How To Be Misunderstood as a Villain in a Zombie Apocalypse

Chapter 1. Non-Human Reserve (完)

* * * * *

A long time after John left.

A troop transport truck marked “On Mission” Stopped on the road in the small town of “Mini Bell.”

The engine was loud and the smoke stung my throat, but the driver didn’t turn off the engine. Instead, they raised the switch and turned on the lights attached to the vehicle all at once. The area around the truck became as bright as daylight.

Soldiers in NBC protective suits disembarked in an orderly manner. It was about the size of a platoon. The automatic rifle also had a flashlight, but it was too bright to look directly at it. The soldiers who secured their sight quickly secured all over the village.

A moment later, a person was thrown out of the truck. He was a dirty man wearing only one pair of underpants and shackled to handcuffs. There were bruises all over his body, but not a single wound. If you hit it with a thick book like a phone book, it won’t tear your skin if you control it well.

The man with the insignia of lieutenant on his bulletproof hat got off last. He, too, was wearing protective clothing and a gas mask. He had thrown the filthy man out.

However, without paying attention to the fallen man, he walked towards the burned house. Two soldiers followed. After searching for a while, they found only a charred house and charred zombie carcasses.

The officer walked towards the thrown man. He seemed agitated when he saw that he was walking faster and faster. The man who had been moaning at the impact of the fall screamed.

“No, I really don’t know! I know what’s in it, so I’m crazy and I’m going to set fire to it? That doesn’t make sense to common sense!”

The officer did not take care of the situation. He randomly kicked his man in the stomach and back with his boot. The man in rags covered his stomach with his handcuffed arms.

“Please stop beating me! You surrendered! I came to you with my feet! Is it okay to treat prisoners of war like this?”

Wow. Yes. The officer’s phone rang. In disgust, the officer climbed into the passenger seat of the truck and threw off his gas mask. He was a young and handsome man, but his face was distorted. As the driver wiggled his butt, he just motioned for a seat and answered the phone.

“Yes, loyal.”

– Uh, Redecker. Okay. Aren’t you hungry?

An impatient voice. Lieutenant Redecker swallowed dryly.

“… It’s okay.”

– Didn’t you arrive? The report is a little late.

“Sorry. Something unexpected happened. Hut, the shack he claimed to have hidden his bag in was found burned down. We are searching the area now.”

– Yes? Hut?

“We are together. He claims to be a prisoner of war. In fact, he disguised himself as a civilian and was afraid of the self-destruct mission, so he threw away his bag and everything and ran away.”

A light laugh.

– Our platoon commander seems very upset. Let’s not get too stressed out. You should see more of that guy in the future. Since it’s already gone, Hut is used as a ‘bait’ and switched from a ‘search’ operation to a ‘cleanup’ operation. If you say there is no income even though you mobilized manpower and vehicles, there is nothing to write in the report, right?

“Cleaning… You mean?”

It must have been a reflex action, but the driver looked at the platoon commander a little uneasy. Although he quickly glanced ahead again. Lieutenant Redecker decided to pretend not to know. Because he was also displeased with the ‘cleanup operation using bait’.

“Okay. If anything unusual happens, I’ll report it.”

– Good job.

The phone hung up before I could say a salute.

“Hey, Platoon Leader. Is this a change of strategy?”

I couldn’t be scolded for making a sweet and weak voice even to the rank of corporal. Cleaning is the most burdensome for drivers. It is still often argued that officers should step up even during the cleaning operation, but in reality it was impossible.

Redecker did not blame the driver. After the incident, he did not want to speak too harshly to the platoon members with whom he shared the joys and sorrows of life and death.

“Not confirmed. Can you give me the key to the passenger side cabinet here? Uh, thank you. This should do.”

A long spanner for car maintenance. It is neither too long nor too short, but it is heavy enough to break human bones. Redecker put the gas mask back on and got out of the car.

‘Bait.’

Redecker comes from an aristocratic officer family in the eastern Republic of Römer. Like any ordinary Römer, he viewed citizens of other countries as inferiors. That’s why he hates people like Hut the most, saying something about ‘Elza’s independence’ and taking away the lives of people who have nothing to do with it.

