Marauder of the Apocalypse

In my house on the villa street, I was deep in thought as I wiped my body with a damp towel.

Time continued to flow at the same pace, and the world was steadily falling apart. Hungry survivors were still entering the survival zone to commit petty crimes, and sometimes they even ventured into our villa district.

In this continuous flow of events, the arson incident wasn't particularly special and was naturally buried beneath everything else.

With countless people causing incidents daily, plus the alliance facing a new problem.

Drought.

'It feels like it hasn't rained for almost a month.'

I looked down at my damp towel. Without rain, it was difficult to fill the water tanks, and when people managed to gather water with great effort, they had to use it sparingly.

Actually, we were managing fine. Since we didn't farm, we didn't need to use much water. Despite the stream drying up, it was still flowing, and we had enough water for drinking and cooking.

The problem was the alliance and the military. They had lots of people. With their farming operations, they didn't have enough water to meet their needs.

It was a deadly season. A season when public sentiment grew restless. I had divided the seasons in my mind as spring of plague, summer of war, and autumn of famine, but in reality, these disasters always moved together.

In spring, we fought zombies and obtained scarce resources; in summer, we fought to survive while suffering from waterborne diseases; and in autumn, we faced disease from malnutrition and the struggle for survival...

And death, well, death was a constant companion.

Just then, I heard the beeping sound of a door lock opening. I stopped wiping my body and grabbed my gun first. Just in case.

Soon, Park Yang-gun's voice came through.

"I brought food."

"Oh, is it mealtime already?"

I placed the gun behind my back and waited for the door to open. Park Yang-gun entered with a plastic plate, grumbling complaints.

"The people in charge of food made some weird stuff."

"...That really is strange food."

On the plate he placed in front of me was something unidentifiable.

Some kind of flour dough with what looked like weeds mixed in—neither a pancake nor a rice cake. Something closer to fuel than food. Just looking at it killed my appetite.

"Don't we still have food left? Why, why this?"

"They were whispering about saving food, then they made this stuff."

I poked the strange food with my finger, then gently tore it apart. The cooked dough split, revealing what looked like blanched weeds stretching out.

"Aren't these actually weeds?"

"They are. Some grass they pulled from nearby. I guess people's minds are going crazy from not eating vegetables."

We had kimchi, so why do this? This was just a waste of flour.

"Are these edible plants?"

"Probably. Someone tried eating them first and said they were fine. Some old man said you don't die from eating a few weeds."

Park Yang-gun said that, then tentatively reached out his hand.

"I haven't eaten it yet. Getting sick from a bad stomach would be a pain. If you don't want to eat it either, give it to me."

"No, it's fine. I'll save it and eat it later."

I pushed the plate aside. The weather was cool. If the others who had already eaten didn't get sick, I could try it then.

A question suddenly came to me.

"Are we short on water?"

"Well, if it doesn't rain soon, we probably will be."

Park Yang-gun looked out the window. I also turned to see the clear, cloudless sky. While water was drying up on the ground, the sky remained as blue as the ocean.

Maybe it was because of autumn, but the sky seemed especially high and distant, as if completely unconcerned with the drought below.

"All we can do is pray for rain."

"Or somehow find water."

***

The shelf life of bottled water was 12 months. It was a resource we could raid.

The problem was that water was a frequently used resource, so it was hard to find. Few people had properly stockpiled water, and even those who had probably used it all by now.

I listened to my companions' opinions and searched through Professor Kim's materials, but couldn't find any satisfactory information.

"Making water purifiers or collecting droplets by putting bags over trees... these methods only get you tiny amounts."

"There's really no good solution for water."

Jeon Do-hyung waved his hand dismissively. I had gathered my criminal companions, but none of them had any solutions.

The most plausible suggestion was relocation.

Park Yang-gun and Sa Gi-hyeok, who were looking through maps, each found some facilities. Their fingers pointed to places far from our current location.

"The river probably won't dry up enough to see the bottom. What about moving to the riverside?"

"There's a small dam a bit far from this city. I think there's also a hydroelectric power facility."

