking quietly, Junho stared at the house with nostalgic eyes.

Everything had begun there.

Because of the countless drills, training sessions, and failures they experienced in that place, both he and the shelter existed as they did now.

“......”

Seeing the house again—the ultimate training ground and experimental laboratory—made Junho feel as though he had lived there right up until yesterday.

But much had changed.

The once-clean brick wall was now more than half-covered by weeds and brush, and vines tangled across the exterior walls, making it resemble a haunted abandoned house.

Even the solar panels and PTZ camera installed on the roof—

“...Huh?”

An unusually dumbfounded sound escaped Junho.

“What is it? Something wrong?”

Yoon Seolhee, who had been standing guard nearby with Kim Jimin, asked the question.

Junho narrowed his eyes while continuing to stare at the house through his night vision before finally speaking.

“The camera... the PTZ camera on the house is moving.”

“What?”

Junho whipped his head toward Yoon Seolhee, barely suppressing his excitement.

“The PTZ camera is moving. Someone’s inside our house—no, inside the basement.”

“......!”

Just as Yoon Seolhee’s eyes widened in shock, Kim Jimin—who had continued piloting the drone while staring at the tablet—suddenly spoke urgently.

“You two need to see this.”

Junho and Yoon Seolhee immediately looked at the tablet screen Kim Jimin thrust toward them.

Junho’s gaze instantly turned cold.

“People.”

“Yeah. And they’re all armed.”

Six armed individuals carrying knives, axes, and spears made from steel pipes were moving roughly two hundred meters away from them beneath the mountain.

After briefly observing the group slowly advancing along the boundary between the mountainside and the few nearby houses, Junho and Yoon Seolhee spoke almost simultaneously.

“That looks like....”

“They’re heading for your house.”

Junho turned his head and silently stared down toward the mountainside where the unwelcome midnight visitors were moving.

Clack.

Then he locked back the bolt.

Whether it was good luck or bad, it looked like they’d have to wipe out a group of raiders the moment they arrived at the old house.

***

“That the house?”

“Yeah. Hell of a location, right? And the bitch living there’s even better. Seriously, her lower body is just— goddamn....”

Watching his friend lick his lips with a white-coated tongue hanging out, the man grinned.

“That good, huh? Must’ve been living real damn well. The women back at our hideout are all skin and bones.”

“Fuck, that’s why my thighs hurt every time. Nothing but bones smashing together.”

“But the woman there’s different?”

“Completely. Firm as hell, pale too.”

“Forget the woman. What about supplies? Look like she’s got food?”

As another one cut in, the man who had spotted the woman earlier while gathering kudzu roots and wild greens on Chunui Mountain smacked his lips.

“You idiot, I already told you. She was growing lettuce, potatoes, all kinds of shit in the yard. Hell, just looking at her tells you she’s eating well.”

“So there’s definitely food there?”

“Yeah. For sure.”

Most of the men were fairly tall, but like survivors who had endured the apocalypse for a long time, they were gaunt and emaciated.

Whispering conversations drenched in hunger and lust, they pushed through brush and branches as they advanced.

***

“This is seriously bad....”

Staring at the monitor, Han Areum bit her lip.

She was alone in the house right now.

And it wasn’t just tonight.

Han Areum had already been guarding the place alone for three straight days.

“Maybe I should’ve stayed at the building. Damn it, I shouldn’t have gone out into the yard.”

It was pointless regret now, but she probably still would’ve stayed here tomorrow too.

Because Choi Hyunwoo had repeatedly warned her.

- You can go into the yard if you have to, but never leave the house. I’ll be back within three days, so stay here until then.

And today marked the third day exactly.

She felt like she was going crazy worrying about Choi Hyunwoo and Kim Taeyoung, who still hadn’t returned.

More than fear of being left alone, she cared about whether those two were safe.

“Whew... calm down, Han Areum. You can do this. Stay calm.”

Muttering to herself like a chant, Han Areum finished gearing up.

Over the motorcycle suit she had just changed into, she strapped on a belt holding a dagger, a slingshot, and a pouch filled with dozens of thick nuts to use as ammunition.

Then she calmly put on her helmet and loaded a bolt into the crossbow.

“Okay... shoot once, switch to the slingshot, fire twice, run. Shoot once, switch to the slingshot....”

Murmuring while checking her gear one last time, Han Areum looked toward the monitor before lowering her helmet guard.

“You bastards are all dea— huh?”

Right as she was psyching herself up while watching the intruders approach the empty lot beside the house, her eyes suddenly widened.

In the corner of the monitor displaying the live PTZ camera feed, a small CCTV window abruptly captured several figures.

Three people in what looked like full military gear vaulted naturally and fluidly over the wall before entering the yard.

Seeing it, Han Areum’s eyes shook violently.

“W-what the hell? Soldiers? Deserters or something? God, this is seriously insane!”

Faced with a life-or-death crisis, Han Areum’s heart began pounding even faster.