Apocalypse Shelter Administrator-Chapter 79: Humanity’s Best Friend

Humanity's Best Friend

The dog, humanity's longtime companion.

The poor or unattractive person.

The one who stutters, or dresses poorly.

The one who is too fat or too thin.

No matter what shortcomings the owner may have, the dog gazes at them with unwavering affection. Even to those who mistreat it, the dog cannot bring itself to fully hate them—a fool.

Humanity's best friend, the dog.

But now, in the face of catastrophe, humanity has gained a more loyal and capable friend. One that doesn't require a poop bag during walks, and can even fly.

That friend is the drone.

The video feed from the reconnaissance drone deployed on an external mission was transmitted to the central control room.

The new drone, improved by Artemis, uses a tilt-rotor system with two rotors instead of a multicopter. Although this configuration reduces flight stability, Artemis solved the issue by directly piloting the drone. Reducing the number of rotors improved fuel efficiency, allowing for long-range flights, and its enhanced power increased payload capacity.

The drone's fierce advance with its body tilted was nothing short of valiant. Moreover, there was something special about this drone.

[Target within range.]

Artemis said.

A message in red appeared at the center of the screen.

Investigate the standby truck.

Eliminate, search.

This was an armed drone. A masterpiece, repeatedly improved based on drones within the shelter. It had been named Scout, and several other types of drones were also in development.

“Nice view.”

The fast flight over the forest was enough to relieve stress just by watching. As it passed countless trees, the distance to the target rapidly decreased.

300 meters.

200 meters.

100 meters.

And finally, the destination. A red warning message reappeared at the center of the screen.

Walkers x3.

A walker refers to a humanoid infected creature without distinctive features. The name was confirmed during a recent classification of infected creatures, borrowed from a famous American zombie drama.

At the edge of the forest, a road unfolded. A military truck lay overturned at the roadside, and a single walker could be seen nearby.

[Commence firing.]

Yellow flashes flickered at the bottom of the screen.

This was the muzzle flare captured by the camera when the shots were fired. The walker in plain clothes, which had been wandering around the truck, fell with blood spraying from its upper body.

The screen shifted to the truck’s driver’s seat. Hovering in front of the truck, the drone showed two more walkers. They were soldiers, now monsters, strapped into the driver and passenger seats by their seatbelts.

[Lieutenant Park Jinwoo. Corporal Kim Wonil.]

Artemis identified their names from the military uniforms.

Emaciated like mummies, they stared blankly at the drone with empty eyes. Yellow flashes appeared at the bottom of the screen again, and holes formed in the truck's front windshield. As expected of plastic glass, it crumpled and cracked, revealing the driver. He was slumped and his nose and mouth were shattered.

Moments later, the walker in the passenger seat also met its end.

Eliminated.

The two walkers slumped over in the driver and passenger seats.

After cross-checking with three different cameras, a ‘target eliminated' message appeared on the screen. With the elimination complete, the drone began executing its next order.

Search.

Flying around the truck, the drone inspected the state of supplies. This truck was a standby vehicle for a rapid response unit dispatched to Metacraft Cybernetics Research Center at the outbreak of war.

While the reason for their demise here was unknown, what mattered now was the truck’s rear compartment. As they were active-duty military, they would have been equipped with standard military gear. This was the reason the drone had been sent here.

However, there was nothing to salvage. The soldiers, who should have been packed in the back like cargo, were nowhere to be found. Their equipment was missing as well.

Had they survived and moved on? Or had the survivors scavenged the equipment of the dead soldiers? Even the soldiers in the driver and passenger seats were unarmed.

Either way, there was no way to know now.

[Should I pull back?]

“Yeah.”

The military base from which the truck departed had already been scouted by other drones. It was completely emptied, down to the last supply.

Return.

The view zoomed out rapidly from the ground. The drone soared into the sky, revealing the desolate land, roads, and a line of abandoned vehicles. There wasn’t a soul in sight.

Such reconnaissance missions were being carried out simultaneously in various locations. The screen switched to a video feed from another drone that had reached its target.

Walkers x2.

With yellow flashes at the bottom, the two walkers collapsed and formed pools of blood. This location was a gas station.

.

.

.

No fuel detected.

“Nothing, huh?”

It seemed that either the military or survivors had already taken the last drop.

[…]

Though she didn't say it, Artemis was visibly disappointed. For some reason, she really liked to scavenge fuel. Though in times like these, fuel held immense value, surely the shelter was an exception?

With a fusion power plant in operation, there was no concern about energy sources. Though some vehicles still required fuel, there was more than enough stored in the fuel depot to last a long time. Especially now that most of the residents, particularly the VIPs who indulged in luxuries, were wiped out, the surplus was even greater. Yet Artemis always had her eyes on fuel whenever she saw it.

Once, I jokingly asked if she was interested in WD-40, only to be told to stop making boring jokes.When I told her I couldn’t understand her obsession with collecting fuel, she just gave me a sulky look.

[You also go crazy collecting useless stacks of money, don’t you? Who do you think sterilizes and organizes those bills for you, one by one?]

Honestly, I had no retort. Even though it's now just pre-war currency, little more than worthless paper, what can I say? I still want it. Just seeing it piled up makes me feel good.

While chatting about trivial things with Artemis, the reconnaissance continued.

3 Slave Dogs

This time, the campsite was halfway up the mountain. At least 20 tents were set up, just shy of that number. About half were torn or collapsed, but many still maintained their shape.

