Marauder of the Apocalypse-Chapter 92: End of Summer

We wandered around for quite a while but couldn't find any trace of survivors. I couldn't tell if people weren't visible because of the hot afternoon, if they had adapted to the apocalypse and were hiding well, or if they had all died and become harder to find.

Instead, we occasionally spotted traces of zombies.

On a shopping street, Park Yang-gun pointed at the ground with a deep frown.

"Looks like zombie shit. Seems they live around here."

Traces of excrement were visible on the street. It was disgusting.

People made retching sounds and unconsciously stepped back. I did the same. No matter how well-armed we were, filth was still repulsive.

I adjusted my mask to block the smell as much as possible, then looked around.

"Could it be from humans?"

The time had come when sewers no longer functioned properly. There was no water to begin with. It meant toilets couldn't be used.

Could survivors have disposed of their waste on the street?

"I doubt it. People would think about hygiene and use plastic bags."

"They might be disguising themselves as zombies."

I wasn't sure, but it seemed like people tracked animal feces when hunting. Could someone be using that in reverse? Making it look like a zombie territory.

An individual survivor might use that kind of disguise. And if such disguise was possible, it meant they were living well.

Just as I was speaking suspiciously, Sa Gi-hyeok suddenly jumped up with a shout and aimed his gun at a building.

"Someone's watching us!"

Without giving us time to stop him, he pulled the trigger. The gunshot echoed loudly, flames burst from the muzzle, and bullets fired in succession.

"No! Why are you using the gun like that!"

"Take cover!"

We urgently lowered our bodies and rushed behind Sa Gi-hyeok. We were afraid of getting hit by his shots.

Sa Gi-hyeok wasn't even shouldering the gun properly. He held it awkwardly. The recoil made the gun shake wildly.

Bullets sprayed everywhere, leaving marks all over the building. Windows that had somehow remained intact shattered, bullets grazed the rooftop and flew into the sky, sometimes hitting nearby utility poles.

If this had been a shooting range, he would have easily hit ten targets at once. The spread was wider than a shotgun's.

'Seriously, what is he doing?'

Afraid I might get shot if I tried to stop him, I hid behind a nearby car and scanned the building.

Then, I found the shadow of the person Sa Gi-hyeok had spotted and panicked over.

"...A zombie?"

There was a shadow of a person peeking over the windowsill.

I couldn't tell if it was a zombie or a human. Its eyes were wide open as if slightly surprised, with bloodshot veins, but there was no drool flowing from its unmasked mouth.

This unidentifiable being stared at Sa Gi-hyeok with round eyes, let out a short, strange cry, and ducked down.

"Keeeek."

"L-l-look at that zombie! Shoot it quickly!"

Sa Gi-hyeok shouted while continuously pulling the trigger. By that point, his magazine was empty.

"Why isn't it firing? Did I use all the bullets?"

"Please stop."

I slapped my forehead. I couldn't understand what he was doing. He hadn't even killed his target properly, and had just wasted a precious magazine firing into the air.

'It's hard enough to find bullets.'

In a world where a single bullet was worth more than gold, this was pure extravagance.

Click-click, I heard Sa Gi-hyeok fiddling with his gun. We poked our heads out from our hiding places.

"Is it over?"

"Did you use all the bullets?"

No one scolded Sa Gi-hyeok. They just looked at him with tired eyes.

Instead, they turned their gaze to me and pointed at the window where the shadow had been seen.

"Are we going in?"

"Let's check it out."

I forcibly slung the heavy light machine gun over my shoulder and walked forward. If it was a zombie, it was a non-drooling variant; if human, a master of disguise. Either way, it was worth investigating.

***

We moved along the relatively less dirty parts of the road, avoiding the excrement. We formed a formation of sorts to watch all directions, with Park Yang-gun suggesting entry points and picking locks.

On the upper floor of the building we entered, by the window.

Below the window, the being we had seen earlier bared its teeth at us from a sitting position.

"Kueeeeek!"

A rough but weak cry.

And damaged legs. I quietly looked down at its lower body. The wounds on both legs were severe. They were covered in scabs, decaying, with maggots crawling around.

Do-hyung quietly pulled out a hand axe from his ammo belt, then lowered it again.

"It's a zombie, right? Abandoned because of injured legs?"

"Probably."

The sitting zombie waved its hands at us but quickly tired out and panted. It seemed dehydrated. Its mouth was so dry it didn't even have saliva to drool.

