Relying on their wide-angle night vision goggles, Junho and Yoon Seolhee left the control center.

Wonmi Mountain was only around 160 meters above sea level, and because it sat inside the city, hiking paths crisscrossed the mountain everywhere.

Of course, after the outbreak no one had maintained them, so the trails were a mess, but moving through them wasn’t particularly difficult.

After climbing the mountain through the narrow trail behind Bucheon Museum and the sports complex, the two quickly headed toward the farm where several nuns and university students were living together with children.

The farm used by the W2 group was located deep in the back mountains behind the Catholic university.

It was nearly a kilometer away from the university’s main gate in a straight line, and from the campus itself, you had to climb several hundred meters up a gentle mountain trail.

The path leading from the school didn’t even continue all the way to the farm.

'The location’s excellent.'

According to the address, it technically belonged to Yeokgok-dong in Bucheon, but Junho honestly doubted even most Yeokgok residents knew there were farming plots stretching hundreds of meters through the back mountains behind the Catholic university.

But the nuns who had lived at the old convent near the university knew.

And instead of staying at the university or convent—places surrounded by villas, apartments, and multi-family housing where zombies could never truly be kept out—they had chosen that hidden farm as their shelter.

Still, as time passed and survivors around Wonmi Mountain gradually climbed into the mountains one by one, the place had inevitably been discovered by Ju Seongcheol’s group.

“Huff... huff... huff....”

At the rough breathing coming from behind him, Junho stopped and turned around.

“Let’s rest for a minute.”

“Yes. That would be best. Hoo....”

Like the professional she was, Yoon Seolhee accepted the break without hesitation.

Before a fight, maintaining peak condition wasn’t optional. It was essential.

“Control Center, do you copy?”

While Yoon Seolhee drank a little water, Junho activated the radio.

— Yes. We can still hear and see you clearly. No abnormalities around your position.

There was some static mixed in, but Kim Jimin’s voice still came through properly.

Since they couldn’t use relays or amplifiers in Bucheon, the group had no choice but to rely entirely on radios for communication.

They were high-end professional models, so on flat terrain they could easily cover two or three kilometers. But in mountains or dense urban areas full of tall buildings like this, even several hundred meters was close to the limit.

Once they crossed over Wonmi Mountain, communication with the control center would probably become impossible.

“How’s the situation?”

— The arboretum people are still circling Chunui Mountain. The library group’s continuing along the mountain trail beside Sosa-ro.

“The Catholic university group is closest to the library group, right?”

— Yeah. Distance-wise... they’ll probably reach the campus in a little over an hour.

There was also a survivor group at the Catholic university.

When the outbreak happened it had been summer vacation, so no dorm students were present, but some faculty members had remained on campus.

And because the surrounding area was an extremely dense residential zone, some survivors had eventually gathered there as well.

The Catholic university group had around ten people, all adults, and since their living conditions were terrible, they’d been deeply grateful for Junho’s support.

But because they had refused to cooperate, Junho had absolutely no intention of saving them.

More importantly, there were others who mattered far more right now.

“What about the W5 bastards? How far have they gotten?”

— You know that area near the base of the mountain beside the road with all the restaurants? They passed there thirty minutes ago and kept moving along the trail.

“How far from the W2 farm?”

— Straight-line distance is about... 700 meters.

Seven hundred meters wasn’t particularly far.

But it was nighttime, and the bastards were moving through winding mountain paths.

Even so, it would still take them at least another thirty minutes to reach the W2 farm.

But as always, variables appeared.

— Huh?

“What is it?”

At Junho’s sharp question, Kim Jimin answered in confusion.

— Ah, these motherfuckers just turned on flashlights. They’re security lights, so they’re not that bright, but....

“Their movement speed’s going to increase. Tch.”

Ju Seongcheol already had a rough grasp of the locations of the survivor groups around Wonmi Mountain and Chunui Mountain.

And that meant he and his companions had traveled through these mountains many times before and were familiar with the terrain and the situation around the area.

Otherwise, there was no way they would’ve had the guts to use flashlights.

“Understood. We’ll probably lose communication soon. Don’t worry about us and keep focusing on drone surveillance. We’ll contact you again within the hour.”

— Understood. Be careful.

Kim Jimin didn’t think Junho and Yoon Seolhee would lose.

But this city was filled with survivors who could become raiders at any moment, and cannibal monsters that hunted humans.

So he sincerely prayed for their safety.

“Don’t worry. And please look after Areum.”

— She’s right beside me monitoring everything.

— Junho oppa! Seolhee unni! You both have to come back safe!

— Seriously....

“Then we’ll resume movement.”

— Got it.

After ending communication with the city integrated control center, Junho and Yoon Seolhee once again moved quickly through the dark mountain.

And about thirty minutes later—

Once they passed the summit of Wonmi Mountain and completely crossed over to the opposite side where the control center could no longer be seen, radio communication became impossible.

But that also meant the W2 farm—their destination—wasn’t far away anymore.

Using the satellite map where he had already marked important points, Junho roughly confirmed their current position and stopped again for another short break.

“I’ll launch the drone.”

The embodiment of a veteran operative, Yoon Seolhee immediately launched the drone without Junho needing to say another word.

Whiiiiing...!

The loud rotor noise shattered the silence of the mountain at night.

The area was so quiet that Ju Seongcheol and his companions might even have heard it, but that couldn’t be helped.

Identifying the bastards’ exact position was the top priority.

