Black Badger

I followed his words without resistance.

There wasn't much else I could do anyway. What was I supposed to accomplish here? My weapon had been taken, and so had my communicator. If their goal had been to kill me, they wouldn't have bothered saving me from the mold in the first place.

Maybe I should have pretended not to notice that I was a deserter.

But whatever, it was too late now. Pretending to be clueless at this point wouldn't fool him. In time, I'd figure out his intentions.

We walked through the subway in silence once more. I dragged my heavy legs, my gaze fixed on the sword hanging from his waist.

Contrary to Angela's warning, the subway was quiet. The nameless deserter badger moved forward briskly, as if he knew the place like the back of his hand.

There were no signs of life besides us.

We passed through a long corridor and entered a turnstile that no longer functioned.

As we descended the stairs, a worn screen door came into view. Of the several screen doors, only one stood open and lonely. The nameless man headed toward the open one.

Before jumping down beyond the screen door, he turned to look at me.

"You're behaving nicely."

"I don't have any other choice."

He stared at me intently.

I shrugged as I took in his bushy beard.

"There's no way I could win a fight against you anyway."

He let out a short chuckle.

"Good attitude. Let's eat first."

I just had lunch not long ago.

But I couldn't argue back. I wasn't so oblivious as to say I wasn't hungry right now. I followed the man and jumped down from the open screen door onto the tracks.

A long tunnel stretched out before us. Though no electricity flowed through the narrow tunnel, visibility was secured. That was because luminous mushrooms grew in a neat row along the tracks.

The mushrooms glowed green.

"Did you plant them?"

"Yeah."

Impressive.

I walked along, admiring the beautiful mushrooms that bloomed in a line.

The passage was a bizarre black tunnel filled with green light. A cool breeze flowed through the tunnel.

After walking in silence for a while, something massive appeared ahead.

It was a huge train, standing motionless.

"This subway station, you see, has all its entrances surrounded by that mold that tried to devour you, so no creatures come in."

"But isn't it connected to other stations?"

"I sealed them all off."

A faint light leaked from the train's windows.

The man approached the stationary train and pushed the door aside to open it. He slipped into the train where light poured out. I shuffled over and climbed aboard.

I was stunned by the sight that unfolded before me.

"What the hell."

"Not bad, huh?"

The man grinned at me, my eyes wide in shock.

"Even if I look like this, before I deserted, I was called a badger druid."

Vegetables.

Neat shelves lined the car, filled with vegetables that grew in orderly rows. Purple LED lights shone down on them. I gaped at the pots that filled the entire car.

The scene that filled my view felt utterly novel. Everything in the pots consisted of vegetables I recognized. Broccoli. Romaine. Iceberg.

Most of them looked fresh enough to pick and eat right away.

...A master at surviving outside the core?

The man watched me stare in awe, then spoke.

"You can't eat those yet, so come over here."

I finally tore my gaze from the vegetables and moved to the next car.

I'd already been shocked enough, but I kept marveling at each new sight that appeared.

It seemed each car had a different purpose. I passed by various cars. One was filled with chirping chicks and clucking chickens. Another was packed with mushrooms starting from enoki and including ones I couldn't name. Yet another held rusted weapons and tools, and a wooden stump that looked like a workbench.

After passing those, I reached a car that showed signs of human habitation.

Unlike the others, this car still had its subway seats intact. The man gestured to the seat opposite what seemed to be his bed.

"Sit there."

Then he went to another car and returned with a pot.

"Chicken soup."

"Wait."

"Eat up. It's good."

He handed me a rusty fork and spoon with a wink.

I was dumbfounded but didn't refuse. I took the bowl obediently and ladled out some soup from the pot.

We ate in silence for a while. He seemed genuinely hungry, and I was busy trying to process the situation unfolding before me.

Yoon had said supplies were the most important thing. New recruits usually spent their time stocking the F Zone supply depot, right? I recalled the stories I'd heard before leaving the core. From D Zone onward, it was survival mode.

But this was A Zone?

How the hell did I end up in A Zone? That was a mystery in itself.

The conversation resumed after the man finished his chicken soup.

"So. Is Ye-hyeon still alive?"

I slowly set down my spoon.

Then, after staring at the man buried under his hair and beard, I asked back.

"Why did you desert?"

"You can't answer a question with another question."

"I can't just hand over info to a deserter without a reason."

"Hey, I used to be a badger, you know."

The nameless senior raised an eyebrow, as if my attitude amused him.

"Don't you think I'm safer than you? And what am I going to do from here?"

Safer than me?

Why was my situation coming up all of a sudden? Not understanding the man's words, I stared at him blankly.

Misinterpreting my expression, he waved his hand dismissively.

"Alright, alright. I'll tell my story first, okay?"

"Uh? What do you mean?"

"Let's see. Where should I start?"

Was it because he'd been alone for so long? Our conversation felt off somehow.

The deserter badger ignored my expression and stroked his beard.

