Chapter 7

Securing the Aisle

5:25 a.m. Outbound dock.

The five of them gathered inside the shutter. Nobody spoke above a whisper.

Mansik was up on the forklift. He'd stood an empty pallet upright on the forks. A shield. Rajiv held two lengths of rubber hose and a funnel. The manager's job was lining up the twelve 20-liter jerry cans, and by the third can the row was already crooked.

Before they started, the manager had held out the log. Regarding the unauthorized use of box truck fuel, he said. Head office vehicles, could become an issue later. When Jeongwoo handed him the pen, the manager signed in the emergency outbound approval box. Filled in the date and time, meticulously.

Only then did he go line up the cans.

Mansik watched his back and snorted.

"That one'd sign a form before he let you treat a dog bite."

"That's why I get his signature."

Boram was glued to the viewing window beside the shutter.

"All five are near the crack. Lying down. One's got its head up, but two eyes are closed."

"If we wait for all three to close, the sun'll be up."

"I know. I'm just reporting."

Jeongwoo nodded.

Then he pictured the other side of the shutter. He'd checked it through the viewing window more than ten times last night.

From Shutter 2 to the truck's rear doors: three meters. The truck was backed in, so its fuel tank was under the driver's side, on the left. From the shutter to the fuel tank: five meters, diagonally.

In between, wide-open asphalt.

Jeongwoo drew two lines across the floor plan in his head.

"Hyung, raise it. Just a meter."

Mansik hit the shutter switch. The shutter rattled upward. Dawn air crept in along the floor.

It was cold.

Jeongwoo ducked under the shutter. Just inside stood the two pallets of water Mansik had brought down from Rack 1 last night. Two tons.

The water that had sealed Shutter 2 since the first day was stacked off to one side of it.

"Water. Location change. From Shutter 2 to the truck's fuel tank. Two rows, one on each side."

【Location change request confirmed.】

The water bundles lifted and slid out under the shutter. They settled on the asphalt in two rows. One on the left, one on the right. A meter and a half apart. A meter and a half high.

An aisle.

Exactly like laying out a forklift lane in a logistics center. Stack pallets on both sides to make walls, leave the middle clear. So people and equipment don't stray.

"...Boss, did you just make a path?"

"Secured the aisle."

"What's the difference?"

"None. It just sounds more professional."

Mansik's forklift went out first. Pallet-shield first, all the way to the end of the aisle. He parked the forklift tight against the truck's driver's side. The end of the aisle was sealed off by the forklift.

Rajiv ran out with the hose.

He loosened the drain plug under the fuel tank with a wrench. Diesel gushed out. He caught it with the funnel, into the first can.

Jeongwoo crouched under the shutter and checked his watch. One minute ten seconds to fill twenty liters. Twelve cans, fourteen minutes. And no guarantee the 200-liter tank was full.

"Manager, next can."

The manager pushed a can into the aisle. Practically crawling. Body inside the shutter, only his arm sticking out.

Two cans.

Three.

"Boss."

Boram's voice dropped.

"The one with its head up just stood up."

Jeongwoo turned his head. Across the lot, near the crack in the asphalt, a gray mass was getting to its feet. All three eyes open. Its nose went up.

Diesel.

The smell of fuel was spreading through the dawn air. Jeongwoo should have factored that in too. You can't block a smell with a water wall.

"Rajiv, how many?"

"Six full! Doing seven now!"

The dog started walking. Not running. Following the smell, slowly, toward the aisle.

"Keep filling. The aisle walls are a meter and a half. They couldn't clear that last time."

Jeongwoo checked that his voice sounded the same as always. That was what kept everyone moving.

The dog stopped in front of the aisle's left wall, shoved its nose into the water bundles, and scratched. Scritch, scritch. It didn't try to climb over. It walked along the wall instead, from the shutter end toward the truck.

It went all the way to the end of the aisle. Behind the truck.

And lay down.

That was the moment Jeongwoo realized what he'd missed.

Under the truck.

A five-ton box truck sat more than fifty centimeters off the ground. He'd built the walls only from the shutter to the fuel tank. Under the truck was wide open. Crawl in from the far side of the truck, and you came out right next to the fuel tank.

Right where Rajiv was crouching.

Dogs crawl in. These were the same animals that had shoved their noses into a fifty-centimeter gap under Shutter 3 four days ago.

"Rajiv, back!"

Rajiv looked up. In the shadow under the truck, three eyes glinted.

Jeongwoo had no time to look for water. What was left over from the aisle sat outside its mouth. By the time he dragged it under the truck, the dog would already be out.

What he could see was the space under the truck. And next to it, the five jerry cans Rajiv had filled. Twenty liters each, full of diesel.

"Five jerry cans. Location change. Under the truck, between the left wheels."

【Location change request confirmed.】

One by one, the cans slid under the truck and lined up, filling the space between the wheels. The first can slammed down right in front of the crawling dog's head. The dog rammed it. The can didn't budge. Twenty liters of diesel weighed over twenty kilos. Five cans, a hundred.

The dog backed off. Rammed it again. Meanwhile Rajiv threw down the hose and ran down the aisle. Almost fell. Mansik reached down from the forklift, grabbed Rajiv by the scruff, and shoved him toward the shutter.

"Get in!"

Rajiv rolled in under the shutter. Mansik threw the forklift into reverse. Backed down the aisle with the pallet-shield still out front. The forklift's rear wheels cleared the shutter threshold.

"Down!"

The manager hit the Down button. Nobody even had to tell him this time.

The shutter hit the floor.

Outside, the dog scratched at the cans. Then the sound of it pulling out from under the truck. Claws scraping asphalt, fading away.

The five of them slumped onto the outbound dock floor. Rajiv was gasping, reeking of diesel. He still had the wrench in his hand.

"...Boss."

"Yeah."

"I am sorry. I left the hose."

"It's fine."

"And the cans... I left five cans."

"I sent those."

Jeongwoo looked out through the viewing window. Five jerry cans in a row under the truck. A hundred liters of diesel. Out of reach.

The only one inside was the single can the manager had crawled back in with. Twenty liters.

Not even a day's worth for the generator.

Mansik climbed down from the forklift and stood next to Jeongwoo. He watched through the viewing window for a long time, then spoke.

"Under the truck."

"Yeah. I missed it."

"You're not the only one who missed it. I've looked under that truck hundreds of times in twenty years."

That was all Mansik said before heading back to the forklift. Impossible to tell from his tone if it was meant as comfort. Jeongwoo decided to count it as comfort.

The five cans were still under the truck. Open the shutter again, get them in view, change the location, and he could bring them in. The problem was that the dog that had caught the smell wouldn't leave the truck now. Through the viewing window, it was circling the truck slowly. Once. Twice.

Boram held out her phone. Jeongwoo didn't want to take it, but he did. A government announcement.

Launch of the Awakened Management Agency. Monster carcasses may be sold to designated buyers after being reported to the Awakened Management Agency. Initial purchase prices: F-rank Three-Eyed Hound hide, 300,000 won per hide. Mana stone (low-grade), 500,000 won each.

Jeongwoo stared at the screen for a long time. Then he turned his head toward the freezer warehouse.

One frozen dog under a tarp.

No sorting criteria.

☾