If asked to shoot a hoot, he would have done it without hesitation. He would have done it out of a sense of justice if he had ordered the bones all over his body to be smashed. However, the word ‘treat as bait’ had a certain reluctance that surpassed all of that.

Redecker couldn’t pinpoint why he felt such a reluctance. It was clear, however, that it ran counter to the etiquette he had been taught since childhood. ‘If you see a neighbor, say hello. People should live by helping people. He can’t live alone.’

‘I need to squeeze something out.’

The lieutenant made up his mind and crouched down in front of Hut. Then he hit the stretch spanner with his hoot hand.

“Ouch! Aagh! My, my finger, my finger! Ah!”

“Where did you hide your bag?”

Redecker pressed on. Hut couldn’t help but groan. The lieutenant hit the spanner harder than before. The index finger of Hut’s right hand flexed as easily as hot iron. Hut’s eyes widened.

“Take shame, you worm!”

Impatient Redecker shouted. The naked man grunted as he curled up over her.

“When was the last time I tried to set off a bombing attack for the damn Elsa liberation movement or something! You ran away in fear for your life and got caught, so what kind of bullsh*t are you talking about now!”

“I didn’t run away!”

Hoot shouted through tears.

“My mission was not to self-destruct. My duty is to deliver bags and mobile phones… !”

“Cell phone?”

Muttered Redecker. Hut gritted his teeth. It was a card I was going to save until the very end, but I threw it away too quickly.

“What about the cell phone?”

Hut trembled. It wasn’t because of the cold, or the hunger, or the torture. It was that of an animal that becomes powerless in front of the beast’s jaws. Unable to bear it any longer, Redecker raised the spanner again.

“There was a clue in it!”

“What?”

“Assassination of Prime Minister! That’s when rumors circulated that the first infected person had come out! Me, I thought it was just a rumor until I saw it!

But there was definitely a video on that cell phone! The first human to devour a human alive, a human cursed by a blood-soaked, starving goddess statue was there!”

“What gibberish, tell me so I can understand! Do you know old Hans?”

“I know the content, I just know that the video file is on that phone! The communication network was so unstable that it was impossible to transmit anything other than calls and simple text messages! Even the spyware apps used by the organization are barely installed!”

“Where did you get that cell phone?”

“I stole it, of course! Where in the world is there a guy who carries his cell phone while going to explode someone else’s house! I stole something, installed a spyware app, took control, and looked around to see if there was anything interesting, and then, I saw it.”

“You could have run away with your phone. Why did you throw it away like a bag?”

“Because the spyware app tells you your location in real time! If I’m in a strange place, you won’t find out! That’s why I turned off the power too!”

Whether it’s a well-constructed lie or a truth close to fiction. Redecker was conflicted. It was said that if excessive torture is applied, the tortured party spits out information that exists or does not exist in a plausible manner. If you are an interrogator, it is common sense that you should know.

At that time.

“Platoon leader!”

Two soldiers walked over. It was strictly following the military guidelines not to lose strength in useless places.

“I think you should look at this.”

The soldiers were conscious that Huth might overhear. ‘Smart guys.’ Hut felt a little better. The three of them stood on the other side of the street, in front of the front door of an otherwise intact house. The Warning sign has been damaged with a knife.

＜ Bags are for sale. Limited time special price. Phone X Letter O. Negotiable. – V. OOO – ooooo – ooooo. ＞

“Here you are.”

Redecker is back in the passenger seat of the car. He winked the driver out of the car and called.

– Why. What came out

“Captain. Found a trace. And Hut gave further testimony….”

Stupid truth is stupid. The unbelievable truth is unbelievable as it is. Redecker answered honestly. Anyway, analysis and judgment are the responsibility of the leader.

– Excellent. Redecker. As expected, being from a famous family is different no matter what.

“Thank you.”

Redecker was delighted. Because it produced significant results. So you don’t have to do any cleaning anymore….

– The search operation was successful. Now I just need to finish the cleaning operation well.

Redecker hesitated at the distance as if the ground was going out.

“Cleaning, enforce?”

– It is difficult to establish a major easily. So when you can benefit from it, you have to push it to the limit. The exploration operation was successful, but if the cleaning operation is also perfect, what more can I say? Instead, save Hoot’s life. It doesn’t matter if you use up all your ammo, but don’t waste it.

“Okay.”

