Marauder of the Apocalypse-Chapter 101: Ruins

We'd experienced strong winds and heavy rain throughout the summer. Perhaps there had been typhoons among them, but with the internet down, we might have missed them.

So our preparations were simple.

We secured newspapers in window frames to protect precious glass from breaking, nailed boards over windows in the storage area just in case, and assessed how long we could last with our stockpiled supplies.

"Staying inside is best. Everyone, prepare to hunker down at home."

I stepped out into the villa district, gathered the mercenaries, and issued a brief warning.

Natural disasters aren't enemies you can defeat. You can't kill them. You just curl up and endure.

One mercenary raised his hand.

"What about water and keeping watch?"

"Set up containers at the water tank. Don't put out pots and pans—they'll just blow away in the wind."

The mercenaries had experienced the same natural disasters as me in this city. They nodded lightly.

"Lucky we have water tanks on the roof. Where I lived, we didn't have those..."

Though the villa buildings were old, that gave us certain advantages. I waved my hand casually as I spoke.

"Places like this are better than high-rise apartments. Just imagine living on the 50th floor."

"The thought of climbing those stairs is horrifying."

No, this wasn't the time for such talk. Keeping watch. I adjusted my mask and looked around the building.

"Keep watch when the weather's decent, and take turns on guard duty by building when the storm gets bad. I doubt anyone would attack through this weather, but it's better than doing nothing."

Everyone understood.

Then raindrops began to fall one by one. Looking up, I could see dark clouds rapidly approaching, blocking out the sunlight. The wind was picking up too.

"If there's a problem, open a window and shout."

Pressing down my baseball cap as it threatened to fly away, I turned and headed back home. When the storm hit, staying outside wasn't an option.

***

There's no danger when you stay indoors. Though wind and rain battered the windows fiercely, I spent a peaceful time. The typhoon didn't frighten me.

'Everything's already broken—electricity, water supply. What could get worse?'

Standing by the window looking down at the street, I saw muddy yellow water flowing even more strongly than in the stream. In a functioning world, this would have been a disaster, but in the apocalypse, it wasn't particularly bad.

There were even advantages. With weather like this, we could collect water, and we didn't have to worry about being attacked.

Holed up at home, eating stockpiled food, I happily enjoyed a leisurely routine.

I watched the flooded streets, cooked with remaining resources, exercised while taking supplements, devised scenarios to bring down the military and alliance, planned how to deal with survivors, and sometimes read books.

That's when it happened.

"Huh?"

As fierce winds violently rattled even the secured windows. Suddenly, a street sign broke loose and flew like a throwing star—directly at my window.

Just as I crouched down covering my head, the window shattered with a loud crash.

CRASH!

"No way."

The sign that had grazed my head clattered down in the middle of the room. I stared at it blankly. Looking down at myself, I saw my body glistening.

I was covered in glass fragments. Cold raindrops stung my skin sharply, sending a chill through me. I stood there dazed for a while.

This was a bit much, wasn't it? What had I done to deserve this?

"...I see. Standing by the window was my mistake."

I slowly stood up, shaking my body vigorously. Like a wet dog shaking off water, I shed glass fragments.

Bad luck wasn't anything new. At least I wasn't injured. Better than last time when my head split open after being hit by falling debris.

Wind and rain blew in furiously through the broken window. All kinds of objects in the room swirled around like a tornado. Masks, tissues, ramen packages, instant food wrappers.

Rainwater poured in like a shower, thoroughly soaking the room.

Dealing with this now would be a hassle. I turned to leave the room but paused in front of the computer. The computer was getting wet and breaking down.

"My scenarios..."

That computer contained all the scenarios I'd written. Though none had succeeded, they were the scenarios I'd racked my brain to create. Evidence of my past.

Even in a world without electricity, shouldn't I save that computer?

My feet wouldn't move.

How long had I stood there, dazed? Debris whirling in the wind and rain slapped against my face. I snapped back to reality and peeled it off.

"Right, what does the past matter?"

The past from six months ago. Just as the future six months from now seemed too distant to worry about. No need to waste mental energy on it.

