Marauder of the Apocalypse
Chapter 129: Karma

The Delivery Vigilantes led by RiderZero were closer to a survivor organization that avoided accumulating bad karma. Fair trading, business that deliberately avoided creating grudges.

Even after I'd killed the children they sponsored, they didn't immediately create conflict, just waited for my downfall. A strategy that stepped back from the cycle of revenge.

But that didn't mean they were amateur survivors.

"It doesn't seem like a trap... But there's no proof the old man isn't lying either."

"Looking at the changed clothes on the corpse, either humans or zombies did this. The motorcycle is undamaged, so it wasn't a traffic accident. Seems like he was attacked after dismounting, and you saw it, old man?"

The voices of the two suspicious riders continued.

True to their investigative role, they reasoned quite logically. Perhaps this level of thinking was why they were assigned to investigate missing members.

Park Yang-gun responded curtly.

"If you don't want to trade, just leave. Why so many words?"

His voice sounded irritated, as if he'd just wasted time. Park Yang-gun complained naturally, like a genuine ordinary survivor.

"I'm the idiot for wasting time trying to trade with this. I could've been scavenging and found something useful by now."

I was impressed. How could he lie so effortlessly?

He showed none of the awkwardness typical of liars. No anxiety, vigilance, or nervousness betrayed his emotions.

The riders seemed to believe him—after a brief silence, they asked a question.

"Old man. First, just tell us who killed him. Zombie or human?"

"Human."

Park Yang-gun told the truth, but his demeanor remained the same as when he lied. The riders lowered their voices and whispered something.

Meanwhile, we crouched, gripping our guns tightly. They needed to come over. Only then could we shoot them at close range and ensure death.

I continuously wrote scenarios and imagined situations in my head, which allowed me to respond calmly to the riders' cautious behavior.

"Alright. Write the information on paper, make it into a paper airplane, and throw it. We'll leave food on the road here."

Basic distance maintenance for safety.

They could throw furniture through windows if they approached the building. There might be traps inside. These riders knew this well and suggested trading from a distance.

Park Yang-gun clicked his tongue.

"I don't have paper or a pen. Besides, if you just take the paper airplane and run away, I get nothing."

"So you want to trade up close? Inside the building? That's not happening."

After some bickering, they finally reached a compromise.

The amount of food was enough for one person to eat twice if rationed carefully. The trading location would be in front of the first-floor entrance. A rider would throw the food in front of the entrance and wait across from the commercial building while Park Yang-gun checked the food and spoke from inside the entrance.

One rider gave a final warning.

"Don't think about just taking the food with ridiculous lies. We're on motorcycles. You can't escape. And plausible lies won't work either. We'll cross-check with nearby survivors."

"You talk too much. Let's just finish the trade. I'm hungry."

After telling his final lie, Park Yang-gun turned around and grumbled.

"They're too suspicious. Can't lure them inside."

"That's fine, sir. What you've done is more than enough."

"Well, that's good... But I don't know why those little bastards talked down to me. No manners at all."

Being spoken to informally seemed to genuinely annoy Park Yang-gun, who pulled down his bucket hat again and picked up the rifle he'd thrown on the floor.

I backed up Park Yang-gun, who had done a good job overall.

"They have no respect. People without respect should get their heads cracked. I'll avenge you."

"Don't use me as an excuse. We're going to kill them anyway, so why make me the reason?"

Really? Why act like this even when I take your side?

Just then, a rider's voice came from outside.

"It's thrown! Your turn, old man!"

"I'm coming down, wait!"

Yes, it was our turn now. They'd given food, and we'd repay them with bullets. Park Yang-gun held his gun at an angle not visible from outside the window and spoke. He glanced out the window.

"What now? They've taken cover. They've pulled their motorcycles across the street and hidden behind an abandoned car... They've drawn pistols too. It looks tricky to fight if I go down."

"That's fine. We couldn't lure them inside, but the situation isn't bad."

It wasn't the best scenario, but it wasn't the worst either. It was actually close to the second-best option.

After all, didn't we have the advantage in terrain and distance? The second floor gave us the high ground, and the distance favored rifles over pistols.

I quickly whispered precautions.

"Killing them is the first priority. Motorcycles are second, fuel is third."

The best outcome would be killing them without damaging the motorcycles, but even if we shot the motorcycles, we could still use the fuel if the tanks remained intact.

Sa Gi-hyeok whispered confidently.

"Time to demonstrate my shooting skills."

"..."

Could I trust that confidence?

But there was no more time to waste. We needed to shoot first, before they sensed something was wrong.

"Each of you take a window and fire. Now, immediately."

***

My criminal companions moved instantly. They rushed to the windows, aimed their guns, and pulled the triggers.

I did the same. I aimed my gun where the voices had come from and pulled the trigger repeatedly. In the brief bursts of gunfire, I pinpointed their exact location.

'Two of them. Behind the car. Heads and upper bodies slightly visible.'

The riders seemed startled by the sudden rifle fire but instinctively crouched down. Their exposed area became even smaller.

"Rifles? It's those bastards! Run!"

"Scatter!"

