Chapter 12 : Encounters (4)

A few dozen minutes after setting out for the abandoned factory, we arrived safely.

‘Impressive.’

The first thing that caught my eye was the barricade, made of barbed wire and cars.

It encircled the factory widely, reinforced with packed dirt underneath.
A moat was dug around it for extra defense.
Patrolling the perimeter were people in tattered clothes, trudging along as they stood guard.
It was a fortress optimized for fending off zombies.

‘Did they use an awakener’s ability?’
It’s day three of the zombie outbreak.
Unless society’s infrastructure was still intact, building something like this post-outbreak would be impossible.
There was only one explanation: awakeners, and the supplies from their mysterious deal, made it happen.

“Ugh…”
Minseo’s face paled as she saw the factory.
Memories of her time here must’ve resurfaced.

I took her hand and said,

“You okay? If it’s too much, you can hide here. I’ll go in, take care of things, and come back.”

“N-No, I’m fine. I don’t want to be away from you, Angel Unnie.”
Minseo shook her head and gripped my hand tightly.
I nodded.
Honestly, leaving a kid alone out here with zombies lurking was risky.
By my side, I could protect her no matter what.

Holding Minseo’s hand, I walked toward the barricade.

“H-Hey, over there!”

One of the collared guards spotted me, his eyes widening.

He subtly waved his arms, signaling me not to come closer.

‘What’s this? He’s not calling for backup?’
It didn’t feel hostile.
Ignoring his warning, I strode confidently toward the barricade.
The man’s face twisted in disbelief.

We were close now.
Worried someone might overhear, he whispered urgently,

“You can’t come here! It’s dangerous! Especially for kids! Get out of here before someone sees you! Hurry!”

His fearful eyes darted toward the factory.

He’s not with them—he’s a captive, isn’t he?

“Are you being held here?”
Curious, I asked.
His face darkened, and he nodded.

“…My kid’s inside that factory. Please, just run.”

I see.
They’re holding kids hostage to force parents into manual labor.
These guys are even worse than I thought.
They probably planned to kill the parents once the kids were traded off.

“What are you doing? There’s no time! Before they catch you—”

“It’s fine.”

I stopped the man, who was frantically gesturing for me to flee.

Then I clenched my fist and punched the car-made barricade.

BOOM!

A massive hole tore through it.

The man’s jaw dropped as he stared at the gap.

“I’m here to raise hell.”

What happened next was straightforward.

The noise drew about ten goons from the factory.
I hurled rocks, wiping them out.

Some tried to resist with pistols, but it was pointless.

Not only could they not touch me, but, surprisingly, they couldn’t touch Minseo either.

Her awakened ability was a protective barrier.
It only lasted briefly, but its strength was enough to block bullets.

With no need to worry about stray shots hitting Minseo, I charged in without restraint.

I quickly crushed the goons and stormed into the factory.

Then, at the entrance, two men appeared.

One was a gorilla-like giant, all muscle and towering height.
The other was a neatly groomed man with glasses.

Seeing them, I was certain: one was the boss of this place.

‘Probably the glasses guy.’
This factory screamed business savvy.
The sly-looking glasses guy was more likely the mastermind than the brute.

As if confirming my guess, the giant grinned and swaggered toward me.

‘The mid-boss steps up first.’
No time to waste on these losers.

I walked toward him.

When we were close enough to touch, he spoke.

“Hey there.”

I returned the greeting.

“Hey. Bye.”

“What?”

I drove my fist into his gut.

Thwack!

“Guhhh!”

Screaming, he flew back, crashing into where the glasses guy had been standing.

“W-What?”
Glasses panicked as the giant went down in one hit.
I strolled toward him and asked,

“You the boss here?”

“N-No?”

“Huh? Then who is?”

“Th-That guy…”
His trembling hand pointed to where the giant had landed.

Oh.

He was so weak I got it wrong.

The fight was over.

After witnessing their boss go down in one punch, the trafficking goons dropped their weapons and surrendered.

Not that there were many left—just three, besides the boss and Glasses.

Ironically, the people they’d enslaved outnumbered them, around twenty.

‘The organization’s smaller than I expected. Or maybe that’s normal.’
The zombie virus doesn’t spare trash.
It’s only day three.
Without new people magically appearing, it makes sense they’d only have surviving buddies to form their group.

‘…Which makes this trafficking ring even harder to understand. How the hell does it work?’
No need to just wonder anymore—I had two people to interrogate.

Following the terrified Glasses, I entered the factory.

“…Ugh.”
I gasped.
Inside, dozens of children were caged in iron cells, curled up.
Thick collars were locked around their necks.
Neglected, they looked far from healthy at a glance.

“Ji-ho! Ji-ho, where are you?!”
The enslaved people, freed now, rushed in, frantically searching for their kids.

“Dad! Daaaad! Waaaah!”
The children burst into tears at the sound of their parents’ voices.

“Ji-ho!”
A parent tried to free their child but was blocked by the iron cell’s lock.

I jabbed Glasses, who was sweating nervously beside me, in the side.

“Guh.”

“Hand over the keys.”

“H-Here they are.”
Groaning in pain, he offered a bundle of keys.

“Tch. You should’ve handed them over without me asking. No sense.”
I shot him a scornful look, clicked my tongue, and approached the man I’d met earlier.

He was struggling to break the lock on his child’s cell.

“Use these. And free the other kids with them too.”

Seeing the keys, he bowed deeply in gratitude.

Then, voice trembling with rage, he said,

“I can’t believe it. Even in a crazy world, to do this in just a few days…”

“…”

I agreed.
They weren’t driven mad.
The collapse of society just unleashed their true natures.

They didn’t adapt to this world—they were liberated by it.

I left the cleanup to the freed people.

I had questions for Glasses.

We moved to the innermost room of the factory, the manager’s office.

“I’m giving you a chance to live. Unless you want a private meeting with my fist?”

I clenched my fist and waved it in front of his face.
Glasses’ face turned ashen, and he nodded shakily.

“O-Of course.”

“Then talk. Who’s the guy who proposed the trafficking deal? Why are they doing this?”

“W-Well…”

His lips quivered.

Fear.

Not of me, but of the one behind the deal—the one orchestrating the trafficking.

I knew a great remedy for that fear.

I swung my fist, smashing the wall beside him.

BOOM!

The wall shattered.
Glasses screamed.

“Hiiiiek!”

“Look closely. Should you be scared of some dealmaker who’s not here? Or my fist, right in front of you?”

“Your fist!”

Exactly.

Fists know the truth.

Terrified by my punch, he finally spilled.

“The one who proposed the deal to the boss… I’m not sure if they’re even human.”
“Huh? What, they’re not human?”

“…Y-Yeah. It’s like… That thing. It was controlling zombies. The grunts don’t know, but the boss and I do. It can definitely command zombies!”

A being that controls zombies.

That was the root of his fear.