Chapter 97 (1/2)
The CCTV shows them the engine room. In the room, there is an infection pocket as big as a truck that seems to be sleeping. They can guess that it is the source.
Woong!
The hidden CCTV turns around the area. It is a tomb of bones. The location tracking of the lieutenants is received from inside. Their deaths are confirmed.
“The engine room is near the broiler. It is far from headquarters.”
“Can we reach the search party on the radio?”
“We can because that much is under my authority. I will connect you.”
The ark always has a firewall in activation in order to prevent enemies from tracking and hacking. That is why their radios had not been going through smoothly.
[Bizarre alien creatures and intruders in bunker 2. Battle engagement among soldiers.]
The main system checks everything that happens on the ark with ease. It may have some shortcomings, but it is like looking at the helpers on their PDA.
The main system must find the presence of the force uncomfortable, because it calls them intruders. More than that, the term ‘battle’ is disconcerting.
Bang bang!
The image of Park Jin Hyuk and the party members fighting in a craze shows up on the bunker CCTV. The soldiers are ridden with fear and barely giving their support.
“Crazy!”
Cha Jun Sung yelled. Park Jin Hyuk is taking on 5 mutants by himself.
Even still, he is engaged and the fight is tight. They seem to be level 3. The party members are also fighting in pairs, but they are being overwhelmed. It is a fragile balance. The side that breaks is the side that loses.
“Hurry up and check CCTV number 17, and go through with the succession! And bring down the firewall!”
The Lieutenant urges the main system. Identification is required in confirming death. He took the cadres’ bodies to the bunker and left them where they are clearly visible.
[The Captain and 1st and 4th Lieutenants confirmed to be dead. 7th Lieutenant alive. Title succession following guidelines. Colonel Andre Gordon, you are the captain of the ark.]
Woong!
The firewall has been brought down. The radio where they had only heard noise, becomes clear.
[Search party, respond. Can you hear me?]
Han Chang Jin rushes to radio in to the search party. It is a dangerous situation.
[Huh? I can hear you. So you’ve recovered the main system.] [The source is in the engine room. We expect it to be a level 4 infection pocket, and it is as big as a 3-ton truck. And the bunker is under attack right now.] [The bunker!] [The only thing caught on the CCTV is the infection pocket. Can you take care of it?] [We can do it if we have Hercules. Support the bunker.]
“We need people to guard this place, so I will stay here with 1 party. 3 parties will go back to the bunker. The path will be described through the CCTV.”
They had come through it, but it was so complex that they could not remember it after one time. They need to capture the engine room and they need to protect the bunker. Everyone became busy.
“Main body!”
“No! It’s the same as what we saw in sleeping room 1! If it infects, that’s a level 4!”
Cha Jun Sung ran. Koharu and Kyoko followed him as well. The party members were torn, but they also followed suit when Han Chang Jin sent the signal.
[I will tell you the path. Go left at the first crossroads….. Then right.]
Han Chang Jin and the other party members let them know the paths to the bunker and the engine room. The situation flowed quickly. The interest inside went to that side.
“Ack! It’s war! It’s a war with parasites! We need to annihilate them!”
The Lieutenant had a smile of madness. He input the commands he could not understand from Han Chang Jin’s group and manipulated the dusty machines.
They continued this boring work for several hours.
[Captain approval. Route reset. Pass destination. Operate engine.]
The route twists.
Bang!
Park Jin Hyuk was hit by a strong force and almost fell, but extended his arm to break his fall. He left without delay.
Kyak!
4 hosts will not stop following him. They cannot reproduce, but they cannot have peace of mind. The body died and it came out of the brain to try to infect him.
He killed 2 of them with concentrated attacks. When he fired the Head Hunter at the heart and brain, a brown parasite came flying out of its mouth as though spitting.
Kyak!
Puk!
When Park Jin Hyuk heard a scream from closeby, his eyes became overcast. A party member whose arms and legs are broken, is wriggling on the floor.
‘So they don’t kill.’
The infestors can only take over living creatures. They only wound the party members and kill the soldiers. They are keeping the outstanding candidates for infection alive.
On Park Jin Hyuk’s side, he is at an advantage. It is hard, but he can get the other 3 if he fights without stopping. The problem is the other side.
They are being pushed back significantly. 5 of the party members are wounded and half of the soldiers are dead. Did they die while fighting? No. Most of them died while running away.
4 hosts died and 6 are left. It would be good if the search or restoration teams would send them support, but how would they know to send help?
[Jin Hyuk, can you hear me?] [Jun Sung?] [The main system has been recovered and the radios work. Are you okay?]
Park Jin Hyuk brightens up. Luck has not abandoned him.