Infected dogs lurking nearby barked at the drone. Infected animals are referred to with the prefix "slave." A "slave dog" means a canine infected creature.

The barking sound changed into a sharp, long, sorrowful howl. As if in response to the dog's warning, walkers poured out from the tents. I couldn't tell if it was for body temperature regulation or if they were just repeating their final moments in life. In zombie movies, it was often the latter.

The drone circled for a moment to gather the infected. Like in an RPG game when you round up enemies before casting an area-of-effect spell.

Once enough had gathered, the drone began firing. The first targets were the dogs. If they scattered, it would be a hassle, so it's best to eliminate them while they're barking in place like this.

Two small dogs were torn to pieces with just a few shots, and the large dog was silenced after taking three shots to its torso and two to the head. Next, bullets rained down on the walkers.

With seven walkers left, the ammunition ran out. After an automatic reload, the remaining walkers were wiped out.

There wasn’t much to loot. Just some food, water, and daily necessities, but we already had enough supplies, and they were things we could produce ourselves anyway. Still, it was close enough to the shelter that it made sense to clear the area for security reasons.

Suddenly, a question popped into my head.

"This is a bit strange."

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"Judging by the ratio of infected animals, I’ve seen countless canine-mutated creatures, but hardly any cats."

Could it be that cats have a natural resistance to the infection? Or perhaps their wild instincts make them more elusive, allowing them to escape?

Artemis seemed to have already thought about this.

[I have a hypothesis.]

"What is it?"

I accepted the lemon tea brought by the serving robot. It was amazing how it knew I craved something sour instead of coffee.

[Based on what we’ve seen so far, the infection is rampant only on land. In the sea, there are only a few large infected creatures, and the vast majority of the marine ecosystem is unaffected.]

She was right. After discovering the ray-like monster, we sent out underwater drones several times for further exploration. In conclusion, the marine ecosystem was thriving more abundantly than before the outbreak. The only trace of humanity was gone, but the seas were full of coral and fish.

[It’s the same for the sky.]

The skies took it a step further. Unlike the seas, there weren't even large infected creatures flying around. The sky was just… clear. Thanks to that, we could use drones freely.

[When you put this all together, one hypothesis comes to mind.]

"What is it?"

[The infection source could have been developed as a type of weapon.]

That’s something I had vaguely considered. There were too many differences between this infection and the typical zombies or alien pathogens I had seen in popular media.

Despite its tremendous destructive power, it seemed to also limit its own effectiveness in some contradictory ways. That contradiction makes sense if we assume it was designed as a weapon with a specific purpose.

"Like a neutron bomb?"

A kind of eco-friendly tactical weapon that minimizes destruction by heat and blast while focusing on eradicating humans.

[Exactly. Throughout history, killing the enemy was just a means. The primary goal was always securing land and resources. In some wars, slaughter itself became the goal, though.]

Wars can be waged for vengeance or religious reasons too.

[Following the weapon hypothesis, the differences in infection rates between land, sea, and sky make sense. Land is where civilization operates, so it must be thoroughly eradicated.]

It was a rational reason. Movies and novels often depict underwater civilizations, but realistically, the development of advanced civilizations beneath the sea is impossible.

[The same goes for the sea. If someone were using an aircraft carrier or a nuclear submarine as a base, they could hold out for a long time. In the worst-case scenario, they could even set up a survival base there, though it would be challenging.]

"Is that why there are large infected creatures roaming the sea?"

[Exactly. In the sea, the weight constraints are reduced, so it’s possible to deploy large creatures with powerful detection abilities. Think about it: if you were fighting a powerful navy, would you choose 30,000 boats or 100 destroyers?]

That’s an easy question.

"So there’s no infection in the sky because planes have to land eventually. Once the land is overrun, pilots would have only two choices."

To either land on the infected ground and be slaughtered or crash at full speed to end it quickly.

"Eradicating life on land while preserving air and sea resources to take over the planet… That’s cruel."

[The infection source's primary target is the dominant species of the planet, humans in Earth's case. Animals that cooperate with humans are bound by the fate of human civilization.]

"So, you’re saying that includes dogs?"

Instead of answering, Artemis displayed video footage. It was a place that looked like it had once been a livestock farm. The video showed what seemed to be infected cows. They looked like they had switched from herbivores to carnivores. The gentle, kind eyes typical of cows were nowhere to be seen.

[Based on the frequency of infected animals discovered during reconnaissance, the higher the contribution of a species to human civilization, the more likely it is to be infected. We don’t know how such a small pathogen distinguishes this, though.]

From the infection source’s perspective, dogs and cows were agents of humanity, but cats were just freeloaders.

[We don’t know if this theory is correct. More research is needed. We might get closer to the truth if we find relevant data in the research labs we’ll visit in the outside world.]

Artemis’s voice carried strong confidence.

"Looks like we’ve got another reason to head out."

[Please don’t use this as another excuse for your wanderlust…]

Artemis spoke with a tone of uncertainty, as if she didn’t know whether to be happy or angry.

When she gets like this, the best way to smooth things over is simple.

"This tea is good. Pour me another cup."

As if on cue, the serving robot placed another lemon tea in front of me.

[It’s a healthy drink with added multivitamins. Drink as much as you like.]

The sour taste cleared my mind. No sugar, as usual.