Marauder of the Apocalypse-Chapter 93: End of Summer

Cicadas were chirping on the summer streets. Though I was walking through the city center, it felt as if I were strolling along a natural forest path.

Perhaps it was because this was a human-free zone, but the quiet city had no human sounds. No car engines, no music flowing from stores, no chatter of crowds.

Only the sounds of insects and birds remained, and the urban landscape reflected this transformation.

The color of soil washed down by rain, the green of overgrown weeds, the faded colors of garbage scattered everywhere.

"This has a bit of a camping vibe," Do-hyung mumbled nostalgically, fiddling with various tools attached to his ammo belt. A water bottle, hand axe, and pouches swung as he moved.

I hadn't given it much thought, but my bored companions and mercenaries kept the conversation going.

"That was my dream too. Get a camper van and just take off somewhere far away."

"Nah. I heard people get tired of that quickly because it's a hassle. You have to empty waste tanks and it's practically hard labor."

"An acquaintance of mine tried a camper van a few times and then wanted to sell it used."

Just simple, meaningless conversation to pass the time. The person who had wanted to buy a camper van joked:

"I survived in this kind of world, didn't I? Camping would have been easy."

I wasn't so sure. The normal world and the ruined one were quite different. Just as I had become a raider by necessity because of the apocalypse, that person might have found even camping difficult back when life was ordinary.

There was a profound difference between before and after the zombie outbreak.

By then, we had gradually reached our destination.

A stream. A lifeline of water appeared before us. I raised one hand, and the mercenaries fell silent.

"We've reached our destination. Stay alert."

There was no reply. I only heard the quiet clicking of safety selectors on weapons and the busy footsteps of people forming a loose formation.

***

The stream had been transformed beyond recognition. The red bicycle path had turned green. Unknown weeds had covered the red road.

Strangely, there were no people. No one walking, no one riding bicycles, no one coming to collect water.

Only sparrows hopped around among the dense bushes.

I slowly slung the light machine gun over my shoulder and scratched my head.

"Why isn't anyone here?"

"Guess it's not water collection time right now."

Park Yang-gun narrowed his eyes as he surveyed the stream. I followed his example and observed carefully. Observation skills could be learned.

But to my eyes, I only saw the typical apocalypse landscape. Bicycles locked to fences were rusting, fallen streetlights lay across the path, and weeds spread in all directions. novelbuddy.cσ๓

I did find one trace though.

"Those look like paths made by people walking."

Several lines were visible where weeds and soil were noticeably sparse. It was the same across the stream and near the bank on our side.

Paths naturally formed by people frequently coming and going.

Park Yang-gun added to this observation, pointing somewhere along the stream.

"See that shiny thing over there?"

"You mean that glint from the sunlight?"

"No. Someone made fish traps from plastic bottles and placed them there."

I couldn't see it, but Park Yang-gun wouldn't lie about something like this. He might tell small lies, but when it came to crime, he only spoke truthfully.

Anyway, it was enough to confirm this was territory where people lived.

The mercenaries removed their bulletproof helmets and asked:

"So what do we do now?"

"Let's hide somewhere and wait until people show up."

All we had to do was wait for people to arrive. I also took off my bulletproof helmet, tucked it against my side, and looked around.

Where could multiple people hide? Somewhere shaded to escape the heat. Somewhere we could easily notice people approaching. Somewhere good for ambushing.

'Hiding in the bushes would be best, but that's a bit uncomfortable. There could be insects or snakes.'

Another option would be to leave the stream area entirely. From what we could see, people seemed to visit after sunset.

I put my helmet back on and turned around.

"Let's find a nearby building to escape the heat. We'll probably have to wait until evening anyway."

The mercenaries trudged along behind me.

This was a raider's sorrow. Even searching all day didn't guarantee a harvest. There was a reason lions gave their all to catch rabbits. If you failed to catch the rabbit right in front of you, who knew when you'd succeed in hunting again.

Meanwhile, Sa Gi-hyeok was falling behind. He was blinking at empty space, lost in thought, until I nudged him and he finally snapped out of it.

"Ah. I was focused on thinking."

"Got any good ideas?"

