Marauder of the Apocalypse-Chapter 49: Preparation

Spring was a chaotic season.

For students, it meant starting new terms and meeting new peers, entering school, or for college students, approaching job hunting season. For plants, it meant aggressively spreading roots and competing for survival.

Others called it a season of blooming flowers, warmth, new beginnings, and winter's end, but I sometimes felt spring as a season of chaos and tension.

I sat quietly in my chair looking at the tightly closed window.

"Summer..."

The most chaotic spring ever was ending. The spring our Chairman brought with the apocalypse, the spring where those who couldn't adapt to new beginnings died.

Seeds that lost the survival competition died without sprouting, and summer was coming when surviving plants would grow thick and fight against nature.

Drought, floods, typhoons, pests, beasts, competitors, zombies...

Sweat beaded on my forehead like cold sweat. It was hot. During blackouts we couldn't use air conditioning or fans, and fear of mosquitoes kept windows closed.

Even pressing ice packs from the fridge against my neck didn't ease the heat.

'Perfect season for murder.'

Heat makes people violent. Humidity makes it worse. Violent crimes actually increased in summer.

Truly a season of war. A season where survivors win.

I stroked my new hammer. The heavy, cold feel of steel. We'd done almost all possible preparations. All we could do now was respond to problems as they arose.

"Drainage cleaning finished?"

"Yes, we cleaned all visible drains."

Villa district people were out in the street working hard. We'd cleared trash from all visible drains to prepare for heavy rain, and Park Yang-gun had siphoned gas from unused cars into containers.

Some made Molotov cocktails with that fuel, while others took surplus gas and non-essential resources to the market to trade for butane gas and bleach.

Though it seemed like good preparation, the situation wasn't entirely positive.

The man strode toward the returning market group with a hardened face.

"...Why are you the only ones back?"

"Well."

The people who'd gone to market with large bags lowered their heads. One person hadn't returned. Even those who had come back had sweat-soaked masks and were breathing heavily.

Their trembling hands pointed beyond the street.

"Zombies. We were attacked. Couldn't save them, couldn't even grab their bag."

"But zombies are in shopping areas-"

"No. There are lots of zombies in the streets now."

Seemed the shopping district zombies were moving into the streets. I looked up at the sky, clasping my gloved hands.

Dark clouds overhead. Subtly humid and hot air. Though a dangerous season, surviving alone could bring automatic gains.

'One death means one less mouth to feed. Need to redistribute their resources.'

Including whatever resources remained in the dead person's home.

But the man seemed to think differently, gripping his trash grabber tightly.

"Was someone leading them?"

"No way. Just... there are lots of zombies. So many. We can't go out anymore."

"...Did you lose the zombies?"

The returned person's face turned white.

We quickly turned to look down the path they'd come from and spotted a protruding head.

A zombie. It was hiding behind a building, just its head poking out watching us. A sharp grin seemed to flash briefly across its lips.

The zombie had confirmed our territory. Our small numbers and poor armaments. Its head disappeared back behind the building. Probably going to bring other zombies.

The man ground his teeth.

"You should've taken a different route! Coming straight here-"

"What else could we do! Zombies were everywhere! There was no way around!"

People started shouting and fighting with danger approaching.

Already hot, wearing layers while working, anger rising to our heads. The thin thread of reason seemed to snap.

The man's face reddened as he started to shout something, then suddenly changed expression to coldly look at the returned people. Familiar suspicion flashed.

Probably wondering if they deliberately killed one person, if they did it to reduce mouths to feed, if they'd sacrifice the villa district too, if they were spies leading zombies.

The man habitually hid his suspicion.

"This isn't the time to fight. Quickly prepare for the zombies-"

"Wait! What about my child! They're at school, what if something happens on the way back!"

Now it was a child's mother. She seemed to have lost her mind, grabbing the man's sleeve with dilated pupils and dropping to her knees.

Worried about her school-attending child with dangerous streets, but the man irritably knocked her hand away.

"Hah... The school's safer than here, so focus on protecting this place first."

"But-"

As the mother opened her mouth again, someone collapsed with a thud. An elderly grandfather.

"Oh, grandfather!"

"What's going on!"

The usually cheerful grandfather who'd donated to the school and worked slowly but efficiently retched "ugh". Sweat poured down his pale face.

"Heat exhaustion? Heat stroke? Whatever it is, what should we do?"

"CPR?"

