The Trash Wants to Live

PR: Naa_chi

Twenty days after entering the gate, we finally completed the important task of securing drinking water. Thanks to this, the secure-drinking-water team almost became surplus manpower, but they were soon delegated as the second raid team.

The first raid team included Kwon Jae Hyuk and Ha Hyun Seo. As they had done from the beginning, they went out farther to find the exit. The second raid team, that included Jung Yi Joon and Jang Eui Yeol, did not go far out. Instead, they went around the base camp to begin their reconnaissance and exploration.

When the second raid team explored the surrounding area, the monsters were surprised and avoided them. The monsters didn’t have the confidence to face a bull that was stronger than them. It walked around with pride. The problem was after those monsters had escaped.

Clang, clang, clang, clang. The emergency bell rang from the centre of the base camp.

“It’s an attack! Everyone gather ‘round!”

Hearing these words, the soldiers who were resting or doing their work, started to arm themselves and moved about as they were trained.

“Team 1, Team 2, Team 3 defend the entrance! Teams 4, 5, and 6, guard the research team and the assistants. The rest will be on their guard and deal with anything that comes over the fence! Sniper team, stand by the watchtower!”

A high-pitched flute sounded from the tall watchtower in response to the soldiers’ shouts. There was a fence around the base camp where electricity flowed. The monsters who got hit by the current would run away in surprise, but sometimes there were also those who would jump over the fence. Therefore, not only did we need to defend the entrance, we also needed to prepare for any sudden invasions.

The sound of the ground rumbling was getting closer. When everyone was nervous and looked ahead, they saw a pack of monsters scurrying along the path toward the entrance.

“Fire!”

Hearing a soldier’s shout, everyone started shooting. Startled by a loud, thunderous sound, the monsters started to scatter. However, the monsters that were taking the lead, unfortunately, had no choice but to be shot. Luckily, the monsters—surprised by the gunfire—scattered and didn’t go over the fence. Thus, we were able to end the situation by capturing about three or four monsters.

“No casualties?”

“Yes, there are no injuries or casualties. It has been confirmed that there is no need to repair the fences or barracks.”

“All right, dismissed!”

Ki Hyun Joo, who was next to me, spoke in admiration as she watched everyone relax at those words and disperse to go back to work or rest.

“When the monsters first attacked, the soldiers were a bit flustered…”

“Hmm.”

“I think they’re familiar with them and eradicating them now? At first, it was really messy, but now they’re really like an army.”

As she had said, it wasn’t the first time that the monsters had attacked. The first attack occurred about five days after securing the drinking water. It wasn’t an attack on the people, rather the monsters just seemed to arrive at the base camp while running around to avoid the second raid team.

Fortunately, there were no casualties; however several barracks were damaged and some people suffered minor abrasions.

After barely subduing them, the soldiers were surprised by the slack in their discipline. They defended better the second time and became more skilled the third time, and now completed the defence without taking any damage.

“Hmm… Can I eat that?”

Ki Hyun Joo smacked her lips when she saw a soldier cleaning up the dead goat’s body since it could attract another monster with the smell of its blood. Her eyes shone after eating the goat meat that was caught during the first attack. The taste of its meat was similar to lamb, but slightly stronger. Ki Hyun Joo kept muttering that she wanted to eat it again ever since… I shook my head at the sight of the goat’s condition.

“Wouldn’t it be difficult to eat? The goat has been completely turned into a rag by the shooting…”

“Sigh…”

The corners of her mouth dropped regretfully. The goat that was caught during the first attack was edible because they accidentally shot its vital point. This time, 60 people shot at it until it became tattered. I wondered if all the muscles were torn.

“We can only hope that the sniper team will make a clean shot next time.”

That was all I could say to comfort her.

In any case, we had gradually adapted to the inside of the gate. Time had passed, and it had been a month since we entered the gate.

“It’s been a month now. I spent a month here like this. But hasn’t it only been about 10 days outside?”

“That’s right.”

“That’s cool. It’s two months of vacation. If I spend all two months here, I can play for six months.” Jung Yi Joon said with a chuckle. This happened because the time inside the gate was faster than the time outside. Ki Hyun Joo shook her head when he saw him.

“Would you like to spend six months here without a cell phone or TV?”

“Ugh… that…”

“I guess so?” said Jung Yi Joon, scratching his head. Everyone burst out laughing.

