WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 233: Suspended Sentence (5)

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By the time they had subdued the prisoners and secured the remaining buildings in the facility, twilight was falling. After they blocked the collapsed section of wall with barbed wire found in the warehouse, the two people who had stayed behind to secure the retreat route rejoined them as well.

“Major. I contacted Marigold as instructed, and they say civilian evacuation won’t be possible until after daybreak. The flight schedule is packed with emergency transport missions. The scheduled time is 0900 tomorrow, so they told us to stay here until then. But there’s one problem.”

Harper reported from the satellite communication terminal set up on the grass in front of the church. Gyeoul frowned slightly.

“A problem? What kind?”

“They say regulations forbid evacuating the prisoners. The order is to take them to FOB Olema and report to a superior officer, or if that isn’t feasible, uh, execute them at the field commander’s discretion.”

“…….”

“Just in case, I gave them the prisoner numbers, and every one of them was on death row. They said not to worry because their sentences had already been handed down, and there’s a special law covering executions. They offered to connect me to a military legal officer if I wanted, but I said I would relay it to you first, Major, and ended the call.”

“That’s a little startling.”

It was a policy that did not fit the current administration. Was it an unavoidable compromise with reality? Harper looked about as unhappy as Gyeoul felt while he thought it over. Killing an enemy and carrying out an execution were very different things.

“What should we do? Would you like to speak with Marigold yourself?”

“No. I don’t think anything will change just because I step in. Let’s think about it a little more for now. Were there any other orders?”

“This place has been designated as the rally point for two task forces in adjacent zones and one temporary Company. They’re expected to arrive by noon tomorrow, so we’re to take command and withdraw with them. And, what else was there... Ah, they also said they’ll update the tactical information system with the details soon, including personnel composition, so we should check it without delay. That was all.”

“All right. Good work.”

At Gyeoul’s words, Harper put down the receiver.

The civilians, breathing outside air for the first time in a long while, mostly looked relieved. Though more than a few suddenly burst into tears. The children were still subdued. Bloodstains remained on the grass where the corpses had been cleared away. Again and again, people stole glances at Gyeoul. The mild wind still smelled rotten.

Only the dachshund was excited. As if trying to make up for all the time it had spent tied up, it ran around almost frantically.

“If I’d known this would happen, I would’ve worn something a little thicker...”

Morales grumbled while taking out a ballistic plate to inspect it. Clear dents had been punched into the 5 mm ceramic plate. It had not been pierced, but it must have hurt like taking a punch.

Something with such poor protection was not standard issue. Normally, plates were at least 15 mm thick. Anything thinner could not stop rifle rounds. The same went for large fragments. Gyeoul pointed that out.

“It’s too thin. Far too thin. You never know when you’ll be exposed to danger-close fire.”

“Well... when dealing with those mutant bastards, if my body gets too heavy, I feel like I’m going to piss myself. It wasn’t like we had artillery on this side, and air support was practically nonexistent... Yellow teeth clacking right in front of my face were scarier than shrapnel that might or might not come.”

“You should have told me, at least. I’m your superior. If you get killed like that, who takes responsibility?”

“I’m sorry.”

Even if it was not firing into one’s own position, Broken Arrow, the kind Sergeant Osborne had experienced, with merciless fire support pouring down over friendly heads, danger-close fire that risked catching allies in it happened quite often on the quarantine front. They were fighting a mutant horde that charged in with terrifying force. Gyeoul almost never ended up in that situation, but still. That was one reason body armor remained important.

The reprimand ended lightly. Morales was not the only one worried about running too slowly in an emergency. It was also something Gyeoul could have noticed earlier if he had paid closer attention. As commander, Gyeoul bore that much responsibility.

“What are we supposed to do with the prisoners?”

“I’m not sure. They told me to decide whether to kill them or spare them, so I should talk to them first.”

Morales, who had asked the question, looked stunned.

“What the... The world’s gone insane. I’ve never heard anything like that in all my years in service.”

But in the east, it was very likely that this had already become common.

The person to interrogate had already been decided. One person whose minimum humanity was guaranteed by the fact that they had protected the children.

When Gyeoul went to the room being used as a prison, the sheriff guarding the door took off his hat to him.

“You saved my life earlier. You looked busy, so I’m only now getting to thank you properly. Marin County Sheriff Randy Knight. Knight like a man on a horse with a sword, not night as in a dark night. It’s an honor to meet you.”

“Ah, yes. As you know, I’m Han Gyeoul. But Marin County? Not Sonoma County?”

Marin County was where FOB Olema was. West of San Francisco Bay, it was a wide stretch of land running from Mount Tamalpais to the western coast and the northern mountain region. This place, the center of Sonoma County above it, was quite far from there. It was a little more than half the distance they had covered during this operation.

