The Little Prince in the Ossuary
Chapter 46

00046 — #signs–

# Signs (2), Atascadero

There was a thunderstorm outside the car window, and lightning flashed occasionally. Heavy raindrops then struck the Humvee. Things proved to be better for Gyeo-ul, who was in the front seat, but the machine gunner sitting in the turret was destined to be rained on throughout the journey.

They had to take a detour from Paso Robles to Atascadero. Even if the missing mission squad had cleared the obstacle, it took a considerable amount of time to go 40 kilometers. The road was smashed in several places, a sign of repeated air bombings. The cars could hardly speed up. It was time to run through the dug-out sections like a worm. On an abandoned ranch in front of the right, infected mutants were chasing lost horses. They looked this way and changed their objective. Across the dead and yellow pasture, they ran hard, waving their arms. The machine gunner knocked on the roof.

“2 o’clock direction, about fifty meters distance, eleven general mutants…no, thirteen. I’ll take them down.”

He pulled the lever straight away. The machine gun turret creaked as it spun to aim. Soon after, the three Humvees then ired in unison. The firepower from the machine gun ammunition was several times more powerful than personal firearms. The running mutants were smashed to pieces, white steam rising from their broken bodies.

「Noise Control. We’re here, 331 mission unit. .50 caliber shooting. Noise assistance, please. Over. 」

Jeffrey’s voice flowed from the radio. As a senior officer in charge of the unit, he was on board a follow-up vehicle behind Gyeo-ul. Shortly after the communication, a loud noise came from three directions over the horizon. It was the operation of the noisemaker that was recently sprayed. This reduced the noise burden during the operation. Otherwise, it would have been difficult to use the heavy machine recklessly. Jeffrey radioed the end of the shooting. Right away, it became quiet.

“Oh, damn it!”

The driver spat out the abusive language as a mutant popped out from a very close distance.

Boom!

There was no time for the shooter to fire because the vehicle was already upon it. There was a reason why no one found the mutant. As if rolling in the mud, its whole body was full of soil and fallen leaves. It was natural not to see it if it was turned upside down.

“It looks like they’re disguising themselves.”

A grumbling driver’s word. Gyeo-ul didn’t even bother to answer. Until they arrived there, nothing else happened. The destination, the state hospital, was located on the eastern outskirts of the city. The whole thing was covered by a shallow ridge, so they couldn’t see it without getting close. The entire facility was surrounded by double barbed-wire fences and a line of surveillance towers, which were only seen in prisons.

In fact, it was a prison. According to the information provided in advance, it was a facility to lock up mentally ill people who committed crimes. Therefore, it was also good for isolating infected people. That’s why the CDC used this place as a regional control headquarters. The cars entered the parking lot east of the hospital. One platoon of soldiers dropped out, fewer than the previous mission. Still, there were more combat troops, and more importantly, Gyeo-ul was involved. The soldiers liked Gyeo-ul, saying that he was like one platoon by himself. The command’s evaluation was more than that.

Finally, during checking of equipment and armament, abnormal signs were found. Lieutenant Jeffrey made a face.

“There’s a lot of static on the radio. Is there any interference?”

“There was no such information at the briefing.”

The communication soldier was embarrassed. The radio brought for long-distance communication was useless. It was impossible to connect not only to the camp but also to any U.S. military base nearby. They were planning to ask for noise assistance one more time before entering, but that went down the drain. They wouldn’t be able to get scouting aid, either. They had to move only with their briefing information.

Gyeo-ul also checked his radio. Even communication with nearby platoon members wasn’t smooth. He had to turn down the volume to maintain their low profile, making it even more difficult to understand the radio. But they couldn’t give up the mission. At this, Jeffrey gathered his troops together.

“Listen, this is where we used to keep infected in large numbers. The briefing said the quarantine facility would be fine, but I don’t believe it. There must be a reason why the first squads we sent didn’t return. Let’s assume the worst as we move. Let’s never split up, okay?”

There were both short and low answers. Jeffrey nodded.

“Then King David will lead the way as planned. Good luck, everyone.”

King David was one of the nicknames given to Gyeo-ul recently. The way he caught the Grimble was like David fighting Goliath. Sergeant Cohen, Company Able, was believed to have been responsible for it. Gyeo-ul didn’t bother to mention it. It was strangely silent outside the hospital. Several mutants moved inside the windows, but they didn’t shoot. The sound of the windows breaking would be too loud. Vehicles from the previous unit were found in the south parking lot. Several trucks and Humvees were left unattended. It wasn’t destroyed, and there was enough fuel. There were no signs of hostilities, no bodies. They seemed to be in the same condition when they first arrived.

“Ha, where’d they all go?”

