Marauder of the Apocalypse
Chapter 141: Flames

Time passed after we contained the fire started by those vicious survivors.

The sacrifices recruited by the flies occasionally came to provoke us, died at our hands, and I exchanged resources with the flies.

I put notes in corpses' pockets with locations where I'd hidden resources, and the flies handed over sacrifices, pistols, and information. It wasn't a bad exchange.

If we were lucky, we could capture sacrifices alive and raid their bases for resources.

"Any special information?"

As I was staring at the note at home, Sa Gi-hyeok came by and asked with interest. Like a proper con artist, he understood the importance of information and always showed interest in what the flies provided.

I looked down at the note and grinned.

"There's good news. The zombie-luring drones failed."

The alliance had experimented with zombie-luring drones in this area. But the results weren't good. They had attached alarm clocks to drones to stimulate the zombies, but the zombies didn't respond.

While zombies in the early stages of the outbreak would react to slight stimulation, now they seemed to have learned enough to respond cunningly.

Sa Gi-hyeok quickly assessed the situation and sighed with relief.

"The alliance failed at weapon development. That's fortunate. Luring drones can be used repeatedly, but self-destructing drones mean permanently losing the drone."

"Drones are ultimately consumable resources."

Self-destructing drones were powerful, but their numbers were limited. Once detonated, they turned into metal scrap, and getting new drones was difficult.

This meant the alliance would think twice before coming after us. They'd have to use resources they couldn't replace.

But rather than focusing on how conflict was now less likely, I concentrated on the fact that if we did fight, the alliance would lose even their drones.

'Yes, a marauder should leave only ashes and garbage in his wake.'

If the alliance and I fought properly, nothing would remain. Forest fires would burn the world, and the alliance would lose all its weapons.

As I snickered to myself, Sa Gi-hyeok gave me a puzzled look.

"Are you that happy? It doesn't seem like something to be that excited about."

"Isn't someone else's misfortune my happiness? I'm glad the alliance failed."

"Your personality really..."

Sa Gi-hyeok's personality was even stranger. The way he talked was weird. He spoke eloquently when conning people, but normally he sometimes seemed like there was something wrong with him.

We exchanged glances for a moment as if observing strange people, then Sa Gi-hyeok looked away.

"Anyway, that's not the main point. I came because of resource issues."

"Resources? Are we out of ammunition?"

Ammunition shortage was a serious problem. I instantly wiped the smile from my face and tapped my thigh with my finger.

I roughly compared the amount of ammunition I'd captured from the military and obtained through deals with the police against the number of bullets we'd used.

"We should have plenty of machine gun ammunition left. Is it rifle ammunition that's the problem?"

"Yes. We'll run out of rifle ammunition after a few more battles. We have some pistol ammunition, but not much. And ammunition isn't our only shortage."

Sa Gi-hyeok pulled a sheet of paper from his chest. A paper that looked like a report. Like a proper con artist, he had neatly organized graphs showing a downward curve, and at the point where the curve touched the bottom was the date "January."

"I reorganized the food inventory that Mr. Park Yang-gun created, and I predict we'll hit bottom with our food supply by early January at the latest. In the dead of winter."

I immediately snatched Sa Gi-hyeok's report and stared at it.

"It's almost December now."

"The weather is already nearly winter. Did you see the frost this morning? You can see your breath. It's cold even inside without layered clothing. We need to secure more food resources before it's too late."

Since gathering and scavenging would be difficult in winter, he was saying we should work hard now to stockpile food.

A thought flashed through my mind.

'If we killed half our companions, we could make it to spring, couldn't we?'

The reason food was diminishing was because people were eating it. So if we halved the number of people, we could last twice as long with the same amount of food.

But I immediately abandoned that greed. Doing something like that would lead to "rebellion." For my companions, there would be a 50 percent chance they'd die, so they might attack me instead.

"You seem to be thinking strange thoughts again... Please suggest productive measures."

Sa Gi-hyeok, quick-witted as ever, seemed to guess my thoughts and reprimanded me.

I smiled awkwardly and returned the report.

"I was just having a useless thought. This isn't an easy problem to solve. There are no survivors to raid nearby, and it's winter so we can't farm."

"That's true."

This wasn't a problem that could be solved by thinking about it. The world was like this now, and no amount of people putting their heads together would find a solution.

