NOVEL NEXT Chapter 29
Another reading material, as requested, since mere magazines wouldn’t suffice.
“D-4, D-5, D-6….”
The codes organized by Sarah – no, the codes organized by Sarah were filled with mentions of items being stored or moved.
While it wasn’t clear exactly what the items were, there were evident traces of guesses based on the meaning of the words themselves.
‘From D-4, glass moved to D-67’
Just glass?
Was it literally construction materials that were moved?
Or was it some kind of coded language hinting at something else?
There didn’t seem to be any part of the content that wasn’t important, but at the same time, to interpret it all, I’d have to figure out what locations each codename referred to.
In the end, it was going to be a time-consuming task.
“…This should be enough resting, I suppose, anyway.”
I closed the notebook and stood up.
Then, I promptly entered the room where the Newman family was staying.
“So… Ah.”
Sure enough, as soon as I entered, I came face to face with Ms. Dieterich —
“You said it, right? Workaholic.”
“You should still be resting. What are you doing here again?”
“I’ve rested enough. I’ve also run out of things to read.”
I nodded slightly toward the Newman family who were looking at me curiously.
The wife had long brown hair, and the husband was bald.
“Are you… Lee Hyun-woo, the person leading this survivor group, correct?”
“Yes. Lisa Newman and… Matthew Newman, is that right?”
After nodding in response, I dragged over a chair and sat in front of their beds.
Raising a hand, I stopped them from trying to sit up.
“Please stay still until your wounds are fully healed.”
“We’re grateful for your kindness. We thought we were doomed to die helplessly in a dead-end.”
“Were you part of any community before?”
Shaking their heads indicated no. I sighed in relief.
In that case, they were definitely mine to handle.
“So where were you heading?”
“Well, actually, we thought we might stay here. While looking for a place to settle, we encountered some strange… two-legged packs of dogs…”
“You mean Dogfoots.”
“Dogfoots… is that their name? But their front limbs…”
“Had unusually long claws about two inches long?”
Dog heads. Two dog hind legs. And two front limbs with claws that were both long and sharp.
“What exactly is going on up there…”
“It’s likely radiation.”
Meanwhile, Mrs. Newman seemed unusually quiet.
Perhaps she was too frightened.
Sensing my gaze, Ms. Lisa quickly hid behind her husband.
And with one hand protectively shielding his wife, Mr. Matthew tilted his jaw and spoke.
“Well. I assume such kindness doesn’t come without a cost. However, Lisa – due to witnessing cannibalism and hostile survivor groups, her mental state has weakened. If there’s any work, I’d like it to be assigned to me.”
“I already told you, I don’t plan to assign work to someone injured.”
“After recovering… as well.”
“What kind of work do you think you can handle, Mr. Matthew?”
With a single glance, it was evident that his physique wasn’t particularly remarkable.
His muscle mass was likely lesser than even Ms. Sarah’s.
His sunken cheeks suggested prolonged starvation.
Not to mention, his hesitant eyes that stared at the floor.
Still, eventually raising his head —
“In the higher levels, I worked in a white-collar profession. Though… I’m not sure how useful that might be…”
His voice faded, weary and uncertain.
In terms of survival, it might not be very helpful.
Still, this person could be useful, somehow.
“And Mrs. Newman?”
“Lisa was a homemaker. But currently, for immediate work… not quite ready.”
“White collar and a housewife, how exactly have you—”
“Ms. Sarah.”
Ms. Dieterich intercepted Sarah before she could finish, but the couple had already grown visibly deflated.
Yet if this was a matter of luck, it was luck we had.
Both were useful.
Otherwise, there wouldn’t have been this much suffering, leaving traces of blood on their faces and hands.
“I’d like both of you to work, please.”
“…As I’ve already mentioned.”
“Under conditions.”
The man paused briefly, then lifted his head.
“Please state your conditions.”
“If both of you can handle assigned tasks within the same space, that’s all we need. The tasks include cleaning, laundry, food preparation, disassembling and organizing given items, and inventory management. About five tasks, I’d say.”
