Marauder of the Apocalypse
Chapter 133: Flames

With so many problems—enough to potentially cause division within the alliance—wouldn't they create an external enemy? Naturally, we made a suitable target.

A force armed with military weapons, a vicious streak that wouldn't hesitate to set fire to mountains, and already revealed conflicts. More than enough reason to attack raiders who were already a thorn in their side.

But Do-hyung looked at me with slightly annoyed eyes and poured out words that sounded like nagging.

"I don't think that's the case. If you'd just spoken properly when the police came to warn us, couldn't we have gotten past this?"

"Not possible. If their situation is that bad, targeting us would be the natural move."

I answered in an incredulous tone, but Do-hyung just shook his head.

"I heard they're still debating whether to fight us even after you killed that rider in front of the police. Some want to attack, saying we can't be left alone, while others say there's no need to create trouble by bothering us."

Listening carefully to Do-hyung, it seemed the alliance was in the midst of heated discussions about us.

The police and archers naturally wanted to eliminate us, and the riders and firefighters were quietly agreeing. Riders obviously due to vengeance, firefighters believing potential arsonists needed to be suppressed quickly.

On the other hand, the Hope Community opposed action, perhaps due to past connections, and the doctors objected because treating potential casualties would be difficult...

After listening to Do-hyung, I adjusted my mask and summarized the situation.

"So Ho's scavengers are distracted after being attacked by zombies, and the Electricity Nomads don't care. Four votes for, two against, two abstentions? They'll fight."

"If you'd just handled things better when the police came, none of this would even be up for discussion."

I wasn't convinced.

The situation was bad in many ways. The world had dried up, turning into kindling. With just the smallest spark, the alliance would become a great fire attacking in all directions.

Do-hyung relayed the evangelist elder's advice, but I barely paid attention.

"He says if you come and apologize first, they might be able to smooth things over, so think carefully about your actions."

"Hmm..."

Meaningless. Drought, zombies, fires. The alliance was suffering from three calamities. Conflict was already inevitable.

This called for serious consideration of war. Countermeasures against drones and assassination, timing for using forest fires as a weapon, and what would follow the fires.

I muttered as if talking to myself.

"What should we do if we fight the alliance?"

"You really want to fight?"

Do-hyung asked in a low, sunken voice. He watched me with dark eyes.

"We need to prepare for the worst. Let's say we apologize first. But what if the alliance doesn't accept it? No, what if they want other conditions?"

I laid out various scenarios.

"What if they drive us out of the townhouse because they're afraid of forest fires? We'd lose the solar-powered house and groundwater facilities. Above all, we'd lose one of our weapons against the alliance."

Show weakness once and you'll be pushed back continuously. Both the alliance and we were predatory groups, and in this wild world, if you appear weak to predators, you become prey.

Moreover, this predator called the alliance seemed increasingly hungry.

"Besides, would the alliance really leave us alone?"

"Some people don't want to fight, and others don't care."

"No. If things get worse, those people will target us first."

I looked up at the ceiling, writing a scenario from the alliance's perspective.

A townhouse with groundwater facilities. Advantageous for defense. An area suitable for farming that the alliance would naturally covet.

Additionally, eliminating us as a risk factor would be appropriate, and the various resources we possessed made fighting worthwhile.

Do-hyung also seemed lost in thought, remaining silent for a while before slowly opening his mouth.

"If we have to fight... wouldn't it be better to escape the city before fighting starts?"

"Not a bad idea."

As Sa Gi-hyeok emphasized, an exit strategy was important.

Even though I was someone satisfied with dying together, living wasn't a bad option either. As long as I was alive, I could enjoy the pleasure of raiding.

The most important thing was causing maximum damage even while escaping.

Various scenarios flowed through my mind.

'Arson is essential. The flames will create chaos and divide the alliance's manpower.'

Then I suddenly said:

"Let's start by making an escape plan in case the alliance suddenly attacks."

"Should I get the map?"

"There's one here already."

Do-hyung sighed in relief like someone feeling reassured and spoke brightly, while I brought the map kept in this house.

"We need to start fires first. That will give us time to escape."

"No..."

Do-hyung looked at me with incomprehensible eyes, but soon understood the situation and wiped his face.