Lieutenant Jeffrey muttered with an edgy look. The platoon now crossed the parking lot and entered the main gate. There was a bleak wind in the empty lobby. Whether it was a sign of the withdrawal of the CDC or its newer inhabitants, everything was a mess. On one of the walls, a message was written with a picture of a long-nosed person.

「Kilroy was here.」

“Was there a man named Kilroy in the former mission?”

When Gyeo-ul asked, the tension automatically collapsed. The platoon members giggled. It was only after Lieutenant Jeffrey scolded them that one of the soldiers answered.

“Lieutenant, that’s just vandalism. But, yes, well, it could have been painted by someone in the former unit.”

Gyeo-ul tilted his head and resumed the search. First Lieutenant Jeffrey left a radio soldier and a squad in the lobby to secure a retreat. It was to build a camp and install booby traps. There were convex mirrors all over the hall. As a prison, they were used to eliminate blind spots in surveillance. This was both an advantage and a disadvantage, as mutants could also look in the mirrors.

This was the case right now. In the section where the corridor was broken, they encountered a mutant through a mirror on the ceiling. It screamed and ran toward the mirror, others wandering nearby following. Gyeo-ul raised a fist; it was a sign to stay still. The platoon members under Jeffrey were closely attached to the wall. Gyeo-ul lowered his posture by sticking to the wall. Those who ran blindly to the mirror passed the entire squatting platoon in the corner. They were jumping up and down in front of the mirror. Then, Gyeo-ul attached a sword onto his gun and approached the mutants from behind. From there, he began stabbing their hearts.

Flop, flop. The sound of bodies piling up filled the corridor. Like a farmer harvesting crops, Gyeo-ul calmly ended them one by one. Several platoon members joined in. They were worried about making a mistake, so two people per person stuck together and stabbed them recklessly.

“You’re so bold.”

The soldier, fed up with the taste of stabbing mutants, shook his head. After that, they pointed a gun in both directions of the hallway and waited for a while for the newcomers drawn by the disturbance. There was only one. Gyeo-ul took care of it. They advanced by leaving troops on every important point, causing the number of followers to decrease rapidly. The measure was inevitable to secure retreats and maintain radio contact with the lobby. This was because the distance of communication was more reduced as they entered the building.

There were frequent skirmishes, but only minor ones. Instead, another problem arose.

“Why are there so many cockroaches?”

The insects were all over the floor, the walls, and even the ceiling. It was hard not to step on them while walking. The bug-hating soldiers were fed up. Second Lieutenant Jeffrey rebuked them, but after a while, he also found himself jumping. It was because one went into his clothes. Gyeo-ul dealt with it quickly.

Puck!

Jeffrey made a sad face as the bug had been smashed against his skin.

“…Think carefully. Wouldn’t there be a better way?”

“I had to do it fast.”

There was no sign of the former unit even at the place the CDC used as a drug warehouse. While the soldiers were looking for clues, Gyeo-ul found some antibiotics. He thought he could bring a small bottle along.

“What do we do now?”

Jeffrey felt discouraged. He judged that there was no point in further hospital searches. He expected the isolation ward to be open, but it wasn’t. It was locked on this side. It was easier than they thought, and there was no threat. The turning point came with the radio. It was a message from a radio soldier left in the lobby. Of course, it wasn’t a direct connection, but it was relayed by troops left at every checkpoint.

“Wait, what are you talking about? Did they get a rescue request? Are you sure?

「I don’t know exactly because it was relayed. It’s just that something’s not right, and they said you should listen to it yourself.」

“Damn it.”

It didn’t take very long to go back the whole way. All the troops gathered in the lobby again. The radio soldier didn’t look well. To Jeffrey, who asked for more information, the radio soldier handed in the phone. He said he didn’t know how to explain it. The order came back even to Gyeo-ul. The noise was still too loud. However, in the meantime, there was definitely a mixture of human voices. It wasn’t just one person; dozens of voices were broken and continued repeatedly. It seemed to be a mix of different communications.

“It seems like the same thing is happening again and again?”

“So it’s even stranger.”

Jeffrey replied. It was an event he had never experienced before. It seemed that a new element had been added to the world of “After the End.” Gyeo-ul listened to the radio again.

「On the street ……combat…」 「你不……劝我……」 「Many injured ……Self…Escape impossible……」 「……Of……Mission fail…」 「In……re Many……Se…Impossible……」 「…Rosa……Moving……」 「 ……救性命……反正我……去」 「Combat……to……point…Oh……」 「……逃到了……什么？」 「你不……劝我……」 「Civilian……an……mission fail……」

“Can you find the origin?”

When Gyeo-ul asked, the radio soldier looked a little embarrassed.

“It’s not impossible. It’s a bit crude, but you can just walk around and find a way to improve the sensitivity. But it’ll take a long time. I’m not sure how far it will be.”

The radio soldier warned of the time-consuming situation. Jeffrey sat down.

“Let’s take a break while we think. I’m starving.”