A complete mess. Too many useless people. Leading zombies here, fighting, voicing pointless worries, collapsing.

I coldly looked around at everyone.

People urgently removing the grandfather's layers to lower his temperature, the mentally shaken mother, the irritated man, the panting market group, people standing around blankly.

And Park Yang-gun.

Quietly slipping into the villa. Signaling it was time to retreat.

'Need to hole up inside before zombies arrive.'

I exchanged quick glances with my marauder companions and the man before slowly returning to the villa.

---

The zombie horde charged in.

Zombies were animals too. They went crazy with hunger. Like starved predators gambling by attacking stronger beasts, they charged madly at our villa district.

Having retreated early, I watched the zombies and villa district people leisurely from my window.

"Ahh! Zombies!"

The people who'd been giving the grandfather water and salt scattered, rushing to their villa entrances.

But they were slightly too late. Crowding at the narrow villa entrances slowed their retreat, and someone dragging the weak grandfather was caught by zombies.

Grabbed by the hair and dragged away, beaten with weapons like bricks and baseball bats.

Screams and blood sprayed across the asphalt road.

Some zombies even chased people into villas, catching them from behind. Through narrow windows I glimpsed scenes on the stairways.

"Ahhh!"

"Kraaah!"

Voices carried here. People frantically climbing stairs with zombies barely behind.

Though someone barely escaped at a stair window, they were soon dragged back as a corpse and thrown down the stairs.

Conversely, zombies kept climbing to enter the floor where people had been caught.

'...Did they wait for doors to open during escape?'

Seemed they'd grabbed people in the gaps when they hurriedly opened doors before they could close. Like clever tricks from zombies that couldn't open entrance doors. Driving humans like prey, making them open doors themselves.

In other words, while people were the problem, entrance doors remained invincible.

I glanced toward the entrance.

"Grrrr."

"Kraaah!"

Zombies roaring, pounding on doors. But entrances didn't open. Not doors zombies could open.

I checked the villa district people's group chat. Surprisingly people were calm. All were used to this level of death and accidents by now.

Messages confirming survival, estimating when zombies would leave, worrying about children...

Soon the man summarized the situation.

Everyone wait in your homes until the zombies withdraw. They won't stay here forever.

This was right. I put down my phone.

Zombie attacks were like sudden rain. Just wait for the shower to pass.

Bang bang bang, pounding on doors. Grrrr, zombies growling. I closed my eyes slowly, treating all that noise as background sounds of rain and wind hitting windows.

This wasn't a shower but monsoon season it seemed.

The zombies wouldn't leave. No, new hordes entered the street as others left, and some remained like sentries patrolling the villa district.

Gradually anxious posts appeared in the group chat.

We'll starve staying trapped inside, haven't seen the children in so long, no end to the zombies in sight...

To make things worse, real rain started falling.

I looked at the window. Raindrops constantly hit the tightly closed surface.

Zombie voices occasionally carried from beyond the entrance. Signs of zombies entering the villa building to escape rain. Not just one or two. Opening the door would probably reveal a horde.

Tap tap tap, fingers drumming on my phone. freewēbnoveℓ.com

'Do-hyung and I still have plenty of food.'

We could outlast those people by monopolizing Peace Villa's resources. But if this continued...

Messages kept appearing. While many saw the dark future like me, some stayed positive.

Let's wait a few more days, they said. The rain would stop soon, zombies would withdraw.

But the situation kept worsening.

Rain kept pouring, and when hunger drove zombies away new ones arrived. The wind and rain even intensified.

Looking out windows showed garbage flying around, some windows even breaking.

Water's getting in! The rice is all wet!

Can't sleep. Constant zombie sounds at the entrance.

What about the indoor farm? Those windows are fine but plants haven't been watered in ages.

Problems, problems, problems poured in.

The indoor farm was the biggest issue. No water, no grow lights. Meant the lettuce and such were dying.

I rubbed my chin.

'People can die but the lettuce can't.'

Self-sufficient food, farmable food, food to slow resource consumption. This was more important than people.

This wasn't safely surviving holed up inside. It was slowly dying.

We needed to take action to make a breakthrough. Just couldn't find a plausible solution.

Finally, the villa district people decided to venture out once rain stopped. Try somehow reaching the indoor farm when zombie numbers dropped.

A thought crossed my mind.

'Which would yield more food - farming or the food left by dead people.'

The high discomfort index made wicked thoughts sprout like mold. It was summer.