Besides, wasn't I happily writing scenarios in real life now?

I left the room with a light step and slammed the door shut.

***

The typhoon's effects lasted for three days. A manageable duration. We sauntered out onto the streets as the sun revealed its face.

That face wasn't bright.

"Captain, my gas is cut off."

"Mine too."

Looking around, I saw that gas had been cut off in every home. The inevitable had happened. Now even fire had returned to the past. The time had come when we'd need to gather firewood and make fires ourselves.

This wasn't a simple problem. In a world rampant with viruses, not just food but water needed to be boiled too.

But a leader didn't need to show uncertainty.

"It lasted quite a while. At this point, the gas supply was like a zombie, wasn't it? What infrastructure lasts six months? Seriously impressive."

I joked as if it were nothing and perched on a mud-covered car hood.

"There's plenty of stuff to burn in this world. We don't need to worry about fire for a while. Boiling water is no big deal. Do-hyung!"

"What?"

Perhaps feeling cooped up during the storm, Do-hyung was enthusiastically stretching when he turned to me. He was useful in times like these.

"Didn't you use stoves or something when you went camping?"

"A wood stove? Yeah. Should still have one if we look around."

"Let's set it up on the rooftop and use it."

Do-hyung's camper van parked long ago had been ruined for a long time, but it seemed he'd moved the resources inside elsewhere. He had been pulling out all sorts of camping equipment like lanterns and stakes.

Do-hyung scratched his head.

"What about firewood?"

"Firewood is everywhere."

I gestured around. Fallen streetlights were numerous. My finger then pointed from the villa buildings to the city center.

"We can tear apart abandoned furniture too. If we run out, we can take more from survivors' homes."

"That's a lot of work. Can't we still use gas burners?"

That wouldn't do. Hadn't he seen the alliance making bombs with butane gas? We might discover that technique ourselves someday, so we needed to save it for emergencies.

"Save those. Only use them when absolutely necessary."

Just then, a mercenary awkwardly spoke up.

"One wood stove won't be enough. Wouldn't it be better to find some oil drums?"

I nodded quickly.

"Good idea."

Oil drums would work too. Generally, more fire-making materials were better. A thought flowed through my mind. Gas was cut off. Fire was as important as water.

Wouldn't people head to the mountains then? Maybe not to live there, but near enough to easily gather firewood. I mentally marked several nearby mountains on my map.

Just then, Park Yang-gun approached me after looking around the villa building.

"Your window's broken. Shouldn't you find replacement glass?"

"When there's an opportunity."

It was still warm. No rush. Losing one room to ruin didn't cause me any problems. I even liked the ruined feel. Sitting quietly there seemed to help organize my thoughts.

I stretched fully while gripping my hammer.

"Now let's get to work. We've depleted our stockpiled food during this time."

"Yes!"

People moved in unison, arming themselves. They went to their rooms to put on helmets and vests, grabbed rifles, and pulled out carts.

We'd been holed up during the typhoon. That meant we'd consumed resources without raiding. We needed to replenish them.

We set off cheerfully but lost our smiles when we reached the stream area. Words failed us. The stream area, swept by the typhoon, had become ruins.

"Did the people here die?"

Cars abandoned on the streets had been swept away by the current, scattered about and even wedged into the stream. Streetlights and utility poles were in even worse shape.

Drowned corpses lay collapsed on the streets.

I thought coldly.

"No. It rained heavily. They could survive on rainwater. They probably wouldn't have risked coming to the stream for water."

"What about the fishers?"

Turning my head, I saw Park Yang-gun muttering as he looked down at the risen water level.

"Those who got food from traps or fishing would have had to come here anyway."

"That's true, but those people would be few. The stream area survivors are likely still alive."

The famine hadn't officially begun yet. This meant we could continue our business for a while longer.

"Someone's coming."

We caught a person who had come to check on the stream's condition and received some information. But after finishing our raid, we looked down glumly at the resources in our cart.

It wasn't much. We'd eaten our stockpiles during the three days of the typhoon's influence.

It was just the beginning of autumn, but things already felt ominous. The cool air felt chilly.