"I guess that's true. Ah. This is really too much..."

"Don't waste time with unnecessary talk. First, we need to prepare survival backpacks so we can flee at any time, and when we escape, everyone should scatter and then meet up here."

I poked a spot on the map with my finger. The place where I'd killed someone for the first time, where I'd experienced the beginning of the zombie outbreak.

The villa district.

"We'll meet there a few hours after escaping, and once gathered, we'll leave the city immediately. Of course, everyone should set fires throughout the city while escaping."

The street trees had disappeared, becoming firewood, but there was still plenty of kindling in the world. The drainage ditches were full of fallen leaves and trash, and abandoned cars and corpses lined the streets.

With these properly ignited, the fire would spread far, carried by the wind.

I had a vision of the map burning red and black. I could almost feel the acrid smoke and swirling ashes.

'Firewood for winter, food and resources that might remain somewhere, all will become garbage.'

Even the alliance would struggle to handle it. And that was necessary. If they messed with me, they should be prepared to accept this much.

That's when it happened.

Bang, bang, gunshots rang out. Perhaps because we were on a mountainside, the echoing gunshots sounded somewhat light, like pistol fire. We jerked our heads up and looked out the window.

"They're attacking after just one day? With a gunfight?"

***

I rushed hurriedly to the entrance. Going straight up to the rooftop of the watchtower-like building, I found the guard on duty frowning deeply while looking down at the road below.

The companion turned.

"You're here, sir?"

"Yes. It sounded like pistol fire. What's happening?"

"Someone was shooting at us from far away down there."

Following the companion's pointing finger, I could see the commercial area below the townhouse.

"From inside the building?"

"Yes. It was too far to see clearly."

"I saw it!"

A shout came from the opposite watchtower. Since we had mounted machine guns on both sides of the entrance, there were guards there too.

The guard on the opposite side pointed to his eyes and reported in an irritated voice.

"I have good eyesight and I saw them. They weren't alliance people. They were townhouse people."

"I see."

Survivors from the townhouse? Suddenly armed with pistols and shooting at us meaninglessly? This seemed less like revenge and more like someone following orders.

"The police..."

I let out a hollow laugh. This was the police's doing. No, not just the police—the riders must have helped too.

The riders probably found townhouse survivors, and the police recruited them. Just as they had previously recruited mercenaries to fight the military, they were now gathering local survivors to counter us.

"Is this the alliance's doing?"

"Looks like they're using mercenaries again. Direct confrontation would cost them too much, so they're trying to get under our skin in small ways..."

It was their way of keeping within certain boundaries. If they fought us directly and we felt threatened, we'd set fire to the mountain, so they were applying steady pressure with non-lethal but constant harassment.

I smiled calmly and told the companions on guard duty:

"The alliance won't directly engage with us."

"That's a relief, but..."

The guard's voice was tinged with worry. They seemed anxious about the possibility of surprise attacks day or night. Even with machine guns mounted, this place had no light. It would be hard to detect someone approaching stealthily in the dark.

"Let's see. We'll set up alarm systems by connecting cans to strings on the roads. And."

I tapped the machine gun while looking across the road.

"If we kill those people, there won't be any surprise attacks for a while."

They were just following police orders, not vengeful people. If they were truly vengeful, they would have set fires first.

Without that level of malice, they were merely prey. Relying on weapons provided by the police rather than earned through their own fighting, perhaps harboring optimistic dreams of reclaiming the townhouse, they were just flies trying to annoy us.

That's when Do-hyung spoke up, fidgeting with his hands.

"Wouldn't it be dangerous if they provided explosives like before?"

"They won't do that. Using explosives would mean a real fight with the alliance, and then we'd set fire to the mountain."

If they were going to give explosives to mercenaries, they would have used drones from the start. I glanced at the sky.

Clear, high, and blue. I'd looked at the sky thinking about drones, but another thought occurred to me.

'We've been able to threaten them with forest fires because it hasn't rained. If it rains... the alliance probably won't hesitate.'

I'd made a natural disaster—forest fire—my most important weapon. But being a natural disaster, it ultimately depended on the weather.

Perhaps the alliance was stalling for time, waiting for rain to fall.