Walking Daddy

Chapter 106

“Yeouido?”

Hwang Ji-Hye frowned, repeating the word.

I sighed.

“The sixth officer of the Family told me that the gang members were focusing on the Gangnam Operation.”

“Gangnam Operation? What exactly is that?”

“The boss of the gang is trying to take over the whole of Seoul. I’m guessing it has something to do with their desire.”

"Then… Are you saying that the folks in Gangman are also at war with the Family?”

“Yes.”

I nodded, and Hwang Ji-Hye’s expression went blank. Lee Jeong-Uk, who was next to me, spoke up.

“Wait… Doesn’t this mean that we won’t be able to get supplies in the future? Do you think they’ll provide us with weapons while they’re dealing with an immediate threat?”

“I’m on the same page as you. That’s why I came to the conclusion that we had to move, and also why we had to band together.”

“So, what’s the situation in Gangnam? Are they being pushed back?”

“I have no way of knowing. But that doesn’t change the fact that we have to move.”

"But then… Why do you want to move so quickly? Are there more forces coming our way?”

“I believe the sixth officer informed the boss about the location of Shelter Hae-Young. There’s no way of telling what’s going to happen next.”

I relayed this last bit of information with a grimace. Hwang Deok-Rok, who was behind me, spoke up.

“Can't we all just defend Shelter Seoul Forest? If we get ambushed while we’re on the move, it’ll be the end of us.”

“If the boss makes a move, there’s nothing we can do. It’s best to get into hiding as soon as possible.”

“Do you think the boss would come all the way here, despite their attention being focused on Gangnam?”

“Haengdang-dong is… This is an area that means a lot to them as well.”

“And why do you say that?”

I told the leaders about the black creatures in Haengdang 1-dong and Haengdang 2-dong in detail. I told them that I’d taken care of the black creature in Haengdang 1-dong, but the one in Haengdang 2-dong was not a creature to be trifled with.

Just a few months ago, the black creature had been a blue-eyed being. I assumed that it had gotten a lot stronger since then.

I was also worried about whether the Family had been constantly feeding the creature since the onset of the war. If they had stopped feeding it sufficient bait, it was possible that it would leave Haengdang 2-dong to look for prey.

Seongdong-gu was no longer safe.

When I had finished explaining all of this, Hwang Ji-Hye spoke up.

“Then when do you think it is the right time to move?”

“We will move the moment Kim Hyeong-Jun wakes up. Please make the necessary preparations.”

“This may be a rather sensitive question… But what’s the probability that Kim Hyeong-Jun will actually wake up?”

“He’ll wake up. I still perceive his underlings as allied with me.”

“So what if his underlings are being recognized as allies?”

“If Hyeong-Jun dies, his underlings would turn into normal zombies. However, his underlings still look purple to me, which means that our alliance is still intact. I can assure you that Hyeong-Jun is still alive.”

I made this statement as firmly as I could, and Hwang Ji-Hye nodded silently.

I rose to my feet.

“If anyone disagrees with the plan that we’ve come up with, please speak up now.”

The leaders looked at each other, but they all remained silent.

No one expressed any objections.

I nodded slowly.

“Then we’ll get going when Hyeong-Jun wakes up. Please make the necessary preparations so that you’ll be able to move out at any time.”

The leaders nodded in unison and left the meeting room. I remained in the empty meeting room. I stared at the ceiling and sighed.

I couldn’t be at peace, even though this battle was over.

I wondered how much more blood we had to shed in order to restore true peace.

Even before that… I questioned if peace had even existed in this world.

I let out a deep breath and closed my eyes.

Rattle.

Soon after, the closed front door opened and Lee Jeong-Uk came in. Following him were So-Yeon and the other children.

I got up from my seat and walked toward So-Yeon. She seemed to hesitate after seeing my face.

I wondered if she wasn’t used to my eyes glowing blue.

I wet my lips.

“So-Yeon.”

"Da…ddy?"

My face broke into a gentle smile, and she rushed toward me, tears about to fall from her face. I knelt down and held So-Yeon in my arms. She pressed her face against my chest and cried.

My heart was so heavy that I couldn’t speak. I knew how she must’ve felt.

I couldn’t fathom the emotional pain she had gone through.

As I bit my lip and took a deep breath, the other children who had followed Lee Jeong-Uk peered at me.