“One thing led to another, and I ended up all the way here. It’s a long story, but I doubt it would be very interesting to you, Major. Anyway, I’m lucky to be alive. What brings you here?”

“I have something to ask one of the prisoners. May I take that person?”

“Of course. You’re the boss.”

The sheriff readily stepped aside. But the prisoners were not in good condition. Caleb Hunt, the bald man with the spider tattoo, glared at Gyeoul with clear nosebleed marks on his face, while the drug addict was almost unconscious. With a short sigh, Gyeoul helped the prisoner he wanted to their feet. They were the only one who looked all right.

“Sheriff.”

“If you’re fine with it, you can call me Randy.”

“Then, Randy.”

Gyeoul shook his head.

“By command’s order, the prisoners are under my jurisdiction. I appreciate your cooperation when you must be tired, but I’d prefer there be no unnecessary violence.”

“Oh...”

The sheriff fell silent for a moment at the unexpected request. Then he accepted it with a slightly stiff expression.

“I apologize if it offended you. But it wasn’t unnecessary. I roughed them up as a precaution. You never know what kind of trick they might pull. I only beat them enough to make it hard for them to use force.”

“As a precaution? What if they die?”

“Then there’s nothing to be done. They committed crimes worth dying for.”

The sheriff twisted his beard and laughed.

“I don’t know what you’ll think of me saying this, but when it comes to bastards worse than beasts, I’m more of an expert than you are, Major. They hear words and ignore them, so there’s no choice but to carve the lesson into their bodies.”

“Fuck you!” one prisoner spat on the floor. Randy Knight’s eyes sharpened, but the boot that had twitched did not move any farther. Still, one hand remained on the grip of his pistol. With his lips curled, he glanced sideways at the prisoner Gyeoul was taking.

“Major. Don’t trust that one either. I’m grateful they protected the kids, but they’re not human to begin with. A lunatic just happened to do one good thing on impulse. It might have been part of a process to justify their filthy sexual urges to themself. There are a great many criminals who delude themselves into thinking they’re good.”

His words were somewhat defensive. He seemed wary that Gyeoul might have taken offense at how he had treated the prisoners.

“I know that much too. I’ve seen plenty of it.”

At Gyeoul’s reply, the sheriff shut his mouth. From the look of him, he still had something left to say.

The lights came on in the dark facility. The curtains were open on the windows facing the inside of the wall, so they could see the light spilling out all at once. The restrained outdoor lights were enough to illuminate the paths as well. Darkness was, after all, an environment favorable to mutants. For the civilians, this was the best environment they had been able to arrange.

A radio call came in.

[Power has been restored. There was a mutant caught in the transformer. What the hell was it even thinking?]

It was a report from Schultz, who had been moving with the civilian technicians. Then a new message followed.

[This is Morales. The police and civilians want to help with the perimeter. What should we do?]

“What’s their level?”

[Their equipment is good. There were quite a few radios and night vision devices in the main building’s equipment lockers. There are also plenty of firearms they couldn’t bring when they evacuated to the cathedral. This should be fine, shouldn’t it? If we try to guard this whole facility by ourselves, we’ll have to stay up all night. I’d like to pass on stimulants from now on.]

“Then let’s do that. Make sure they know additional troops are arriving. It’d be a serious problem if friendly fire broke out. Consult with the police on formation and order, and tell the other civilians not to leave the area near the cathedral.”

[Roger.]

Gyeoul looked around. A facility of this size could later serve as an intermediate base for troops moving up from Olema. There were signs everywhere that money had been spent on it.

“Would you like to sit somewhere, or walk a little?”

The prisoner hunched over, face dark.

“If I had my way, I’d like to walk... But what are you going to ask me?”

“We’ll talk as we go.” Gyeoul took the rope binding them and led the way. Since they would not be able to run away anyway, he considered untying them for a moment, but the civilians would feel uneasy. The sheriff’s attitude showed how sensitive these people were.

As expected of a religious retreat center, the walking paths were beautifully laid out. Under a sky full of stars, plants waiting for summer rustled dryly.

The fire burning in the distance like a campfire used corpses as fuel. If left alone, they could spread some other disease, or become food for mutants that arrived after the people left.

“Tell me what you know about forced labor for death-row inmates.”

“…….”

The answer came after a blank pause.

“I’m not good at explaining things...”

“Just say whatever comes to mind.”

That would probably be the less dressed-up truth too.

“...It probably started with that. People said bastards like us weren’t even worth locking up. Why were criminals safer than citizens? They meant prisons. If a place is hard to get out of, it’s also hard to get into, right? I heard people gathering outside the walls to protest all the time.”