“Found them. They’re moving about 170 meters from the W2 point. They stopped for a moment... looks like they’re staring at the sky. They heard the drone.”

“Let me see.”

Taking the controller from Yoon Seolhee, Junho studied the thermal-camera footage from high altitude.

Sure enough, the five human heat signatures were panicking in alarm.

But only briefly.

Soon, the five raiders started sprinting toward the mountainside where the farm was located.

After quickly checking both his own position and the raiders’ movement route, Junho handed the controller back to Yoon Seolhee.

“Looks like they’re planning to take hostages.”

Click.

Pulling the charging handle back and locking the bolt open, Junho lowered his wide-angle night vision goggles and checked his weapon.

A moment later—

A low electronic tone sounded from beside the barrel, accompanied by a faint vibration as the IR laser sight activated.

Unlike in movies or dramas, there was no visible red dot.

This was an infrared laser pointer visible only to people wearing night vision.

Equipment designed to let users accurately aim at targets at night without alerting zombies, whose vision was limited but whose sensitivity to light was extreme.

But tonight, the target of that aiming point wasn’t a zombie.

It was human beings.

“You’re heading straight into W2?”

“Yes. Assistant Manager, you....”

“I’ll move to a sniper position and block their escape route. I’ll keep the drone hovering one hundred meters above the farm and relay updates as needed.”

Leaving behind those dry, emotionless words, Yoon Seolhee disappeared swiftly into the darkness.

Yet Junho somehow felt even more reassured than when fighting alongside his own brother Junhyeok.

“Then... shall we begin?”

Muttering quietly, Junho burst into a sprint.

***

“Fuck, fuck, fuck....”

Ju Seongcheol muttered curses nonstop, feeling like he was losing his mind.

He’d definitely heard it earlier.

That had been a drone.

And as far as Ju Seongcheol knew, there was only one person around here flying drones.

“How the fuck did he know...? No, what the hell did they do to get here this fast from that house... ahh!?”

Muttering in a trembling voice while recalling Junho’s indifferent face, Ju Seongcheol suddenly lost his footing and crashed to the ground.

“Get the fuck up, idiot.”

One of his companions cursed at him after he tripped over a rock.

Ju Seongcheol hurriedly tried to stand.

“The fuck you want me to do? I can’t see shit.”

“Quit fucking whining and get up already!”

The girl who’d been clinging to him calling him oppa just a few hours earlier was now cursing him out, but Ju Seongcheol couldn’t even complain as he hurried after them.

But then—

“Fuck... shit. No. No way.”

Muttering under his breath, Ju Seongcheol suddenly stopped in the middle of the group.

“What? Hey, what the hell are you—”

“Sorry, assholes.”

Rustle!

Unable to overcome his fear of Junho, Ju Seongcheol abandoned the four stunned men and women and bolted downhill like a madman.

“That motherfucker seriously ran!?”

“Tiny little bitch.”

The four men and women stared in shock at Ju Seongcheol fleeing alone, but they still remembered the absolute rule of not making noise and only cursed quietly.

“Fuck, what do we do? Should we run too?”

“No. Didn’t he say that soldier-looking bastard’s watching with drones? Then who do you think he’ll chase first? Fuck it, we keep going. If we grab one or two kids hostage, we’ll figure something out.”

“Y-you think?”

At the words of the man who had first suggested taking hostages, the women looked at each other before nodding.

“You girls handle the nuns. Threaten to kill the kids and it won’t be hard. I’ll deal with the two loser nerds. Let’s go.”

“Got it.”

The three women hurried after the man.

Just like they’d managed to survive until now, they believed things would work out again this time too.

Because even if the hostage plan failed, they still had another survival method.

Their bodies.

And ever since the world collapsed—

No, even before then—

That method had never once failed against men.

***

“Huh!? Wh-who— agh!”

Thud!

A heavy impact rang out as Kim Jaewoo, standing guard in front of the farmhouse, was struck hard in the head the instant he saw flashlight beams.

“Ugh.”

His vision flashed white and a loud ringing filled his ears.

A man hidden in the darkness cheered after successfully hitting him with a slingshot.

“Fuck, I got him! Hey, move!”

“Ugh... ugh....”

Hot blood poured down Kim Jaewoo’s forehead, blurring his vision.

When the outbreak had begun, Kim Jaewoo had been volunteering early that morning at the orphanage attached to the convent near Catholic University.

He desperately tried to stay conscious.

But the blow had been strong enough to split his forehead open, and he could barely control his body.

“Ghh....”

His knees buckled and he collapsed onto the ground.

Through blood-blurred vision, he saw four figures rushing toward him.

Every single one of them held blades glinting beneath the moonlight.

“Jooyoung, you do it.”

“Are you fucking crazy? You do it, bitch.”

The two women who reached Kim Jaewoo first argued briefly.

“Move. Fucking idiots acting like this is hard.”

The man behind them shoved the women aside and pulled out a kitchen knife.

“Scared? But in this fucked-up world, instead of living like some loser until you turn into a zombie... maybe this is better.”

Twisting his lips into a grin, the man pointed the kitchen knife at Kim Jaewoo.

“Fuck it. Goodbye.”

Even the faintest trace of guilt had been swallowed by the thrill of murder as the man lunged for Kim Jaewoo’s throat.

“S-sis....”

Realizing he was about to die, Kim Jaewoo opened his mouth to shout a warning to the nuns—

Bang!

“Ghk!”

A gunshot tore through the darkness.

The neck of the man holding the kitchen knife snapped violently sideways as blood exploded outward.