I looked back at them, then held out the candy I had in my pocket. It was the gift Kim Hyeong-Jun's wife had given me. The children stared hungrily at the candy but still hesitated. They weren’t sure what was the right thing to do. Surviving in this damned world meant following rules and restrictions, which also meant that they were accustomed to suppressing their emotions.

I looked at the children and spoke up.

“It’s a gift from Uncle Lee.”

Only then did the children come running toward me with broad smiles on their faces.

As they got closer, I noticed tear stains on their cheeks. Just seeing these poor children like this threatened to make me tear up as well.

So-Yeon cried for a while before she finally calmed herself down. She looked up at me with eyes sparkling with tears as she sucked on her lollipop.

I stroked her hair and asked her, "Is it good?"

"Hehe… Daddy, you can talk now?”

“Daddy practiced really hard because Daddy wanted to talk to So-Yeon.”

“Is that why your eyes turned blue too?”

"Hmm… Yes sweetheart."

I smiled and nodded.

So-Yeon laughed and pressed her face against my arm. I patted her on the back.

“One moment you’re crying, and the next moment you’re laughing? So-Yeon, you little goofball.”

As I teased her, she smiled brightly and retorted,

"No! I’m not a goofball!”

Just looking at her smiling made me smile as well.

I patted So-Yeon on the back.

'I'm sorry I'm late, sweetie. I'll come back sooner from now on.'

After the children had calmed down, Lee Jeong-Uk spoke up.

“Alright everyone, let’s go to Aunt Seon-Hui now. Everyone’s got to wash up and get ready for bed, am I right?”

“Yes, Uncle!”

The children left through the front door, still sucking on their candy.

After all of them had left, Lee Jeong-Uk sighed.

“If we go to Gwangjang-dong… Do you think it’ll be safe?”

“Honestly, I’m not sure myself.”

The temporary happiness had disappeared, and we found ourselves back on the same topic we’d been discussing earlier.

Lee Jeong-Uk stashed both hands into his pockets.

“How about we evacuate to an island instead?”

"Island?"

“We don’t have to fight the boss of the Family, you know. If we have to move the shelter regardless, don’t you think it’ll work out better for all of us to move south? For the time being, and for the future as well.”

"An island in the south… You want to go to Jeju Island? Do you think it’s so easy to walk all the way to Busan?”

“We don’t have to walk. We can take a boat, or travel by plane.”

“And where would we get a plane? And even if we did get one, we don’t have a pilot with us.”

Lee Jeong-Uk pouted his lower lip and shrugged.

Of course, he wasn’t wrong.

However, moving to Gwangjang-dong itself wasn’t an easy task, and moving many miles south seemed more than impossible.

I sat down, pondering this question.

Rattle.

Hwang Ji-Hye came in through the front door.

She hesitated, looking at me and then at Lee Jeong-Uk.

"I’m sorry for interrupting. I can step out again.”

“No, please come in.”

As I pointed to the seat next to me, Hwang Ji-Hye gave a slight nod and sat down. Lee Jeong-Uk also took a seat and started tapping the desk with his fingers. Hwang Ji-Hye looked at him, her eyebrows twitching.

“Do I make you uncomfortable?” she asked.

"Huh? Not at all."

“Then could you keep your fingers still? It makes you look anxious.”

“Oh, sorry. I’m just thinking about something.”

“About what?”

“I was just talking to So-Yeon’s dad about it… I was wondering how it would be if we all moved to Jeju Island.”

Hwang Ji-Hye listened to Lee Jeong-Uk and then slowly crossed her arms, as if lost in thought.

After a moment, she lifted his eyebrows and spoke up.

“I think it’s a good idea. Jeju Island… As long as there aren’t any zombie infections within the island, it’d be perfect.”

I sighed and moved to rebut her.

"You know that's impossible, right?"

“Why is it impossible? There are lots of planes at Gimpo Airport. There’ll be plenty of fuel, since the world sank into chaos all of a sudden… The only problem would be finding a pilot.”

Her words caught me off-guard.

I wondered if she was just being optimistic.

Gangnam was being invaded by the Family, and we had no clue when they were going to attack Gwangjin-gu again, but for some reason, Hwang Ji-Hye and Lee Jeong-Uk had their heads in the clouds.

As I gently pressed my hands to my temples in frustration, Hwang Ji-Hye tilted her head and asked,

“Why do you think it is impossible?”

“Do you actually think there’s a possibility?”

“Mr. Lee Hyun-Deok.”

