Marauder of the Apocalypse-Chapter 64: Letter

In the end, Park Yang-gun decided not to send the letter. The rider put on their helmet and left cheerfully after getting cigarettes and a lighter for just a few words of information.

Vroom, the loud engine noise gradually faded until it completely disappeared. Silence settled back over the villa streets.

I looked up at the rectangular night sky between buildings while following various trains of thought.

'The season of migration...'

Our villa district's old buildings could handle losing electricity. Each roof had water tanks, and we could still use gas stoves for fire.

But what about modern buildings? Water would stop with the pressure pumps down, and electric induction stoves would become useless metal. Just losing electricity meant losing both water and fire.

Reason enough to abandon homes and move. Either to areas with intact infrastructure or near water.

And naturally, such movement would cause conflicts.

'Could fight over intact areas, or target people who are moving.'

This conflict was inevitable. I couldn't stay out of it either. Had to get a taste of the trends and feel how the world was flowing. What style were the frontline survivors using these days?

'Need to do it safely, indirectly - block roads and collect tolls.'

Of course, I needed to understand Park Yang-gun's thoughts first. Looking down at him, he seemed lost in thought while handling the letter.

"Are you going to visit them? Or meet somewhere on the street?"

"Don't be ridiculous."

When I asked, Park Yang-gun carefully tucked the envelope inside his jacket and smirked.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried. But that relationship ended with the divorce."

"Still, you must be quite concerned."

Park Yang-gun looked me over with fresh eyes. Something close to a bitter laugh came out.

"Forget it. Like you said, we're criminals. Better keep our distance from normal people. And think about your track record."

"What?"

What was this about? What had I done? At least I'd never touched a companion's family. I'd actually been planning to avoid that if possible.

If they brought just their family, the family could function as hostages. Plus they'd work harder thinking of their family, and it could increase their sense of belonging.

But Park Yang-gun waved his hand and turned away, heading back toward the farm villa.

"Anyway, thanks for caring."

I adjusted my baseball cap with an uneasy feeling. It was hot even at night. My head was drenched in sweat.

Time passed slowly. The weather was clear like the calm before a storm. The sun blazed down without a cloud in sight, and people gradually began moving like harbingers of the coming migrations and conflicts.

People moving to find areas with electricity, people climbing to higher ground preparing for monsoons.

Some crossed streets avoiding zombies in broad daylight, while others crept along bit by bit during scheduled blackouts.

During the day I observed them from behind curtained windows, and at night I went out to block the roads.

Tonight was no different.

"Mr. Sa Gi-hyeok, keep it boiling."

On a street cleared except for working cars as weapons. Sa Gi-hyeok and I sat at a table and chairs placed in the middle of the road, boiling water on a gas burner. It was liquid garbage mixed with expired drinks and melted ice cream.

We also had water guns, hammers, and metal clubs laid out or propped against the table.

Items prepared for fighting in our own way. Park Yang-gun would be aiming his gun from a building window, while Do-hyung was hiding in a car ready to ram people if needed.

Sa Gi-hyeok gagged while watching the bubbling pot.

"Ugh. Why boil this stuff when we could just use water?"

"We need to save water."

"It's just food waste.... Why not just let people pass anyway? Why act like bandits?"

I glanced at Sa Gi-hyeok. Not wrong, but not right either.

We had to block moving people from settling in the villa district, and needed to assess how well other survivors had adapted to the apocalypse.

Plus everyone was struggling to find different ways to survive, so we needed to learn those methods too. How they recycled things, what resources they used effectively.

But Sa Gi-hyeok didn't understand my deeper intentions and just kept saying strange things.

"Are you doing this because you're bored? Because there's no electricity? Haha, what an interesting hobby..."

"No..."

My mouth gaped. I couldn't argue back.

I was bored. Computers were just a dream now. Couldn't waste car fuel on phones. No hobbies to pass the time. Just staring blankly into space and getting irritable from the heat.

Focused on collecting survival essentials, we had no books or board games. Park Yang-gun had gotten playing cards and hwatu cards from somewhere and suggested gambling for cigarettes, but that wasn't fun.