"Since I brought up Ye-hyeon, shall we start with him?"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Ah, just listen. It won't hurt to hear it. You probably don't know anyway."

Know what?

I was about to ask, but he spoke first.

"He grew up in a single-parent household, right?"

...What?

I blinked in confusion at the unexpected turn. It was absurd that he was really talking about Ye-hyeon, but I'd thought if he was going to, it'd be about his status or something.

Why was this such a personal story?

I was flustered, but the situation didn't change. The man, my sword at his hip, continued with a face immersed in memories.

"During the First War, we were in the same unit once, and that's when I heard the story. His mother died giving birth to him. But his father—I've never seen his face or know his name, but he must've been in a pretty high position."

"Wait a minute."

"He visited the military unit a few times. To see his son's face."

"Excuse me?"

The man's unilateral storytelling left me baffled. I wondered if I should keep listening. But despite the discomfort, I recalled fragments of info I'd read before.

People online had grumbled that Ye-hyeon's background was unclear. No info on father or mother.

It didn't add up. Maybe his father was in such a high position that records were omitted.

"Whether he was military, politician, or whatever... Anyway, Ye-hyeon would get suddenly called out at the weirdest times. His face would turn pale."

"Pale?"

"He was probably abused."

This wasn't right.

It had gone too far. This wasn't a story I should be hearing. Snapping out of it at his casual remark, I extended my palm toward him and firmly told the man, who had raised his eyebrow.

"I don't want to hear any more."

"Why? Out of respect for Ye-hyeon? Or does it seem useless? If it's the first, do you have time to worry about that now? If the second, knowing personal details like this can surprisingly be useful."

"I don't know why I'd have to hear that from you. Anyway, this feels wrong."

"I like Ye-hyeon."

Bullshit...

Did my thoughts show? The deserter sneered.

It was a scoff laced with various tangled emotions.

"You're thinking I'm just digging up dirt for fun, huh?"

"Isn't that it?"

"Not just Ye-hyeon—I'll tell you about the others too. All of them. Jason, Richard, Ami, Yoon, Ska, Jonathan, Ricardo—everyone! I'm trying to help you, so why won't you listen?"

"How is this helping me?"

"You need info, right? So you can avoid landmines and blend into the organization smoothly. Hey, you have to be liked in the group to move freely. You need trust to operate outside the core freely, fake newbie."

"...Why do I need to move freely?"

This was weird.

At first, I thought he'd just forgotten how to talk after living alone too long. But the more we spoke, the more it felt like we were talking past each other, based on different assumptions.

Like we were misunderstanding each other somehow?

More precisely, it seemed like he knew something about me.

My stomach started churning. I suppressed the rising unease.

"What am I supposed to do by moving freely outside the core?"

He looked at me like I was an idiot.

We didn't move for a while. We didn't speak. A brief silence born of misunderstanding. Sitting on the old train seats, we stared at each other across from one another.

Only after a long moment did he reply, his face saying he couldn't comprehend my question.

"Kill them."

"...What?"

"The ones you betrayed."

Bile rose in my throat.

"The guy who chased you out of the core. Your former comrade."

I desperately held back the urge to vomit as I looked into his vivid green eyes. I also saw him starting to roll down his sleeve.

His arm turned ashen as well.

"The bastard ordering them to drag you to S Zone."

Boom!

A heavy thud echoed.

The train shook. The impact from the rear car rippled quickly through to where we were.

The car trembled violently. The collision sound echoed through the tunnel.

I turned my head to stare at the closed door of the train car.

The senior jumped to his feet.

"Damn it, they're already here. Let's go."

"Where?"

"To the next station."

He pulled a small knife from his back pocket and shaved off his beard.

Beard hairs fell to the train corridor. His revealed face was younger than expected. Surprising—I'd assumed he had some physical age on him. But now wasn't the time to be surprised by that.

"We have to survive as long as possible, even if it's just a bit."

"What's out there?"

"What else? Your old friends, probably."

The man swiftly gathered the weapons he'd set down earlier.

Then, he suddenly thrust my sword back at me. Instead of asking questions, I accepted it with thanks.

"Thank you."

"I was hoping to chat comfortably for a few minutes, but whatever. If they sensed you're here, they wouldn't stay put."

"Is this a situation where we can escape?"

"Yeah. I've got nearly ten years of desertion experience. Stay quiet and follow me. And hey, it's not my place coming from a deserter who's been gone ten years, but..."

He pulled a balaclava over his face and set off.

I buckled my sword to my waist and followed the man ahead. I hurried my steps while straining my ears. To catch what the man ahead was saying and the sounds from whatever had hit the rear of the train.

The deserter spoke without looking back.

"I've fought in two wars myself, you know. I'm a veteran, and I don't plan to just watch our side lose."

He dashed to the front car in one breath, yanked the door open, and jumped down.

I followed him into the green darkness, catching his ensuing mutter.

The words seemed more like soliloquy than directed at me.

A whisper sharp with resolve.

"I'll hand you over to them after all."

We started sprinting down the dark tracks.