Apocalypse: Apparently, I Can See Zombies

"This is the emergency line, what is your emergency?"

"Hello, I'd like to speak with the Marshal."

"…"

There was a beat of silence before the tired voice of the male operator echoed out from the other end of the phone, annoyed.

"Kid, can't you see the news on TV? Do you know how busy we are dealing with real emergencies, yet you're making prank calls? Fucking kid-"

Beep… Beep…

The operator hung up the call himself, spearing Jin-woo from his cursing.

With a calm expression, Jin-woo removed the phone from his ear and redial 112.

"You're calling 112, what's your emergency?"

This time a woman operator picked up.

"Hello, I'm trapped in my school in Itaewon, and I need to speak to the Marshal."

"Itaewon? Are you in a safe area? Who else is with you? Don't worry, there are rescue efforts underway. What is your exact location?"

The woman's voice was frantic, from this Jin-woo could tell the operators were probably given instructions to pay special attention to calls from the infected zone.

"There are around forty of my classmates here along with five teachers. We're currently safe, but I need to speak to the Marshal. I have a number to reach him, but the power is out, can you connect us by a bridge-call?"

The female operator hearing this paused on the other end of the phone seeming to be taken aback, but she quickly regained her composure and understood Jin-woo's intention.

She said.

"If you really have a number to reach the Marshal, then it's smart of you to use this method to contact him. Okay, give me the number and I'll contact him."

Even though the female operator agreed to Jin-woo's request, she somewhat doubted his words. However, this amount of doubt did not allow her to hang up. What if this boy was telling the truth?

After receiving the number, the female operator opened another line and made the call. She listened to the ringing phone with bated breath, but after the fifth ring her brows furrowed.

"Can you redial the number?"

Jin-woo spoke up. The female operator hesitated for a moment, but she still listened and hung up before redialing the number.

Jin-woo was extremely calm as he listened to his mother's phone ring without answering for a second time.

The female operator hung up after the sixth ring. If she was slightly doubtful of Jin-woo's words before, now she was on the verge of hanging up on him.

"Kid, are your words true? This isn't a prank, right?"

"It's the truth, please, just call again this is the last time."

Hearing Jin-woo's calm voice, the irritation rising in the female operator's heart cooled a bit.

"Okay, this is the last one. If no one answers, then I'm going to trace your call and find your address to get you in trouble."

"Okay."

The female operator had only made this threat to scare Jin-woo, but hearing his response she could only grit her teeth and call for a third time.

Ring… Ring… Rin-

The phone was suddenly answered on the third ring.

"Kid, do you take me for a fool?"

The female operator was about to speak when the gruff voice of a man echoed out, it sounded like he was forcefully suppressing his anger.

Jin-woo, as calm as ever, coldly responded.

"The power went out, so this was the only way to contact you."

"Make it quick, or else."

"The power is out. We have solar panels, but we only have a day at the very least before we lose power."Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"They'll be there before nightfall tomorrow. Now hang up."

Jin-woo got what he wanted so he removed the phone from his ear and directly hung up the call.

The female operator who had been silently listening to this bizarre conversation in a daze was suddenly brought back by the cold voice of the Marshal.

"What's your name?"

The female operator didn't know why but a cold chill immediately went down her spine when she heard this question. Thinking back to the conversation just now, she realized it might have been something she wasn't supposed to hear.

"I- My name is Kim Soo-hua."

"Miss Kim, whether that is your real name is not my concern. What is, is that after I hang up this phone this conversation will be deleted from your records."

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"I-I can delete the conversation from my computer, but all calls are automatically saved to the main server."

"That part doesn't concern you, just make sure it doesn't exist on your computer while it's completely wiped from your memory. If not, then a fake name isn't going to prevent me from finding you if this conversation is somehow leaked to the public."

Beep… Beep…

The Marshal directly hung up the call and Kim Soo-hua sat there utterly frozen from fright. Four of her colleagues, three male, and one female, had come up behind her after overhearing Jin-woo's strange request. They wore pale expressions as they glanced at each other. Then, without a word, they turned around and went on their break like they were supposed to.

Kim Soo-hua sat there for a minute before she stiffly operated her computer and deleted the call log between Jin-woo and the Marshal from her computer. She was even tempted to wipe the entire thing, but eventually she managed to stop herself in time.

On Jin-woo's side, Seong looked at the phone in his hand and said.

"He must have intimidated that person to delete the call log."

Jin-woo nodded but then countered with.

"Yeah, but the more fingerprints I leave behind the harder it will be for him to completely conceal his involvement with the virus. He'll also be more hesitant to directly kill me after the cure is made."

A complicated expression appeared on Seong's face as he looked at Jin-woo.

From Jin-woo's words, he seemed to have made up his mind to go with everyone when the rescue team arrived.

Jin-woo put away his phone before he smiled at Seong and said.

"I might be going but I haven't given up on myself just yet. It's just that mom might still be alive."

Seong slowly nodded.

"Hm, they wouldn't kill her before getting you since she has the same mutated gene."

After the two finished speaking, they made their way back to the cafeteria.