Sa Gi-hyeok stared blankly at the report, then soon let out a heavy Haah.

"Lately I've been feeling like we're trapped in a house, slowly dying. We can't go outside, and the food inside is slowly running out, like we're withering away."

Perhaps because winter was approaching, Sa Gi-hyeok showed signs of depression. It was the season when getting sunlight was difficult, when the air was cold and tree branches were bare.

I unconsciously said:

"Even so, we've lived quite long. Many people have become zombies or died."

"...Was that supposed to be comforting?"

"Yes. Was it inappropriate?"

Sa Gi-hyeok let out a disbelieving laugh and turned away.

"Don't complain about me talking strangely. Sometimes I think you're the truly strange one. Anyway, please think about resource solutions."

With that, Sa Gi-hyeok left my house with light steps. Left alone, I looked at the door he'd closed and rubbed my forearm.

It was very cold. Without heating, the chill touched my skin directly.

Winter. The season of death was coming.

***

True to their marauder nature, our companions didn't worry about the future. They were content repeating the same daily routine and didn't care about resource management.

Coming out of their houses on a cold morning to receive food from the meal preparation team, they just muttered useless things.

"The clothes don't fit, right?"

"It's like armor, I like it!"

"But you need clothes that fit your body to move easily."

"I'll grow taller soon!"

The cup noodle mercenary was talking with his son, who was wearing winter clothes that didn't fit.

"I misjudged the location. Being on a mountainside in winter is freezing. I need to correct my method of analyzing locations."

The real estate guy was trying to refine his now meaningless real estate knowledge.

"Winter... Cold, white snow, bare branches. All symbols of death."

Gloomy was just spouting depressing words as usual. The thug mercenary sat quietly in a corner eating.

The other companions whose names I couldn't remember were similar. Rubbing their hands together, putting food in their mouths, chatting with family or other companions.

The criminal companions were a bit different. They gathered around me, exhaling visible breath, putting steaming hot rice and soup in their mouths while questioning me.

"Kim Da-in. Have you seen the resource status? Everything will run out by January. If we eat carelessly, it'll run out even faster. Shouldn't we steal more before then?"

"We need to maintain the water facilities too. Even if we use groundwater, it'll be hard to fix if the facilities freeze and burst. We need to prepare radiators or heaters too."

I looked down at my food silently, then raised my head.

"Seems like there are many potential problems. Do you think we can't survive the winter?"

When I asked, my companions quickly nodded. Sa Gi-hyeok rubbed his hands and said:

"Resources are consumed even just by breathing, but we have no income. Without income, we can't survive."

"You sound like an unemployed person who just lost their job."

I snickered. Perhaps because he used the word "income," Sa Gi-hyeok's words sounded like something you'd hear when the world was normal.

But Sa Gi-hyeok didn't smile.

"I am an unemployed person. We're not raiding, just holed up in the townhouse. Sure, we capture and raid people who provoke us, but that's pocket change level."

He meant we had no continuous and stable income to keep living.

"If this situation continues, we'll all die."

"Die..."

I looked up at the sky. It was definitely a situation without answers. Not just because of the conflict with the alliance.

Because the end of the fall was approaching. The world our chairman had tilted like a slope. We had tumbled down that slope, and now the end was approaching.

It's hard to find food. Irreplaceable ammunition is running out. It can't be solved by raiding. The whole world is in famine, the city's resources are all used up, and it's hard to even find survivors to raid.

Whether raiding or doing something else, it's a time with no room to prepare for the future.

I lowered my head and looked at the fire lit by the meal preparation team to cook rice.

'Spring to winter. We lasted a year.'

It had been the most densely packed year of my life, and the most enjoyable time. So shouldn't the conclusion of this period be spectacular?

"What are you thinking about? Winter is the immediate problem!"

Brought back to reality by Jeon Do-hyung's grumbling, I smiled faintly and scratched my head.

"I've been thinking too, but can't come up with a good solution. It seems there's no way except attacking the alliance first and raiding them."

"If we fight the alliance, winter won't be the problem."

"That's why. Let's think a bit more. We have some time."

After reassuring my companions by saying we had enough food to last a month, I put the now cold rice in my mouth.

Different thoughts crossed my mind.

'Is the alliance's situation any different from mine?'

The alliance had many resources, but they also had many people. If they weren't confident about surviving winter either, they'd also turn into marauders.