Marauder of the Apocalypse

The escape was easy. The zombies who were shot by the gun fell one by one. Only the zombies who were hit by the taser gun continued to pursue.

I panted and called out to Jeon Do-hyeong, who was a little ahead of me.

"Jeon Do-hyeong! Let's take care of that guy and go!"

"No, really!"

Jeon Do-hyeong gritted his teeth. Then he turned his body.

Since my stamina was almost depleted, if I continued like this, I would eventually be caught and attacked. It would be better to somehow deal with the zombies now.

The zombies who were running towards us with the strength of farmers.

We split to the left and right and raised our axes and hammers. The zombie rushed towards me without hesitation.

'No, why me!'

When Jeon Do-hyeong is there, why me of all people. What did I do wrong? I stared wide-eyed at the dim figure. The raised hammer trembled.

It's a one-time chance.

If I don't hit the head accurately, I will die. Whether my neck is broken or I'm infected with the virus.

For a moment, a thought flashed by. My gaze turned to the taser gun that was making a dragging sound.

'No, we shouldn't fight. It's too dangerous.'

The zombie spewed saliva and threw its body. I also rolled to the side almost simultaneously. The cold ground hit my whole body, and my vision spun.

I screamed.

"Taser! Use the taser gun!"

The electrodes are still stuck. Just pull the trigger and the electricity will flow.

I desperately rolled on the ground, threw away the hammer, and barely regained my posture, circling around.

The zombie chased after me, dragging the taser gun like a tail, and Jeon Do-hyeong repeatedly bent and straightened his body to catch the taser gun.

"Slowly! Can't catch it!"

"If you move slowly, you'll get caught!"

The moment I slowed down, I would be bitten by the zombie, which is nonsense.

That's how we circled around, and the matter was resolved when Jeon Do-hyeong threw himself like a dive to catch the taser gun.

Zzzzt-

The sound of electric current was heard, and the zombie, stiff like a log, fell forward.

I panted and gestured roughly.

"Wire, ankle, wrap."

"Ugh."

Jeon Do-hyeong, with his clumsy hands, pulled the trigger every 5 seconds, wrapping the long wire around the zombie's ankle several times.

And he raised the hand axe high.

I stopped him.

"Don't. Let's not leave any traces. Just take the taser gun."

“….”

It seemed like Jeon Do-hyeong briefly turned his head towards me. The direction of the axe also felt slightly off. I quickly grabbed the hammer I had dropped.

Is this a betrayal? Since I feel like I've brought us into a crisis, a mutiny could definitely happen. Even one of my role models, the pirate, had a mutiny on his ship.

A strange silence flowed between the axe and the hammer.

Jeon Do-hyeong let out a sigh. The axe went down.

"I don't owe you my life. I saved you from the zombies, and I saved you who I was going to kill."

"That's right. Now we're equal comrades."

I smiled and brushed the dirt off my clothes.

It's a world where people are easily killed. As the value of life has become infinitely light, the grace of saving a life has also diminished. This is a fair exchange.

In fact, I'm quite satisfied with the mindset that has rubbed off on me.

'If these things accumulate one by one, it will become the characteristic of the group. As we take in new members one by one, we can't avoid being influenced.'

As a plunderer, and as the leader in forming a group, I look at it in the long term.

"No..."

Around the time Jeon Do-hyeong muttered in a puzzled tone, my strength had recovered a bit. The zombie had recovered enough to electrify again, and it couldn't move well due to the wire wrapped around its leg.

"Let's go."

We quickly moved away from the zombie and slowly walked in the darkness. Of course, we left the used cartridges with the zombie and took the taser gun.

Jeon Do-hyeong fiddled with the taser gun, saying, "The battery is 33% left, and there's an unused cartridge attached to the handle. Even if you take out the cartridge, you can still use the stun gun."

The characteristic crackling sound of the stun gun and the lightning bolts flashing between the electrodes.

"That's good."

Seeing that blue light, I clenched my fist tightly. A strong sense of achievement.