I kept an eye on our rear while pushing Sa Gi-hyeok forward. He joined the group after my prodding and scratched his cheek above his mask.

"I'm wondering if we really need to make this complicated."

"What?"

"Couldn't we just declare this area our territory from now on and charge for water? Wouldn't that be enough?"

I made a sour face. I could think of such simple methods myself. What I wanted from my companions was to fill in the gaps I couldn't manage alone.

More hands to carry weapons than I had, observational skills to spot what I missed, murder support to help kill enemies more easily.

"Rejected. Think some more."

"Then how about this? We bring people in with a multi-level marketing approach."

Sa Gi-hyeok's eyes sparkled as he spoke.

"First, we subdue someone. Then we make an offer—tell us the location of someone they're willing to sacrifice. If they tell us, we raid the new person and share the spoils with the informant."

This was similar to how a corrupt police gang would handle informants.

A proven method, in other words. Making them accomplices.

"Then they'd inform on others too. Places where other people live."

"Exactly. I personally find it a bit excessive and distasteful, but it would be effective. In a world like this, who doesn't have at least one person they'd want dead? If there's something in it for them, they might openly kill."

Sa Gi-hyeok's expression darkened momentarily. The light in his eyes dimmed.

"If it's a world where you can only survive by fighting and competing... we can certainly exploit that."

I grinned. He was finally pulling his weight. Adapting to this world.

"Sounds good. ...Though it's not specifically using the stream."

"You don't really care about that, do you? Steady income, farming people like crops—that doesn't seem to be your style. You prefer short, intense scores rather than long-term operations."

Sa Gi-hyeok listed various examples. Claiming the stream as territory, charging for water, offering protection for fees... None of it really appealed to me.

I preferred hunting to farming. And Sa Gi-hyeok was consistently suggesting methods of hunting.

Conversing this way, we entered a nearby building and waited until nightfall.

***

It was a dark night. A night without a single light. Eyes couldn't function properly, and masks blocked our noses. Even our skin was wrapped in tough clothing, making it impossible to rely on touch.

Sound was our only remaining sense.

"Stay focused and follow closely so you don't get separated."

"Yes."

The mercenaries moved busily, following me. When I turned my head, I couldn't even see the mercenary at the end of our formation. I could only guess their position from the busy footsteps.

A random thought crossed my mind.

'In movies, this is always when one person disappears.'

That apocalyptic scene of moving through darkness. Suddenly one team member in formation vanishes and gets attacked. Or sometimes there's an extra person. A near-cliché scenario.

I let my imagination run while feeling my way along the path we'd seen during the day.

Fortunately, imagination remained just that. Nothing happened until we returned to the stream.

Instead, countless presences could be sensed at the stream.

"Kueeeeek."

"Kieeek!"

Zombie cries echoed from all directions. I couldn't tell how many there were. Looking intently at the darkened stream, it seemed as if the darkness was writhing with the intertwined forms of countless people.

A voice came from behind.

"Doesn't look like there are any people."

"I'm not sure."

Could there really be only zombies? I was reluctant to turn on a flashlight to check. We couldn't waste bullets on mere zombies. Moreover, fighting in such darkness would likely result in friendly fire.

'There are definitely zombies. But humans might be mixed in, pretending to be zombies.'

I thought harder, my ideas expanding.

'They wouldn't drink water alongside zombies. They'd get infected. They must boil the water first. They'd carry it in containers.'

We would wait for people coming out with water.

I whispered quietly:

"Wait here. If we see people, let's follow them."

"How do we confirm if they're people or zombies?"

The voice wasn't fearful, thanks to our guns, but it conveyed doubt about our plan. It was so dark that we might miss people disguised as zombies.

I answered simply:

"If you hear water sloshing in containers, they're probably human."

We lay flat, holding our breath, near the slope leading down to the stream.

Soon after, we sensed the presence of beings we presumed to be human. Multiple footsteps. Vague movements of shadows seemingly watching in all directions. The sound of several water containers sloshing.

They made zombie-like cries.

"Kraaah."

"Kieeeek."

Since real zombies might be carrying water, I conducted a simple test. I scratched my throat thoroughly and made a monstrous sound.

"Kueeeeek!"

"Oh no! Run!"

Definitely human.