“So they turned prisons into shelters?”

“Yes, well... Forced labor was an excuse. An excuse. Fuck. Since there was nowhere to keep us locked up, they were looking for any reason to kill us. Those fucking pig bastards and the cocksucking big shots...”

A place hard to get out of was also hard to get into. It was a plausible idea. It was also a common device in zombie movies, so it would have been easy to win public support. It was hard to say politicians had only pandered to popularity. Budgets and resources always had limits.

More than anything, if a politician refused that public opinion and their political life ended, nothing would come of it. The president had described it as taking away the opponent’s weapon. Gyeoul kept asking.

“So what work did you actually do?”

“At first, it was manageable enough. Most of it was reinforcing the cordon, and sometimes we farmed too.”

“Farmed?”

“There were a lot of abandoned farms near the cordon... We worked over at that ammunition plant and the wind farm too. Uh, we also repaired cities and towns. They said those places had to stay intact until the residents came back. But as time went on, those kinds of jobs went more and more to bastards with lighter crimes...”

In other words, they had run out of facilities even to hold petty criminals. The United States already had the highest number of prisons and inmates in the world, so the number of prisoners mobilized for forced labor must have been enormous.

“After the nukes fell, goddamn it, they made us clear mines in the mountains. They told us to search through a fucking huge area with one probing rod. That was an excuse too, really. Those dog bastards beat us to the brink of death every damn day, stripped us for no reason, used us as stepping stones, and if someone died, they threw them away like trash... But even back then, they kept taking a few people somewhere, and I never saw anyone come back. Everyone said they were being used as lab mice.”

Maybe that was true. They were probably being purged by now, but from the True Patriots’ position, there would have been no easier test subjects to extract than death-row inmates.

Or perhaps the field commander on that side had simply culled surplus personnel.

It was also possible that soldiers under extreme stress had taken out their anger on death-row inmates. Their targets were people who deserved to die anyway, so what guilt was there to feel?

Even before the disaster, there had been plenty of precedents. The infamous Guantanamo Bay, for example, or Abu Ghraib prison, where prisoner abuse had been routine. Private Lynndie England, who had once been an exemplary Walmart employee, became a devil less than half a year after enlisting. People from her hometown could not believe she had changed. There was no way, they said. She had been an incredibly diligent and kind person.

Of course, England remained a kind person to those close to her.

‘Human beings are like actors on a stage.’

Gyeoul recalled the words of someone he disliked.

There was a question from psychologists that he had encountered while studying leaders in advance, good and evil alike.

Was evil a matter of disposition, or situation?

============================ Author’s Note ============================

#Q&A

Q. KTH: @I believe that a highly advanced artificial intelligence is no different from a human. So I think that if the Control AI learned Gyeoul and replaced him, that could also be seen as Gyeoul... To add a little more, suppose a person fell into a brain-dead state and an artificial brain that had learned that person’s brain was inserted. Would that person think of themself as not human, or as something other than themself?

A. There is a problem with continuity of existence. I don’t think that would be a happy ending by my standards. Haha.

Q. chashercat: @If that world successfully survives and restores society all the way to ours, I think Major Han Gyeoul’s life story would come out as a game within the game. Like how we enjoy games set in WW2 or WW1.

A. Since there is a comic, there is also a game. Though it won’t appear in the story. :)

Q. PleasePickUpSoap: @A happy ending will definitely be full of childlike innocence, right?? And regarding the treatment of criminals, I want to ask people to look at it through the veil of ignorance.

A. I think the future foreshadowed by the ending will be more full of childlike innocence than the ending itself.

Q. KuroPai: @Do you like NieR? A happy ending doesn’t necessarily mean everyone has to live. I realized that thanks to someone.

A. If you mean NieR Replicant... I haven’t played the game, but I encountered it through a game magazine walkthrough that became extremely entertaining only while I was in the military. That isn’t a happy ending by my standards either. Truly...

Q. LifeSaver: @It has been a while, author. I bought Noble for the first time in 4 months and finally caught up to here. While reading, I dumped 27 coupons about to expire on you, so please buy yourself some Together ice cream on a hot day.

A. Thank you. But I’m in thrift-and-saving mode, so it’ll be hard to buy Together.

Q. [Anti]Kid: @Ugh, damn Joara. My Noble time is almost up. Are you going premium after completion? Should I buy Ossuary as a book...

A. After completion, I plan to switch it to premium after prior notice, but until then, please use Naver for per-chapter purchases.

Oops, it has already been uploaded to Naver. I need to reduce the time gap, so I’ll stop the replies here for today.

Footnotes:

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