We survived the dangerous zombie, and even obtained a taser gun. The taser gun is no ordinary weapon. It's a weapon the power of lightning.

It was a human victory. Evidence that we defeated the zombies. It's still a world worth living in.

We returned to the camper van, making small talk.

"But won't the police track us if we take this?"

"It seems unlikely. The zombie was running around, so they might think it dropped it somewhere. We also left the pistol behind, and I saw the body cam was broken by the zombie."

Day 11 of the zombie outbreak.

We looted a taser gun. Firearms? They're just noisy and only attract zombie hordes, not a useful weapon. The taser gun with the power of lightning is better.

***

Day 15 of the zombie outbreak.

The world seems to be on the verge of collapse.

***

There's a downside to the wandering life. Time doesn't pass well. At most, we just watch videos on a phone we snatched from a cafe.

A phone left on a cafe table by someone who stepped away. Of course, we removed the SIM card and connected it to Jeon Do-hyeong's hotspot to watch the videos.

- They are not zombies. They are patients.

- They are not patients. They are people.

It's a public service announcement made by a human rights organization.

I quickly scrolled through the video.

All kinds of news were flowing by. News about strengthening drone regulations or calling for social distancing.

Some videos caught my eye.

- Prison occupancy rate is rapidly increasing...

A video exposing the reality of prisons where infected people are crammed in, or videos of isolation rooms made by converting containers.

- Military unit movement...

News about some military barracks or dormitories being converted into isolation facilities. The soldiers who used to live there are being reorganized due to the reduced combat-ready manpower infected.

- It is estimated that over 80,000 people have shown symptoms.

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- It is expected that the number of infected will exceed 1 million within a month.

As I watched the news, I frowned at the strange sense of unease. Something felt about the numbers.

Of course, the virus diagnostic kits haven't been released yet. It's all estimates and speculations. They couldn't catch all the people who turned into zombies after showing symptoms. With the incubation period of nearly a month, epidemiological investigations were impossible.

Still, the numbers felt understated.

After all, when I wandered the cities, it definitely didn't seem like that.

"That's strange..."

I tapped the table rhythmically, lost in thought. The optimism that it's similar to COVID-19 and not a big deal. But the government can't be unaware of the danger.

'They could declare a national emergency or a month-long lockdown.'

At most, it's just social distancing, remote work recommendations, online class recommendations, discouraging public transportation and going out, and controlling military leaves.

It's clear that if left alone, everything will collapse, but the government is responding unusually mildly.

'No matter how much zombies are still people, even if people protest...'

It's as if they've concluded that the I-virus can't be stopped. Surely they can't be that optimistic. Or is it because of political or economic issues? Are they just waiting for the diagnostic kits to be developed?

Since I don't know what they're thinking or talking about up there... it would be nice if it all just collapsed.

That's when I heard the sound of a suppressed breath.

It was Jeon Do-hyeong. He was glaring at the chat window as if it were an insurmountable problem.

"Is the information certain Ah, I don't want to get into debt if I mess up."

"...What are you doing?"

Jeon Do-hyeong glanced at me.

"I'm looking at a stock information room. Someone seems to have posted information."

I looked at him with a puzzled expression. The world is collapsing, what's the point of stocks?

Seeing my eyes, Jeon Do-hyeong waved his hand dismissively. He, who had dropped out of university after receiving his parents' inheritance, said in an annoyed tone.

"There are ways to make money even if the world collapses."

Is that so? I've heard there are investment methods that make money when it falls. And looting is a way to make money, but what's the point of money?

I tilted my head, but out of boredom, I asked a question.

"So what kind of information is it?"

"They say nuclear power plant will be shut down soon. So they're going to do rolling blackouts, and the prices of raw materials for thermal power plants will rise."

"Does that make sense?"

Rolling blackouts - Cutting off electricity in different regions to balance the excessive demand and insufficient supply of power.

The situation has not yet reached an apocalyptic state for society, but this idea of rolling blackouts is-

That's when the thought struck me.

