Marauder of the Apocalypse-Chapter 91: End of Summer

A day passed. The end of August, with autumn drawing one step closer.

The rain had stopped falling, as if the monsoon season had ended, and the world kept moving at a rapid pace. As the conflict between the alliance and the military settled down, the alliance's capabilities began to truly manifest.

The sounds of hammers clanging, people shouting busily, and drills whirring filled the air without pause.

I quietly looked up at the general hospital, which could barely be called a hospital anymore.

"Careful with those solar panels! Don't drop them! You know how hard it is to find more!"

On the rooftop, electricity nomads were busy installing solar generators. They were also setting up communication equipment, including a long antenna they'd scavenged from somewhere.

The building's interior seemed similar. Through open windows and doorways, countless people could be seen shouting and rushing around busily.

Many unfamiliar faces were among them.

'This is what a proper group's capability looks like.'

Based on safety, military power, and resources, they attracted various experts like a black hole. If only food supplies were properly secured, they seemed poised for endless growth.

I watched as police, firefighters, scavengers, and delivery riders passed by carrying heavy loads.

"We raided some apartments. But the food's in worse condition than we expected."

The police and firefighters, experts at breaking into places, had apparently searched an apartment complex together. They shook their heads with grim expressions.

"It's bad enough to make you sick if you eat it. Even the canned goods are bulging."

"At least the kimchi's still decent, thankfully."

Ho, limping as he passed by, heaved deep sighs.

"You too? My findings weren't good either. Tried raiding some seed shops for seeds... but everything was washed away during the last typhoon and monsoon."

He must have been diligently searching for seeds to run an indoor farm. Naturally, the results couldn't have been good.

Many seed shops and agricultural supply stores were typically located on the first floor, which was vulnerable to zombies and floods.

The time had come when even if you wanted to farm, you couldn't find seeds. The apocalypse's ripple effects were growing. Like dominoes, everything was collapsing steadily and quickly.

A question suddenly came to mind. I tapped my bulletproof helmet as I sank into thought.

'What's the government doing? What about other cities or countries? And the zombies?'

It wouldn't be strange to hear news about vaccine development by now. And what had happened to the zombies, whose numbers had noticeably decreased? They probably couldn't withstand the heat, disease, and flood damage.

Still, human vitality was tenacious, so I didn't think zombies would decrease rapidly. Above all, the I-virus was even more dangerous. Mutations and such.

Birds, cats, dogs, rats, insects, fish—if it mutated to affect any of these, there would be no solution.

Just then, the mercenaries and my companions approached me. A hint of something like bloodlust flickered in their eyes.

"Everyone's gathered."

"Is that so?"

I placed the bulletproof helmet on my head and slung the light machine gun over my shoulder.

No matter how the world turned, my job remained unchanged. Raiding.

***

"Did you feed your families well?"

"Yes. We had full meals for the first time in a long while."

The mercenaries grinned with satisfaction as they carelessly swung their rifles. They laughed happily, having filled their stomachs with food brought from the apartments.

The faces of mercenaries with families looked especially bright. Those who were individual survivors showed similar expressions. They displayed confidence as they handled their rifles.

"Having a rifle definitely gives you a different sense of security."

Whatever the case, they had benefited by moving with me. That's why I spoke comfortably about what to do next.

"Negotiations with the military have concluded for now. That means our job is done."

For a moment, the mercenaries' faces darkened, but then their eyes gleamed ominously as they looked at their weapons, having seemingly reached some conclusion.

They probably thought that since the alliance's mission was over, they'd have to raid to survive. A good sign.

A mercenary with a family abruptly asked:

"So this is it? No chance to join the alliance or anything like that?"

"None. We were mercenaries from the start, weren't we? It ends with us receiving payment."

"But that payment..."

His disappointment was evident. The alliance had recruited these mercenaries by offering food or hospital and electricity access as payment.

It was temporary compensation. It meant they couldn't keep working to make a living. They couldn't settle in the safe survival zone either.

I casually threw out a suggestion.

"You're free to disband now... but would you consider working under me?"

"Working as what?"

The mercenaries, each deep in their own thoughts, raised their heads to look at me. I put down my light machine gun with a thud and grinned.

"The same thing that military was doing."

Raiding.

"You all mentioned you were lacking many things. Not enough food, almost no masks or soap. Well, then we need to get them."

