Just then, a loud thud, thud started coming from the bunker entrance.
I checked the CCTV and saw what looked like an elderly couple.
Their heads were patchy from hair loss, likely from radiation exposure. They were emaciated, wearing filthy clothes, and struggling as they pounded on the bunker door.
At first, I planned to ignore them.
They'll get tired and leave eventually.
But my mother stared intently at the CCTV screen.
"My son, I think I know those people. That's your father's friend—the one who taught us how to grow tomatoes and helped us out."
"Wait, you're right."
When I first started growing tomatoes, I had no idea what I was doing. My father introduced me to a local farming friend, and that was him.
"Let's at least hear them out. They helped us with the farm before."
"Hmm… I'm grateful for the help back then, but I honestly think it's dangerous. In times like these, you never know how people might change."
"Still, you can't pretend not to know someone who helped you, son! Even in times like this, we shouldn't lose our humanity."
I had no choice. I picked up the microphone connected to the entrance speaker.
[Ah, ah—can you hear me? Why are you here?]
The moment they heard the voice, their faces lit up. They rushed to the speaker.
"Do you remember us? We're Jin-cheol's friends. We heard your father's son built a bunker here. We've run out of food and we're starving to death. We came just in case… Could you spare us some food? Please. We're really going to die."
Park Jin-cheol was my father's name.
[We have weapons here, so don't try anything strange. I'll share a little food, so step back at least twenty meters from the entrance for now.]
"Ah—thank you! We're saved, we're saved!"
I went to the storage room and packed a bag with enough food for two people to last a week. I handed my mother a spear I'd made from a kitchen knife, just in case.
After checking the CCTV again, I cracked the bunker door open and threw the bag outside. Then I immediately shut the door and locked it.
Once I confirmed both the outer door and the inner second door were secure, I checked the CCTV.
The elderly couple scrambled over and checked the food in the bag.
[We don't have any more food to share, so don't come back! If you do, it won't end well for you.]
I gave a firm warning through the microphone.
"Thank you."
The couple bowed repeatedly, expressing their gratitude, and then left the bunker.
"You didn't have to say it like that."
"No, that was exactly right. If we keep giving, we'll end up like them."
That's what I said, but honestly, I wasn't happy about sharing food at all.
I only did it because of my mother, and my belief that it was dangerous hadn't changed.
Four more days passed.
After organizing the storage and cleaning the bunker, I was exhausted. I lay down for a moment and fell straight asleep.
"Son! Son! Wake up!"
My mother shook me awake urgently.
Still half-asleep, I looked around and heard a creeeak, creeeak coming from the door that led outside.
I jumped up and checked the CCTV. About fifteen adult men were at the bunker entrance, trying to force the door open.
"Wait, what is going on right now?"
I looked closer and saw the same couple from before among them. They must have told others about the bunker's location.
"They said they were starving, so I risked everything to share food with them… and this is how they repay me?"
I was furious, but the situation was urgent. I pushed my thoughts aside and grabbed the compound bow from under the bed.
When I started building the bunker, the thing I made strongest was the door.
Large ship-grade steel plates were hard to get, so I welded four of them together. I attached eight heavy-duty factory door hinges. No matter what they did, it wouldn't open easily.
The looters outside struggled for thirty minutes and seemed to realize that too. They gave up on the door and gathered to discuss something.
Once they finished talking, the big guy who looked like the leader gave some orders, and the group scattered.
If they were just giving up, that would be great. But these people didn't seem like the type to quit easily.
Sure enough, about an hour later, I heard engine sounds outside.
The CCTV showed them driving a large truck toward the bunker entrance. They were probably planning to rip the entire entrance out with the truck.
Several of them started banging on the bunker door with various tools. The noise was maddening, but there wasn't much I could do.
My mother looked pained too, sitting with her head down and her hands covering her ears.
After pounding on the entrance for a long time, they managed to create a gap. They threaded a rope through it and tied it to the truck.
They started the truck and reversed. The rope pulled taut until it looked like it might snap. The men also grabbed the rope and pulled.
Then the bunker entrance door let out a creeeak— and began to split open.
I opened the small window installed in the inner door and took aim with my bow through it.
A moment later, the entrance door was forced open with a loud thud!
A man holding a kitchen knife started climbing down the ladder into the underground area.
I didn't hesitate. I shot an arrow into the back of his head as he descended.
Thwack!
"Guhk!"
The moment the arrow hit his head, the man died and fell off the ladder.
"Hk! Choi's dead!"
Someone, probably his comrade, screamed after checking the body.
It got quiet for a while. I checked the CCTV and saw them gathered again, discussing something.
Then they brought over several large wooden boards and slid them between the ladder and the inner door. It looked like a countermeasure against arrows.
I quickly grabbed lighter fluid and several butane gas canisters. I opened the lighter fluid, stuffed a cloth into the top, and lit it. Then I cracked the door open, threw the lit bottle and the gas canisters toward the ladder, and slammed the door shut.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Soon, I heard the gas canisters exploding. The fire must have caught.
The men outside seemed startled by the explosions and flames and backed away from the entrance.
The inner bunker door was steel, and with the chimney effect and good air circulation, a fire at the underground entrance wouldn't harm us.
I gave a strong warning through the speaker.
[The bunker is full of gas canisters! If you force the door open, I'll blow everything up!]
Please let this work…
I watched the CCTV screen tensely.
The man who looked like the leader made an angry face, shouted something, and suddenly started beating the elderly couple who had betrayed us.
The couple stopped moving—whether they died, I couldn't tell. Only then did the leader seem satisfied. He stopped the beating and gave orders to his men.
Then the people suddenly started hauling rocks and dirt and pouring them down into the underground entrance.
"You bastards!"
It was good they gave up on the bunker, but in retaliation, they piled dirt and rocks all the way to the entrance. Now we couldn't get out, and no one could get in. At this point, calling it a bunker or a tomb didn't matter.
By evening, they must have finished, because the looters began leaving one by one.
I was furious to my core, but there was nothing I could do.
Sigh… let's just sleep.
After being tense all day, I was exhausted. The moment I lay on the bed, I fell asleep. It had been a truly grueling day.