The Little Prince in the Ossuary

00085 — #Night at the lake–

#Night at the lake (4)

As the night deepened, the temperature dropped. Sharp sleet began to mix with the rain, fogging up Gyeo-ul’s lenses. However, he was worried about taking off the night vision goggles. Darkness covered the mountain range, and even though the boy’s eyesight was superior, it also had a limit.

His breaths were now turning to white mist in the cold wind. He felt a shortness of breath due to exhaustion. He was only jogging at a light pace but had already been doing it for half an hour.

The heavy rain was also a disaster for the non-humans. A body floating in a puddle on the side of the road, swaying in the waves, was not a human being. It was a ghoul that now looked white. Gyeo-ul decided to approach and look at it for a moment. It was necessary to gather information and would give him a moment to breathe. He sent a stop signal to the vehicle and carefully entered the stagnant water.

Splash, splash, splash.

It was off the road, so the ground was slippery with mud. The water level came up to Gyeo-ul’s waist. The flow was slow, but there was a slight whirlpool where two streams of water hit the ground. Even so, it still wasn’t powerful enough to knock a person down. Gyeo-ul tilted his head and drew his weapon. If he were dragged into a close-range battle, the pistol would have an absolute advantage.

He pointed a gun at the ghoul’s head and carefully tapped it with his other hand. It didn’t move. Was it really dead? Gyeo-ul hit it hard with the pistol’s handle this time. Knock! The blow had enough power to tear the back of the ghoul’s head. It went down well below the surface and then popped up again due to its buoyancy.

Pudududu!

The gray monster gave a seizure-like twitch. It swung its arm wildly and hit the surface of the water. Gyeo-ul took a few steps back, raising one hand to stop the soldiers from firing.

It was like watching a drowning man, a panicked person who had fallen into shallow water and eventually died. Unlike most animals, humans needed to be trained to swim. If you didn’t know how to breathe, you couldn’t even float on the water. The same was true of other beings who made humans their hosts.

‘Maybe it missed its footing and couldn’t get back on its feet. It was in danger of dying, so it stopped functioning.’

An infection mutant could quickly put itself into suspended animation. Its muscles would stiffen, and its breathing would stop almost entirely. Then, when it received external stimuli such as touch, vision, hearing, or smell, it would wake up with a strong reaction like this one had a moment ago.

This was how the mutants trapped in Atascadero State Hospital had first been found. Originally, it had been assumed to be a way to save energy. However, it could also have been a means of saving oxygen.

Of course, as far as Gyeo-ul knew, it couldn’t last forever. The need for oxygen had decreased, but it wasn’t gone completely. If this ghoul had been left alone, it would have ended up dead.

The ghoul, who had spotted Gyeo-ul while floundering, struggled violently. As it snapped its teeth, it began swallowing more and more water. Gyeo-ul, who was carefully observing the pathetic movements, reaffirmed that mutants were still not able to swim for the time being.

Gyeo-ul then shot two bullets into the creature’s head, the sound of it buried under the thunder. Watery blood flowed out of the perforated head, and the gray body drooped.

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Another officer was waiting for the boy officer when he came back onto land. Jeffrey asked, “What was that just now? It seemed like the dead guy was coming back.”

“Jeffrey, do you remember the guys in Atascadero?”

“Ahh… Oh, that was the same as this. Thank you for showing us something interesting. From now on, I’ll have to check any drowned bodies. I might die if I mess with them.”

“That’s right. We need to spread the same warning to the other bases. Especially to San Diego North Island.”

Jeffrey, who had simply accepted Gyeo-ul’s experiment, stiffened at the last words. Even if he acted frivolous, Jeffrey was a well-trained American officer.

“It’s great that you thought about that right away. I respect you, Lieutenant.”

San Diego North Island, the last military stronghold on the west coast of North America, used the sea inside the bay as a natural barrier to defend itself. This was because of the belief that mutants could not cross the water. The same was true of American citizens who had fled aboard.

However, if the dead floated on the water, and if someone touched a mutant without knowing it, chaos would immediately unfold. Marine refugees were living together in each other’s boats. When the infection began, the rate of transmission of the plague would be no different from that on the land.

Jeffrey seemed very disturbed by the possibilities he was just now realizing. Gyeo-ul reassured him, “Don’t worry too much. It’s already been confirmed that mutants are afraid of water. There’s still time before they plan to use it.”

“With it raining like this, it’s not strange how many dumb mutants have floated into the water. I’m afraid the accident might have already happened, but…”

“We can’t do anything about that. Someone else might have already warned them.”

This was a worldview where all living people were wary of mutants. It wouldn’t be strange if someone else realized what the boy had realized first. Some people got paid to do just that.

Gyeo-ul pushed Jeffrey. “Come on, let’s not waste time. Let’s go.”

The time requirement did not exceed expectations. Within another half-hour, Gyeo-ul reached the point where the mountain road intersected with a two-lane expressway. From here on, Gyeo-ul no longer needed to lead the way. He had run for almost an hour in the rain.

Gyeo-ul unhooked the winch ring from his waist. Seeing the boy officer returning to the vehicle, the two soldiers sighed in a complicated manner. The corporal holding the turret then recommended Gyeo-ul to rest.

“Thank you for your hard work. Now get some rest.”