Hwang Ji-Hye sat up straight and looked me right in the eyes. Her seriousness made me focus. I smacked my lips and met her gaze.

“Everything we’ve done to this point, was it all because there was a possibility?”

“...”

“If you had to take care of something on your own, you would’ve hit some limits, no doubt. But you’re not alone anymore. You have us. Together, we’re capable of defending, attacking, reconnaissance, spying, you name it.”

“Then you want to send scouts to Gimpo Airport? Do you think that’s actually possible, when we can’t even cross over to Gangnam at the moment?”

“It's not like I’m asking us to do it right now. After we move the shelter to Gwangjang-dong, we can ask the technical team to build a boat, and we can use it to get ourselves to Gimpo Airport via the Han River.”

Her plan left me speechless.

At this point, I wondered if I was the only one who was despairing in the face of reality.

I knew Hwang Ji-Hye was optimistic, but she was not a naive person who did not make any plans.

I couldn’t help but agree with her plan. I let my head sag, and Hwang Ji-Hye smiled softly.

“Let’s give it a try. The people here… These people made the impossible possible.”

I nodded at her words.

I remembered the saying that emotions were contagious. Her positive energy encouraged me to think more positively. Lee Jeong-Uk burst into laughter after observing our interaction.

“Wow, I guess not anyone can be a group leader. I can’t believe you convinced So-Yeon’s dad so quickly!”

Hwang Ji-Hye chuckled in a joking manner.

“No, no. I’m thankful that he let himself be persuaded by me.”

Lee Jeong-Uk roared with laughter, a satisfied smirk on his face, and I added a gentle smile of my own.

I wasn’t a match to these two. But I sure was glad that I was on the same side as them.

Rattle!

The front door swung open and a panicked Park Gi-Cheol shouted into the room,

“Group leader!”

Hwang Ji-Hye seemed startled for a moment as she looked back and forth between me and Lee Jeong-Uk, before asking Park Gi-Cheol what the issue was.

“It’s Gangnam. We’re getting a strange signal from Gangnam.”

"Come again?"

Hwang Ji-Hye got up from her seat, her eyes growing wide. Park Gi-Cheol gasped for breath and continued,

“I just got the news myself. The patrol team said that there were lights flickering at regular intervals in Gangnam. They told me that you would know. That’s all that they told me.”

“Did the patrol leader tell you this?”

"Huh? How did you know…?”

Hwang Ji-Hye left the meeting room before Park Gi-Cheol could even finish speaking.

I looked at Lee Jeong-Uk in puzzlement. He stood up as well.

“Let’s go too.”

I followed Hwang Ji-Hye and Lee Jeong-Uk out of the room.

We left Shelter Hae-Young in a hurry, heading to Shelter Silence. When we reached, I saw a man bouncing from foot to foot nervously.

Hwang Ji-Hye, still panting, went up to the man.

"What’s happening? A signal from Gangnam?”

“I’m not sure myself, group leader. The third Saturday is still quite a ways off…”

“Is it still blinking?”

“Yes. Please follow me.”

The patrol leader led Hwang Ji-Hye south.

Soon, they laid eyes on a building across the Han River that was constantly flashing its lights.

Hwang Ji-Hye’s eyes went wide.

“The flashlight, where is the flashlight?” she demanded from the patrol leader.

“Um… Here…”

Hwang Ji-Hye snatched the flashlight from the patrol leader and hurriedly sent a flash out. I looked at Hwang Ji-Hye, my surprise at the sudden situation reflected in my eyes.

“What exactly is going on?”

“It’s a signal from Gangnam, requesting an exchange.”

“An exchange, you say?”

“Sending a signal even though it’s not even the third Saturday of the month means that there’s a problem in Gangnam. We might be able to get some information related to the Family.”

Hwang Ji-Hye quickly ordered the others to prepare a raft. I hesitated, and Lee Jeong-Uk spoke up.

“You probably can’t go, right?”

“I’ll probably get shot.”

“Then I’ll go. We can’t let her go by herself.”

“This is totally unexpected. Something about this doesn’t feel right.”

“Well, how many things in life go according to plan? All we have to do is to go for it.”

Lee Jeong-Uk slapped me on the back and ran to Hwang Ji-Hye.

I watched the two of them leave, biting my nails nervously.

I was anxious, but right now, I had to trust the two of them and wait for them to come back.

As I waved the two of them off, I prayed that they would make it back safely.