– Oh, good job. When I return, I wash up and forgot canned food one by one.

The call was disconnected again. Redecker sighed and ordered.

“Get out the cage.”

The platoon members thought it was fortunate that they were wearing gas masks. Because I didn’t have to show my wrinkled face to the platoon commander. Although he is kind for an officer, he was more than other nobles in that he was a young old man.

Soldiers pulled out from the bottom of the truck an iron bar barely large enough to hold a person in. It was a relatively dense net laid in three layers, but it was extremely dirty. If I even scratched it, I thought I would get tetanus. On such a subject, it even ran pretty sturdy wheels underneath.

“Oh, no. No… Please, please, that’s all… Please just… Please. Please. Oh my god… “

Hut crawled and begged, but the soldiers didn’t even look. Silently, the four-wheeled iron cage was attached to the back of the truck with a thick chain.

“Connection completed.”

“Hut. Don’t die here you come back alive But you tell us… It wasn’t honest. So I’ll have to pay for it. Put it in the cage.”

He was full of displeasure, saying, ‘I’m not doing it because I want to,’ but Hoot couldn’t understand. The brutal hands of the soldiers trapped Hoot in the cage.

Redecker took an army knife out of his tactical vest and slashed Hoot’s leg. As if doing so would dry his blood, Hoot let out a tearing scream.

“If you don’t struggle and stay still, the blood will stop sooner than you think. It’s not a life-threatening part. Now your life depends on you.”

“Curse yourself!”

Hoot shouted from the locked cage before he knew it. Red blood dripped down the cage.

“The Goddess of Hunger will curse you all! If you are human, you cannot do this. If you’re human bastards, you shouldn’t be like this! It’s not enough that they arbitrarily invaded our country, so now they even draw blood….”

I didn’t hear anything more than that. Redecker gave the boarding instructions. But this time he climbed with the other soldiers in the passenger compartment, not the passenger seat.

“Go! Sound the siren!”

Redecker knocked on the luggage compartment. The driver sounded the siren and turned on the lights. Red and blue lights flashed, illuminating the name of the unit, ‘The 8th National Military Police Special Mission Team.’

The truck started. The chains tightened. Cage shuddered and was dragged into the truck. It was a paved road close to flat, but blood flowed out every time it rocked up and down.

“Slow down! Deceleration!”

The truck moved at a speed similar to a slightly faster run. How long has it been Dogs, cats and humans crawled out from the side of the road. His eyes were white like those of a dead fish, and his flesh was rotten.

They are zombies. Those awakened by the sound of sirens and hungry at the smell of blood gathered in the vehicle. Redecker let out a long sigh.

“Prepare to shoot, single shot while adjusting!”

Both Redecker and his men had their rifles pointed in all directions. Zombies are gathering from all sides. Hoot yelled at his throat, and when the speedy one narrowly missed the cage while trying to grab it, he made a pig-picking noise.

“More speed up!”

The truck moved a little faster.

“Open fire!”

It was slow and meticulous, making the cleaning more noisy.

* * * * *

At that time, the 8th National Military Police Corps Special Mission Command Tent.

Even at night, the command post was very busy. Because information wasn’t delivered across time and time. There is an abundance of data to be analyzed, but the shell casings used instead of ashtrays are full of butts, and the bottle of alcohol has long since been emptied.

However, the special mission leader was not discouraged. Instead, he leaned back deeply in his chair and lit a new cigarette. Her eerie purple eyes flashed under the low light. Dark red lipstick smeared on the white cigarette filter.

“He’s an interesting guy. He’s seriously thinking about buying and selling a bag.”

He’s not in the special mission’s information network. He may be a Western Republic spy, or an information dealer who happens to catch a case, or at worst, Römer or another member of Elsa’s intelligence agency.

The loyalty competition among intelligence agencies is quite fierce. Sometimes this institution interferes with that institution. Those in the know said that if it wasn’t for the special mission leader, he wouldn’t have been able to capture Hut in the military police.

“I need to find out what he is doing.”

The captain stood up from his chair. The stand light flashed brightly and then went out again. The plaque reading ‘Virginia Helford, Special Mission Commander of the 8th National Gendarmerie’ flashed momentarily. The cigarette burning in the dark shone like the eyes of a venomous snake.