They reflexively returned fire with their pistols while mounting their motorcycles. They seemed to have some combat doctrine—the two motorcycles pointed in different directions. One forward, one backward. Ready to scatter in opposite directions when facing an overwhelming attack.

'Need to kill them before they move.'

Randomly spraying bullets wouldn't be enough.

I held my breath and aligned my sights precisely. My hands trembled with excitement, but the trembling quickly subsided.

I relaxed and gently pulled the trigger. Bang, the gunshot hit my eardrums, and the bullet grazed a helmet.

Next to me, I caught a glimpse of Sa Gi-hyeok's panicked muttering.

"Why, why isn't the gun firing? Oh, I didn't change the magazine after last time! The magazine exchange..."

You've got to be kidding me. Sighing, I just switched to full-auto and emptied the remaining bullets. Brooom, some of the bullets hit as they traced the path of the accelerating motorcycle and the crouching rider.

The motorcycle fell sideways, and the rider groaned.

"One down!"

Only one left.

I turned my gaze to see the other motorcycle already moving. Moving targets were much harder to hit than stationary ones.

Would we let him escape? That wasn't good.

But then two gunshots rang out in quick succession.

Bang, the first bullet hit the shoulder, making the rider's upper body sway dramatically. Then the second bullet penetrated the center of the rider's helmet, punching a hole through the head.

Sa Gi-hyeok's proud voice rang out.

"Headshot! I got him!"

"..."

I looked at Sa Gi-hyeok in disbelief. He held his gun aloft, his eyes sparkling with confidence.

"I told you I'm good at shooting now. I hit the head of a moving target precisely."

But... the first bullet had already hit and made him sway, which was why the head got hit by luck.

Jeon Do-hyung sighed and lowered his gun.

"He only got hit because of my shot that made him sway. And you didn't even check your magazine."

"No. I couldn't shoot because I didn't know the magazine was empty, but my shooting skills are accurate."

As expected, it was thanks to Jeon Do-hyung, the murder supporter. But I didn't feel like lecturing Sa Gi-hyeok. To avoid making the same mistake as Sa Gi-hyeok, I changed my magazine and pointed outside.

"Let's go down and clean up."

***

The aftermath of the gunfight affected my ears. The loud gunshots left them feeling muffled. I thought I heard a ringing sound.

"My ears hurt."

"A few more gunshots and we'll go deaf."

"We can't wear earmuffs either. We wouldn't be able to communicate."

Park Yang-gun and I flicked our fingers beside our ears as we casually crossed the road. We kept our guns aimed, in case one of them was still alive.

Sure enough, the one I'd shot wasn't dead. He lay face down on the ground, bleeding and groaning. The bullets must have missed vital spots.

The rider barely lifted his head and twitched his hand holding the pistol.

"You..."

"Nope."

I stepped on his hand to prevent him from firing the pistol, then crouched down.

"Why are you so disrespectful, talking down to your elders? When you can't show proper respect, you get your head cracked."

"Bullshit. You've been targeting us from the beginning..."

That wasn't true. We'd simply moved in, and the original residents were the rider's trading partners, and the rider who came looking was an avenger.

Of course, any survivor organization capable of farming would naturally be connected to the Delivery Vigilantes, and children who survived from the market street would likely belong to the Delivery Vigilantes, but I hadn't thought that far ahead.

Behind me, Jeon Do-hyung and Park Yang-gun sighed.

"He's talking nonsense again... I'll check the motorcycles."

"I'll check the food first."

Jeon Do-hyung went to recover the fallen motorcycle that was still running, Park Yang-gun sought the resources, and Sa Gi-hyeok approached me.

"Wouldn't it be better to extract information if we plan to fight until the end?"

"I don't know. I don't think he'll talk."

I took out my hammer and lightly tapped the helmet. The rider responded with a voice full of malice.

"With this kind of wound, I'll die anyway. I've got nothing to say to a bastard like you."

"Then curse me at least. Tell me who's coming for revenge, who's coming in a few days, how they'll attack."

Wasn't all of that information too?

But the rider remained silent.

"Is he dead?"

When I tapped the helmet with my hammer like knocking, a pain-filled groan returned. I could sense his determination to never answer.

Well, the gunshot wounds and bleeding were severe. He probably didn't think I'd save him. I didn't have the medical ability to do so anyway.

Any survivor in this era could easily measure their distance from death, and if they were going to die anyway, they'd have the determination not to follow an enemy's wishes.

"Well, we'll make good use of the motorcycles. And the swords and pistols."

I removed the helmet and struck his head. Sa Gi-hyeok turned away as if disgusted and said in a low voice.

"Will this be the end? When even their investigators don't return, they'll react differently."

They would know they'd been attacked. Unlike casually looking for a missing delivery rider, they would start a full-scale investigation.

They'd first gather information from nearby survivors. Ask if anything unusual had happened.

'Other survivors must have heard the gunshots too. And there are the townhouse survivors as well.'

The scattered karma might come together. Raid targets would come looking for us without us having to search for them. It was like efficient automated hunting.

I grinned.

"Nothing changes."