The world is collapsing. The apocalypse has arrived. But the zombie apocalypse may not be the only one to come. A radiation apocalypse. If the nuclear power plants, abandoned by the vanished staff, were to all explode.

I felt goosebumps on my skin. Zombies and viruses are somewhat manageable. But radiation is truly unacceptable.

If radiation spreads, there will be no way to survive.

'If the government, the experts, think the same way as me.'

If they are convinced that the world is collapsing, won't they forcibly shut down the nuclear power plants?

That's when Jeon Do-hyeong spoke.

"According to my research, nuclear power plants produce about 25 percent of the electricity. So a quarter of the power is going to be lost, which is concerning."

Stopping 25 percent of power generation. The imagination became a conviction.

The government has given up. It feels like they are preparing for the future, unable to stop it immediately. My hands were trembling with excitement.

I suddenly looked down at my phone, the list of videos showing the impact of the zombie situation.

At sea, there are drifting ships, on land, trains have derailed and there are chain collisions, and in the sky, planes have crashed. Because the drivers have become zombies.

Suddenly, the advertisement by the human rights organization came to my mind.

- They are not patients. They are people.

The message that zombies are also people - doesn't it mean that the accidents caused by zombies are the same as those caused by people? Wasn't it a chilling warning?

After all, the accidents caused by people are the most dangerous.

Thud-

Suddenly, my trembling fingers slipped and pressed some video. It was the gloomy voice of a man with the nickname "Professor Kim".

- Everyone, the end has come. Everyone must find their own way to survive.

This is not the usual spreading of doomsday theories. I quietly looked down at my phone. Jeon Do-hyeong also seemed to be listening intently to this video.

- The number of people showing symptoms is already 80,000. And that's just the number of those who have finished the incubation period. Adding the incubating infected, it will exceed 400,000.

Professor Kim displayed a graph, the statistics of confirmed cases during the COVID-19 period. A steep upward curve.

- In a month, it will exceed 2.5 million, and in another month, 5 million. 10 percent of the Korean population will become zombies. And after another month...

The numbers are starkly displayed. 10 million. Within three months, 20 percent of the Korean population will become zombies.

Professor Kim seemed unable to continue, opening his mouth as if to speak, then lowering his head deeply. A sound like a sob was heard.

The video ended there.

Silence fell inside the camper van. I clenched my fist tightly.

'Finally.'

Finally, those who understand the chairman's grand plan have appeared. Of course, the government must know, and the smart ones must have noticed it too.

The apocalypse!

At that moment, Jeon Do-hyeong said in a trembling voice, "They say the diagnostic kits will be developed soon. Surely it won't be to that extent, right?"

"No!"

I spoke quickly in an excited voice.

"Just imagine if you lived alone. Or if your whole family was infected. If they turned into zombies in your house, you'd be trapped inside and starve to death."

The diagnostic kits will accelerate the confusion.

"All the confirmed infected will come out! It's better to wander around as a zombie outside than be trapped and starve to death in your house!"

The hope that a cure might someday be found. The hope that they could return someday even as zombies. That hope will drive the confirmed cases out. I would do the same.

I shook my body and quickly tapped Jeon Do-hyeong.

"Let's move quickly! Let's gather resources while the world is still livable!"

"We have enough weapons and food... It seems better to escape to the outskirts."

"No, not those kinds of resources."

Jeon Do-hyeong took out the car keys with an anxious look on his face, and I raised my fist.

"Human resources."

Those who understand the chairman's grand plan will gradually reveal their true nature. For example, Professor Kim from the video just now.

The professor, an expert in disaster management, was a fervent apocalypticist and spread apocalyptic ideas to the public, causing anxiety.

And he did it professionally, using his authority as a professor, the logic of statistics, and the emotion of tears. This skilled psychological manipulator and apocalypticist deserves to join my group of plunderers.

"Moreover, as a disaster management expert, he must know a lot of information necessary for the apocalypse."

Information like long-term and specialized action guidelines that we lack. Or information that we don't know.

I quickly found Professor Kim's email and contacted him.