In some ways, life was less entertaining than being in the military.

'Am I really doing this because I'm bored?'

I tried to look at my mind objectively. It was impossible.

Just then, bright light stretched out from afar. I turned my head and quickly adjusted my chair to face that direction.

"Someone's coming. Get ready."

"Yeah, we've done this enough times. I know my role."

We leaned back in our chairs leisurely, waiting for people to approach.

Beyond the white flashlight beams, what looked like more than 4 figures walked quietly. The swaying flashlights stopped as they illuminated us. Their steps also stopped.

Then they slowly started backing away. They clearly sensed our blocking the road wasn't well-intentioned and seemed to be trying to avoid us.

I quickly raised and waved my hand.

"Stop! Come here. If you enter someone's business territory, you should at least show your faces before leaving."

Their steps halted. Then their formation spread out left and right as they slowly approached. They raised their weapons like they might fight any moment.

I squinted against the bright light while assessing our business targets' numbers.

'Six people?'

A family of four - two parents, two kids who looked like middle or high school students. Plus two adults who might be family friends or relatives, making six total.

Simple melee weapons for arms. Steel pipes, machetes and sharp knives with insulation tape or cord wrapped around the handles.

The man who seemed to be the kids' father had a machete slung over his shoulder. Ready to swing down anytime. He even took big strides forward to secure an advantageous distance.

I pointed my water gun to maintain a safe distance. I pulled the trigger, shooting water at the ground.

"Stop. That's a nasty machete. If you come closer I might shoot without meaning to."

"A water gun? Zombie fluids?"

The kids' father must be their representative - he pushed the kids behind him while giving me a wary look. He looked around before adjusting his grip on the machete.

"Just two of you?"

"Two enough to fight?"

I casually gripped the pot handle with my other hand. My gaze turned to the children. The suspicious boiling liquid was a useful weapon. Just splashing it would be an area attack.

"I can definitely take care of the kids. Want to try?"

Of course in a real fight I'd splash and run. Didn't want to risk injury. Especially with Do-hyung ready to ram them with the car back there.

Moonlight tinted the weapons silver. As sweat dripped down, Sa Gi-hyeok laughed and stepped in to mediate:

"There he goes again. Everyone, please calm down. We don't want to fight either. Getting hurt in a fight would be the biggest loss in this world."

The good marauder, bad marauder strategy. A common tactic everyone knew by now, but one proven effective enough to keep using.

But our opponents kept their guard up, quietly watching my hands.

"So. What do you want?"

"A toll fee. Just a little. If we asked for too much, you'd swing those blades."

"...Hey, give it to them."

As expected, they wouldn't fight unless pushed to extremes. Most people avoided fights unless extremely aggressive.

As an adult at the end of their formation checked their pockets, a daughter-looking girl muttered sullenly:

"Why give them anything just for passing through? There's more of us, can't we just kill them?"

"Be quiet!"

Were they well-off before? No survival instincts? Seems they were moving because they lost electricity. I grinned and leaned forward.

"Poor education there. Listen kid. If you want to kill, don't talk about it - just stab with that knife right now. Think I'd just sit here after you announce it?"

I was wearing a police vest that could block knives. I put the steaming pot back on the gas burner and gripped my hammer.

Sa Gi-hyeok grabbed my hand in alarm.

"No, calm down!" ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com

"I won't kill them. If I wanted to kill..."

I'd use other methods. Close combat was dangerous.

I waved my hand dismissively at the people holding their weapons high in warning.

"Leave it there at your feet and go."

"Here."

A pack of cigarettes - practically currency now - dropped with a thud. At that point Sa Gi-hyeok smoothly wrapped things up with his usual act.

"Alright, sorry if we offended you. We're all just trying to survive here. Oh, came from far away? Want some information?"

"What information?"

The good marauder Sa Gi-hyeok shared information only locals would know.

Be careful of corpses with trash in their mouths. There's a smart zombie. A zombie that learned siege warfare. Avoid it. Don't eat food lying on the streets near that hospital building. It's poisoned.

Words shared because there was no reason to leave bad feelings unless planning to kill them all.