“Will Raid Team 1 come back the day after tomorrow?”

“I think they will? I heard they have almost reached the centre.”

“That’s right, the photo taken with the drone showed the exit. We can get out of here soon.”

Ki Hyun Joo stretched with a groan. No matter how much she adapted, she couldn’t feel comfortable here because she was ingrained with modern conveniences.

I was suddenly curious and asked them what they wanted to do when they got out. We were each lost in our own thoughts.

“I want to go in the bathtub and take a bath.”

“Ah… me too.”

“Hmm, I want to sleep on a soft bed. How about you Jang Eui Yeol?”

“I should probably call my grandmother. She must be worried.”

“Of course, you should do that.”

“So, Yoon Jae, what are you going to do when you go out?”

Ki Hyun Joo asked as I nodded. I had to speak since other people were looking at me with curiosity.

“Well… I… want to eat kimchi stew.”

“Ah…”

I was sick of meat and military rations, so I desperately thought of Korean food. The others heard me and told me the name of the food that came to their mind as if they were also thinking of Korean food. That’s how we greeted the first day of the second month of our gate life, having an amicable conversation and then falling asleep.

“Cookie, you need to comb your hair. Where are you going?”

[I don’t want to!]

Cookie, who ran away every morning because he didn’t want to comb his hair, came to me to avoid Jang Eui Yeol. Cookie, who dug into my arms and settled down, growled as if he didn’t want Jang Eui Yeol to come closer. He seemed to firmly believe that I was on his side.

But today…

When I put my hidden hand forward, Cookie was startled. This was natural since I had that comb that he hated in my hand. Cookie looked shocked as he alternated between looking at Jang Eui Yeol’s empty hands and mine. He had walked himself into a trap.

[How! How could you… Ki Yoon Jae!]

Cookie called out to me in a voice that sounded betrayed like Emperor Caesar’s last words, but I gently combed his hair, saying that it would be done soon.1

Cookie looked angry when he found out that Jang Eui Yeol was weak against me and then paid for the crime of running away to me every time. When I finished combing his hair, he was sulky and disappeared. I was a little worried because Cookie would usually growls but would never leave me.

“Is he really mad?”

“Don’t worry. He’ll be back soon.”

Jang Eui Yeol, who knew his simple personality, comforted me by saying, “It will be okay.” That would be nice, but… I looked in the direction where Cookie disappeared and turned to Jang Eui Yeol.

“Have a safe trip. Don’t get hurt.”

“Hm, okay.”

“Haa, really! People would think that he’s going out alone! Really!”

As I said goodbye to Jang Eui Yeol, Jung Yi Joon approached me with a sullen face, looking at me while saying ‘huh, really’ the whole time. I wanted to feign ignorance since his grumpy face seemed to indicate he wanted something, but if I did that, it was obvious that he would continue to make a series of ‘huh, really’, so I greeted him as well.

“You too, don’t get hurt.”

“Do you think I’m a kid?”

Couldn’t he just say that he understood without always saying something mean like that?

This time, I looked at him with a sullen face, but I had no choice but to lower my eyes since Jung Yi Joon stared at me intently while asking what I was looking at.

Jang Eui Yeol laughed after seeing us like that. It was lunchtime after sending them off, but Cookie hadn’t come back even though it was time to eat.

Did Cookie go outside the camp?

Recently, Cookie would go for a walk outside the camp, so naturally, I thought of this. He was so small that people could not see him well, and the electric fence allowed him to pass through if he just bent down. I was a little concerned about him skipping meals, but I didn’t worry too much because I knew Cookie wouldn’t be in any danger.

Maybe I’ll give him some jerky when he comes back?

I turned around while thinking so—

“Huh?”

Suddenly the sky became strange. No, it was originally an unusual and strange sky, but now it had an ominous colour unlike usual. It looked as if it had been sprinkled with blood.

“What’s wrong with the sky?”

A soldier who was looking up at the sky like me muttered as he passed by. Hearing his words, everyone looked up at the sky. As time passed, the colour of the sky became darker and the noise of other people grew.

“Yoon Jae-ya.”

Perhaps because of the noise, Ki Hyun Joo and Ha Eun Seo were by my side before I knew it. Ki Hyun Joo looked uneasy and asked me what was wrong with the sky, but I had nothing to say. Because I didn’t know why either.

1. Emperor Caesar’s last words, “You too, Brutus?”