I took the map and held it in front of my face. A detailed map. The distance from our current location to the places they mentioned...

"It's problematic. Too far. Maybe if we had cars, but it would be difficult to move that distance on foot."

Relocation. And without cars or trucks, we'd have to move everything by hand. Just the ammunition and guns alone were substantial, and if we included our stockpiled food, we'd need to make several trips.

During such a move, we might use up all our ammunition and food.

And above all, the dam was dangerous.

"If there's a hydroelectric facility, there's a good chance a proper military unit is stationed there."

The military was dangerous, and even if they were functioning properly, I couldn't expect the evacuation facilities to work properly.

The apocalypse had lasted over half a year. Important national facilities would have attracted many people—could they handle all of them? Wouldn't shelters be closer to lawless zones?

If it was going to be a lawless zone either way, this place was better.

Just then, Jeon Do-hyung raised his hand.

"Let's at least make some simple water purifiers. We can use water purifier filters to use stagnant water, right?"

"Yes, let's do that."

It couldn't hurt to be prepared.

Last summer, during the typhoon and rainy season, water that overflowed might have collected underground. We'd need to purify and boil it, but water was water.

***

Even in a drought, work had to continue.

A few companions and I went back to the stream area, but the stream had changed significantly. It looked like a small brook, as if it had never overflowed.

The bottom was exposed, and the lush vegetation around it was drying up. Even the compact car stuck in the stream had dried out completely.

"At this rate, it'll be hard to catch fish too."

When I muttered this, Park Yang-gun nodded. Though he was middle-aged, he spoke like an old man.

"The ancients didn't value water for nothing. When there's no water, everything falls apart. I understand why they'd want to hold a rain ritual."

Rain ritual. Somewhere, people might actually be performing rain rituals. Perhaps even sacrificing humans as living offerings.

I looked around at my companions. Having just returned from the survival zone, I wasn't up to date.

"How's the situation with the stream? Are more people or zombies gathering here, or is anyone trying to claim the stream? Has anything changed?"

"Not much has changed here. I've heard people are charging for water use at other streams, but thanks to us, this place remains peaceful."

Of course. Nobody would dare to poke their heads into our territory with us armed with military weapons.

Then a curious thought struck me.

"Then aren't people flocking here? Since we don't charge for using the stream."

"Well..."

My companion smiled awkwardly.

"I think our business makes people uncomfortable."

"Ah, I see. Uncomfortable."

That made me uncomfortable too.

Our stream area business was nearly finished. Those who wanted to escape had escaped, those who wanted to join had joined, and those who were going to die had died. And with autumn, resources weren't plentiful either.

I tapped the handle of the combat cart and unfolded the map.

"The guys who claimed the other streams. Where are they?"

If that was the case, we needed to raid other territories too.

"Here, here, and here."

Scattered streams avoiding the alliance's territory and ours. The closest was upstream from our stream, while the farthest was a stream from a different water source.

"Should we attack those who've claimed the streams?"

When I asked, my companions blinked in surprise.

"Right now? Wouldn't it be better to give them some time to accumulate resources?"

"Of course we should do it in a few days. We need to check their armaments and numbers first."

Surely a raider like me would be wealthier than scavenger-type survivors. Robbing the wealthy yielded better results.

"Since we don't know how long the drought will last, it would be good to secure a few more water sources."

"At most we could secure one more. Anything beyond that is too far. It's beyond our operational range."

Park Yang-gun offered appropriate advice.

The limitations of mobility.

I folded up the map and looked at the bicycle parking lot near the stream.

"Then today, let's just take the bicycles. We need to supplement our mobility too."

Moving faster and farther meant accomplishing more. In a season of approaching famine, we needed to work harder.

Park Yang-gun wiggled his fingers.

"Stealing bicycles isn't really my style."

"Is that so?"

"It's just too easy."

He was right. Park Yang-gun wiggled his fingers a few times and unlocked a bicycle. A bike that had been secured at the parking lot found its freedom.

We selected the ones that were in relatively good condition.