These intruders seemed to listen carefully, then dropped a few more packs of cigarettes. Then they slowly backed away from us.

That's when we sensed new presences. From the direction our business targets had come, but these weren't targets - they were competitors.

"What's this? People here? Hey you lot. Find anything good? If you found a lot, share some?"

A familiar voice. The scammer who wanted to buy lettuce. Professional marauders. Clearly here to scavenge in the blacked-out area.

I quickly turned on my phone to message Do-hyung. Run them over since they were marauders.

I gripped the pot and hammer in each hand while our business targets started slinking away.

At the same time, headlights blazed brightly behind the marauder group.

An accelerating car charged without brakes. Through the bright white headlight beams, we saw the marauders scatter. They hurriedly threw themselves into dirty gutters, jumped high, flattened against the ground, or cursed.

"It's a trap!"

"Aaaaah!"

Maybe because it couldn't build up enough speed. No one went flying satisfyingly. They fell onto the road, got run over by the passing car, screams dragging out long.

I charged forward excitedly.

'One dodged to the sidewalk, one avoided the wheels by lying down under the middle of the car.'

People's survival instincts were impressive. Even with a car ramming from behind, two managed to dodge. Had to kill them now before they developed further.

The slowing car stopped in front of me and Do-hyung got out holding his hand axe. Behind me I heard Sa Gi-hyeok running up frantically.

"Catch them! Kill them!"

"On it!"

The marauders tried to run. A marauder hopping on one leg with a broken bone, a marauder urgently turning while getting up, a marauder staggering out from the sidewalk full of garbage and corpses.

The injured would die if left alone. Kill the uninjured ones first.

"Wait! Spare me!"

I swung my pot at someone who jumped from the sidewalk onto the road like they were falling. Hot liquid covered their face. They screamed "Aaaah!" while wiping their face with their sleeve.

Meanwhile, someone running fine on two legs got caught by Do-hyung and Sa Gi-hyeok. More precisely, they dodged Do-hyung's thrown hand axe but twisted toward Sa Gi-hyeok who happened to trip over his own feet, getting caught as they fell.

"Let go!"

"Uh oh? Oh!"

Like turning off an alarm clock, I silenced the burned person by hammering their head, then trudged toward the others.

The caught person's struggling stopped. Me, Do-hyung, and Sa Gi-hyeok surrounded them. Their eyes seemed to shake.

I crouched in front of them and hit their earlobe with my hammer. Part felt like crushing a bug, part like hitting asphalt.

"Aagh!"

"Where are your supplies stashed?"

Since we caught them, might as well take whatever resources they'd stockpiled.

The marauder watching my hammer gulped and spoke with trembling lips:

"Food, cigarettes, that's..."

Then they suddenly stood up, pressing close to me. The knife in their hand vanished from view as it stabbed into my stomach. I felt the stab-proof vest get pressed in.

"If I had stuff like that, would I..."

I quietly looked at the marauder right in front of me. Someone who thought to stab with a knife in this situation. Someone more responsive to violence than dialogue.

"This won't work."

Thunk thunk thunk, like pounding garlic.

After that persuasion, one corpse lay there. I shook my head as I stood up, dusting off my police vest.

Looking around, Sa Gi-hyeok and Do-hyung were cleaning up. Confirming kills then searching pockets, waving goodbye to the family group.

Do-hyung especially was staring blankly at the children's backs as they hurried to disappear into the darkness. I nudged him.

"Well, seems they had no stockpiled resources. No other companions either. But did you see those people?"

"I saw them, but why?"

Do-hyung spun around to look at me. I pointed at his hand axe and my hammer.

"Notice they had cord or insulation tape wrapped around their handles? Must be a reason for that."

"Ah, that was paracord. Originally parachute cord, but it's multipurpose. I have some too."

From what Do-hyung said, it seemed quite useful. Wrapping slippery surfaces to prevent hands slipping, absorbing impact when swinging, untying to use as rope in emergencies.

I thought of the survivors I'd seen so far. Everyone had something small but worth learning from. And everyone had survival abilities.