“Hmm…”
“Also, if there are any tools or functioning appliances that could assist, I’ll make them available.”
Don’t dismiss anyone who can’t even handle basic tasks.
If they can’t handle even that, leading to mental strain, unhappiness, and lack of diligence —
“That’s something we must all do, correct? Understood.”
“Just a caveat… My wife’s state is unstable. Please bear that in mind.”
“Anyway, as long as the daily assignments given can be completed.”
For now… they were in a state where they could be assigned work.
So I’ll take that as one worry off my shoulders.
“Ms. Dieterich, I’ll leave these patients with you. And Sarah… Can we talk for a moment?”
*
“Something you needed to discuss urgently.”
Sarah mumbled as she adjusted her bag and followed me, tracing the trail of dried blood left by the Newmans.
The Dogfoots that failed in their hunt could always return, lured by the scent of blood. The problem was, during the five days I spent in that hellish room, there hadn’t been a single sign of them around the settlement.
So, two possible scenarios arose.
Either there’s a larger, more dangerous creature in the area.
Or the Dogfoots got eaten by it.
“Therefore, I trust you enough to have you along.”
“As a friend?”
“Didn’t you say there’s no such thing as friendship?”
“…Huh?”
“But are you not still being friendly?”
Sarah’s expression momentarily brightened before suddenly sinking back into gloom.
What’s making her mood swing?
“I don’t know why I should hope.. but yes, yes. Friend it is.”
With that, Sarah kicked a piece of concrete on the ground with all her might.
The loud noise reverberated through the quiet corridor.
“Hm?”
On the wall where the piece flew, letters painted in white were visible.
Stepping forward to shine my light, I saw—
“D-10?”
I pulled out Sarah’s notebook from my pocket and scanned down the alphabet list—
——————————–
>| D-10: ‘Red Cross’ – Medical supplies?
——————————–
A note indicating the exact content was written there.
“Is everything written here accurate?”
“Yes. All readable content, aside from blacked-out sections, has been summarized.”
In a game, this would have immediately been marked on the minimap as an important location upon discovery.
But still, we stumbled upon it now.
“Shall we check it out, D-10?”
“You go ahead.”
We continued in the direction the arrow pointed.
Soon, we encountered a blast door wide enough for about three people to stand side by side.
“Can it be opened?”
“Even I wouldn’t be able to….”
There was no keyhole.
It couldn’t possibly be opened by force.
However, a console was visible beside it.
“The power is… predictably not running, I assume.”
Wiping off the dust from the monitor with my hand and tapping on the keyboard yielded no response.
It seems we’ll need to get the power supply on to proceed.
“Then bunkers like this are completely useless?”
“Not exactly.”
I felt around the computer’s wiring with my hand and followed it upward.
It was connected not to the interior storage but outside.
“Should we look for a generator?”
“Do you know the password to open it?”
“It might not require a password. If not, we’ll search for documents nearby. If that fails….”
I retrieved the notebook again and scrolled down from D-0 with my finger.
Each was summarized in no more than one or two sentences, but some stood out—
>| D-10: ‘Red Cross’
>| D-38: ‘Black Shield’
“Do these words mean anything special to you?”
“I wrote them exactly as they appeared. The all-caps words seemed noteworthy… Wait, could it be?”
“These could be passwords.”
Looking back at the wiring, the black lines led deeper.
I turned the flashlight and saw the depths stained with dark marks.
“…”
“Coagulated blood?”
Palms, soles, and claw marks.
There was far too much of it to be from the Newman family.
“There weren’t any signs of something being dragged this way on the passage we just came through, right?”
And indeed there weren’t.
In other words—
“Something might have come out this way, covered in blood.”
High-value items always carried risk.
Our resources were gradually depleting.
“Load your weapon. Stay alert.”
“Should we head back and get others—”
“We’ve two people watching the injured and one to care for. So it has to be us.”
I lifted my rifle.
And stepped on the dried blood.