I stared at the zombie quietly, then slowly turned to look around the building that had once been a zombie den.

A restaurant. The refrigerator in the kitchen was wide open, as was the fridge that had stored alcohol and beverages. There was nothing inside them.

Instead, the floor was littered with food packaging waste, bones, and cans.

'There are no corpses.'

This meant the zombies hadn't died. They had moved somewhere else. And that place was... A fact I had overlooked flashed through my mind. ƒreewebɳovel.com

Power outages. Water shutdowns.

People die after just three days without water. The zombies that had been in the shopping area must have moved in search of water. To buildings where electricity still worked and water supply functioned, buildings with water left in their tanks, or near flowing streams.

'Could this lead to epidemics spreading through water?'

Just as these thoughts were connecting, the mercenaries who had been skillfully searching the building returned.

"There's absolutely nothing left. They cleaned everything out."

"We might be able to sell some TVs and equipment to the alliance."

The empty-handed mercenaries' attention soon turned to the zombie. The zombie with injured legs was weakly wheezing. When it regained a bit of strength, it would try to attack us again, using its hands to support itself on the floor.

"Kueeek."

"How should we handle this? Seems a waste to use bullets."

I wasn't sure. Did we really need to kill it with our own hands? It would die if we just left it alone.

Just then, Do-hyung sighed and approached Sa Gi-hyeok.

"Let's practice shooting now."

"Now? Ah, on that zombie?"

We had a few magazines left. Sa Gi-hyeok awkwardly pulled out a new magazine, then froze.

"Isn't this too difficult for a beginner? It's still alive, after all. Wouldn't it be better to practice on a target first?"

"That's why we're doing it now, before you cause an accident. Before you accidentally shoot someone else, practice now. First, shoulder position, no, reload the magazine first."

"Ah, you mean reload."

I stepped back. There was no reason to stop them or stay here.

The mercenaries quickly retreated a good distance too. They went completely out of the restaurant and started searching other stores.

I also went outside the restaurant. I could hear Do-hyung and Sa Gi-hyeok talking and handling the gun behind me. Exchanging magazines, shouldering the gun, checking the bolt...

Finally, a few short gunshots rang out.

***

After Sa Gi-hyeok finished his shooting practice and left the building, I led everyone to a certain place.

"Let's go to the water. The answer lies in water."

It might have sounded random, but my companions grasped the essence intuitively. Park Yang-gun was the first to open his eyes wide and nod.

"That's right. No one can live without water. Everyone would eventually go to a stream to find water."

Exactly. There was no need to wander around looking for survivors. We could just wait at places survivors would come to and raid them there. Like setting up fish traps to catch fish.

Sa Gi-hyeok, who was excitedly shouldering his rifle and looking around through the sights, said:

"The upstream from the general hospital is managed by the scavengers, so we'll need to go above or below their territory."

"Map."

At my one-word command, a mercenary quickly pulled out and unfolded a map. Then he took the lead.

"There's a stream nearby."

"Then let's head to the stream and wait. And assess the situation too."

A stream. Water. An essential resource for survival.

Perhaps unknown ecosystems had formed along the waterways. Not just zombies that would have gathered, but survivors too.

If the humans gathered around the stream were easy targets, we could raid them consistently. This was truly an efficient raiding method. Rather than wandering and tracking prey aimlessly, it took less effort to ambush at a good spot or set up a plausible trap.

"Mr. Sa Gi-hyeok. Stop fiddling with the gun and use your head for a bit."

"My head? There's no need for any con, is there?"

Sa Gi-hyeok lowered his gun and looked at me quizzically. I nodded.

"Water. Stream. Wouldn't it be good to plan a business to exploit people with this? My initial thought is to patrol the stream periodically and raid. Could you refine this into something more sophisticated?"

"Wow. Thinking of doing business with water. ...Water is certainly precious in a world like this."

Sa Gi-hyeok's eyes sparkled as he slung his rifle strap over his body. He wiggled his fingers as if calculating something, folding them one by one.

A mumble, close to talking to himself, flowed out.

"Water... Fish? No. Land? Multi-level marketing? No. In this kind of world, something more direct? Business?"

He seemed deep in thought. I looked at Sa Gi-hyeok with confidence and grinned. Honestly, although he wasn't good at physical work, wasn't he an expert in this area?