By now, martial law was not a word that felt all that distant.
There had been all sorts of incidents, after all. Of course, I didn’t know much about what had gone on behind the scenes.
In any case, the purpose of the last martial law declaration could still be narrowed down to one thing.
The consolidation of power.
That was why, during the last martial law, they had focused their efforts on occupying places like the National Assembly and media outlets.
They had to prevent the National Assembly from putting up a struggle, and civilians had to remain ignorant of the details.
…Which meant shoving refugees aside like this was an extremely unusual move.
No, even aside from that, there were far too many strange things about this from the start.
Normally, when martial law is declared, isn’t the President supposed to read the proclamation personally?
And yet the one wearing a grave expression on the screen had not been the President, but the Prime Minister. What kind of emergency had occurred for the Prime Minister to activate martial law while trampling all over the constitutional procedure?
The situation itself was difficult to view logically, and there were too many things that made no sense.
What reason could there possibly be… for the military to go this far?
“Don’t push! I said don’t push!”
“Kyaaaak!”
Pandemonium.
From somewhere, enormous buses crawled in with the rough growl of engines.
The iron bars densely fitted over every window made it clear what those buses were for: containment.
They looked ominous at a glance.
Naturally, people tried to resist, but there was no way they could.
“Move! Get in, damn it!”
The soldiers did not hesitate to use physical force to achieve their purpose.
With shields in front of them and gun barrels thrust forward, they forced the civilians onto the buses.
The resistance did not last long.
There had never been any real chance to resist in the first place. The civilians were quickly shoved into the buses.
“…….”
…But not us.
The mutants.
The soldiers had surrounded our group in a wide circle and were glaring at us.
“May I have your attention for a moment.”
Amid the commotion of civilians boarding the buses, a restrained voice cut in.
Unlike the ordinary soldiers wearing gas masks, an officer with his face exposed and a beret on his head approached our group of mutants.
His expression was stiff, but at least he was not as rough as the soldiers who had been driving the civilians back earlier.
If anything, he looked us over with caution in his eyes.
“I understand that this sudden control measure must be bewildering, but it is a step being taken for the security within the blackout zone and for your safety.”
“What safety?! What kind of safety measure is this?!”
Naturally, a protest erupted.
Honestly, even I found it hard to accept.
They suddenly declared martial law, dragged people away, and now they were spouting nonsense about it being for safety.
“Please calm down. We want to talk.”
“If you wanted to talk, you shouldn’t have come at us like this—!”
The mutant’s protest was cut off in an instant.
Because the officer, very slowly, yet without the slightest tremor, placed his hand on the holster at his waist.
He had not exercised any physical violence, but that one simple movement alone sent a cold tension through the air.
“I will say it once more. We want to talk.”
The officer’s gaze swept over us and came to rest on the buses in the distance, their windows barred with iron.
“Those boarding those buses will be transferred to a security facility on the outskirts of Seoul. Under the national state of emergency, all information concerning the blackout zone has been classified as top secret, and all citizens connected to the blackout zone will have their contact with the outside world strictly controlled until the situation is resolved, for civilian safety and security.”
They called it control, but in the end, it meant they intended to isolate them from the world to keep them silent.
An administrative decision to remove every witness who knew even a little about what was happening in the blackout zone and what the military had seen.
The moment they boarded those buses, their lives as ordinary citizens would be put on hold indefinitely.
“But you are different.”
The officer turned his gaze back toward us.
“At present, the interior of the blackout zone is filled with supernatural phenomena that cannot be handled with ordinary equipment and personnel alone. Therefore, the state wishes to grant you the status of civilian collaborators.”
The choice he presented was clear.
“First, you may board the buses like the other civilians and be transferred out to an isolation facility. There, you need only wait for the situation to end as witnesses who know nothing.”
“Who would—!”
This time as well, the mutant’s words were cut off halfway.
The officer spoke in an unwavering voice.
“Second, you may become collaborators with the military and participate in the operation. In that case, as partners of the state, you will be guaranteed top-priority supplies and safety.”
Either cooperate and become useful pieces, or be shoved into a corner so we wouldn’t get in the way.
The state pretended to kindly offer us a choice, but in truth, it was practically checkmate.
But fuck, why the hell was the country acting like this?
What in the world was happening in there for them to try to isolate even us, when we knew almost nothing…?
“We do not have much time. I will give you three minutes. Those who will board the buses, move now.”
At those words, people began making their decisions one by one.
“Um, over there… I’ll just get on the bus. I can’t fight.”
In the end, one mutant with the form of a rat moved toward the bus, sniffling.
Once one person moved, five or six mutants followed behind.
The soldiers treated them like luggage and roughly shoved them into the bus.
Their fear-stricken eyes beyond the iron bars revealed the true nature of this isolation.
‘…Should I just go back too?’
I could not deny that such a temptation crossed my mind for an instant.
No matter how I thought about it, I could not deny that something abnormal was happening inside.
My intuition was insisting on it with indescribable force.
That it would be safer to let the soldiers guide me to that isolation facility instead.
I looked around.
Those who remained despite the soldiers’ warning.
The owlbear beastman, the vampire, and around a dozen mutants including me remained in front of the officer.
“Then may I take it that all of you will cooperate as civilian collaborators?”
At those words, the owlbear beastman stepped forward.
Several soldiers tensed at his grotesque, massive build, but surprisingly, the officer did not show even the slightest disturbance.
“I… have family in there.”
“…….”
“If I become a civilian collaborator, I will be able to enter, correct…?”
I recalled my past conversation with him.
When he learned that I intended to go in there, he had shown signs of trying to dissuade me.
And yet now, that same man was the first to step forward and volunteer to become a civilian collaborator.
With a strange feeling, I stared at him.
Rationally, he knew it would be better not to go in.
But now that a chance to enter had appeared, desperation seemed to have taken hold of him.
“If I can go in and save my family, I don’t care what—”
“If that is your reason, then turn back.”
The officer spoke firmly.
There seemed to be a blade in his words, and even the owlbear beastman, who was twice his size, took a step back.
“Why…?”
“Because the possibility that your family members are alive is extremely low. Even if they are alive at this very moment, they will ultimately die.”
There was certainty in the officer’s words.
But to me, the question was why he was revealing that certainty now.
If they were going this far, didn’t that mean the government needed the mutants’ help quite badly?
And yet he was saying something that would not merely dampen their motivation, but drive it straight into the abyss.
The owlbear’s body trembled.
He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened his mouth.
“I don’t know anything about that. But… if I can at least see the faces of my grandson, my daughter-in-law, and my son… that alone will be enough.”
Those words were closer to turning away from reality.
A refusal to be persuaded, no matter what else the officer said.
And every mutant who remained here joined him in that refusal.
The officer swept his gaze over the mutants with the same indifferent demeanor as before.
After asking for a moment’s understanding, he reported the current situation through his radio.
Then he asked me.
“Are you… a mutant who transformed into an angel?”
“…Yes.”
“That is unfortunate.”
He lifted the radio again and soon reported.
[Angel-type mutant confirmed.]
…What exactly was unfortunate about that?
Regardless of my thoughts, a new bus arrived nearby.
This bus had its bodywork wide open, and all the seats had been removed, making it strongly apparent that its purpose was to transport mutants.
We boarded the bus in silence.
No one said a word.
Because every one of us had boarded this bus after turning away from reality.
Rattle, rattle.
It felt as though my brain was shaking along with the jolting bus.
Was she alive? She had to be. That bitch was that kind of bitch.