“I’m not taking a break. I’m in command. Get down from your watch; I’ll be sitting there, but it’s inside, so there’s no big difference, right?”

“Lieutenant, I can’t lie to you that the Humvee is like a hotel, but I think anyone who’s just run an hour in the rain should be a little more comfortable and warm. Just grab a bite to eat inside. While you were running, the other cars finished their meals in order.”

Come to think of it, he hadn’t eaten dinner yet. As a second-class commander, Jeffrey seemed to have ordered a meal just for him. He was sure the soldiers would have taken care of it even if he hadn’t.

Gyeo-ul hesitated for a moment and accepted it. Although the soldier’s ability wasn’t as good as Gyeo-ul’s, various sensory modifications would not decrease to that extent even in the car.

“I’ll eat for a moment.”

The corporal sighed again. “You can keep resting. Please sit there for a while.”

The driver agreed. “I never thought I’d see a soldier sitting and an officer running. It was my first time seeing it after four years of service. Oh, I could tell for sure that the world was going to ruin.”

Gyeo-ul smiled lightly. The soldier seemed to want it.

The car continued to run steadily. It was only a two-lane road, but it seemed to be well made and lived up to its name of expressway. It must have been well cared for until the disaster occurred on the west coast.

It was therefore easy to eat inside the car. At least there was no water to spill.

Combat food (FSR) had been much simplified in Atascadero State Hospital. Gyeo-ul was now ripping open something called MRE: Meal, Ready to Eat. Once he’d opened the package on his lap, he looked sideways, and the driver began to say something else.

“It won’t taste good, but enjoy your meal.”

“…I’ll try.”

Gyeo-ul’s hesitation wasn’t because he sympathized with the soldiers. Whenever he heard that the combat food was not delicious, he thought, ‘No matter how bad it is, the nickname “Massive Rectal Exploration (MRE)” is an exaggeration.’

Anyway, it was better than the energy gel that he had eaten a lot of in his life. Gyeo-ul really hated the artificial flavor and chemical flavor of that stuff. Thanks to his sister Han Ga-eul’s efforts, he had been able to taste real dishes from time to time. If it hadn’t been for her extraordinary efforts, Gyeo-ul would have grown up unaware of the joy of eating. Their family had not had a virtual reality account like everyone else did.

‘I don’t know. Maybe my parents had an account.’

He was lost in his thoughts for a while, though he felt he was wasting his time. It was a meaningless memory and a meaningless regret. One didn’t have to make the already heavy stones heavier.

He decided to concentrate on his meal.

Combat food included a heat pack. If you added a little water, the temperature would rise rapidly. You could heat up various foods and drinks that way. It was an easy-to-burn process, but Gyeo-ul’s eyes were almost forward when he moved his hand.

When he opened the cheese spread he had put on the heat pack, the half-liquefied cheese crept out with a savory smell. Gyro-ul spread this on a cracker, waited for the moisture and milk fat to permeate, and bit into it.

It tasted delicious. Gyeo-ul smiled lightly. The salt was strong enough to sting his tongue, but just being a warm meal in the cold weather meant it got a high score.

The chicken stew had a strong artificial scent. He didn’t like it. Still, the texture of the breast, which was close to realistic, was satisfactory. After a bit of chewing and rolling it on the tip of his tongue, the broth-soaked flesh broke down. The bland sweetness of the hot drink also coated his mouth.

“How come you’re enjoying your meal?”

To the curious driver, Gyeo-ul replied, “Because there’s no Jeffrey next to me.”

Upon hearing this, the two soldiers had to hold back their sudden laughter. It seemed that Jeffery had ruined many people’s meals with his poo story.

There came a noise from the radio: the incoherent voices of many people. It was a familiar pattern because he had already experienced it. The soldiers held their breath. Gyeo-ul could feel the tension. He then spoke in a calm voice with a sense of security.

“Never mind. The noise intensity is quite far away. Maybe west, toward Santa Margarita. They’ve been checking that there’s nothing around here, so they won’t come out for no reason in this weather. Tell the cars in the back not to mind.”

The shooter sent out a signal as directed.

After that, the noise and meaningless transmission continued for a while, only getting cut off after the line of vehicles left the highway and headed south due to the terrain. A peak of 1,200 meters above sea level blocked the transmission.

After finishing his meal, Gyeo-ul unfolded the map. Even though there was a「Map reading」correction,「Memorize」was low, so it was a good idea to look at the map often. The boy nodded.

“We’re almost there. There’s no more difficult terrain, and it’s just another eleven kilometers away.”

The soldier glanced at the map. “It’s flat land without obstacles. Let’s speed up a little bit.”

“Yes.”

With Gyeo-ul’s authorization, the driver sped up gradually in order to get the following vehicles to do the same without panic.

However, the race did not last long. When they got to the river, the line of cars slowed down again. There should have been a bridge in front of them, but it was nowhere in sight. Only a rough river over thirty meters wide was waiting ahead of them. The tactical map marked it as a dried-up stream called Burrito.

The bridge might have been submerged under the water. However, there was no way to confirm it.

‘With the current this strong, it wouldn’t be safe to cross, even if there was a bridge.’

A submerged structure could not be relied upon for durability.

‘What should I do?’

Gyeo-ul stood at the banks of the raging waters, trying to figure out a way to cross it.