Chapter 18
On the Road (2)
A few minutes later, a shadowy black figure crept out from behind a crumbling building and moved toward the extinguished campfire.
He stopped now and then, hiding behind plants and collapsed walls, sometimes crawling forward on his elbows with his body low to the ground.
Only after confirming that the four people who had been here earlier were completely gone did he spring to his feet. He hurried to the firepit and picked up an empty metal can.
A rifle was slung across the back of his body, which was wrapped in a black cloth. His height was about 160 centimeters, and his skinless face was made entirely of silver-black metal.
The metal surface of his body was covered with cracks, enough to reveal glimpses of the colorful circuits and components inside.
One of his eyes glowed a bright red, while the other no longer worked. His skeletal-looking hands were also made entirely of silver-black metal.
This was an artificial-intelligence robot.
“Found it, found it…”
In a flat, monotone voice, he gathered the empty cans and went thunk, thunk, thunk back behind the ruins.
After weaving through several turns, he arrived at a cave formed of tangled rebar and concrete.
Inside the cave sat a boy wearing a worn cotton coat trimmed with animal fur.
He looked about twelve or thirteen, his face dirty, his hands smeared with black mud, and grime thick under his fingernails. Beside him rested a battered tricycle loaded with assorted odds and ends and trash.
The boy grinned as he accepted the cans from the robot.
He divided them into three piles and put them in separate heaps of junk, speaking to the AI robot.
“Little Seven, this pile is almost full. Soon I’ll be able to give you a new eye.
That other pile still needs more. Winter’s coming. We have to stock as much food, coal, and battery power for you as we can.
Later we can trade for them…”
He scratched his head and gave an embarrassed laugh.
“We’re almost out of food.
I’ve been eating too much lately…”
Little Seven nodded firmly and replied in the same flat tone,
“Excellent plan.”
“Hop on. We need to get back to base.”
The boy climbed into the driver’s seat of the tricycle and, with a beep-beep-beep, started it up. The cramped, bumpy path through ruins and vegetation barely deserved to be called a road. Soon the tricycle carrying the boy and the robot rattled off into the distance.
As he drove, the boy called back to the AI.
“Little Seven, do you think Mom and Dad will come back after winter?”
The jeep maintained a steady pace as it rolled across the black, marshy wasteland.
By noon, Baek Sae-byeok, who was driving, suddenly furrowed her brow and turned the wheel.
“There are people ahead…”
Without waiting for a response from Jang Mok-hwa, Sung Geon-woo, or Yong Yeo-hong, she added in a low, heavy voice,
“They’ve seen us.”
Jang Mok-hwa, who had been half-turned toward Geon-woo and Yeo-hong in conversation, immediately looked forward.
On either side of the soft track, the forest thinned strangely. The left side was swampy and mosquito-ridden, while the right was choked with weeds. Beyond the open space stood a black SUV splattered with mud.
With her sharp eye, Jang Mok-hwa quickly recognized the SUV as heavily modified. Its paint was mottled with many colors.
Three people stood outside the vehicle. One wore an old cotton jacket, another tanned leather, and the third a wrinkled, overly short black tweed coat.
They smoked crude cigarettes rolled from brown tobacco leaves, and each carried a different weapon: a Union-202 pistol, a submachine gun called Downpour, and an old-world rifle.
Beside them were two large motorcycles, black with bold red designs, exuding an air of daring arrogance.
A man sat astride each bike, visors up, holding compact submachine guns.
“What do you see?”
Far from nervous, Jang Mok-hwa used the moment to quiz the others.
Sung Geon-woo lowered the window, leaned out to inspect the scene, and answered immediately.
“They’re all well-nourished.”
“…?”
Yong Yeo-hong, about to share his own observations, lost his train of thought at Geon-woo’s comment.
Instead of scolding, Jang Mok-hwa nodded.
“Good eye.”
The five men’s facial skin was rough but not sallow or gaunt.
That meant they ate well and kept warm—unlike typical wasteland drifters.
At last Yeo-hong spoke up.