I scanned the atmosphere once. As expected, no one showed any aversion. My companions, experienced raiders, looked bored, while the apocalypse survivors among the mercenaries glanced between their guns and me, nodding slightly.

None of them had clean hands. Raiding and crime were almost basic qualifications.

After all, these people had participated in killing soldiers.

If anything, they showed interest in what would fall into their hands.

"Will the distribution be equal?"

"Of course. And naturally, those who contribute more to this work will receive more."

Like finding addresses of survivors worth raiding, or killing enemies alone.

The mercenaries slowly agreed to my proposal.

"Alright, let's do it. Even with a gun, if you get ambushed while wandering alone, that's the end."

"If we're raiding, who are you targeting?"

No one refused. I smiled with satisfaction. I'd finally expanded the size of my group. When I'd gone around trying to create one myself, everything had failed, but when I seized the opportunity, this happened.

'Luck really has to be on your side.'

I opened my mouth.

"People are everywhere. Surely we're not short on raiding targets."

***

During the monsoon, while holed up at home, I'd had a thought: finding living people. Methods I kept revising while conversing with Park Yang-gun from time to time.

The things Park Yang-gun had mentioned about which houses to avoid because people lived there had become a means to find survivors in this world.

We left the hospital armed with guns. Our destination was quite far from the alliance's survival zone.

Park Yang-gun looked around and clicked his tongue.

"Doesn't look like anyone's here."

Fallen streetlights lay abandoned on the street. Cars and the road were covered in dirt. Looking at the buildings on either side, many windows were broken.

I tilted my head. It felt similar to our villa district.

"Could someone be disguising it? Making it look uninhabited?"

"No. Look at the entrance and windowsills."

Park Yang-gun pointed somewhere. Just a building entrance and broken windows. I couldn't tell what he meant.

Park Yang-gun explained.

"The dirt on the ground is undisturbed. No footprints. No one's here. The windows too. If someone climbed over the windowsill, traces would remain. Look at the dust that's accumulated."

"Is that so?"

Now that he mentioned it, it did seem that way.

I thought briefly and examined the windows carefully. They were broken irregularly, and there were no obstacles set up to cover them.

"It might be difficult to find anyone during the day."

"That's right."

It seemed like we'd need to move during mealtimes or at night to easily find traces of people.

The smell of cooking rice or preparing food. Or lights illuminating the darkness. The timing wasn't right to detect these things.

Just then, Do-hyung, complaining that he was dying from the heat, said in an irritated voice:

"Do we really have to wander around looking for people? Can't we just go to apartment buildings?"

"Apartments?"

Not a bad idea. Since I'd properly organized a raider group today, I wanted to raid something as a commemoration. Honestly, just rummaging through ruins felt too much like being a scavenger.

But perhaps because of the heat, everyone looked exhausted.

Was this form of raiding inefficient? Just wasting energy on hunting with little to gain?

'Setting up like bandits in a fixed location or moving with precise targets from the start is the standard approach.'

I eventually pointed to a building nearby.

"Let's go inside to escape the heat and search around for a bit."

We went into a multi-family house and searched every corner of the rooms. There was almost no yield. The mercenaries who had scattered returned, laughing awkwardly. freёwebnoѵel.com

"Everything's been cleaned out. Toilet paper, soap, detergent. Nothing left."

"Just insects and mold everywhere."

I loosened the strap of my bulletproof helmet and sighed.

I could feel the city's resources hitting bottom. Even the ruins were empty.

Six months since the zombie outbreak began. It wasn't a timeframe you could survive on what you had or prepared. It was a time when you had to kill others or search abandoned homes to survive.

Or produce something yourself, or raid what others had.

Then, out of curiosity, I looked around at the mercenaries.

"Does anyone know how to pick front doors?"

The mercenaries looked at each other and shook their heads. But one mercenary awkwardly smiled and raised his hand.

"I can't pick locks, but I've done something similar when I was really hungry. I lowered a rope and climbed down it to get in."

It was dangerous, but when facing starvation, nothing was impossible.

Probably some people living on upper floors had done similar things. Some buildings would have emergency escape equipment installed, making it even easier.

'In that case...'

Buildings with survivors probably had a high chance of being looted. No, that's not right. Those looted items wouldn't go anywhere. The surviving residents would have claimed everything.

Just like I'd cleaned out my villa and monopolized the resources.

"Finding survivors is still the right approach."