“They have good gear!”
The heavily modified SUV, the big motorcycles, their clothes and weapons—all signaled they were no ordinary wanderers.
Jang Mok-hwa tilted her head slightly.
“Judging from all that, they’re either well-off ruin hunters or well-off wasteland bandits. Sometimes there’s no difference.”
Baek Sae-byeok added,
“Look at how that SUV’s been modified—it still runs on an internal combustion engine.
That means they know this region well and where to get gasoline, or they’re confident they can leave the wasteland before running out.”
As the distance closed, Jang Mok-hwa drew out a grenade launcher.
“Take out your Berserks and point them out the windows—make sure they can see.”
Nervous, Yeo-hong asked,
“Team leader, are we going to fight?”
“Who knows?” Jang Mok-hwa laughed.
“Remember this: in the wasteland, showing your muscles is a gesture of goodwill. Justice, fairness, and trade exist only beneath a gun barrel.”
Baek Sae-byeok joined in.
“We always said, ‘Respect exists only among the strong.’
Many wanderers hoped the powerful would be kind and compassionate, pity the weak, and help them. But that’s just an illusion. Better to build your own strength.”
“Even the Salvation Army used to be seen that way, but now…”
Jang Mok-hwa’s voice trailed off.
“So we have to show them we’re not easy prey, and maybe they’ll act politely…” Yeo-hong murmured, then frowned with a new question.
“But why me? From their side they’ll only see Geon-woo.”
Before Jang Mok-hwa could answer, Geon-woo chuckled.
“Never played hide-and-seek?
Just because you can’t see someone doesn’t mean they aren’t there.”
A faint smile tugged at Jang Mok-hwa’s lips.
“Not the best analogy.
Yeo-hong, you need to hold that Berserk and be ready to fire to deter any enemies hidden in the swamp and to protect Sae-byeok while she drives.
If you don’t, even if no one’s actually hiding, they’ll think we’re inexperienced, an easy target.”
Realization dawned on Yeo-hong.
“Got it!”
He immediately raised his assault rifle and rested it on the half-open window.
Already braced with his own Berserk, Geon-woo asked eagerly,
“Team leader, can I fire at my discretion?”
Jang Mok-hwa gave a short laugh.
“Bold, aren’t you? They won’t be easy opponents.
Hmm… you can pull the trigger in three situations: first, on my order; second, if they ignore our warning and keep approaching; third, if they show signs of aiming at us.”
The distance between the gray-green jeep and the black SUV with its big motorcycles shrank to less than ten meters.
Of the five men, the three with crude cigarettes held their guns ready, while the two on the bikes leaned forward, one hand on the throttle, the other on compact assault weapons.
If the grenade launcher and assault rifles hadn’t been sticking out the jeep’s windows, they might have charged already.
The meeting spot was not on a main road but in an open patch of thin woods. Both sides were close, but there was no immediate danger of collision.
To avoid provoking them, Baek Sae-byeok slowed the jeep, edging it forward.
Then Jang Mok-hwa suddenly called out loudly,
“Did you hear what happened deep in the swamp last night?”
The man in the wrinkled black tweed coat, the one with the Downpour submachine gun, spat out his crude cigarette and shouted back,
“Too far away—don’t know!”
Jang Mok-hwa called again,
“What are you doing out here?”
“Winter’s coming. Hunting beasts to prepare for it!”
He had bushy eyebrows and an old scar by his right eye.
With his fierce features, he looked like a bear in human clothes.
Before Jang Mok-hwa could speak again, the man shouted a question of his own.
“What about you?”
“We’re ruin hunters!” she replied.
“Ruin hunters, huh…”
The man muttered low, then suddenly burst out laughing.
“A few months ago we heard news from deep in the swamp. They say an unrecorded city ruin was found there. Ha! Maybe whatever happened last night is related!
It might’ve been months apart, but who knows?
Hey, hunters—want to know roughly where that city ruin is? Give us some food, and we’ll tell you.”
Thanks to his loud voice, everyone in the jeep heard him clearly.
